All photos courtesy of Jörg Buttgereit/Nekromantik
Hayden (not his real name, for reasons that will become obvious) is 18 years old and he will never forget the moment when he first realized he was a necrophile. He was 14 years old at the funeral of a girl who had been a close friend—it was the first time he had come in contact with a corpse.
"I could feel the chill of her skin on my hand for hours is to contact a psychiatrist or psychotherapist. There are a number of strategies that can be employed to help them."
Hayden's therapist initially suggested he attend a help group for various paraphilias, but Hayden said that only aggravated the anxiety and awkwardness he felt about his desires, so he soon stopped attending. The biggest source of support in coming to terms with his taboo desires, he added, has been his girlfriend.
"She reads all the poetry I write, my stories involving necrophilia, even sends me songs or writings she finds about the subject," he said. "She's always told me that it's not abnormal—people have different attractions, and mine just happens to be to corpses."
In the Psychopathia Sexualis entry for necrophilia, Krafft-Ebing writes that whether or not a healthy mind can demonstrate necrophilic tendencies is an open question, worthy of further inquiry. In the 150 some years since its publication, it seems as though the psychiatric community has declared this question answered, with a resounding "no."
It makes sense: History is rife with brutal tales of necrophilic acts, and the simple reality of fornicating with a corpse is enough to make most people nauseous. But as Valentine and others are keen to demonstrate, there may be another side to the story, where necrophilia is not something to be feared and ignored, but may very well open up fruitful discussions and provide valuable insight into the true nature of our cultural attitudes toward sex, love, life, and death.
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