If Death Were a Place

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What if death were an amusement park? Or a fun holiday destination? Would it be less scary? Would it still be death at all?

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[Kazooples]

“You’re not meant to think about it, it’s entertaining :D” when I was 14 I saw Corpse Bride and I was so terrified that life after death was just that small place, and you just live forever if you can’t move on. I had a major depressive episode after that lol.

[andrewdreasler]

The way I prefer to use that phrase is: "Mememto Mori, Memento Vivi." "Remember that you will die, don't forget to live."

[LunaRoseManor]

Ah yes, my favourite genre of fiction. Tiny girl, unimaginable terrors.

[briishcabbage]

Dang, I expected the infinite black desert of Terry Pratchett's death to be here. The place where you go when you don't know where you'll go, that is.

[xenon]

“You cannot live in death” Godwyn the golden: “hold my beer”

[nightmarehound]

In finnish folklore, the realm of the dead was more or less literally the same as the real one, just underground so everything was bit darker. Later/in other parts it was considered as a place where you went to sleep, after the hard work of being alive, which might be the reason for the finnish saying "death pays back/fixes your sleep debts" (kuolema korjaa univelat)

...this paints Finland as a super thrilling place, I know.

[ShawnRavenfire]

"The Good Place" is another interesting take on the world of the dead, running into the abstract problems of dealing with eternity and having literal discussions about the philosophies on life and death.

[thetux]

I like how Death is a place in Garth Nyx's Old Kingdom series. Death as a place is a nested series of transitional realms, connected by a river, with an inexorable pull deeper that can only be overcome with necromancy or becoming a twisted, vampiric spirit. Only at its deepest is there a transition to something beyond, about which all we know is the finality of the crossing.
The river in Death is also used as a way to explain the weakness of undead to running water in the realms of the living.

[sairamadevarakonda]

I really do think that more authors/film writers should use a concept like this a lot more, it's just so damn interesting to explore, and the creativity that could unfold would be really interesting.

[redmii]

"Death isn't scary at all, it's perfectly natural" - Bill Nye the uh Science Guy

[dabestramen]

People have told me that here in Mexico we're obsessed with death, and I gotta say yeah! I never thought about it until people told me but that's basically what Dia de los Muertos is. You shouldn't crave for death, don't get me wrong, you should live as long as possible, but don't be afraid when the time comes. It's part of life after all

[tactishovel]

1:16 I see what you did there. "What is a skeleton's favorite snack?"

[sinofsanity]

On tim burton esque worlds of death I'd like to add del toro's more recent pinocchio.

Pinocchio dies many times, the world of the dead is eerie with skeletal mice carrying coffins. Sometimes the mice play cards. Pinocchio doesn't realise he's dead though, and is sent to the death sphinx

This is where death is trivialised for pinocchio. Since the source of his life is unnatural, he doesn't have the concept of death, the sphinx will just keep him around longer each time he dies

There's likely a lot more to look into with worlds of death or worlds we're meant to move onto, maybe there are worlds of death that don't immediately present themselves that way

[quiescentLunacy]

This video jogged a long-buried memory of a book I read in middle school, called Elsewhere. It's about a fifteen year old girl who dies and ends up in Elsewhere, a limbo realm between death and rebirth. It hit so hard as a deeply depressed kid, reading about a girl grieving and fixating on her own life. It's cathartic. Highly recommend if you want a book that will make you cry.

[ArmanEmamian-vygh]

I feel like death as a place would more be like an adventure if that makes sense? Like there is your core hidden somewhere completely random in this huge world, and the adventures you come across while searching for the core may differ from person to person. And after finding your core you finally reach the great beyond, where your soul finds itself in eternal peace.

[toppersundquist]

If death has jobs and rent, I think I'll pass, thanks.

[Mx.muffin]

There's a book called Moonflower that actually talks about this exact topic. It depics death as a place that is timeless and on a kind of different plane of existence. It's an amazing book, especially for a middle school level book (at least I think so, I did read this in 8th grade). It also talks about themes of depression and suicide

[ScrimmyBingus]

1:48 talebot making the "is for me? 🥺" Pose. You're adorable talebot, never change.

[chatteringbox]

I think one of my favorite depictions of death as a place has to be in Pixar's Coco.
It feels like a habitable world where the dead either live their day to day (un)lives or they relish in doing what they want, the most prevalent is making art and music.
And as silly as the skeleton antics can be, they do take death seriously. Every Day of the Dead, skeletons that are remembered by their families and friends and have their pictures put up are able to cross over into the living world and see them again. However, if their pictures aren't put up or are left forgottenby the living, they simply fade away into what they call "the final death."

As said by American novelist Ernest Hemingway: "Every man has two deaths, when he is buried in the ground, and the last time someone says his name."

[wesleycolvin]

Coco is another great example of an 'upbeat' take on death and the afterlife.