ECHO Center Hosts Adult Event Focusing on Death and Taxidermy

Purple light illuminated dead animals on display tables at the ECHO Leahy Center on Friday, Oct. 16.

The venue hosted Memento Mori, an adults-only event designed to explore the relationship between nature, death, and humanity. The program included a variety of activities ranging from taxidermy tours to jewelry making. Guests moved through spaces filled with vivid descriptions of decay and the physical remains of long-dead creatures.

Attendees participated in a hands-on session where they dissected owl pellets. They then selected bones from the pellets to assemble into wearable pendants. Participants decorated the jewelry with assorted moss and flowers. The event also included a dance session led by DJ Flat Four. Sugernap Catering provided food for guests during the evening.

Tyler Salls, a leading member of Green Mountains of Madness, guided visitors through a collection of macabre antiques. The group, which describes itself as Vermont’s Horror Community, displayed items including ouija boards, mortician tables, and wreaths woven from human hair. Salls explained the historical connection between these objects and death. He focused on an infant feeding device affectionately known as a baby murder bottle. Salls noted that these bottles used long tubes to deliver milk from a mother to a child. He said the design aimed to make feeding more convenient but lacked sterility, which often led to infection and death.

UVM faculty members provided academic context for the event. Michael Ashooh, a senior lecturer of philosophy, delivered a lecture titled “The Science Behind Frankenstein.” He explained how technological breakthroughs involving electricity and oxygen in the 1800s fueled attempts at resurrection. Ashooh said these scientific endeavors created the environment that inspired Mary Shelley’s novel. He asked the audience to consider what it means to be human in light of these historical experiments.

Ellen Martinsen, a UVM lecturer and Vertebrate Collections Manager, outlined the process of taxidermy for the UVM Natural History Collection. She compared an animal pelt to a sock that taxidermists put on and take off. Martinsen also displayed dermestid beetles on tables. She explained that these insects clean animal bones by eating flesh.

The venue featured additional interactive elements, including an escape room themed around finding a cure for a zombie apocalypse. A death-themed costume contest ran throughout the night. The event served as a prelude to the approaching Halloween holiday.

Meghan Smith, a sophomore at Norwich University, attended the event in a custom costume. She wore long layers of draped fabric and a hood framing a modeled owl mask. Smith said the event offered a chance to test her costume before campus Halloween events. She described Memento Mori as an enjoyable extension of the holiday season.

Carolyn Crowley, ECHO’s creative director, and Billy Ernest, the public programs manager, discussed the motivation behind the event. Ernest, who served as the primary creative director for the night, said the event provided a space for adults to play and explore curiosity. He stated that these interactions help build empathy and strengthen community bonds. Crowley emphasized the scientific aspect of death. She said that understanding what scares us can reduce fear. Ernest noted that death is a stigmatized topic, making it important to create safe spaces for exploration. He said it does people no good to shy away from the inevitability of death.