I am writing a horror story which part of it refers to a woman who cannot get over her father's death. She refuses to have him buried or cremated, therefore she has him stuffed so he can keep be kept at home. Rather like when people keep the ashes of a cremated family member in an urn at home, but this lady wants to keep the intact body.

I gather human taxidermy is illegal in UK, but the lady has to explain something to the lodger when he finds the stuffed corpse, so he happily doesn't report it (or doesn't see any reason to) to the police. Perhaps there's some loophole in the UK law?

Thanks in advance.

[This message has been edited by Dr.Rock (edited June 27, 2005).]

[This message has been edited by Dr.Rock (edited June 27, 2005).]
 

Perhaps she has him freeze-dried so there was no taxidermy.
http://showcase.netins.net/web/helling/at/petp2.htm

The home she owns is a historic site that could be run like a museum, as such she has a permit for mummies.

She could always find a way to blackmail the lodger. Or she could claim that it is a new wax sculpting technique that looks and feels completely natural and life-like -- or a new type of manequin.

----

Interesting concept.
 

Catholic Saints who die and never decompose or even smell.

This is odd. Take a look at Saint Bernadette of Lourdes.

If you want to freak me out have the man in your story die but not decompose or smell, and have the woman take it as a sign.

Here's a bit of a kooky link but take a look:
http://www.forteantimes.com/articles/159_saintspreserved.shtml

[This message has been edited by hoptoad (edited June 27, 2005).]
 

http://travelchannel.igougo.com/planning/journalEntryFreeForm~JournalID~41120~EntryID~20625~n~See%20Jeremy%20Bentham...%20Stuffed!~t~.asp

 

It's always good to get a morbid topic like this going once in a while. Breaks up all that mundane discussion about POV. heh.
 

By doing some digging around, it is easy to donate your body for medical science: http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/pages/koerperspende.asp

So maybe the daughter made some special arrangement with the medical institute to give the embalmed body back. (an alternative to taxidermy). I don't know how effective is the embalming technique used at medical colleges, in preserving the body at room temperature - since I think the bodies used as specimens at medical colleges are stored in freezers.

I'm not sure if the embalming is the same as happens with regular stuff.

She could have asked for the body to be given back for cremation, and maybe at first the paperwork was messed up but rather than correct the oversight, she decided to keep the body. I see that as much more likely than her undertaking (Ha! I mean setting out) to keep the body in the first place. Or he may just have died at home and she never reported it. Like that X files about Luke skywalker and the babies with tails.
 

But keeping a dead person for a few years unreported, is this possible without the authorities eventually finding out? eg, if the authorites realise that the deceased hasn't been paying his taxes, or he hasn't been collecting any benefits he's entitled to, etc. Or am I looking into this too much?
 

Here in Richmond, VA we have a really big medical college (Med. College of VA - MCV). Although the bodies are stored in freezers at the school, before they get to the school, they are held in a warehouse until needed.
FYI - Sometimes they are held for a long period before being used.

My hubby, is a HVAC guy, and he was one of the guys that put the ACs into a warehouse where a company planned to store bodies for sell to MCV.
Basically, they were told to set-up the AC system in such a way that the rooms in the warehouse never, despite weather conditions, got over 50 degrees.
This is because the bodies are simply placed on tables and shelves within the warehouse in body bags. Then the warehouse becomes a giant fridge.
He said it was really creepy working in the building, once they started bringing the bodies into the completed sections.

So maybe, your character could just install a freezer or have a room set-up to stay a certain temp. They could even keep their whole house at 50 degrees.

FYI - The warehouse I mentioned also has it's own emergency generators in case of power failure. Pest control (city rats) is also an issue for them.

 

But would it be believable?
I think so. It was believable in Psycho.
 

These days, as long as she had his debit card and PIN, she could do all his banking through an ATM, over the phone, or on-line. If the father has his pension cheques set-up to go through direct deposit, it is even easier for her. Similarly, taxes could be set-up with a monthly payment plan that is direct debitted from the account.

If she still has to go to the bank on occasion, it could lead to some tense moments if a teller or bank manager started asking questions about where her father is and why she needs to access the account without him.

However, she can only go so long without reporting the death. Depending on his age, it could get suspicious if he never dies...

If she could find a way to hide the body for a while, she could report him as a missing person. Again, depending on the age, she could claim that he had Alzheimer’s or dimentia and he just wandered away. In order for that to work, she would need to be able to hide the dead body while the police do their investigation. Perhaps in the bottom of the deep freeze with food piled on top of him? (Sorry daddy, but it's only for a little while...:P)

[This message has been edited by Robyn_Hood (edited June 29, 2005).]
 

Thanks for the info NewsBys. I'm guessing the bodies stored in the warehouse at 50F were already embalmed? I'm wondering that an unembalmed body would still decompose at this temperature. Thanks again for the information, that was very useful.

 

You know, perhaps she could report his death and then steal his body from the morgue or funeral home.
 

Hey Dr. Rock - Maybe the rats could eat the freeze-dried dad and leave only the feet.
 

I just wondered, isn't freeze drying a very expensive and time-consuming process? I read that to have a pet freeze-dried, the process takes 60-90 days. So for a human, it would take longer. Where can a body be taken for freeze-drying? The person doing the job must have large equipment to accommodate the size of a human, compred to the equipment to freeze-dry a dog or cat.
 

But this will take a lot of time and energy to do. However, natural mummification can occur in arid areas. Maybe the dad could get lost in a desert and later found by the daughter.

Here are some basic links on freeze drying:

http://home.howstuffworks.com/freeze-drying.htm

http://www.freezedriers.com/about.htm

This is a good one:
http://www.freezedryco.com/taxidermy_large_animals.html

Here's a weird one:
http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/ny-lspets4222827apr18,0,6620352.column

Check out this quote from the article:

quote:

---

However indelicate a metaphor, Roof compares freeze-drying to making jerky. Some other household animals, he adds, may not see the distinction and could indulge in some literal ear-nibbling.

Then, there's the water issue. "If you spring a leak in the bathtub overhead, and your pet gets wet, he will rehydrate," he warns. "And you'll have a rotted mess."

Mansfield says he has never heard of either problem.

Owners who want their animals freeze-dried need to have them frozen as soon as possible after death. Veterinarians often have the facilities to do this, Mansfield notes. But customers with small animals sometimes just utilize the family freezer.

It takes a lot to unnerve a guy in the freeze-dried animal business, but some have succeeded. "I get tons of calls from Japan, but they can't get their pets across the border." And it's just as well: Mansfield says many want their animals freeze-dried before they reach old age, so they are captured "in their prime."

---