Day 12: Dead People

Today I'm going to showcase some books about death and the afterlife... hopefully in that order? Well, not really. 

First up is Ghost Hunters by Deborah Blum. It follows the strange decision of William Jame, a professor of Psychology at Harvard university... to hunt ghosts. This book follows his studies into hauntings and other ghost investigations, around the end of the 1800's. I haven't read this one yet, but I am genuinely interested in finding out how they went about doing this with the technology of those times. This one cost me 1.99.

See 3 more after the jump!

Next up, are the books Stiff and Spook, both by Mary Roach. I've started reading Stiff but have not yet cracked the cover on Spook. What I can tell you so far is this: Stiff is a series of essays exploring what happens to human bodies after they die. This spans topics such as how bodies decompose, what goes on during an embalming session... and many, many different examinations of what happens when we donate our bodies to science, including gross anatomy classes, military research, crash test info, and much, much more.

If you ever wanted to read a detailed description of what parasites look like while they are moving under the skin of a corpse... Mary Roach is your gal. She makes the topics intensely interesting, and writes in a style that puts you in the moment, as she shares the frank, honest, and semi-insane thoughts she has while faced with all of the things she had to observe to research for this book.

Spook is an examination of what happens to our spirit when we die. I have no idea how Roach will manage this, but I assume lots of interviews with mediums, religious folk, and near-death experiencers will be included. I actually took a break from Stiff because I was getting a little depressed reading it (I flew through Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and now I'm back) but it is a fascinating read, and I look forward to reading Spook soon enough. I paid 1.99 for both each of these books.

The last book I'm featuring tonight is Going Out In Style: The Architecture of Eternity by Douglas Keister (heh). This book is amazing for anyone who loves walking through a beautiful, decorative cemetery and soaking in the atmosphere. It's also amazing to see the variety in things that people will do to "mark the spot" when they pass away, from decorative headstones to decked out mausoleums. I've included a few shots from the interior of the book below, and I have to say, some of the crypts and mausoleums featured in this book made my jaw drop. The Tse Monument (the car) was an especially eccentric one. Check 'em out: 

Beep-beep Richie.

I'm including a few shots here of the angels in the cemetery in Belfast ME, which is a town with not only a beautiful cemetery, but one of my FAVORITE Goodwills. The day I took these shots was the same day I purchased my Little People Farm. I'm always in awe of the lengths and costs people will go to in order to be remembered. Like... writing a blog for instance.

 

Don't blink.

That's it for tonight kids! I'll be back soon with more Ghoulish Goodwill Goodies! Until then, Happy Haunting!