Stories To Take To Your Grave: Mortuary Edition

by D.L. Winchester, Nikki Kirsch, Ann O’Mara Heyward

Ever wonder if there’s more to a funeral home than meets the eye?In the Mortuary Edition of Stories to Take To Your Grave, our first anthology from Undertaker Books, we’ve collected ten eerie tales that transport you into the macabre world of funerals. From autopsy suites to cosmetics for corpses, each story offers a unique twist on the dark side of the funeral industry.

We’re thrilled to showcase a mix of seasoned writers and debut talents, with one contributor achieving their first-ever publishing credit. Their creativity and passion for horror shine through on every page.

So, if you dare, step into our funeral parlor. These tales promise to deliver more scares than any ghost story Scooby-Doo could conjure. After all, it’s not the dead you should fear—it’s the living.

145 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 27, 2024

Reviews

[Deborah Sheldon · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining anthology, with 10 horror stories ranging in subgenre from crime to paranormal to sci-fi. Editor D.L. Winchester must have a penchant for finely-written dialogue because that's another thing these tales had in common, along with the mortuary setting. There's plenty to like here, but my favourite stories were "You Are in a Motel Room" by Nikki Kirsch, "Quite a Scare" by Yvonne Lang, and "Last Burn of the Day" by Kevin Higgins. Highly recommended.

[R.A. Goli · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent anthology but not great. It was quite the mixed bag. Stories ranged from excellent to forgetful, with most falling into the average/okay category. Two of the excellent stories were, The Monster Maker, by Ann O’Mara Heyward, and Souls 4 Sale, by Jack Reigns.

[Caleb J. Pecue · Rating 4 out of 5]

D. L. Winchester's collection of short stories all surround the idea of death and dying. In the Mortuary Edition of "Stories to Take to Your Grave," ten stories present this idea in their own way. Some of the stories were misses for me; others were almost there but I felt there was more that could have pushed them into the realm of originality. I personally felt that it got going at the end, with some of the best stories all clustered in the back half. Among these, three stood out to me:

"The Night Hearse" by Austin Hinderliter. Austin's tale weaves together a frighting story about an elderly man driving a hearse on a stretch of road, having conversations with himself. The tale leaves you wondering whether it was real or psychological. Your heart gets pumping as the elderly man floors it down the road in his Cadillac DeVille Superior.

"Your Dad's Disease" by Galen Gower. Galen's tale gives you the willies with a fresh take on the trope of using clowns in horror. As someone who loves Pennywise and IT, I can appreciate this take.

"The Last Burn of the Day" by Kevin Higgins. Kevin's tale makes you question whether you'd like the taste of human flesh as it burns in a crematory. For that, I'm disgusted in the best of ways.

3.5 / 4 Stars