Funeral Song - by Carly Racklin (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

No one mourns the living dead. In the isolated town of Cairney, the Angel of Death, under specific circumstances, allows the dead to return to life -- but not always as desired. For Friede Inkerman, pianist to Cairney's sacred funerals, Death's gift is a curse, not a blessing. All she wants after being murdered by her wife and resurrected against her will is to finally rest in peace, free from the grief and suspicion that ostracize her from the rest of her death-worshipping town. On Allhallowsmas, Friede's hope of passing on to eternal rest is dashed when Death's sacred relic is stolen and the acolyte who guards it is brutally slain, putting all the dead souls in Cairney at risk of fading into oblivion at sunset. Friede also can't ignore how much the murder resembles her own -- an echo too haunting to dismiss. Clinging to her last happiness, her oldest friend Bastian, Friede descends into Cairney's secrets to set things right and see her last wish granted. But Cairney is a town where nothing stays buried forever, and Friede's search for answers unearths a plot born of ritual magic and twisted devotion that threatens everything she holds dear in her dead heart.

Review Quotes

"Visceral from the very first sentence, Funeral Song dances elegantly with death and grief. With delicious prose that weaves a Soulsborne-esque death lore and a unique mystery, Racklin's story is one you won't soon forget." --TT Madden, author of The Cosmic Color and The Familialists

"Funeral Song is a love story of unusual power. A grotesque beauty in the vein of Guillermo del Toro, matched only by Carly Racklin's elegant prose." --Rachel Bolton, author of Please Serve Cold and Moonglow

"With sharp prose that cuts like a knife, this grief horror kept me up all night terrified and shook me to the core. Funeral Song will be one I'll think about for days afterwards, haunted by the prose." --Paul Jessup, author of Cancer Eats the Heart and Daughter of the Wormwood Star

About the Author

Carly Racklin is a writer, editor, and unapologetic vulture enthusiast whose work blends the fantastical with the visceral. They hold a bachelor's degree in English with a concentration in creative writing from Arcadia University, and has written for an international horror film festival, a table top role playing publisher, and more. They currently work in social media marketing and serve as an editor for Luna Station Quarterly. Carly's fiction has appeared in Cosmic Horror Monthly, The NoSleep Podcast, NECKSNAP Magazine, and other publications. Funeral Song is their debut novel.