For years, Paul Koudounaris has been obsessed with what happens to us after we die.
His new book, "Memento Mori," explores how cultures around the world treat the dead in ways that would unsettle and even frighten Westerners.
For example, he says, locals on an Indonesian island will mummify the remains of passed family members. It's a tradition that his guide practiced, too
"[My guide] said, well, when I was child, my brothers and I slept in the same bed as the mummy of our grandfather," Koudounaris tells Take Two. "Every morning, we would wake up and prop him in the corner and put him in his day clothes. Every evening, we'd put him back in the bed and put him in his pajamas."
He says exploring how cultures memorialize death gave him insight on life.
"There is something about interacting with the dead that really does benefit the living," he says. "By being reminded of death I was reminded of life."