What term describes humorous mock epitaph poems written for Day of the Dead?

Humorous mock epitaph poems written for Day of the Dead are called calaveras literarias.

These short verses portray a living or dead person as if death has visited them, usually in a playful, satirical, or irreverent way. Writers may tease a friend, classmate, relative, co-worker, politician, celebrity, or public institution by inventing a comic encounter with death.

The form developed in Mexico from nineteenth-century traditions of burlesque epitaphs and political satire. Early examples could be censored because their jokes offered a way to criticize powerful people. Newspapers later helped popularize the poems, often printing them alongside skeleton cartoons associated with José Guadalupe Posada.

Calaveras literarias are still written in schools, workplaces, newspapers, and community celebrations. They should not be confused with corridos, which are narrative songs, or with calaveras as physical skulls and skeleton decorations. The word calavera means “skull,” but here it names a literary treatment of mortality.