Thanatology seems to be the observation of death from the perspective of the living.

Not much reference to what happens within the conscious awareness of the dying, or what one experiences while dead.

An interesting slant would be the perspective of the dead.

Science seems to blow off NDE's by attributing them to slowed brain activity after the heart and lungs stop and prior to rescucitation.

Dr. George Rodonai however tells an interesting story of his own murder by the KGB, and subsequent autopsy which took place three days after being pronounced dead.
With no brain activity, he was flash frozen before his three day storage in the morgue.
During the autopsy he regained consciousness.

I was addicted to the Hokey Pokey, but then I turned myself around!!