Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Record
Daily Record
Lifestyle
Steven White & Lucy Farrell

Undertaker reveals worst possible way to die - and you've probably never heard of it

A Youtuber has revealed the worst way a person can die - and it is not exactly what you would expect. Caitlin Doughty, better known as Ask a Mortician to her 1.84million subscribers, works in the funeral profession and speaks openly about death in her videos.

The LA-based undertaker, known as a mortician in the US, told her viewers in a one of her Q&A videos that "bad deaths" across cultures all tend to have similar features. She said: "It's tragic and unexpected, a suicide, a homicide, a terrible accident.

"For the survivors, the worst thing could be when the body is never found and funeral and mourning rituals can't be performed."

Caitlin Doughty, aka Ask A Mortician, regularly posts videos on her YouTube channel on the topic of death (YouTube screenshot/Ask A Mortician/Mirror Online)

Doughty then went on to discuss the worst way someone can die, reports the Mirror, and it is an ancient torture method that is not well-known. The Persian method of scaphism, also know as 'the boats', sounds like a truly horrific way to breathe your last breath.

She explained : "First your body is stripped naked and you're put between two hollowed-out logs with your head and limbs sticking out. Then they pour honey all over you and force you to ingest honey which attracts insects.

The ancient method of scaphism leaves its victim to die slowly and painfully (YouTube screenshot/Ask A Mortician/Mirror Online)

"Then they leave you in a stagnate pond to be slowly eaten - but they come back every day to forcibly feed you more milk and honey so you don't die right away, eventually succumbing to exposure, dehydration, shock and delirium."

The cruel idea was to ensure that the victim suffered for as long as possible while still alive, slowly dying over a few days or even weeks. This unusual form of fatal punishment was believed to have started around 500BC and was reserved only for the biggest of crimes such as murder and treason.

A reference to it was even made in William Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale. Elsewhere a funeral director told her TikTok subscribers what it feels like to embalm a family friend on a video post.

A teary Eileen Hollis said: “I came here to do what I’m gonna do and I’m gonna do it and it’s gonna be an emotional journey.”

Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.

READ NEXT:

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.