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Open caskets freak me out in general -- but Michael Jackson in an open casket? Terrifying.

According to a family insider, that's how Michael's family viewed their loved at a private wake the night before the big memorial.

"He looked like himself. He looked like he just was laying there sleeping," says David Fossett, 50, a cousin of the King of Pop. "He looked peaceful."

Michael's loved ones gathered around the casket, "talked to each other and cried" during the viewing on Monday night, but the singer's parents, Katherine and Joe Jackson, were not amongst them.

"It was a somber mood," David says. "Even though he's this big entertainer, he's still our family." 

After the viewing the mourners went back to the Jackson's home where they reminisced about the good old days with Michael. The next morning the family headed to the Forest Lawn Cemetery, where a Jehovah's Witness funeral ceremony took place.

The casket was closed during the service.