"Tidings of Comfort and Joy" is a fantasy short story by Gael Baudino.
It concerns Julianna, a Wiccan living in Denver, and her otherworldly encounter with her friend Paul, who is a priest, and her undead ex-husband Bob.
Paul contacts Julianna after years of mutual avoidance to tell her that Bob has died, after a fashion.
Trauma from intense abuse as a child caused Bob's marriage to Julianna to fall apart, as he needed too much from her.
When his body dies, he remains conscious, stuck in a rotting shell but too afraid to go into the unknown.