America’s next top mortician: “It really improves your life to be around corpses”

Sat, 27 Oct 2012 22:00:00 +0000

When we think of morticians, we certainly don’t imagine a bubbly, self-effacing 28-year-old woman like Caitlin Doughty. But that’s who you’ll encounter in “Ask a Mortician,” the YouTube series she has been posting over the past year in which she discusses death, decomposition, funeral practices and grief.

The darkly funny shorts — there are 12 installments to date — have drawn in 434,000 views. Doughty gleefully describes the gory details of her job, answering questions like: “Is it true caskets sometimes explode due to the gasses released in decomposition?” (Yes); “Do crematory operators cut the leg tendons of corpses to prevent them from sitting upright as they burn?” (No); and “What do decomposing bodies smell like?” (“Citrus fruits, licorice and fish, mixed in a bucket and left in the sun for several days”).

Salon.com > caitlin doughty

America’s next top mortician: “It really improves your life to be around corpses”