THE RIVER STYX IS FULL OF BOOZE - PART 1Drinking Oneself to Death Is Serious Business
BY CASPER DALHOFF/WPN, AS TOLD TO ELIN UNNES
Photographer Casper Dalhoff recently spent some time in a Copenhagen institution for chronic alcoholics. Thirty-nine men and women live there, all fully resigned to the fact that they are dying because of drinking, yet all still drinking like so many suicidal herring. They came here to run out the clock.
For many alcoholics who have reached the chronic stage, quitting is not an option. In fact, for advanced alkies, putting an end to drinking can quickly lead to death, as years of relentless boozing alters one’s metabolism to the point that a sudden lack of the sauce will wreak havoc. The symptoms of acute alcohol withdrawal include a dangerously accelerated heart rate, palpitations, catatonia, and hallucinations.
So, is it safe to say that acute alcohol withdrawal is actually not cute at all? Ha ha ha. OK, sorry. Let’s go meet these sad drunk bastards…
CONTINUED
THE RIVER STYX IS FULL OF BOOZE | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | >
 Anonymous, on Aug 25, 2009 wrote:
We have houses like that in Finland. Hardly surprises anyone who’s got on tram in Helsinki reeking of a homeless bum’s urine. In the summer all the drunks meet up in the near by park which everyone in their right mind shuns like the plague. (Denapuisto) | | Anonymous, on Aug 3, 2009 wrote:
You’re shitfaced. Or were when you wrote that. | | Anonymous, on Aug 2, 2009 wrote:
Am I shitfaced or are some of those pics really blurry? | |
| Vanzilla, on Jul 31, 2009 wrote:
sounds like my weekends, except for the fact that I only feel like death mondays, it never really happens ... | | Anonymous, on May 15, 2009 wrote:
Looks like an SRO I stayed at in downtown LA for a year. Fucking harsh. A year of that stopped my cronic drinking cold. | | Anonymous, on Mar 10, 2009 wrote:
i wonder if they have a strict "no sleeping on your back" rule. | | Anonymous, on Mar 3, 2009 wrote:
christ- i do not envy the team that works at this house. can you ever get used to drunks all day everyday? | | Anonymous, on Mar 3, 2009 wrote:
Who are you to say that? Some of them may have a history of alcoholism in their family or been abused as a child. Don’t presume they were all homeless drunks. | |
| donaghy, on Mar 3, 2009 wrote:
i dont believe they’re worried about their dignity or chances are they wouldn’t be there to begin with. | | Anonymous, on Mar 2, 2009 wrote:
I feel like I’ve seen enough. Knowing a place like that exists makes the story whole for me. I can fantasize the grizzly details, but I say let these people die in peace with as much dignity as possible. | | Anonymous, on Mar 2, 2009 wrote:
what is up the the second photo, with the lady lying on top of all the clothes? More explanation is needed!! | | Anonymous, on Mar 2, 2009 wrote:
The first picture is great. He looks like the homeless people that scream incoherent slurs at you as you walked by quickly, trying not to make eye contact. "BARG GAR BERGG DABAB DA!" | | Anonymous, on Mar 2, 2009 wrote:
the blurry photo (part 4) is actually my favorite. it feels so cinematic and haunting, almost like that moment is stuck in time and the photographer wasn’t there. | |
| Eh?TL, on Mar 2, 2009 wrote:
Part of me agrees with the pleads for more story. I’m sure the inhabitants have quite a few. The other part of me thinks these photos tell more than any drunken quote ever possibly could. | | Anonymous, on Mar 2, 2009 wrote:
yeah, when i read this in the magazine and got to the end I was like, "That’s it?!" what a sadness-tease. you guys really could’ve lengthened this and put me in the pits, but instead it just ends and i’m able to feel OK not giving people any of my money. | | Anonymous, on Mar 1, 2009 wrote:
really good piece but could have done much a much longer/better write up and more photos. | | Anonymous, on Feb 27, 2009 wrote:
afternoon project in the day room poorly attended? How can this be. nothing sounds more fun than some drunk arts and crafts time. | | Anonymous, on Feb 27, 2009 wrote:
as if these people didn’t have enough to deal with they had to surround the building with weeping willows! weeping willows, for christ’s sake! no wonder they’re drunk from sunrise to sunset and beyond. | |
| komodo, on Feb 27, 2009 wrote:
i know it’s considered taboo here, but i really wish people drank a little during the day. europeans drink at lunch, and look how much happier they seem. also, i’d like to institute siestas. and bring your pet to work day once a week. | | Anonymous, on Feb 27, 2009 wrote:
if bukowski was still around, i’d like to think we’d have a house set up like this for him with a typewriter and unlimited booze flowing freely. rip, chuck. | | Anonymous, on Feb 27, 2009 wrote:
I just polished off my 8th vodka but the juxtaposition of the aa spring nouveau shine shorts and this depressingly charming tale is just christ goddamn too much. | |
| dingo dick, on Feb 26, 2009 wrote:
these nurses better get paid out the wazoo. that or they should be able to drink up to the point where they’re slightly more sober than the patients. that’s the only way i could deal with an elderly drunk man shitting his britches and telling me i look like his daughter or some equally horrible shit they babble. | | Anonymous, on Feb 26, 2009 wrote:
i agree with anonymous. These are well done and pretty damn interesting. At least more interesting than tiny titted willow whisps in american apparel. | | Anonymous, on Feb 25, 2009 wrote:
best photos seen in vice in a long time. refreshing break from the overly-lit, pale white girls with small tits and pink nipples | | Anonymous, on Feb 25, 2009 wrote:
fucking fascinating. Chuck P. needs to write a book about this place...then someone else needs to make a movie out of that book so my lazy ass can get to it. | |
| crimewave, on Feb 25, 2009 wrote:
I wonder how he convinced the management to let him do this. | | Anonymous, on Feb 25, 2009 wrote:
don’t you people drink in the shower? it’s one of the finer things in life. | | Anonymous, on Feb 25, 2009 wrote:
The guy in the middle of the third photo looks like thom yorke | |
| imagine a dog eating pizza, on Feb 25, 2009 wrote:
whoa guy being washed while drinking a beer in the last photo... no dignity left at all | | Anonymous, on Feb 25, 2009 wrote:
Yaay Denmark! or.. :D | | | Next 30 comments > |
| |
