# How would someone become a (Yuk!) Necrophile?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-someone-become-a-yuk-necrophile/125705
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 27, 2002, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-someone-become-a-yuk-necrophile/125705 "2002-08-27T01:05:35Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2002, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-someone-become-a-yuk-necrophile/125705/1 "2002-08-27T01:05:35Z")
I’d always known that there were people who had an, ah, “interest” in the recently departed, but I could never understand how someone could develop a (ewww) desire for them. This is a deeply disgusting topic, and yet I have to know: what would cause this particular fetish to appear?
I’d just like to add: I now must take a long, hot shower and scrub my brain with brillo. If you are too disgusted to answer, I don’t blame you and thank you
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### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2002, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-someone-become-a-yuk-necrophile/125705/2 "2002-08-27T01:13:14Z")
I believe Dahmer wanted a zombie-like, passive, lover. Can’t get more passive than dead! I wonder if most necros are more turned on by the passiveness than the deadness.
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### Author:  [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2002, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-someone-become-a-yuk-necrophile/125705/3 "2002-08-27T01:16:48Z")
\*\*\*\*\*\* A LITTLE BIT OOKY ALERT! \*\*\*\*\*\*
[Interview with a necrophiliac](http://www.shine.net.au/shinemag/unreg/necro.htm).
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### Author:  [@Genseric](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genseric)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2002, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-someone-become-a-yuk-necrophile/125705/4 "2002-08-27T01:40:06Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Ringo \*
> \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* A LITTLE BIT OOKY ALERT! \*\*\*\*\*\*
>
> [Interview with a necrophiliac](http://www.shine.net.au/shinemag/unreg/necro.htm). \*\*
> [@](#):
>
> With guys, they always felt I went for the bodies because I was hard up, and if I went to bed with them then that would change me and they would be the one who would give me such satisfaction I wouldn’t need those old corpses anymore. I’ve run into that a lot. Sometimes I had guys come on to me for just that reason.
:eek:
What’s more shocking, necrophiliacs, or guys who are attracted to necrophiliacs?
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2002, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-someone-become-a-yuk-necrophile/125705/5 "2002-08-27T02:33:29Z")
I’ve never been able to understand the number of people who find the idea of vampires as erotic. You’re talking about corpses that go around killing and cannibalizing people. This is the basis for a sex fantasy?
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### Author:  [@ski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ski)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2002, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-someone-become-a-yuk-necrophile/125705/6 "2002-08-27T02:40:40Z")
How about this guess - it’s a lot easier to get a woman to go to bed with you if they’re dead. Maybe it’s a simple matter of being lazy!
But I agree, the whole idea is gross.
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### Author:  [@Mentor\_and\_Liar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mentor_and_Liar)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2002, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-someone-become-a-yuk-necrophile/125705/7 "2002-08-27T02:41:53Z")
Necrophilia leaves me cold.
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### Author:  [@Mandarax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mandarax)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2002, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-someone-become-a-yuk-necrophile/125705/8 "2002-08-27T02:50:28Z")
[Crime Library](http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminology2/necrophiles/4.htm) has a page with a bit of psychobabble about necrophilia. A word of warning, though – while **Ringo** might find it only a “little bit ooky”, I found it quite ooky indeed.
And **ski** , this was said about one serial killer necrophiliac: “In his final analysis, when contemplating whether he’d have achieved the same pleasure from killing a man, he thought not: **there was just a thrill about having a woman around, he said, dead or alive**.”
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### Author:  [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2002, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-someone-become-a-yuk-necrophile/125705/9 "2002-08-27T13:09:19Z")
I wouldn’t be caught dead with a necrophiliac…
But I hear necrophilia is dead good.
Sorry, someone had to do it. 😉
**Also:**
An Irishman who was on trial asked the judge the nature of the charges against him. The judge informed him that he was on trial for necrophilia. To this, the puzzled Irishman asked what necrophilia was. The judge explained that it meant making love to a dead person. The indignant Irishman protested that he had not realized the woman was dead, he had just thought that she was British.
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### Author:  [@Jdeforrest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jdeforrest)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2002, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-someone-become-a-yuk-necrophile/125705/10 "2002-08-27T13:40:20Z")
I read that thing in the crime lab site about a week or so ago. Basically it’s a power trip. They have complete control over that person. The person can’t get up and leave when they want, can’t say no, etc…
Also, it mentioned that necrophilic tendencies normally happen when a child has an interest in death at a young age (one of their case studies had a guy who dissected road kill as a child) and as their sexual drive starts to come into play, the two are intertwined which creates a feeling of sexual excitement when around dead things.
Seems to make sense.
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### Author:  [@AveDementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AveDementia)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2002, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-someone-become-a-yuk-necrophile/125705/11 "2002-08-27T14:11:31Z")
IANA psychologist, but I would theorize that it’s an extreme control issue. The body would never be able to leave, fight, disagree, etc. or otherwise cause the necrophiliac pain. I think, also, even in death the necrophiliac stills sees the body (or even parts of the body) as a person- you know, someone to have a relationship with.
Dahlmer’s father, in his biography of his son, says that he believes it was a control issue, and that the cannibalism was a way to further gain power over his victims. JD also had a major issue with abandonment and had been dissecting dead things since he was a child. Interesting book, one part of it really stuck with me- he said they had filmed a family get together (including Jeffrey) that he watched again after the arrest, trial, etc. Apparently JD was sitting at a table with his leg crossed. He hadn’t noticed at the time of the filming, but every time someone mentioned “the apartment” JD’s toe would twitch.
And necrophilia is such a gross topic, I can’t believe I’m sitting here eating while I write about it. :eek: I must be getting jaded.
Slightly off-topic here, but has anyone seen those life size amazingly realistic “Love dolls” ? I saw a show once about them, and I wondered if there wasn’t a kind of necrophiliac type of control issue about desiring sex with these things. They are so lifelike that they could be mistaken for real (especially with the eyes closed, they could definitely pass for sleeping)- everything about them is designed to replicate a human female. But since it would be a completely unresponsive female I got the feeling that it could be necrophilia tendencies.
And I really hope we _never ever_ see a thread here called “Ask the Necrophiliac Guy.” :eek:
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### Author:  [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2002, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-someone-become-a-yuk-necrophile/125705/12 "2002-08-27T14:26:42Z")
> [@](#):
>
> IANA psychologist, but I would theorize that it’s an extreme control issue. The body would
> never be able to leave, fight, disagree, etc. or otherwise cause the necrophiliac pain. I think,
> also, even in death the necrophiliac stills sees the body (or even parts of the body) as a
> person- you know, someone to have a relationship with.
Serial killer Dennis Nilsen is a prime example of someone whose crushing loneliness and mental instability, plus what he claimed as the traumatic childhood event of seeing his grandfather’s corpse, led to the murder of several men, who Nilsen kept in his apartment for company. Nilsen recalls his emotions after committing his first murder:
> [@](#):
>
> “It was the beginning of the end of my life as I had known it,” Nilsen
> wrote. “I had started down the avenue of death and possession of a
> new kind of flat-mate.”
>
> ```
> Rather than being appalled by the sight of a corpse, he thought it quite
> beautiful. He did not really know why he had killed the young man. He
> just had not wanted him to leave. He had spent Christmas alone and
> did not want to do the same for New Year’s. Now he had someone to
> spend it with.
>
> ```
(From [Dennis Nilson on the Crime Library site](http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial4/nilsen/index.html))
As far as the “Real Dolls” go (I’m not going to link to anything but do a search if you’re interested), they seem to fulfill a desire for companionship as much as sexual gratification. If the show you’re talking about was “Real Sex,” it struck me that there was also, especially in the segment with the heterosexual couple who buys a female Real Doll, that it was a safe way to experiment sexually.
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### Author:  [@AveDementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AveDementia)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2002, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-someone-become-a-yuk-necrophile/125705/13 "2002-08-27T15:10:29Z")
Oh, yeah. I had read about Dennis Nilson before, but I couldn’t remember his name. That’s an interesting case, just for the fact that he tells his side of the story.
> [@](#):
>
> As far as the “Real Dolls” go (I’m not going to link to anything but do a search if you’re interested), they seem to fulfill a desire for companionship as much as sexual gratification.
Yeah, that’s what I mean. Who desires companionship (and a sexual relationship) with an exact but lifeless replica of a woman?
> [@](#):
>
> If the show you’re talking about was “Real Sex,” it struck me that there was also, especially in the segment with the heterosexual couple who buys a female Real Doll, that it was a safe way to experiment sexually.
It struck you that there was also? That’s a bit of a runaway sentence there, and I’m not sure what you’re getting at. Could you clarify?
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### Author:  [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2002, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-someone-become-a-yuk-necrophile/125705/14 "2002-08-27T15:25:33Z")
. . . I’m pretty sure The New School offers courses . . .
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### Author:  [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2002, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-someone-become-a-yuk-necrophile/125705/15 "2002-08-27T15:26:50Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Fairblue \*
> **Yeah, that’s what I mean. Who desires companionship (and a sexual relationship) with an exact but lifeless replica of a woman?**
Maybe someone who’s completely discouraged by their experiences with real women? Then again, given the price range on those things (I think $5000 seemed normal), it may just appeal to the rich and eccentric.
And as long as I’m here…
Q: What did the necrophile say to the corpse?
A: Is that rigor mortis, or are you just happy to see me?
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### Author:  [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2002, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-someone-become-a-yuk-necrophile/125705/16 "2002-08-27T16:04:06Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Fairblue \*
> \*\*
>
> It struck you that there was also? That’s a bit of a runaway sentence there, and I’m not sure what you’re getting at. Could you clarify? \*\*
Yeah, yeah. Got a little distracted by my boss. I was trying to say that I thought there was an element to buying the Real Doll that had nothing to with wanting to have sex with, in your words, an "exact and lifeless replica of a woman (which implies a progression to necrophilia), but with wanting to do some heathly experimenting without getting actual people involved.
> [@](#):
>
> **Who desires companionship (and a sexual relationship) with an
> exact but lifeless replica of a woman?**
I think **ultrafiler** hits it close to the mark.
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### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2002, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-someone-become-a-yuk-necrophile/125705/17 "2002-08-27T18:53:24Z")
**Mandarax** ’s link says “the most common motive cited by psychologists as the attempt to gain possession of an unresisting or nonrejecting partner.”
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### Author:  [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2002, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-someone-become-a-yuk-necrophile/125705/18 "2002-08-27T19:57:41Z")
I just have to say, this is an interesting thread to pop up when doing a vanity search. I definitely wasn’t expecting it. 😃
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### Author:  [@AveDementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AveDementia)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2002, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-someone-become-a-yuk-necrophile/125705/19 "2002-08-27T20:23:44Z")
Please excuse me, I must have been more tired than I thought. When I said “lifeless” I did not mean to imply that the necrophilia tendencies there were because the doll resembles a corpse. It’s my opinion that the tendencies are there in the absolute power that is held over the “Real doll,” as well as the potential to establish a relationship with it that highly resembles the manner in which necrophiles report doing with a corpse. These dolls appear to be made with this specifically in mind. (i.e. They’re specifically for sexual companionship as opposed to being store mannequins or art pieces.)