The Victorian Book of the Dead

I am a lover of oddity and history so I had to read this. I was not disappointed! There is so much information and presented in such an entertaining way that I could not put it down until I finished it. I had to follow my husband around, reading bits of it too him. It is a history of the way we look at death in the past and till now. How we went from just ground burial, to the ultra expensive, lined with silk caskets of today, and the events leading to the way we mourn our loved ones today. There are fascinating true tales of cemetery caretakers and their terrifying experiences with strange events in the dead of night, of Irish wakes and the long wait to make sure the dead were REALLY dead in the past when doctors could not always be sure. The strange and morbid customs of the past give a wonderful insight into how our ancestors had to live with the possibility of death and its impact on a daily basis. Today, everything to do with the dead is sanitized. In the fairly recent past, it was much more a part of life, in all its gritty (and often disturbing) reality. Stories of how fathers would open the casket of a loved child every year(!!!??) to look upon their disintegrating features and then rebury them is beyond belief today. And yet it was considered fairly normal a hundred or so years ago. This is the perfect gift for any goth or strange history buff. I know it sounds disgusting, but I actually loved learning something about a part of history I had never considered before.

The author says in the introduction that this is not an encyclopedia, but it covers so much about the popular culture of Victorian death and mourning! There are ghost stories, gruesome stories of things that went wrong at funerals, wakes, and burials (like exploding corpses!), weird stories about banshees, premonitions of death, and Death Angels, and completely mad tales about people who kept bodies in their parlors or lived in the tomb with their loved one. I collect post-mortem photographs so I was interested in the interviews with several Victorian photographers about why people took these photos and some of the difficulties. I also learned how to renovate crape widow’s veils, techniques used to detect life in a patient so he wouldn’t get buried alive, and about the “lost art of the crape threat,” where people would tie crape to a door as a threat or a nasty practical joke, sometimes with dire consequences. There is also a chapter about the New York City Morgue and burials at the Potter’s Field on Hart’s Island. Reading about burials at the Potter’s Field today, it sounds like nothing has changed at all. One of my favorite chapters was on strange deaths—who knew you could die from lizards? Or be murdered by a pet parrot? But just as good was the last chapter, full of heartbreaking stories of loss and sorrow—you’ll probably need a box of tissues. This is a truly entertaining book and there is much here that you probably have not seen before, even if you’re a Victorian history buff or interested in the history of mourning practices. The author has dug up some unique, dark, and strange stories of Victorian death and mourning!

I am still reading and am finding out more and more information about the way the dead was thought of and taken care of, very educational, historical and in some cases funny, recommended for those who just enjoy learning about the past

I thought I was buying a book on the history of death in the Victorian era. This book was interesting and fun, just not what I was looking for.

Are you interested in Victorian culture? Are you fascinated by the Victorian beliefs on death? Then this is the book for you! I throughly love this book, I have always mesmerized different societies view on death and this book transports you back in time to learn about the Victorian's beliefs and rituals. It took me roughly four days to finish this book and at the end of it, well I would like to bring back some old school ways of thinking. The "author" and I say this in quotes because a lot of things included in the book are neespaper clippings from that particular era, anyways the "author" does a really good job with entertaining the reader while spreading knowledge. I give this book a thumbs up and a mediocre recommendation.

This book is a fascinating study of victorian mourning rituals. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it to others. Some of the stories are amusing, none of them are dull, and surprisingly few are truly depressing (despite the subject matter). If I had to find any fault with this book, I would say it was in the layout. I felt that it needed to have some kind of flow, so it felt like a package, rather than a serious of separate chapters that are loosely related by subject. One place I felt the author did especially well was contrasting a vain woman's exorbitantly expensive (and tasteless) funeral with that of a poor infant's interment. Read this--you will love it!

I was expecting this to be an informational chapter book on Victorian mourning practices….and that is what the book is…but rather than the author interpreting historical facts, it’s excerpts of actual historical documents (usually newspapers) to explain the Victorian belief system in their own words. Not seeing this form of writing before, I actually shelved the book for over a year. The other day I came across my copy and decided to give it another shot. I’m so glad I did! I couldn’t put it down! The excerpts clearly illustrates the chapter topics and are excellently cited. I ended up liking the book so much that I looked up and ordered another book by the author. I highly recommend!

Simply put, this is one for a cozy all nighter by the fireside with a large brandy. Chock full of fascinating details, true stories, bizarre and captivating superstitions, rituals, and grisly deaths, this is a page turner you cannot put down. The graphics are divine, the author's writing style is intimate and entertaining as well as educational. I have ordered up ALL of Chris Woodyard's work. Just buy it- you will not be disappointed!

Interesting time in history

Aunque la edición es en sí económica, el contenido vale muchísimo la pena, me enganchó desde el principio, además es una increíble forma de acercarse a la época Victoriana desde una perspectiva peculiar.

I love the humour, pathos and wit in the introductions to these stories. We humans have had and do have some odd ideas about death and ghosts. Having met several of the latter I'm not unnerved in the slightest and can confirm they do know if death bed or will requests have not been met.

I was disappointed with this book because the illustrations explained in the description are very sparse and of poor quality. It is also just a collection of newspaper articles sorted by topic, with some explanations from the author. Since I am quite knowledgeable in this area, the book does not bring me anything new. Besides, the price is too high for a paperback. I sent it back.

Really interesting and full of facts. A great insight into the Victiorians way of "life". i would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in burials.