# Is this photo real? \[Warning: Morbid and Creepy!} -- posing with dead relative **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 9, 2015, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-photo-real-warning-morbid-and-creepy-posing-with-dead-relative/734045 "2015-10-09T17:26:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-photo-real-warning-morbid-and-creepy-posing-with-dead-relative/734045/1 "2015-10-09T17:26:07Z")
Since this is a Halloweeny time, I was looking for creepy photos on Google. Apparently, a lot of people in Victorian times would pose with their dead relatives. I stumbled upon this particular pic, and the supposed corpse doesn’t seem quite real to me. The prportions seem wrong : [Once again, I shall put a warning. This photo is a bit gruesome and weird.] Okay, here we go : [![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CFMC2nAUgAEH-n3.jpg) ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CFMC2nAUgAEH-n3.jpg) Is that really a human (er… ex-human), or is it fake ? Don’t need the answer fast. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-photo-real-warning-morbid-and-creepy-posing-with-dead-relative/734045/2 "2015-10-09T17:37:32Z")
[Victorian post mortem photography.](http://www.cracked.com/article_20577_the-6-most-terrifying-things-people-used-to-do-with-dead.html) ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-photo-real-warning-morbid-and-creepy-posing-with-dead-relative/734045/3 "2015-10-09T17:59:52Z")
This was a fairly common practice in Victorian times. I can’t explain why people did it, but it did happen. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-photo-real-warning-morbid-and-creepy-posing-with-dead-relative/734045/4 "2015-10-09T18:06:13Z")
> [@gytalf2000](#): > > [Once again, I shall put a warning. This photo is a bit gruesome and weird.] > Okay, here we go : > [https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CFMC2nAUgAEH-n3.jpg](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CFMC2nAUgAEH-n3.jpg) This particular picture looks really strange (I’m not even sure if this is actually a dead body on the left, it could be a horribly disfigured, living person), but other than that, it wasn’t unusual to pose for a picture with deceased relatives/loved ones. I’ve seen pictures of parents posing with their dead child. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-photo-real-warning-morbid-and-creepy-posing-with-dead-relative/734045/5 "2015-10-09T18:09:28Z")
This [imgur gallery](http://imgur.com/gallery/6fQYa) says it is a “[p]ost mortem photograph of two sisters, one of whom died of syphilis.” I make no claims to the accuracy of that. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-photo-real-warning-morbid-and-creepy-posing-with-dead-relative/734045/6 "2015-10-09T18:11:01Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > This particular picture looks really strange (I’m not even sure if this is actually a dead body on the left, it could be a horribly disfigured, living person), but other than that, it wasn’t unusual to pose for a picture with deceased relatives/loved ones. I’ve seen pictures of parents posing with their dead child. Oh yeah, I realize that. The Victorians were creepy as hell. The particular photo that I referenced, though, just doesn’t look quite human. Perhaps it was a disfigured human or corpse. The facial features seem all “off” in a way that doesn’t seem to be regular decomposition, at least to me. Perhaps I’m wrong, though… ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-photo-real-warning-morbid-and-creepy-posing-with-dead-relative/734045/7 "2015-10-09T18:50:49Z")
Doing some googling I found a number of [versions of that photo](https://finalflinguk.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/lez.jpeg) where instead of some sort of disfigured monster on the left both of the women looked perfectly normal. Thus I assume it is a photoshopped fake. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-photo-real-warning-morbid-and-creepy-posing-with-dead-relative/734045/8 "2015-10-09T18:53:32Z")
> [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](#): > > Doing some googling I found a number of [versions of that photo](https://finalflinguk.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/lez.jpeg) where instead of some sort of disfigured monster on the left both of the women looked perfectly normal. Thus I assume it is a photoshopped fake. Or maybe the living sister wanted to recreate the pose a year later, after her sister had died and rotted a bit. Your guess might be a bit more likely, I admit. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-photo-real-warning-morbid-and-creepy-posing-with-dead-relative/734045/9 "2015-10-09T18:54:45Z")
> **[Post-mortem photography](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-mortem_photography)** > > Post-mortem photography is the practice of photographing the recently deceased. Various cultures use and have used this practice, though the best-studied area of post-mortem photography is that of Europe and America. There can be considerable dispute as to whether individual early photographs actually show a dead person or not, often sharpened by commercial considerations. The form continued the tradition of earlier painted mourning portraits. Today post-mortem photography is most common in ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-photo-real-warning-morbid-and-creepy-posing-with-dead-relative/734045/10 "2015-10-09T20:27:14Z")
Good hell, people! READ THE OP! He or she was already fully aware of the practice of post-mortem photography! The question was specifically about this particular picture. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-photo-real-warning-morbid-and-creepy-posing-with-dead-relative/734045/11 "2015-10-09T20:37:18Z")
> [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](#): > > Doing some googling I found a number of [versions of that photo](https://finalflinguk.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/lez.jpeg) where instead of some sort of disfigured monster on the left both of the women looked perfectly normal. Thus I assume it is a photoshopped fake. Hey, that’s fascinating! Thanks for the info. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2015, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-photo-real-warning-morbid-and-creepy-posing-with-dead-relative/734045/12 "2015-10-09T20:53:17Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > This [imgur gallery](http://imgur.com/gallery/6fQYa) says it is a “[p]ost mortem photograph of two sisters, one of whom died of syphilis.” I make no claims to the accuracy of that. As per your info, I “google-image-searched” syphilis, and YOWZA!! I had no idea that the disease could cause such disfigurement. Amazing and truly disgusting images await any who dare follow that path (of image-searching, that is). Color me astonished! ---
**Author:** ![newme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e0b2c6/32.png) [@newme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newme)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-photo-real-warning-morbid-and-creepy-posing-with-dead-relative/734045/13 "2015-10-10T00:15:20Z")
[It is a fake.](http://dealer042.wix.com/post-mortem-photos#!beware-of-photoshopped-images/cb05) ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-photo-real-warning-morbid-and-creepy-posing-with-dead-relative/734045/14 "2015-10-10T03:36:42Z")
I had heard syphilis was disfiguring, I’d never seen it. I hope it was photoshopped because I can’t imagine that poor girl’s life and death. It’s not just Victorians who like post-mortem pictures, though. An acquaintance of an acquaintance posted a picture of her siblings and herself next to the body of their mother who had just died in the ER. I think she was announcing the death. I happened to be on my friend’s facebook page and saw it. The kids all looked to be in their early twenties. It was jarring to see it. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-photo-real-warning-morbid-and-creepy-posing-with-dead-relative/734045/15 "2015-10-10T05:27:38Z")
There’s apparently a monastery or church in Sicily (Palermo?) where they used to until the early 1900’s mummify dead people and mount them on the wall dressed in their Sunday best. The creepiest was a little girl - there was an interview with one of the old ladies who knew her as a playmate before she died. I think Rick Steves of PBS in his original Sicily episode actually shows this. There’s also the story of the mummified (waxed?) outlaw who was discovered in a Hollywood prop collection. In the wild west days, some carnivals would buy executed outlaws’ bodies if nobody claimed them, then embalm and wax them and make them sideshow exhibits. SOmehow, this one got sold on and its origins lost track of; people thought it was a mannequin or wax dummy. It even appeared in a few shows, most notably an episode of Six Million Dollar Man… until one day when it was being moved, an arm fell off and the bone was visible. So we might think some things are weird, but that’s just modern sensibilities. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-photo-real-warning-morbid-and-creepy-posing-with-dead-relative/734045/16 "2015-10-10T12:10:30Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > There’s also the story of the mummified (waxed?) outlaw who was discovered in a Hollywood prop collection. In the wild west days, some carnivals would buy executed outlaws’ bodies if nobody claimed them, then embalm and wax them and make them sideshow exhibits. SOmehow, this one got sold on and its origins lost track of; people thought it was a mannequin or wax dummy. It even appeared in a few shows, most notably an episode of Six Million Dollar Man… until one day when it was being moved, an arm fell off and the bone was visible. > > So we might think some things are weird, but that’s just modern sensibilities. Elmer McCurdy > **[Elmer McCurdy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmer_McCurdy)** > > Elmer J. McCurdy (January 1, 1880 – October 7, 1911) was an American outlaw who was killed in a shoot-out with police after robbing a train in Oklahoma in October 1911. Dubbed "The Bandit Who Wouldn't Give Up", his mummified body was first put on display at an Oklahoma funeral home and then became a fixture on the traveling carnival and sideshow circuit during the 1920s through the 1960s. After changing ownership several times, McCurdy's remains eventually wound up at The Pike amusement zone in... ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-photo-real-warning-morbid-and-creepy-posing-with-dead-relative/734045/17 "2015-10-10T19:03:21Z")
It isn’t real, and I don’t think it’s even a photograph. It’s artwork created by Sharaya Brooks See here, and scroll down : [http://cryptmagazine.com/270228.html](http://cryptmagazine.com/270228.html) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-photo-real-warning-morbid-and-creepy-posing-with-dead-relative/734045/18 "2015-10-10T19:09:33Z")
(Missed the edit window) Also see: [Horror Art: Sharaya Brooks | HNN](http://horrornews.net/39148/horror-art-sharaya-brooks/) ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-photo-real-warning-morbid-and-creepy-posing-with-dead-relative/734045/19 "2015-10-10T22:01:26Z")
I could swear that [Cracked.com](http://Cracked.com) had something on postmortem photography, and why it was practiced. Perhaps look there. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-photo-real-warning-morbid-and-creepy-posing-with-dead-relative/734045/20 "2015-10-12T13:25:03Z")
Thanks for all the info. Fascinating!