Some of the best ideas in life come from a quiet night at home with our thoughts, as well as some of the most unique.
Or, as the case may be with the Coffin Confessor, some worth ‘dying’ for.
Bill Edgar, who rose to the public eye when he began offering his services as a ‘coffin confessor’ sharing the secrets of the terminally ill at their funerals, was lounging around and enjoying a few ports when inspiration struck him, and his new venture was set into motion.
As Bill told Sunrise, “I thought ‘I’ve got a great property for camping’. A lot of people have been intrigued about the Coffin Confessor, [and] I thought, ‘well, why not coffin camping.’
“Lo and behold, here we are.”
And so, Bill’s unique take on an Airbnb stay – and trying before you buy – took off, with the enthusiastic entrepreneur offering guests the opportunity to embrace their inner vampire and catch some sleep inside of a coffin. A real coffin, no less.
Situated in the Gold Coast hinterland’s Tamborine Mountains, Bill’s experience is a far cry from your average bloodsuckers. No tombstones linger around every corner, guests won’t be walking face first into any cobwebs every second step, and the coffins are – as Bill explained – “nice and warm”.
The most common question Bill – who already has six bookings for his experience – gets is over whether or not they are actually real coffins. The simple answer? Absolutely.
He was quick to assure potential customers that they can’t become trapped in there, and they shouldn’t be dreadfully uncomfortable, as “you can’t suffocate and you can’t lock yourselves in because I’ve taken the locks out. They’ve all been modified for protection, obviously.”
As well as the coffin cabin – which looks to be a modified shipping container – comes ‘the main room’, which Bill described as somewhere guests could “enjoy”. He went on to explain that they could make themselves a coffee there, or breakfast, all while enjoying the “quirky” experience and stunning views the location has to offer.
“It’s a lot of fun, it’s different,” Bill declared. “And, you know what, at the end of the day thousands of people – even millions of people – will swag. They lay in swags … just a glorified body bag.”
And to wrap it all up, he noted that “we’re all going to die. I suppose it’s now getting to the point where people can now talk about it without it getting creepy, or anything like that.
“I think people will always be intrigued about death and the afterlife.
“Try before you die.”
Images: Sunrise / Seven
This article first appeared on Over60.