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Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Book Review - How to Build a Corpse by Di Stefano Productions

Sometime last September I was browsing a forum somewhere and there was a post about this website that had pictures of a baby with a corpse. So being the ever curious one that I am I immediately searched for it and found the website Corpses for Sale. As I looked around the site I remember thinking, "These are some realistic looking corpses if I ever have seen some."
On the site there isn't much about the author/corpse maker and at the time of my site viewing the site hadn't been updated since 2007. So in April of this year I sent an e-mail to the site asking if the book they offered was still available. I received a prompt reply that it in fact was still available. So my wife (the ever trooper that she is) sent the $24.45 ($19.95 + $4.50 p&h). A few days later, I received the book. As you can see from the picture, the book is put together a lot like Steve Hickman's series is. The book appears to be produced either from a home printer or at a Kinko's or store like that. My assumption is that these are word documents that have been printed and comb bound (like you would use one of these for http://www.binding.com/catalog.aspx?catid=plasticcombpunching ) The formatting does look good and the pictures in the book are clear. I would have prefered the pictures to have been color though. Now for my disclaimer: I have not tried any of the instructions in this book yet. With that said, it is definitely on my list of "when I have the time to do this I will". The book is divided in several "chapters" and they give clear and concise instructions on what to do. the author appears to have researched how the body looks and decays very extensively. The techniques in this book are unlike any of the other online instructions that I have seen for "corpsing" techniques. Some basic techniques for body casting are also included in the book. At the end of the book, there is a list of suppliers for some of the materials needed. I figured that if I followed the directions in the book exactly, I can build a very realistic looking corpse for about $60 out of pocket...
So the question... is this a must have item? No, not in my opinion. The corpsing techniques that you can find online for free will suffice for most. I do feel that for under $25 this was a good buy for me. I do, however recommend this for anyone that wants to bring the "realism" factor up a notch (or several) in their corpses.
Happy Haunting!!!
~Bill

2 comments:

  1. Cool! Did not know this book existed. Definately going to get myself a copy...just cause I like to have this kind of stuff around.

    Let us know if you make something from the book. I would love to see your work.

    Cheers!

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  2. I have made a few of these and after the first one, it is fairly easy. Making body molds of my hands and ears was interesting and the corpses look really good up close, not just from the street.

    ReplyDelete