Body Snatchers -

The body snatchers: corpse and effect - University of Cambridge

: The most infamous case involved Burke and Hare in Edinburgh (1828), who shifted from exhumation to murder to meet the demand for "fresh" subjects. 2. Literary: Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Body Snatcher" Body Snatchers

: The story follows a medical student named Fettes who is tasked with receiving bodies for his professor. He eventually recognizes one of the "donations" as a man named Gray, whom he had seen alive and well just hours before. The body snatchers: corpse and effect - University

Published in 1884, this Gothic short story was directly inspired by the Burke and Hare murders. He eventually recognizes one of the "donations" as

: To avoid detection, snatchers typically only stole the body, leaving behind clothes and jewelry, as stealing personal property carried much harsher legal penalties than "disturbing a grave".

In the 18th and 19th centuries, "body snatchers" (also known as resurrectionists) were individuals who exhumed recently buried corpses to sell them to medical schools for anatomical dissection.

: Stevenson uses the grisly trade to explore themes of moral decay, the "shattering" of a man's conscience, and the chilling realization that scientific progress can sometimes come at a horrific human cost. 3. Science Fiction: Invasion of the Body Snatchers