Under the Churchyard in the Chamber of Bone - Jeremy Billingsley

Poet Court Dillon has been afraid to go home. Raised by his grandparents after his parents died mysteriously when he was a baby, Court has feared watching his only family grow older. He's chased youth and ran from responsibility, but now he is in a serious relationship, and he knows he can no longer put off the inevitable. His grandfathers are both dying. His grandmothers are sick with worry. So, he goes to them, his family, once more.

And disappears...

Dani Morales plays guitar for a punk band, but this isn't where she sees her life anymore. She's nearly finished with her Master's and with graduation looming, she sees a life with Court. When he disappears, she rushes to his home town to discover what has happened to him.

When she arrives, she finds his grandfathers have miraculously recovered. She finds the friends she and Court share have followed, and she finds evil.

Something sinister has been desecrating the graveyards. It's been digging up graves and feasting on the remains of the dead. It prowls the town, and lately, people have been dying.

This North Arkansas Ozark community is harboring a deadly secret, and while some of its residents may not want Dani or her friends in their town, Court's grandparents come to realize they need them all here if they are to find Court alive and stop whatever is skulking in the shadows of this cursed land.

SOME THEMES:

*Stories keep loved ones alive after death.

*We can't stop time, age, death, or change.

*Growing up means making hard choices, especially for those we love. 

CONTENT WARNINGS:

*Descriptions of the states of dead bodies.

*Details on the embalming process.

*Graphic violence.

*Descriptions of human remains being eaten.

*Racist remarks / attitude from the human antagonist of the story, a character named Clem Willette who is used by the ghoul to attack the family and friends.