Man Explores 'Eerie' Abandoned Funeral Home With Children's Caskets Inside (2024)

A man has explored an abandoned funeral parlor in south Alabama, sharing eerie images of what's been left behind, including children's caskets.

Austin H. Stone walked around the decaying building, which he estimates has been empty since 1997, and counted around 15 caskets.

Stone filmed the sprawling property, which has Ouija board-esque graffiti on the walls, as well as "dead live here," telling Newsweek it was in a "severe state of deterioration."

He said: "The parlor had a ceremony sanctuary, embalming rooms, casket storage and selection rooms, and an upstairs living quarters for the funeral director and his family."

He said it opened in 1922 and closed in 1997 based on paperwork and calendars he had found in the building.

"The most interesting thing I found in my own opinion was the funeral director's office. All the funeral records were left in filing cabinets, and I've spent some time reading through some of them.

"Odd to read the details of a life that began and ended decades before I was born."

One, in particular, caught his attention

"Probably one funeral record that stood out to me was that of a 9-year-old girl. She had drowned in the nearby state park. Extremely sad. If I remember correctly the funeral date was 1984."

Photographs show ornate caskets left to rot, a can of mortuary spray and plaques.

Stone recalled: "By my count, there are 15 caskets left abandoned in the building, a few of them are child caskets.

"The owners also abandoned their Cadillac hearse in the garage, nearly all of their personal belongings upstairs, the piano, and a morgue freezer unit."

But he confirmed: "All of the caskets are empty. Most are steel, but there are a few older wooden caskets present."

Stone said he has been to the building before, which he claimed is in terrible shape with most windows knocked out, saying: "The building is in a severe state of deterioration."

He continued: "I have [been] here a handful of times over the years, and it is worse every time. A storm in 2019 caused a pine tree to fall onto the hearse garage.

"The parlor is extremely water damaged, and shows evidence of squatters sometimes spending a night inside. The upstairs is pretty dangerous, the floor is starting to go from water damage and years of Alabama heat.

"The vibe of the place is naturally eerie. Every time I have explored a funeral home, the 'reckoning with your own mortality' is an unavoidable side effect."

It's unclear who currently owns the structure, as Stone said: "The only name I could come across was that of one of the funeral directors, his last name was Peterson.

"They actually held his funeral in the parlor, which is when I think they closed down."

Stone has been exploring the southeast since 2017, visiting both rural and abandoned buildings. He said it's "a way one can walk backwards through time and have a rare chance to see things as they really once were."

Stone shared clips of the funeral parlor to Reddit's Nopeforum on Sunday, captioned "abandoned funeral home, casket room. Video is mine," where it amassed more than 4,500 upvotes.

Commenting on the video, Backupyoursaves6969 wrote: "You know what it's time for right OP? Time to make your own horror film. Cheers."

JypsiCaine commented: "Def giving off some Silent Hill vibes here. Just need a fog machine & malfunctioning radio..."

Kristheslayer327 joked: "Haha, nice try vampires. 'Abandoned.'"

Manydoors_edboy wrote: "It's all fun and games until you hear knocking from one of them."

Chemeli888 thought: "This is awesome/terrifying."

Scaleless1776 reckoned: "Those look expensive and free."

Qrouth commented: "That's like 30k worth of baskets ngl."

Etorres4u replied: "Those caskets are worth a few thousand dollars."

Bzerkr added: "Please put a mannequin in one."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Alabama had a life expectancy rate of 75.2 years as of 2019.

That same year, the last year figures are available for, Alabama Public Health revealed 54,109 people passed away in the state.