Keith Minnion

On their honeymoon, newlywed Sarah makes her new husband, Tim Moser, promise that if she should die, he will see that she is buried in the family plot on the mainland. It's so important to her that he agrees. But promises are made to be broken, and just four years later, Tim replays that conversation in his head as he follows the hearse carrying his wife's body back to her hometown. Tim does his best to follow through with her request, but when an accident puts Tim in a coma, Sarah's family show more proceeds with the funeral without him. As Tim slowly makes his physical recovery, he has an uneasy feeling that the townspeople are hiding something from him. As soon as his broken body will allow, Tim begins to search for answers. When he finally learns the horrifying truth about the difference between a mainland funeral and an island funeral, he knows that nothing will ever be the same.

The Bottom Line: Keith Minnion's chapbook is the perfect read for a stormy autumn night. It's an eerie delight and quick to read, but it stays with you for a long time. I finished it in about an hour, but I've reread it several times. "Island Funeral" is reminiscent of Stephen King's "Pet Sematary" and will appeal to fans of horror and those who enjoy well-written stories. Very highly recommended.

This review first appeared at the Mini Book Bytes Book Review Blog: http://minibookbytes.blogspot.com/ show less

I got this chapbook because I had some credit with Cemetery Dance that was about to expire and I had to spend it on something. This story, as well as some ebooks, looked interesting and thus were purchased. And I'm very glad that I did. The story was solid, well-done and interesting. It pulled me in very quickly.

The story follows Tim Moser as he completes his wife's wish: to be buried in the family plot. He goes back to her hometown, meeting her family and dealing with a difficult situation. show more A difficult situation that we immediately feel while reading the chapbook. The mood is set from the very first page and continues the entire time. Minnion does an excellent job of keeping that dread and somber mood going. Even when circumstances change halfway through, that feeling continues. My biggest regret is that the title of the chapbook foreshadows for part of what happens at the end. Not everything but it lets you know where to focus your increasing apprehension. I feel that a different title would have left a larger impact. Either way though, it was a great story. And I look forward to reading Minnion's novel THE BONE WORMS. show less

If you're a fan of Brian Keene then you absolutely must read this book. I loved the autobiographical touch to it but the 'ghost' story part of it is also very chilling!

A low-key horror story about a man who returns to his late wife's family home to have her buried there. When they were first married, she made him promise she'd be buried on the mainland, rather than on one of the islands, but she never told him why. It's a decent enough story, but I thought it could have had a little more development.

At only 40 pages this chapbook is still rife with the bad typography and editing lapses Cemetery Dance is known for. Certain passages are not differentiated show more from the main narrative as they should be and are confusing on first read. Phrases are repeated unnecessarily (we are reminded a couple times in as many pages that the wife's grandfather is her only living relative), and I found the author's lack of commas disturbing. A note at the end informs us that the chapbook was created on an iMac; perhaps they should have used a PC. Lovely cover art, though. show less