In Tales from Kentucky Funeral Homes, William Lynwood Montell has collected stories and reminiscences from funeral home directors and embalmers across the state. These accounts provide a record of the business of death as it has been practiced in Kentucky over the past fifty years. The collection ranges from tales of old-time burial practices, to stories about funeral customs unique to the African American community, to tales of premonitions, mistakes, and even humorous occurrences. Other stories involve such unusual aspects of the business as snake-handling funerals, mistaken identities, and in-home embalming. Taken together, these firsthand narratives preserve an important aspect of Kentucky social life not likely to be collected elsewhere.

Most of these funeral home stories involve the recent history of Kentucky funeral practices, but some descriptive accounts go back to the era when funeral directors used horse-drawn wagons to reach secluded areas. These accounts, including stories about fainting relatives, long-winded preachers, and pallbearers falling into graves, provide significant insights into the pivotal role morticians have played in local life and culture over the years.

William Lynwood Montell, professor emeritus of folk studies at Western Kentucky University, is the author or editor of more than twenty books, including Ghosts across Kentucky, Killings: Folk Justice in the Upper South, and Tales from Kentucky Doctors.

Reviews:

"While many of the tales show how the funeral business has changed over the years, the stories also serve to humanize the death care profession and those who work in it."-Ronald L. Baker, Author of Hoosier Folk Legends

"A fascinating read. . . . Some of the stories are thoughtful explanations of past funeral customs and ruminations on the needs of grieving, but many are also funny."-Heather Chapman, Lexington-Herald Leader

"In Tales from Kentucky Funeral Homes, his edited anecdotes preserve many of those traditions for readers interested in commonwealth customs related to passing on."-Courier-Journal

"It is a unique firsthand record of this history and culture of death in Kentucky relay nearly word-for-word to preserve the language, style and emotion used by the people involved in the ears of horse-drawn hearses and in-home embalming to what we find today in funeral practices."-Hardin Company Historical Society

"Taken together, these firsthand narratives preserve an important aspect of Kentucky social life not likely to be collected elsewhere."-Union County Advocate

"Most significantly these are stories about the individuals who provide guidance to families confronting death and who maintain the cultural rituals of the community. It is an interesting record of a little-known profession."-Kentucky Kaleidoscope