Mystery: May 02, 2007 Issue [#1690]
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Mystery


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  Edited by: Tehanu Author IconMail Icon
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Table of Contents

1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions

About This Newsletter

They say that "guns don't kill people, people kill people." Well I think the gun helps. If you just stood there and yelled BANG, I don't think you'd kill too many people. - Eddie Izzard, Dressed to Kill

Thank Heaven! the crisis --The danger, is past, and the lingering illness, is over at last -- and the fever called "Living" is conquered at last. - Edgar Allan Poe

Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome. - Isaac Asimov


Word from our sponsor

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Letter from the editor

Body Disposal


This week's topic may sound gruesome, but I'm not necessarily describing how to hide corpses. To me, what is almost as mysterious as life after death is how humans dispose of their dead.

The ways I am most familiar with are casket burial and cremation. Scattering cremated ashes is illegal in some areas, while in others it is legal and encouraged. In reading up on cremation, I found that there are some very different ways to handle the ashes. Some of these ideas are typical, while others are pretty unique - and apt for an eccentric character's disposal:

*Bullet* keep inside a display urn or box
*Bullet* keep inside locket
*Bullet* scatter around special, typically outdoor, place
*Bullet* bury underground
*Bullet* ship via helium balloon
*Bullet* disperse via fireworks
*Bullet* place in shotgun shell and shot
*Bullet* drop from plane
*Bullet* send into space
*Bullet* turn into artificial diamond or artificial reef*


Cryonics is another way to store a dead person, but it is in the hopes that the deceased may be reanimated in the future. Halting a corpse's decay is a costly and possibly futile endeavor.

Sky burial, whole body donations, embalming, burning on a pyre, and burial at sea are other ways of permanently displacing human remains. I personally like the idea of a Viking King's send-off.

Decisions to settle bodily remains is sometimes planned in advance by the deceased, or decided after death by relatives.

Describing how a person's remains are treated after death may shed light on a mystery. For instance, a relative who keeps the victim's ashes in a cardboard box may care more about holding onto all the inherited money instead of building a marble tomb, as the deceased wished. A mother who keeps her daughter's ashes in a vial around her neck probably wasn't the one to off the victim.

Instead of describing the more typical wake and funeral in your stories, consider playing around with a more unique send-off!

* Suggestions are from Wikipedia page on death


Editor's Picks

Mystery Reads



From Ashes ~ Family Revelations Open in new Window. (18+)
What happens to the ashes and bits of bone in a crematory ~ possibly this
#1076746 by Kate - Writing & Reading Author IconMail Icon


 The Paintball Players Open in new Window. (E)
The mystery of some dead teens.
#1254242 by Coupe Author IconMail Icon


 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#1240562 by Not Available.


 Lost? Open in new Window. (E)
Inspired by a walk on a rainy and lonely day.
#1251029 by Rosamund Hawkins Author IconMail Icon


 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#1246145 by Not Available.



 
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Ask & Answer

*Star* Last Month's Feedback *Star*


Stiggles Author Icon

Thank you so much for highlighting these chapters! I appreciate the exposure!

I hate playing those scratch off tickets. When I first started playing them years ago, I'd win a few dollars here and there, and even picked four our six numbers correctly once for the state lotto, but I always lost much more $ than I ever won. I haven't played in years and doubt I ever will again.

Thanks again for the plug, and for the great newsletter.

Frederick Author Icon:

It seems to me writers play a kind of lottery whenever they try to create a new story.

Budroe Author Icon

Tehanu:

Thank you for an enjoyable Newsletter. I have an absolutely guaranteed way to win the Lottery: don't buy a ticket! In my world, if you don't lose, you win!

In His Care,

Budroe

*Bullet* *Bullet* *Bullet* Don't Be Shy! Write Into This Newsletter! *Bullet* *Bullet* *Bullet*

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