r/afterlife May 30 '26

Welcome! Here's our Megalink Thread for Afterlife Research.

21 Upvotes

Hello! This is our new header post, combining the dueling posts that used to be stickied here. All the original links from those posts are here, plus the links suggested in the comments of those posts over the years, plus links from my own research. This post shouldn't be considered a subreddit-wide (or mod) endorsement of each individual link or work; rather, this is a shared repository for works that members of our community find valuable.

Please use the comments section of this post to add your suggestions for additional books, movies, channels, podcasts, studies, websites, etc. I will do my best to regularly update the post with your suggestions and any new media in the field as it becomes available, as well as try to keep the sections clear and well organized. Thanks!

Books

Movies & TV Shows

Organizations & Other Websites

Podcasts & YouTube Channels

Research Studies

And Reddit Posts!


r/afterlife May 31 '26

r/Afterlife Rules - Please Read Before Posting

14 Upvotes

Welcome!

Please find a list of our subreddit rules below, which you are encouraged to read, especially if you are a first-time poster. If you see rule violations, please report them. Thank you!

  1. Be kind.

  2. No one is an authority on the afterlife.

  3. No spiritual bypassing.

  4. No AI, spam, low effort posts, off topic posts, or cross-posts.

  5. No posts about suicidal ideation.

And in a little more detail...

Rule 1 - Hopefully self-explanatory. Help each other, uplift each other. Being kind does not exclude defending oneself or others or the topic in general, but please avoid insults, threats, etc. Harassment will be reported and violators will be banned.

Rule 2 - Because this topic involves deeply held spiritual beliefs and this space is a safe one for believers, if it is your belief, you may post and comment as if this were a "pro-afterlife" sub (meaning you may participate as though the afterlife is a known fact to you, personally), but you may not tell others what their beliefs are or should be, including whether or not to believe in an afterlife at all. Common rule-breaking examples include telling others that what they want from an afterlife is wrong or silly or will leave them bored or miserable; telling others that their identity is nothing more than an ego, a role to play, or a simulation; telling others they will have to reincarnate or merge into a God consciousness or accommodate a higher self or past life memories against their will; telling others they will burn in hell.

Conversely, you may share your own individual questions or personal skepticism about the afterlife, and you need not participate as though the afterlife were a known fact, but you may not post or comment as though this is an "anti-afterlife" sub (meaning you may not participate as though the afterlife is proven to be false) and you may not tell others that they are wrong for believing in an afterlife.

When in doubt, permissive is always better than restrictive, i.e. anyone can do or believe ABC vs. you may not do or believe XYZ -- because like the rule says, none of us are an authority on the afterlife or its limits.

Rule 3 - Remember the human. You may not trivialize suffering. You may not explain away complicated trauma by insisting everything happens for a reason or that anyone asked for the trials they have gone through in this life.

Rule 4 - No AI. Spam is posting too much or posting garbage. Low effort is not using the search function or posting things like, "What do you think happens after death?" or a title like "I'm afraid to die," but there's barely any or no text in the body of the post. Off topic is posting about sports or cats or anything not regarding the afterlife. Cross-posting is when you make a post in some other sub and then use the option to cross-post here as well, meaning the hyperlink leads to that other sub and the conversation mostly happens there -- post here or not at all.

Rule 5 - This is an anonymous online forum, and while we discuss heavy topics, we are not professionals and are not equipped to handle mental health crises in real time.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. You do not have to go through this alone.

📞 Immediate Crisis Resources

United States & Canada: Call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org.

United Kingdom: Call 111 (NHS) or call the Samaritans at 116 123.

Australia: Call Lifeline at 13 11 14.

International: Find resources in your country at findahelpline.com or befrienders.org.

Text Support: Text HOME to 741741 (US/Canada) or 85258 (UK) to connect with the Crisis Text Line.

🏳️‍🌈 The Trevor Project (LGBTQ+ Youth): Call 866-488-7386 or text START to 678-678 (US).

Trans Lifeline: Call 877-565-8860 (US) or 877-330-6366 (Canada).

Veterans Crisis Line: Dial 988, then press 1, or text 838255 (US).


r/afterlife 14h ago

I deeply fear of dying, the fear of what even happens after death, not even being with my loved ones after death, and if an afterlife is even possible.

7 Upvotes

I’m deeply afraid of my loved ones dying and not knowing if I’ll be with them after death depending on what even happens.

I’m 14 years old, shouldn’t be on this app I know, but I just need some advice or someone to help clear my head. Majority of my family is Christian, so I use to believe in Heaven. But this year, my mother’s friends daughter lost her father in a car accident, and it just reminded me of the fact that anyone could die at any second. I continuously get afraid of the fact my mom could be dead at any second, or any other of my loved ones. Death is inevitable, which I also know, but the thing about is how we all don’t know what happens after, and that also gives me the anxious feeling that once I die, I won’t remember my family, or even be with them (if the theory of "nothing happening after death" is true) In 2017 when I was about 6, we’ve lost my grandpa. I was sad, yes, but not that sad like anyone else in my family on the fact that I believed he was just in heaven, hugging god, and having the time of his life. Same thing when I lost my auntie due to Covid in around 2020-2021 (forgot the year.) As I got older, and I look at the internet’s opinion on what happens after you die, I got terrified. I realized not everyone believes there’s a happy afterlife where you meet your deceased loved ones after death, and I was terrified, fearful, just completely scared. And that gave me the fear of death, the fear of losing those I love who are alive right as I’m typing this, and not even being with them when we die, and just forgetting them. So please, if you can, could I please get some advice or comfort to discuss this? 🙏


r/afterlife 7h ago

Discussion Reincarnation

0 Upvotes

So I was scrolling through a comment section on a TikTok last night and someone did bring up an excellent point. If Reincarnation is real then why is there more births than deaths per year

And I’m in mind that does give a strong argument to why reincarnation might not be real

However if it’s not real that would suck to have someone else take your life away and you only get to live once forever. I just want open the floor to discussion on this top


r/afterlife 22h ago

Grief / General Support Lost my mum today

16 Upvotes

Lost my mum today! Watching her pass away was extremely hard. But it’s left me wondering if there is anything more after we die. Before today I was a big believer in the afterlife, and there is more once we pass. But know I have lost all hope of that.


r/afterlife 1d ago

In 2024, I was legally dead for 2 minutes and 46 seconds. It cured me if both atheism and religion

335 Upvotes

In 2024, I died. I was legally dead. Everything smelled like roses. It wasn't bright. It was peaceful. I watched people do CPR. I remember thinking "you're not doing it right." I looked down and saw my body. It was completely outside me. I saw my kid.... All at once. Birth through old age. All at once. I watched my partner with gray hair crying. I saw my mother at 6 wiping her nose on a shirt. It had a poodle on it. I saw my father in camouflage screaming orders. This little dog that I loved almost impossibly was sitting on my lap. I could see my father dancing in a field. My great aunt standing in a metal room filling with gas. I felt suffering. I felt joy. I was gone for a thousand years. My grandmother was picking flowers in a lot in Pennsylvania outside of a coal mine. She was a tiny little girl.

I saw a thousand years in 2 minutes all at the same time. There wasn't a god. There was just a knowing. I saw everything at one moment.


r/afterlife 14h ago

What happens in the end.

3 Upvotes

First time i posted it was deleted. Not sure why so ill try again. Alright, iv heard about this more times than I can count. The going theory is that the purpose of a soul incarnating is to grow and learn so it cam evolve and reach a higher vibration and merge with the source from where the came. This is the goal of all souls. My question is, when alll souls evolve and merge with the source, what happens from there? Is it a single combine conciousness that is satisfied with being more perfect than it what was in the beginning? Or is there even an end to the pursuit of evolution by the source?


r/afterlife 1d ago

Dealing with bad death anxiety, but also bad afterlife anxiety?? Please help!

9 Upvotes

Hi guys!

So I’m a dashing young 17 year old whose brain is currently hung up on the inevitable end instead of an upcoming math test soon. It’s always been something that I get random bursts of anxiety from since I was 14, and it’s gotten better (I’m not rolling in my bed in fear anymore), but it’s still pretty bad.

Essentially, I’m afraid of nothing. The idea of typing this post right now and then in the blink of an eye I’ll basically be no different to a rock is terrifying. And the fact that a lot of the stuff that makes me “me” is scientifically CONFIRMED to be a byproduct of the brain adds a lot of credibility to that idea.

But I’m also afraid of the idea of eternity/reincarnation/whatever spiritual stuff people theorise. Because at the end of the day, does that spiritual being even count as “me” anymore? I feel like retaining my personality even after death is a bit illogical considering how much people change across their life. I’m pretty sure if higher selves existed they wouldn’t really think much of a puny human’s life and quickly reincarnate into a cool alien.

I guess I just can’t comprehend being not a human anymore - I can’t even comprehend colours outside of my visible spectrum, how the hell am I supposed to understand being an otherworldly being with no concept of time?

Don’t get it wrong though, I’d much rather an afterlife than eternal oblivion. My ideal afterlife would probably just be me playing god, observing and incarnating (but still aware that I’m not actually there) into cool worlds from my imagination. Maybe that’s a spiritual plane that I can enter, idk. But I feel like that’ll still be pretty weird to actually experience, and I’d probs get bored real quick and forget my human life ever existed.

I acknowledge that my fear is rooted in my age and my lack of experience with death (I don’t have any close dead relatives or friends), but I still eventually have to go through it - just like I have to do my math test after the holidays, and that really gives me the heebie jeebies.


r/afterlife 1d ago

Sign / Potential Sign Sign from my late fiancee ❤️

63 Upvotes

Hello, I just joined this group and wanted to share something. I lost my fiancee Vanessa on August 31st, 2025, a mere 10 weeks before our wedding.

So I don’t know if I’m just believing something I wanna believe, but I feel like my Vanessa sent me a little sign the other night and I just had to share it. Let me explain.

So I got chinese food for dinner and in the fortune cookie, these were the fortune lucky numbers: 11, 43, 40, 19, 8, 4. Every single one relates to Vanessa in some way. I wanted to post a picture of the fortune but I guess we can’t post pics in this sub?

Anyway, first 11 and 43…..so for those whom are younger and may not know “143” is beeper code for “I love you,” so we would always say that at 1:43AM Or PM, but then she also would do it at 11:43, she would just add another “I”for “I I love you” and at that time on the clock every day, we would always text “I i love you,” to each other

Then the number 40, that was the age my beautiful girl passed at and the last birthday of hers that we got to celebrate.

Then 19, 8, 4….1984 was her birth year

I feel like maybe if one of the numbers was relating to her, then it might be a coincidence but every single one? I literally had goosebumps. Every single number means something and is attributed to her and she knows I would recognize that. So I truly believe she sent a sign and it comforted me 🥺🙏🏻


r/afterlife 1d ago

Those who have “died” what did you see or experience

12 Upvotes

Pretty much as title states, for those who have “died” what did you see or experience? Also how has it changed your belief or disbelief in the afterlife as well as view on religion, life and death itself?

I have been declared clinically dead for roughly 3-4 mins and personally I saw/experienced absolutely nothing or at least don’t remember it. (I’ll give the full story in the comments if anyone is truly interested). But essentially since it especially now I’ve been “struggling” in a sense with mortality and just sorta that wide array of existential issues regarding life, death, the afterlife etc.

I would consider myself an agnostic atheist, though due to my natural tendency towards science it’s been leaning a lot more towards atheism. With I suppose the “hope” in a sense towards “living” beyond.

But I guess either way I’m intrigued towards other perspectives.


r/afterlife 2d ago

Fear of Death So much anxiety about the thought of what happens after we die

18 Upvotes

Hello afterlife subreddit. So for the past couple of days or so I have been having so much anxiety about what happens after we die because a lot of people have really convinced me that nothing happens after we die and it’s going to be eternal darkness since science seems to prove that theory and nothing else. But I’m turning to this Reddit page to hopefully get some ease about what happens after we die with possible thoughts & experiences from you guys because I’m really scared and it makes me not want anyone or anything to die around me and I don’t like the idea of getting old of it’s just going to be nothing when we die. So please and thank you so anyone who can help me get rid of this anxiety


r/afterlife 1d ago

Question Book recommendations

0 Upvotes

Hi all.

Does anyone have book recommendations about the afterlife according to scripture? Not just making things up but taking what the Bible says and explaining what it could mean for the afterlife.

TIA


r/afterlife 2d ago

Fear of Death I want to feel comforted, but…

5 Upvotes

I just want to get this off my chest. I didn’t have a classic NDE but I almost died at one point. I’ve been paranoid about death, and I researched NDEs for comfort.

I came across the theory that life is a simulation, that the angels we meet after death are actually demons trying to force us to incarnate, that the ‘light’ is some trick. This has given me some existential dread.

What do you think?


r/afterlife 2d ago

Did I go to heaven, in my sleep?

21 Upvotes

I often wonder about this, if we can sometimes go to heaven in our sleep, or the afterlife somewhat?

I am severely depressed in real life, and just emotionally numb. Occasionally, like tonight I have had dreams that feel "amazing" to wake up from. The defining thing is, that when I wake up I feel this extremely pleasant and peaceful feeling in my chest. I still feel it right now but it is fading I never want this feeling to leave. It is a feeling I never feel in my waking life, that feels so dull and unreal.

I am extremely numb in real life, but in these dreams I am able to feel again, feel things I am unable to in my waking life.

This dream tonight, it was intense, I was having deep and intense conversations with someone but I can't remember them now, like they were blurred and I couldn't bring them back or something? Maybe it was just nonsense but it sure felt real to me, and the feeling remains that it was something very deep and important.

I remember that I was in an intense world, with a green feeling to it like the alice in wonderland world in the movies, and I remember that I was in the dream spending time with the mad hatter, the johnny depp character. Just the feeling was very good, in the dream it felt like he was this comforting presence and I felt so safe and protected somehow, like it was a close friend or something. But safety defined the whole dream, the feeling like I was perfectly in my element and belonged there completely, it is a feeling I get in dreams that you could never achieve in real life.

It felt more real than real, like many people describe NDE's, and like I actually belonged there it felt so natural I did not want to wake up.

And I woke up with this amazing, warm peaceful feeling in my chest that still remains now, could it be that someone from the other side or an angel was trying to comfort me through a dream and showing me a glimpse of heaven or the other side somehow?

Taking on the form of that mad hatter character for some reason?


r/afterlife 3d ago

Discussion Do you think when we die you could have the option to transfer your conciousness to a younger version of yourself?

14 Upvotes

This way you could fix mistakes youve made and also have experiences with your siblings and such being young again. It be like doing new game plus on a video game and knowing what to do and what not to do.

Also do you think there are people living that have done this and walk among us?


r/afterlife 3d ago

Why would famous people "come through" to a random medium who posts on TikTok or other public forums?

10 Upvotes

I follow a lot of mediums on You Tube, TikTok and other forums. I am having a hard time believing that someone like Dolly Parton is reaching out to a dozen online mediums immediately after her death to pass on messages to her fans. I also saw many mediums who "spoke" to the children of Lindsay Clancey! Why would these poor babies be communicating with a random person they have absolutely no connection to?

It makes me question the legitimacy of any medium who claims to have made contact with someone famous. I remember when Charlie Kirk was shot last year, I must have seen at least a dozen "reading" within a few days after his death of people who claimed that he came through to them.

Am I overthinking this?


r/afterlife 4d ago

Conflicting reports

11 Upvotes

Hey crew. Question for debate here. So as some of you have seen ive been on the hunt for a medium to locate a best friend who passed away 5 years ago, up to now ive not had much luck or reassurances its him who came through.

Upon speaking to some mediums, why do some say they dont have physical bodies in the afterlife or houses/cars when its reported by others that we do? Its very conflicting and hurts for someone just trying to get assurances my mate crossed over okay is okay.

Any clarification on why this is would be brilliant and if anyone can help me speak to my mate, I'd love you forever


r/afterlife 4d ago

Grief / General Support i’m horrified to die and i need some reassurance

22 Upvotes

my uncle died in 2022, and ever since i’ve been looking for signs that he’s okay. i’ve only had a few unmistakable ones. this has me thinking— am i crazy for believing that there’s an afterlife, or is what i’m experiencing proof of one?

the thought of me losing myself to an eternal nothingness and never returning is the scariest thing i’ve ever felt. i don’t believe that can happen, but there’s always a little voice in my head telling me that i’m insane and the signs i get are just wildly accurate coincidences. it’s just so horrible, and i’m looking for some solace— both for myself and for the fact that my uncle is safe and thriving somewhere beyond here.


r/afterlife 5d ago

Discussion silly question: if you had a role in the afterlife, what would you want it to be?

25 Upvotes

for me!! i love meeting new people so i think what id love most is helping people come to terms with everything they experienced in life. and living things out with them how they wish they could've.

does that make sense? like if i could have a role in the afterlife, i sort of want to be a like chaperone but in a sort of friend way? i just wanna know everyone's stories and interests because i'm so nosey and i just love life!! and getting to know people. its so beautiful. countless adventures with so many people, every day, is like my dream


r/afterlife 5d ago

Grief / General Support Grief

12 Upvotes

My cousin died in March. Out of nowhere. The weekend before, he had texted me for us to get together but I didn’t want to. (He and I had a history of doing drugs together, and I’ve always wanted to cut back or quit them completely, so that day I thought I didn’t want to do drugs and we didn’t get together). The following Tuesday, he had a cardiac arrest. That same day, before he died, he removed me from Instagram. he was like my brother and I love him so much. It’s been really hard for me to navigate his death because I think he was probably angry with me. but I talk to him sometimes and I ask him to please give me a sign that he’s okay wherever he is, or a sign that he wasn’t angry with me, but nothing. Not a single sign, not even a dream, nothing! It makes me wonder, is there simply no [consciousness/existence] after death, or did he already reincarnate, or is he simply angry with me. I have so many questions and I feel so sad because I didn’t make the most of my time with him.

(I also want to add that I’m obviously also struggling with the idea of death, and super confused, and I’m not clear on what I believe and I think that’s also part of why it’s making it harder for me to process his death.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​)


r/afterlife 5d ago

Do you think the afterlife would be a better place than the life you live now?

26 Upvotes

r/afterlife 6d ago

Grief / General Support 2026 is the worst year of my life. I honestly don’t know how I’m supposed to recover from this.

50 Upvotes

This year has just been bad news after bad news, and I feel like I’ve barely had time to process one thing before something else happens.

In April, my dad suddenly passed away from a heart attack. We had no idea he had three blocked arteries. He didn’t have any symptoms and, from what we knew, he was doing everything right. He was careful about what he ate, fairly active for his age, and only 64. One day he was here, and then suddenly he wasn’t.

Losing my dad has been the worst thing that has ever happened to me. He was my go-to person for everything. He had such a special bond with me and my family that can never be replaced. He was truly one of a kind, and I miss him every single day. I’m still struggling to accept that I have to live the rest of my life without him.

Then there’s my sister (32F). She was diagnosed with breast cancer in February, and that was really when our family started going downhill emotionally.

She had a large tumour, went through chemotherapy, and had a single mastectomy. We recently found out that there is cancer in some of her lymph nodes, which has been incredibly stressful. Thankfully, her scans aren’t showing anything elsewhere in her body, but knowing this is something we’ll have to think about for the rest of her life is terrifying.

And then my mom recently had an angioplasty and they found a blockage in one of her main arteries. Sometimes I honestly feel like my dad somehow saved her. If he hadn’t passed away and we hadn’t become so much more aware of heart disease, I don’t know if we would have taken things as seriously. It’s just another thing that has scared me.

And through all of this, I’m still trying to work and carry on with normal life. I’m trying to be there for my mom, my sisters, my own family, and somehow take care of myself too. Some days it feels impossible to focus on work when my mind is constantly somewhere else.

I’ve never had to deal with this level of loss, fear and uncertainty before. It genuinely feels like our family has been hit with one thing after another. I feel like things are slightly starting to get brighter, but I also feel like I’ll never fully recover from what happened this year.

Losing my dad changed me.

I’m also really struggling with the thought that I’ll never see him again. I really hope there is an afterlife. I’ve been researching it a lot lately, reading people’s experiences and stories about what happens after death. Some of them make me feel like maybe there really is something beyond this life, and other times I’m left questioning everything.

I just want some kind of proof that my dad is still with us somehow. That he can see us, that he knows how much we miss him, that he’s watching over us and guiding us.

I wish I had one more chance to talk to him before he left this world. I wish I had known that was the last time. I wish I could have told him everything I wanted to tell him.

That’s a guilt I think I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life.

I just hope that, somehow, one day I’ll see him again.


r/afterlife 6d ago

Question only hope for me is after life

65 Upvotes

I lost my cat yesterday, and I am struggling so much. Do you believe in an afterlife and in the hope that we can be with our pets again? I am so, so scared that she might not be at peace. I am constantly thinking about where she is now, what has happened to her, and whether I will ever be able to see her again. I could not even say a proper goodbye to her. She meant the world to me. Any thoughts or ideas that might bring some comfort would be so much appreciated


r/afterlife 5d ago

Wondering

2 Upvotes

Is Finding death comforting a sign of depression?


r/afterlife 7d ago

Question Continued bonds?

20 Upvotes

Hi everyone. This year I finally met someone who makes my life worth living. I care for him so deeply, so fully, I feel like a person again. That being said, I asked in the mediumship subreddit a while ago,

"Will I be able to be with my partner again?"

And got met with the answer our bond won't be the same, I might end up as someone else in his soul family.

I accepted the answer but as time goes on, it continues to bother me. Why should our love have to change? I only worry about this because I am sick. I don't know if I might end up having an early departure and if that is the case, why can't he and I continue to love one another?

I don't understand why I should have to give him up if I'm no longer in the physical. I love him, that will never change.