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Afterlife

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The Afterlife is the place for the dead in the Beetlejuice franchise. It is where all people and creatures go when they die.

History[]

The Afterlife has existed since the start of time, with the souls of deceased people and creatures arriving after their deaths. It is a world of bureaucracy and grim aesthetics. Once an individual dies, they are given the Handbook for the Recently Deceased which gives them instructions on hauntings, entering the Afterlife bureaucracy, and much more about being a ghost. Many become civil servants to keep the Afterlife operating while others are sentenced to haunt the locations where they died for certain amount of time. They are then sent to the Great Beyond once their term in the afterlife/haunting of their homes has expired but those who are deemed truly evil will be sent to the Fires of Damnation.[1][2]

Inhabitants[]

The Afterlife is inhabited mainly by the spirits and ghosts of those who died in the living world, with many of these specters manifesting in the form they died in. For example, if someone died by being beheaded, while choking, having their head shrunk, or being burned alive, they will resemble the state they died in.[1]

However, mutilated forms don't seem to impede ghosts for the most part, as even those who have completely lost their heads can see, hear and speak just fine, as it seems that these forms are just hollow ectoplasmic skins used to house their ethereal souls, and if their souls are sucked out, it leaves behind an empty cloth-like husk.[2] Some ghosts though will instead manifest as skeletons and other ghosts can freely change their appearances if they so desire and if they're creative enough.[1]

Some ghosts, like the Maitlands, can mutilate themselves further to look more haunting but can just as quickly mend themselves and return to how they looked when they were alive, suggesting that more grotesque appearances are due to lack of experience or personal choice. Ghosts can also die a second time if eaten by a Sandworm, but all this does is send them back to the waiting room.[1] Ghosts can also have their souls sucked out by powerful occultists such as Delores, but whether they are allowed a second death or become a permanent part of the person who consumed them is uncertain. Impure ghosts also seem to be vulnerable to holy symbols, as Beetlejuice himself caught on fire when doing the sign of the cross.[2]

The Afterlife is also home to a plethora of other unusual beings such as monsters, ghouls and demons, however some monsters have suggested that some may have indeed been alive once and not born as monsters, while other strange sorts are known to have been aliens who died, explaining the wide assortment of inhuman appearances and sizes among some inhabitants.[2][3][4][5]

The following list includes any characters who were known to be in the Afterlife at some point during the series. Naturally, it can be assumed that any mortal in the Beetlejuice universe will eventually become a resident.[1][2][3][5]

Current Inhabitants[]

Former Inhabitants[]

Locations[]

Due to its strict and overworked bureaucratic system, the Afterlife does not appear too different from the Living world, as it consists of having various businesses, police department, and apartments, but with the main difference being that the Afterlife has a more surreal and morbid aesthetic and architectural design that appears somewhat organic.[1][2][3] The most famous location in the Afterlife is the Afterlife Counseling Center's Waiting Room, where most deceased individuals arrive when first entering the Afterlife to meet with a case worker who will decided whether ghosts will work for the Afterlife, remain in their homes for a specified period, or move on to the Great Beyond or Fires of Damnation.[1][3][2] They are then given a number and told to wait, which often will last for as long as a millennium for some or as short as three months for others.[1]

List of Locations[]

NeitherworldAfterlifeEarthEpSuperZeroes

The space of the Neitherworld that parallels the living world's earth. [4]

  • Neitherwest
    • P.U. Corral
    • Scarizona
      • Tomb Town
  • Neitherworld TV
  • Neither Gas Works
  • Parisite
  • River Styx
    • Last Resort Resort
  • Scumdon
  • Shocking Mall
  • Squirter, Inc.
  • Toys R' Pus
  • Neitherworld Sea
    • Babble Beach
    • Club Head
    • Club Dread
    • Davey Jones' Locker
    • The Flying Dutchman
    • Nobody Atoll

Related Afterlife Realms[]

Ways to Access the Afterlife[]

According to the Handbook for the Recently Deceased, dead people must draw a door on a wall and knock three times to gain access into the Afterlife.[1]

Drawing the bomb symbol or executing a soul swap is strictly forbidden since it violates Code 699.[2]

Ways to Leave the Afterlife[]

For dead people wanting to leave, they cannot simply draw a door and exit. Per law, a dead person must wed a living person to gain a ‘green card’ and enter the living world. Another way is for a dead person to trade souls with a living person via having the latter recite an incantation from the handbook. The latter two are illegal since they violate Code 699 which prohibits bringing a living into the afterlife.[1][2][5]

Using the handbook, ghosts can also potentially create a door to Saturn when summoning a Sandworm, but considering that the end result means either being trapped on Saturn or being devoured by a Sandworm and getting sent back to the waiting room, its far from being a reasonable escape alternative.[2]

Trivia[]

  • According to Otho, those who commit suicide are assigned to work as civil servants in the afterlife.[1] This was later changed or disproved in subsequent media, as Beetlejuice (murdered), Wolf Jackson (accident), and Richard (accident) work in the afterlife but their deaths were not suicide.

Appearances[]

Cancelled appearances[]

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Beetlejuice (movie)
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (movie)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Beetlejuice (animated series)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Super Zeroes"
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Beetlejuice: The Musical The Musical The Musical

Notes[]

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