Post-Mortem Photography
Victorian England had a lot of bizarre trends and social understanding that would confuse us today, but none were as creepy as the post-mortem photography trend. For years, the norm was for living family members to take one last photograph with their deceased sons, daughters, parent or relative.
The family would dress in formal wear, and sit next to the body, which was put on a chair, or placed in a special stand that held it in place and made it look more ‘alive’. The result is creepy and occasionally scary photographs that probably did very little to ease the unbearable pain of the mourning family.