Oftentimes when we hear stories about the departed standing up straight or making noises, we don’t believe them and it’s either because we don’t want to or because we’ve never seen it happen. Well, we’re here to tell you that the body does do some really strange things after death, not as strange as sitting up straight but strange none-the-less. They may not look like the movements of a person who is alive and well, but they’re enough to make the living freak out. Here’s a list of things that the body can do long after it is gone. 

1. Move

After a person passes away, the body is still capable of movement and that is because the body’s muscles still receive signals that allow the body to contract and relax. As the adenosine triphosphate (ATP), energy in the body runs out, the body is able to make twitch-like movements including wiggling one’s toes, clenching one’s fingers and small hand movements. Additionally, the cause of death also influences the body’s ability to move once the soul has departed. The movements cease when rigor mortis sets in, but if there is movement after that, consider calling a physician… the person may still be in the land of the living. 

2. Make Noise

When you think of the deceased making noise, it’s hard to imagine anything other than the zombie-like noises heard on The Walking Dead and Z Nation and they’re not technically wrong. Some people have been heard groaning, grunting, and hissing. The noises are not voluntarily, rather they are made when air inside the windpipes escapes thereby vibrating along the vocal cords. Coroner will turn the body over to help the air escape, but if it happens in front of an unsuspecting person, it may cause them to run out of the room.  

3. Appear to Keep Growing

Long after a person has been ruled deceased, there are some processes that continue because it can take some time for them to stop. Once all brain function stops, everything else should follow suit, but there are some who believe that this isn’t true. According to them, hair and nails continue growing even after someone has said farewell. Without oxygen, the body cannot utilize glucose to stimulate growth. What actually happens is the skin around the hair and nails retract (because of dehydration) giving the illusion of growth.

4. Self-Digestion

When any living creature goes to the afterlife, its body begins to break down in a process called decomposition. When the heart stops beating and all processes stop, there is a build-up of by-products from chemical reactions that have nowhere to go. They begin to digest the cells around them, starting with organs that are rich in enzymes or have a high-water content. Eventually all the cells of the body will share the same fate but not before bacteria joins the party to speed up the process.

5. Know They’re Dead

Many people who have recovered from near-death experiences have shared their accounts of what they believe the afterlife is like and while we still don’t know much about it, scientists think that they have some of it figured out. According to them, the brain is able to retain some awareness so if a person passes, they might be aware that they’re gone. In a study of cardiac arrest survivors who were declared legally dead, 40% of them claimed to be aware of the conversations around them, as well as their environment. Researchers believe this phenomenon lasts approximately 10-20 seconds before they’re really gone.