We've come a very long way since the Victorian Era. In addition to eradicating polio, the photography technology has improved so much we really need not dress the dead and make them look alive so we can have mementos of them.

But this wasn’t always the case. Back in the day the practice of “post-mortem photography” is extremely popular. Though the practice is no longer popular today, there is still plenty of evidence out there left to examine.

Here are 21 super creepy examples of that after-death photo op sessions.

1. These pictures used to be used as mementos of lost loved ones. Can you guess who's no longer alive of the two?

2. It was common for the dead subjects to be made to “look-alive.”

3. They did this in a bunch of different ways. You can't even tell the difference!

4. Like posing them with a few of their favorite things.

5. A girl with her toys.

6. Often, they made it look like the deceased was simply sleeping.

7. In this photo the girl on the far left is being supported by a hidden structure.

8. In this one, the dead man’s arm is positioned to support his head.

9. Here the ruffle in the curtain conceals a device used to support the boy.

10. This girl is sitting sideways for the same reason.

11. This girl is an example of the desire to make the subject look alive.

12. Dead baby sitting in someone’s lap.

13. The photographer drew on the girl’s eyes to make her look more alive.

14. Sometimes there was little to be done, however, to create the living effect.

15. This is just sad.

16. And often a painful process.

17. You could not move during the photographs.

18. Here is an example of what happens when people moved. The parents did and they are blurry as a result.

19. This one is creepy.

20. So is this one.

21. They all are, really.

H/T Viralnova