An insider’s tour of cemetery culture—from embalming to epitaphs, restless ghosts, crimes against the dead, and more.

Admit it: You're fascinated by cemeteries. We all die, and for most of us, a cemetery is our final resting place. But how many people really know what goes on inside, around, and beyond them? Enter the world of the dead as author Katherine Ramsland talks to mortuary assistants, gravediggers, funeral home owners, and others, and find out about:

• Stitching and cosmetic secrets used on mutilated bodies


• Embalmers who do more than just embalm


• The rising popularity of cremation art


• Ghosts that infest graveyards everywhere

If you've ever scoffed at the high price of burying the dead, wondered how your loved ones are handled when they die, or simply stared at tombstones with morbid fascination, then let Katherine Ramsland introduce the booming industry—and strange tales—that surround cemeteries everywhere.