(cw: child death)
Hello Deathlings!
We have a new article for you on the Order site, one that I suspect will resonate with many of you.
This week's guest writer, Daniel Pietersen, takes a deeper look at a death in his own backyard, and poses important questions about our fear of death and community responsibility.
2019-10-21 21:12:56 +0000 UTC View Post
Greetings Deathlings!
OK. I know I say I'm "so excited" for you to see all our videos, but with this Romanov video I'm sincerely SUPER DUPER excited for you to see it.
So much research went into it, so many brain melting hours of writing, recording, and editing. When I say in the video that the part on "molecular genetic testing and incredibly complicated international political conflicts" was originally 12 pages long, I'm not kidding.
Louise may n...
2019-10-19 14:21:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello Deathlings!
Well lookey here: it's the video that we were supposed to release a week ago but couldn't because of GOVERNMENT.
But now the funeral home is all licensed up and Team Death Video has this shiny new offering for you, ready to grace your computer screen.
More accurately, this video is brought to you by Team Death Video and Friends. Susana Alba, the funeral arranger at my funeral home, plus Marty the Corpse AKA Louise's old roommate (who is st...
2019-10-05 14:38:19 +0000 UTC View Post
Greetings Patrons!
Yes, yes this is not your regularly scheduled programming. But watch this PATRON EXCLUSIVE VIDEO, and you'll learn why.
Basically the GOVERNMENT in the great State of California, or really the California Cemetery and Funeral Bureau, still needs to give my new funeral home a license. So I really can't be talking about my new funeral home without a LICENSE for that funeral home. No worries, all in good time deathlings. We've dotted the i's and cross...
2019-09-28 14:02:21 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello Deathlings!
We close out the month of September with an article from writer Ed Simon who
looks at the 17th century as a "Golden Age of Death," a time that Simon argues provides us with important guidance in the 21st century in terms of how to grapple with death.
He explains that "figures like Thomas Browne, Robert Burt...
Greetings from book tour deathlings!
While I'm scurrying here, there, and yonder spreading the gospel of cats eating eyeballs, I wanted to pop in and let you know that we have a new article up on the Order website.
The Hungry Spirits of Deer Island by Boston based journalist H. Louise Messinger.
The tragic history of Deer Island's pas...
2019-09-15 03:28:29 +0000 UTC View Post
Greetings Deathlings,
So much exciting stuff happening this week and for weeks to come!
First and foremost, we have a new video for your viewing pleasure.
With my new book Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? Big Questions from Tiny Mortals about Death coming out September 10th (September 19th in the UK), I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to prov...
2019-09-07 14:27:55 +0000 UTC View Post
Well Hello Deathlings!
Louise here. (Waves with the enthusiasm of a thousand corvids!)
As you might imagine, Caitlin is bonkers busy getting ready for her book release and tour. Nevertheless, she SOMEHOW found the time to record a special podcast episode previewing her upcoming book, Will My Cat Eat...
2019-09-05 17:07:39 +0000 UTC View Post
Greetings Deathlings!
We have for you another PATRON-ONLY BONUS VIDEO!
You can't say we don't give you nice things.
This time we bring you the tale of the diamond made from the cremated remains of celebrated Mexican architect, Luis Barragán. The sordid story of one woman's proposal to another woman over a dead man's legacy.
Everybody wants to be a savior.
It's because of your support that we can not only make longer, more in-depth videos,...
2019-08-31 14:12:31 +0000 UTC View Post
Greetings Deathlings,
What a fast and furious few weeks it's been. Just call me Vin (Diesel).
(POINTLESS TRIVIA: Vin Diesel's real name is Mark Sinclair, a fact that gives me endless pleasure.)
Not only has Team Death Video been working on this "Art and Death" video for at least two months, but between researching, writing, shooting, and editing this video we've been researching, writing, shooting, and editing three other videos. Plus planning videos all the way into 2...
2019-08-24 14:26:47 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello Deathlings!
This week we have a new article that I am SO excited for you to read.
We spoke with The Collective For Radical Death Studies, a new organization founded by death scholars and students, death professionals, and activists who view their work as anti-racism work, and aim to decolonize their fields.
Greetings Deathlings,
Behold! This week's installment of Cadaver Crimes is an *EXCLUSIVE* video just for you, dear Patron.
We MURDER-SHE-WROTE you all a special bonus video!
(Or I guess in this case it would be "Scandal She Wrote"? Whatever, you get it. YOU'RE SPECIAL AND WE LOVE YOU.)
Oh, and be a lamb and don't share this video anywhere, m'kay? It really is a video just for our Patrons. Like the saying goes, "If you love...
2019-07-27 14:03:52 +0000 UTC View Post
Greetings Deathlings!
How has our month of CADAVER CRIMES been treating you?
Well to stay "on brand", our latest article from regular contributor Allison Meier, delves into Victorian MURDER collectibles.
True crime may seem to be having a moment right now, but illicit tales pulled from real life have long been at the forefront of popular culture. While today’s true crime fans might binge-watch a streaming serial killer docu-series, or go deep into the rabbit holes of...
2019-07-26 16:25:29 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello deathlings!
This week's installment of Cadaver Crimes is a little different than previous episodes.
Nothing in the ceiling.
No funeral home wrong-doing.
No "crematory" masquerading as a ceramic tile supplier for NASA.
Nope, this week we simply have the very human mystery of a corpse, a drag QUEEN, and what appears to have been an act of self preservation. After two installments of Cadaver Crimes involving a few really dastardly...
2019-07-20 14:50:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Oh Hello Deathlings,
Did you hear the one about the funeral director who claimed to be making ceramic tiles for NASA but was actually cremating thousands and thousands of bodies in a disgusting SECRET warehouse while also pilfering body parts from unsuspecting corpses?
No? Well then do we have a story for you!
OK, but seriously, the Lamb Funeral Home story is one of the most horrifying funeral industry crimes I've ever heard. Off the top of my head, I can't...
2019-07-13 15:32:47 +0000 UTC View Post
Welcome to episode #1of CADAVER CRIMES!
We bring you this four-part weekly series as a thank you for helping us to reach our last goal of 3500 patrons. So for the month of July we're hearkening back to the days of yore (2018) when we would do a video a week for your viewing pleasure.
O! And such videos these be!
Team Death Video and I looked for the most BONKERS corpse-related crimes to share with you. None are for the faint of heart...or squeamish. As evidenced ...
2019-07-06 14:35:34 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello Deathlings!
I'm coming at you from my home in LA, fresh off a work trip to BEA-U-TI-FUL Brazil. To all the deathlings who were like, "Come to Brazil! Come to Brazil! WHY WON'T YOU COME TO BRAZIL?!", fine, yes, you were right. Brazil is wonderful and I wasn't ready to leave.
And while I am jet lagged and wish I was still basking in the Rio de Janeiro sun (I was also in São Paulo...the sun is pretty fantastic there too), I am happy to present you with this video a...
2019-06-22 14:29:50 +0000 UTC View Post
Welcome to the final episode of Death in the Afternoon Season 2!
We did it! Our nerdy-deathy podcast has two whole seasons!
To wrap up the season, Sarah, Louise, and I are asking that perennial question: Is That a Corpse in my Culture...
2019-06-14 18:09:32 +0000 UTC View Post
So a few months ago, in a moment of INSPIRED improvisation, I told all of YouTube that if I could get 50,000 likes on our "Mortuary Makeup for Difficult Bodies" video – a ridiculous number SO I THOUGHT – I would return to Phoenix and go "full mortuary dummy" under Monica Torres' skilled hand.
Weeeeeeelllllll....you all know how that went.
And here we are. You did this to me.&nbs...
2019-06-08 14:28:43 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello Dear Deathlings!
Today we have a new article for you from one of our favorite Order contributors, Allison Meier: How Gardening Neglected Victorian Graves Brought Community to a Philadelphia Cemetery
Allison's piece highlights not only the value and importance of burial spaces within a community, but what it takes beh...
2019-06-05 19:03:23 +0000 UTC View Post
Greetings Deathlings!
"In your heeeaaad, in your heeeaaad, zo-O-mbie, zo-O-mbie, zo-O-mbie, eh, eh, eh"
You know you deathlings of a certain age can't help but hear Dolores O'Riordan's voice IN YOUR HEAD when you hear the word "zombie". Louise says she does a killer rendition of that Cranberries song at karaoke. I'll take her word for it.
But '90s Irish rock bands aside, this week we have a very special Death in the Afternoon for you featuring Louise and...
2019-05-23 18:48:16 +0000 UTC View Post
Good day deathlings!
I'm so excited that we finally got to do a video like this one. Every time Louise and I bounce around ideas for women Iconic Corpses, we find ourselves mired in the Swamp of Sadness.
My kingdom for more Iconic Non-Man Corpses who had their wildest death wishes come true! #goals
It shouldn't come as any great shock that throughout history women and their corpses haven't been treated all that great. But when you have to do a deep dive on such a...
2019-05-18 14:28:11 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello Deathlings!
Today we have a new episode of Death in the Afternoon that I'm SO EXCITED for you to give a listen to. That's right, it's time for you (and me) to "Get Your Sh*t Together".
Wills, advanced directives, emergency savings accounts– what's not to love? Ok, we get it, facing your mortality through piles of bureaucracy is about the l...
2019-05-09 18:19:56 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello there deathlings!
This week we have a video chock full of MYSTERIES and SECRETS for you!
Through SECRET means that I'll take to my grave (it's really not that exciting and for the record was totally legal, but nonetheless I was sworn to SECRECY), we were able to shoot at none other than the legendary Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. I mention a few films and TV shows that were shot at the mansion, but here are a few more you might recognize:
The Prestige
Happy Weekend Deathlings!
What better way to dive into the weekend than with a NEW Order article!
Today we have for you "Everyone Deserves a Death Buddy: The Value of Death Positive Friendships" by Aisha Adkins.
Order contributor Aisha Adkins d...
2019-04-27 19:34:39 +0000 UTC View Post
Greetings Deathlings,
Feast your ears on another episode of Death in the Afternoon! This week we offer you: Maggots Holding High Carnival.
The American Civil War left roughly 700,000 men dead and an entire nation devastated. With millions of pounds of rotting human flesh on the battlefields, burying the dead was a daunting,...
2019-04-25 19:20:16 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello Deathlings,
This week we have a video for you that I've been wanting to do for a long time. I've been talking about it with Team Death Video for years, and now, on the 20th anniversary of the Columbine massacre, it seemed like the right time. Honestly, we should probably be correcting Columbine myths a lot more in this modern age of mass shootings.
If you're of a deathling of a certain age – let's say late Generation X to mid Millennial (with Xennials in there ...
2019-04-20 15:07:36 +0000 UTC View Post
Buckle up deathlings, have we got a story for you this week!
From Sarah:
I've wanted to work with Maria J. Perez Cuervo, the author of this week's article, for a couple years now. Her Twitter account is one of my favorites, and the obscure history she digs up never fails to evoke a sense of awe and sometimes, as in her new piece for us, shock.
A few weeks ago she mentioned a king who obsessively collected relics, including entire corpses, thousands of bones...
2019-04-18 17:43:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Greetings Deathlings,
Today Sarah, Louise, and I are delighted to bring you another installment of Death in the Afternoon! In this episode, we're asking the question: Dude, Where’s My Monument?
We know who gets fancy monuments: politicians, military heroes, and so many men on horses. In cemeteries the playing f...
2019-04-12 18:52:44 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello deathlings, how y'all doin'?
Y'all. No matter how I many times I try, it just sounds awkward. I'm WORKING on it.
Recently I was in New Orleans Y'ALL professing my love for oven tombs in a new video!
So much walking and talking and turning and pointing in this one. Are you not impressed? I'm determined to master the Documentarian Talk 'n' Walk.
But boy-howdy do I love those oven tombs. So elegant, so efficient, so civic-minded. And I'm no...
2019-04-06 14:33:23 +0000 UTC View Post