Improbable File: Bring Out Your Dead

Image by thivierr via Flickr

A new paper tries to do something you might not have thought was necessary: It attempts to discern all the — let’s call them flavors — of necrophilia, which the paper describes as “one of the most weird, bizarre and revolting practices of abnormal and perverse sensuality” (judgmental much? sheesh…).

According to the abstract:

Necrophilia is a paraphilia whereby the perpetrator gets sexual pleasure in having sex with the dead. Most jurisdictions and nations have laws against this practice. Necrophilia exists in many variations, and some authors have attempted to classify necrophilia. However many related terms such as pseudonecrophilia continue being used differently by different authors, necessitating the introduction of a new classification system. The classification system suggested by the author attempts to put all different shades of necrophilia under 10 classes.

The paper theorizes that “Necrophilia may be explained — in some cases at least — by the simple fact that the dead can not refuse, reject or resist; they also do not tell tales or talk back.” But, of course, this explanation feels as lacking as it might applied to other perversions, such as pedophilia. While someone might engage in such depraved acts out of a sheer lack of alternatives — and some, no doubt, do — there are also those who seem to enjoy it on its own terms.

So, I guess that’s why we need a classification system.

Before I give you the 10 classes — after the jump — here’s a little necro-history you might not have known (or wanted to know):

In ancient times, when dead bodies were transported across nations by sea for last funeral rites (as in cases of deaths of people occurring in foreign countries), sailors were often accused of necrophilia. Long transportation periods along with loneliness and lack of witnesses allowed, and even encouraged sailors to commit acts of necrophilia with dead bodies.

Nautical!

Okay, onto the classes (text all excerpted from paper — entries shortened — there’s lots more in the paper — it may not seem it, but I’m sparing you a LOT of gory details):

Class I necrophiliacs: role players

These people are only mildly pathological, since they seem to enjoy a kind of role playing. They do not have sex with a dead body, but get intense arousal from having sex with a living person pretending to be dead. It is a kind of sexual role play. Some authors have called this practice pseudonecrophilia. Some others have used the terms simulated necrophilia, and symbolic necrophilia.10 A more appropriate term appears to be necrobiophilia (from Greek nekros, dead, and bios, living). Certain Parisian brothels cater to this perversion; the prostitute is made up like a corpse with a pallid appearance, dressed in a shroud, and lies in a coffin (often known as casket sex).

Class II necrophiliacs: romantic necrophiles

These people show only very mild necrophilic tendencies. These are the normal bereaved people, who cannot bear separation from their loved ones. They do not seem to agree that their loved ones have died. They mummify their loved ones’ dead body (or parts of them) and continue relate sexually to them much as they did in life.

Class III necrophiliacs: People having a necrophilic fantasy — necrophilic fantasizers

Class III necrophiliacs are somewhat less innocuous from a legal standpoint. Psychosocially, they do show an aberrant behavior and are thus abnormal. These necrophiles do not engage in sexual intercourse with the dead. They are content simply with fantasizing sexual intercourse with the dead. They may visit cemeteries and funeral parlors often for this purpose, and merely the sight of dead bodies may give them erotic pleasure.

Some may be seen masturbating during funeral sermons or dirges as they sit in a crowd of mourners. These kinds of incidents have occurred at the Paris morgue several years ago, whereby a certain number of individuals were discovered, on different occasions, in the act of masturbating in front of the glass case where the cadavers were exposed. These incidents ultimately necessitated a well-directed surveillance system to prevent repetitions.

Class IV necrophiliacs: tactile necrophiles

These necrophiles go one step ahead of class III necrophiles and need to touch a dead body in some erotic way in order to get an orgasm. They enjoy touching, stroking parts of the dead body, such as genitalia or breasts or perhaps licking them. Some may even take up jobs as mortuary attendants, or some other job dealing with the dead, because they want to be near dead bodies.

Class V necrophiliacs: people having a fetishistic necrophilia — fetishistic necrophiles

These necrophiliacs are a shade more abnormal than classes III and IV necrophiliacs, but they still do not engage in any copulatory activity with the dead. Instead, if they come across a dead body and if chance arose, they would cut up some portion of the body — perhaps a breast — for later fetishistic activities.

Class VI necrophiliacs: people having a necromutilomania — necromutilomaniacs

These individuals also do not engage in sexual intercourse with the dead. However their erotic pleasure comes from mutilating the dead body and masturbating simultaneously.

Class VII necrophiliacs: opportunistic necrophiles

Normally they are quite content having intercourse with the living and would not think of engaging in sexual intercourse with the dead. However if an opportunity arose, they would. Rosman and Resnick describe an interesting case under this category in which a 37-year-old single white male, who was dating a 49-year-old woman, and was having normal sexual relations with her. One day he accidentally shot her under the influence of alcohol. He panicked and tried to hide the dead body. When he was hiding her body, he became sexually excited and had anal intercourse with the corpse, and then disposed it of.

Class VIII necrophiliacs: regular necrophiles

These are the “classical” necrophiliacs, as one normally understands. They would not enjoy sexual intercourse with the living, even if this choice were available to them. Instead they would seek out a dead body to have sexual intercourse with, because they get more pleasure in having sex with a dead body. They would resort to stealing dead bodies from mortuaries or graveyards for this purpose.

Class IX necrophiliacs: homicidal necrophiles

This is the most dangerous category of necrophiliacs. They need to have sex with a dead body to the extent, that they resort to killing. They are also known as violent necrophiles or lagnonectors (persons who kill in order to have sex with the corpse), and the practice is often known as homicidophilia.

Class X necrophiliacs: exclusive necrophiles

This group, which is perhaps the rarest of all, is not necessarily the most dangerous. However this is still listed in the last, because these offenders need only dead bodies for intercourse. They are unable to perform intercourse with the living. Since dead bodies is an absolute necessity for them for sex, they may go to any length to acquire them. In as much as this, they may be more dangerous than the rest. If a given necrophile is able to perform sex with a living person of either sex or of any age, he would not be listed among this class.

HT: Mind Hacks