In The End

Although tempting, this is not a review of the movie The Mummy. Instead, we're going OG to give you a more complete picture of Egyptian mummies than you likely got in primary school. Organ gods, organ soup, The Devourer of Souls, and Egyptian excess at its most exquisite. Join us for some mummy talk.   For a general overview of the history of ancient Egypt:Bard, Kathryn A. 2007. An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.On Egyptian conceptions of the afterlife:Assmann, Jan. 2001. Death and Salvation in Ancient Egypt. Munich: C.H. Beck.For details on death, burial, mummification, and the cult of the dead:Reeves, Nicholas and Richard H. Wilkinson. 1996. The Complete Valley of the Kings. London: Thames & Hudson.Lehner, Mark. 1997. The Complete Pyramids. London: Thames & Hudson.Lacce, William W. 2013. Mummification and Death Rituals of Ancient Egypt. San Diego: Reference Point Press.Harrington, Nicola. 2013. Living with the Dead: Ancestor Worship and Mortuary Ritual

In April 1981 at least three people were gruesomely and messily murdered in a California cabin. Neighbors as little as 15 feet away heard and saw nothing. Three people were even in the cabin and somehow slept through it. False and maybe not-so-false confessions. Poor police work. Anonymous phone calls about skulls. Also, what about Tina?! This week we bring you an unsolved case that's as confusing and baffling as it is brutal.

Everyone is a little stressed. Okay, most people are straight up panicked. But we at In the End are here for you. Today we bring you a disease episode that is both disgusting and a feel-good story. We'll walk through what smallpox did to people and how humans decided to not let it do that anymore.   Also, if you're interested in any of those outbreak scenarios the CDC put together, you can find them here: https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/bioterrorism-response-planning/index.html

This week we go to Hell! But at least we brought a guide. In this week's episode our guest host, Dalila Alberghina, acts as the Virgil to our Dante as she takes us through the historical context and importance of The Divine Comedy and then goes through all the nitty-gritty details of what this version of the afterlife entails. Want a fun visual and some more information? Visit https://www.alpacaprojects.com/inferno/en/ 

You asked for it, and we're here to deliver. This week we dive into the infamous Donner Party, which set out towards the West Coast in 1846 to claim their piece of the American dream. What went wrong? Basically everything. How bad did it get? Cannibalism.    For further reading:   Rarick, Ethan. 2008. Desperate Passage. The Donner Party’s Perilous Journey West. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Brown, Daniel James. 2009. The Indifferent Stars Above. The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride. New York: Harper Collins. Johnson, Kristin. 1996. “Unfortunate Immigrants.” Narratives of the Donner Party. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press.

It's an iconic, breathtaking marvel of modern engineering. It's also been an incredibly popular spot to jump to one's death basically since it opened. Today we're taking a surprisingly thorough dive into the history of suicide and The Golden Gate Bridge.  If you're interested in an even more thorough history on the topic, might we suggest the book The Final Leap: Suicide on the Golden Gate Bridge by Jason Bateson (2012). Although many of our topics can get morbid, we recognize that suicide can be especially difficult for some listeners. If you or someone you know is struggling, please know there are resources out there to help. United States: The National Suicide Hotline (1-800-273-8255) is available 24/7 for crisis intervention and to help you find resources near you. They are also available on live chat (suicidepreventionlifeline.org). Canada: Crisis Services Canada is available 24/7 for phone, text, or online chats to help you through a crisis or connect you with resources near you. (crisisservicescanada.c

So, where do we go from all-day open pyres and dressing up bones? To the modern era of cremation! For the second part of our series, we follow the evolution of modern cremation (mostly in the US) starting in bucolic Pennsylvania, United States. Think it's boring? Well, we kick off with a "dirty old man," a pagan funeral, and a body preserved in arsenic for six months. Buckle up.   Want an even more complete history of cremation in America? Check out Purified by Fire: A History of Cremation in America by Stephen Prothero.

We've teased it. We've talked about it. It's finally here! This week, we take on the first part of our cremation series. Spectacularly specific rituals, bones in costume, and just enough gross stuff to make you remember you're listening to In the End.   Also, incredibly detailed resources if you want more info: For Hittite royal cremations: van den Hout, T. P. J. 1994. Death as a Privilege. The Hittite Royal Funerary Ritual. In Hidden Futures. Death and Immortality in Ancient Egypt, Anatolia, the Classical, Biblical and Arabic-Islamic World. T. P. J. van den Hout, R. Peters and J. M. Bremer, ed. Pp. 37-75. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.    Article that talks about the links between Greek and Hittite cremations (since I specifically mention it):  Rutherford, Ian. 2007. Achilles and the Sallis Wastais Ritual: Performing Death in Greece and Anatolia. In Performing Death. Social Analyses of Funerary Traditons in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean, edited by Nicola Laneri, pp. 223-236. Oriental Instit

New Year's resolutions are in full swing and that diet might be getting you down. We're not going to tell you not to diet, but we are going to talk about what happens if you go just a little too far with it. This week it's starvation - what it is, what happens to your body, and what the risks are.

It's the holiday season and so our present to you, our dear listeners, is a holiday-themed morbid mystery! A missing nurse, a secluded cabin, mystery clothing, magical barrels. This one's a weird, weird murder mystery from North Carolina, and we're going to try to unpack what we know and what might have happened to Debbie Wolfe in December 1985.

Is it real? Do you become the human torch? What in the actual hell is going on? Don't worry, we've got you covered. There's a perfectly thorough explanation and also a few moments that will make you go, "Ew!" That's sort of our sweet spot. So, enjoy this episode on spontaneous human combustion.   The two articles Tara specifically mentions: Christensen, A. M. 2002. Experiments in the Combustibility of the Human Body. Journal of Forensic Science 47 (3): 466-470.Koljonen, V. and Kluger, N. 2012. Spontaneous Human Combustion in the Light of the 21st Century. Journal of Burn Care and Research 33 (3): e102-e108. Also good: Levi-Faict, T. W. and Quatrehomme, G. 2011. So-Called Spontaneous Human Combustion. Journal of Forensic Science 56 (5): 1334-1339.Byard, R. W. 2016. The Mythology of “Spontaneous” Human Combustion. Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology 12: 350-352.

Dead bodies look... well, dead. But wait! There are hundreds of products you can find to perk up those dead bodies and get them looking glowy and fresh-faced in (way more than) no time. From Plasdo-5 to feature builders and mouth formers, mortuary products have got you covered and we're here to talk about many, many of them with you.

Fun fact: It's actually days of the dead. And there's "bread of the dead." Today we're discussing the history and evolution of Day of the Dead. Is it an authentic Latin tradition? Is it a well-packaged money grab pandering to wealthy tourists? Is it an opportunity for cultural pride and inclusion? Maybe it's all of these. But it's definitely a chance to think about death and the experiences surrounding it. 

It's October, so clearly we needed to have a spooky episode of our death podcast for you. So, in the spirit of the season, we bring you the history of vampires - a delicious mix of folklore, superstition, pop culture, and a very poor understanding of anatomy and medicine. Happy Halloween, folks!   References mentioned in the episode: Barber, P. 1988. Vampires, Burial, and Death. Folklore and Reality. New Haven: Yale University Press. Beresford, M. 2008. From Demons to Dracula. The Creation of the Modern Vampire Myth. London: Reaktion Books.  Gregoricka, Lesley, Tracy K. Betsinger, Amy B. Scott, and Marek Polcyn. 2014. Apotropaic Practices and the Undead: A Biogeochemical Assessment of Deviant Burials in Post-Medieval Poland. PloS ONE 9(11): e113564. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/07/31/vampires-remains-were-found-about-years-ago-now-dna-is-giving-him-new-life/?noredirect=on

Feeling a little hot and cold? Got the chills but also sweats? It's probably just late fall.... or maybe you have malaria? It's honestly probably not malaria depending on where you live. But maybe? So, find out malaria's deal as we discuss what it is, how it works, whence it came, and where it's at.

Thinking of starting a cult? Well, for this super, mega episode we're diving into the evolution and demise of The Peoples Temple - the mac daddy of cautionary tales about cults. Plus, we offer you a mini morbid mystery if you can stick through to the end.   For more reading, might we suggest: For primary sources such as transcriptions and audio recordings: Alternative Considerations of Jonestown For a well-researched, comprehensive history by someone on the ground try The Raven by Tim Reiterman  

We're back! And to kick off our second season, we thought we'd start things out with a morbid mystery involving a creepy tape, a water tank, and a Depression Era hotel in La-la Land.

Guys, it's our last episode of Season 1. We know you're all sad, so we thought we'd walk you through the grieving process so you'll know if your reaction to this news is normal or you'll need to seek professional help to get you through this extremely emotional time.

Ever stop to think how weird coffins are? We definitely have. We're going to give you some history and a general idea of how coffins and caskets work (and in some ways don't) today in the U.S.

Looking for some nightmare fuel? We've got some things to Google as we take on a historical morbid mystery from the frozen tundra.