As most everyone knows I have decided to go back to school. School is not a strong suit of mine, so why go back at all? And why to become an undertaker? That’s just weird… morbid… gross…

Yes, those are some of the responses I have received about my decision to go back to school to become an embalmer. So, I decided to talk about it here and maybe clarify to some of the less supportive types why it is for me.

Embalming isn’t for everyone! Well, guess what? I am not everyone. I am me. Which brings me to a great question. Who am I that I would want to go back to school for something as strange as this?

So, here goes. Why dead people… why now?



First off I grew up with a fascination for the more morbid, dark, and eerie things in life. I can credit this to movies like Night of the Living Dead, From Beyond, The Re-Animator, and Phantasm. These were the types of moves I clung to as a pre-teen. I still cling to them today. They are fun. Silly. Sad. And yes, weird. Of all of those movies I would like to credit Phantasm to my sudden interest in mortuary science. For those of you that don’t know that movie, it is about a group of people that realize an undertaker in their town is doing bad things. These bad things lead to the decimation of the town. And later, the world. In a nutshell I was introduced to the idea of mortuary science at a young age.



Later in life while on tour I played a show somewhere in NC or MI. Regardless of where it was at I stayed at a house one night after the show. At this house there was a girl about my age cooking spaghetti and reading a textbook that had images in it much like the ones in the movies I grew up watching. Much like what was in that food she was cooking. Red and chunky. She was a college student going to school to be a mortician. It wasn’t until then that it dawned on me that mortuary science was even an option. Until that moment I had always assumed that you were simply born into it and that was that. But this isn’t the case. People go to school for this stuff. From then on (which was about 4 years ago) that thought lingered with me. But I never pursued it. Instead I became what I always was… what I always knew.



Prior to touring and playing music out of a van I was a machinist with a little welding experience. There is nothing wrong with that at all. I actually make good money. But, after tour I picked back up with what I already knew. And where I currently live in Texas that is the ‘end all’ for anyone without formal education outside of trade school. Welding and machining. What fun. The hours are long and the money is good. What else is there? A lot actually. I may not look it, but I am a big believer in doing what is right for the planet. And drilling for oil and pumping chemicals into our atmosphere via process plants and refineries is not the thing to do. So, working in this field I feel like a hypocrite. You can only feel this way for so long before you begin to start thinking you should do something else with your life. Something more meaningful. Something that goes beyond polluting the earth for my own personal bank account. And that my friend is what leads me to today.



I finally stepped forward. For many people my decision to pursue this career came out of left field. But I just don’t see how that is the case. I write zombie book for crying out loud. It’s what I am interested in. But beyond myself interest there is something more. The need to feel like I contribute to society rather than just look out for my own monetary gain at the expense of the health of future generations.

And I truly do believe that mortuary science is that answer for me. I can do something I am interested in while helping people through the grief of losing a loved one. Even if I am just the embalmer I am still a key part of that process. That final goodbye.

And if saying goodbye to the people we love isn’t important, then what is?