Coffin It Up in Pahrump, Nevada - Atlas Obscura

Coffin It Up

Pahrump, Nevada

Bringing back the art of handmade custom coffins. 

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Hidden in the outskirts of Pahrump, Nevada, in a sun-scorched, sparsely-populated part of town lies an expansive cemetery of coffins and gravestones with a sign of black letters spelling out “Coffinwood.” Although it seems out of place for such a remote area, you have reached Coffin It Up, one of the world’s most bizarre coffin-making studios.

While coffins in the United States have been largely replaced by caskets and cremation urns, Coffin It Up looks to bring back the art of traditional coffin-making to southwestern Nevada. Featuring both actual coffins and multi-purpose coffin-shaped accessories such as spiderweb coffins, CD case coffins, coffin-shaped end tables, and the coffin armoire, Coffin It Up can replace any piece of standard furniture with a coffin-like shape.

If you’re feeling like sitting at the computer will be the death of you, the cyber coffin computer desk will do the trick. If the blackness of your coffee reminds you of death, the coffin coffee table is the table for you. And if you’re feeling unsure about your marriage, consider renewing your vows through the Church of the Coffin and using a coffin wedding centerpiece.

In addition to these varieties, Coffin It Up also sells coffin purses, coffin-shaped headstones, Obsidian coffin jewelry, open-coffin cat beds, coffin suitcases, and even painted blades. And as if that wasn’t enough, the Coffinwood Cemetery surrounding Coffin It Up is packed with headstones, ghosts, skeletons, an active pet burial ground, and even what is likely the only coffin-shaped greenhouse in the entire world.

Every year, Coffin It Up’s creator, Bryan Schoening, buries a coffin under the dirt in the Coffinwood Cemetery to mark the “passing of the previous year.” And to spice it up, Schoening has even designed a “Coffin Kitchen” in a nearby Las Vegas home, complete with coffin-shaped kitchen cabinets, a coffin-shaped breakfast bar, and a giant, coffin-shaped bathroom mirror.

Know Before You Go

Tours of Coffinwood can be arranged online in advance, there are no day-of or walk-on tours offered. See Coffinwood's website for information on day, night, and specialty tours that are available.

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December 7, 2016
July 5, 2023

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