Kyrie
That's about what I expected from a ghost tour companion book.
There are so many typos - misspelled words, spacing errors, missing punctuation. Naturally, it's all because of the ghosts. They're the ones to blame.
During the last few weeks of writing, when I was working as long as twenty hours a day, I began to notice that everything that could possibly go wrong did. We would spend hours editing and correcting errors in the manuscript, only to print the finished work without any of those corrections being saved. Yes, when one is working twenty hours a day it is conceivable mistakes will be made and errors overlooked, but we re-edited and corrected the same things over and over. Additionally, the first 2,500 copies that were printed contained errors that did not appear in the original manuscript.
The first section of the book covers New Orleans ghost stories. Most of that section are stories that were collected before, in Ghost Stories of Old New Orleans by Jean deLavigne. There are a few newer additions sprinkled throughout that section, but not many.
The section on haunted hotels was the longest. It seems like pretty much every hotel down here has some sort of ghost story attached to it. I had fun reading about the Ashley House, at least - a friend of mine works at the hotel that owns the House, and used to have to give tours. She told me that she refused to give any more tours there after a special Halloween tour, where they brought in a ghost hunter and a medium. I still get the occasional ghost story from her, though.
It makes me want to proudly note that, despite the fact that both the hotel I work at, and our sister location were built in the 1800's - one originally being a bordello - neither is haunted. (Not that that stops the guests from trying to claim that they are. We seriously had a woman whose friend had to come tell us they were getting their exchange company to move them to another hotel because the woman felt “oppressive spirits” in their room.)
The second section of the book is about New Orleans Voodoo, which is not to be confused with traditional Voodoo. It was a well done section, and stayed away from taking a dismissive approach to looking at the religion. They also attempt to clear up the belief that Voodoo is inherently evil. Really, it's only the stories of Voodoo being used for revenge or death that get any attention in the media. Nobody gets as excited about Voodoo being used to heal or help people.
The third part of the book covered New Orleans' obsession with vampires. I spent most of this section laughing so hard that breathing became difficult. It's very hard to take any of it seriously. I mean, vampire lore in general is pretty ridiculous, but this book brought it all to whole new levels.
For instance, here, according to the book, is a list of things that could lead to vampirism:
- being born at certain times of the year (new moon, holy days)
- being born with a red caul
- being born with teeth (though the way it's written in the book, it makes it sound like you could be born with a red caul that has teeth)
- being born with an extra nipple
- being born with excess hair
- being born with white hair
- being born with red hair
- being born with a red birthmark
- being born with two hearts
- being born the seventh son of a seventh son
- if a child died and was weaned too early
- if a child died and suckled after being weaned
- if a child died without being baptized
- if a pregnant woman was cursed by a vampire
- if a pregnant woman was stared at by a vampire
- being fed on seven or more times by a vampire
- practicing sorcery or witchcraft
- eating sheep killed by a wolf
- leading an immoral life (prostitutes, murderers, alcoholics, rapists)
- committing suicide
- death by violence or drowning
- dying without benefits of Last Rites
- dying and not getting a burial or improper burial rites
- a cat jumping over the corpse's coffin
- a shadow falling over the corpse and/or coffin
Really, it's a miracle that everybody isn't a vampire already.
And then, there are the “psychic vampires” that drink life force instead of blood. They can do serious damage to your energetic system! Which I'm guessing is supposed to be like your nervous system, except with energy? I don't know. They didn't teach me a damn thing in health class.
Repetitive psychic attacks can cause extensive damage to the energetic system leaving the victim weak and immune deficient.
You also have descriptions of the “vampire lifestyle”, which sadly, is an actual thing down here. I blame the Interview with the Vampire movie - we get a lot of wanna-be Lestats in the French Quarter.
And “vampirology” is totally the scientific term for the study of vampires.
There are pictures in the book, as well, of Haunted History tour guides posing at various locations - occasionally with famous people who have been on the tour (and Nicholas Cage, who may actually be a vampire), bad quality images of supposed ghosts, and lots and lots of ectoplasm.
The images are all black and white, and terrible quality. It's hard to make out background details, let alone anything that's supposed to be a ghost. And the horrible quality of the images wouldn't be as bad if the running narration didn't keep raving about what AMAZING pictures the company has. It's a shame none of these “amazing” pictures made it into the book.
If you're just looking for something spooky and light to pass the time, this book is okay. But there are better options available on any of the topics covered.
That's about what I expected from a ghost tour companion book.
There are so many typos - misspelled words, spacing errors, missing punctuation. Naturally, it's all because of the ghosts. They're the ones to blame.
During the last few weeks of writing, when I was working as long as twenty hours a day, I began to notice that everything that could possibly go wrong did. We would spend hours editing and correcting errors in the manuscript, only to print the finished work without any of those corrections being saved. Yes, when one is working twenty hours a day it is conceivable mistakes will be made and errors overlooked, but we re-edited and corrected the same things over and over. Additionally, the first 2,500 copies that were printed contained errors that did not appear in the original manuscript.
The first section of the book covers New Orleans ghost stories. Most of that section are stories that were collected before, in Ghost Stories of Old New Orleans by Jean deLavigne. There are a few newer additions sprinkled throughout that section, but not many.
The section on haunted hotels was the longest. It seems like pretty much every hotel down here has some sort of ghost story attached to it. I had fun reading about the Ashley House, at least - a friend of mine works at the hotel that owns the House, and used to have to give tours. She told me that she refused to give any more tours there after a special Halloween tour, where they brought in a ghost hunter and a medium. I still get the occasional ghost story from her, though.
It makes me want to proudly note that, despite the fact that both the hotel I work at, and our sister location were built in the 1800's - one originally being a bordello - neither is haunted. (Not that that stops the guests from trying to claim that they are. We seriously had a woman whose friend had to come tell us they were getting their exchange company to move them to another hotel because the woman felt “oppressive spirits” in their room.)
The second section of the book is about New Orleans Voodoo, which is not to be confused with traditional Voodoo. It was a well done section, and stayed away from taking a dismissive approach to looking at the religion. They also attempt to clear up the belief that Voodoo is inherently evil. Really, it's only the stories of Voodoo being used for revenge or death that get any attention in the media. Nobody gets as excited about Voodoo being used to heal or help people.
The third part of the book covered New Orleans' obsession with vampires. I spent most of this section laughing so hard that breathing became difficult. It's very hard to take any of it seriously. I mean, vampire lore in general is pretty ridiculous, but this book brought it all to whole new levels.
For instance, here, according to the book, is a list of things that could lead to vampirism:
- being born at certain times of the year (new moon, holy days)
- being born with a red caul
- being born with teeth (though the way it's written in the book, it makes it sound like you could be born with a red caul that has teeth)
- being born with an extra nipple
- being born with excess hair
- being born with white hair
- being born with red hair
- being born with a red birthmark
- being born with two hearts
- being born the seventh son of a seventh son
- if a child died and was weaned too early
- if a child died and suckled after being weaned
- if a child died without being baptized
- if a pregnant woman was cursed by a vampire
- if a pregnant woman was stared at by a vampire
- being fed on seven or more times by a vampire
- practicing sorcery or witchcraft
- eating sheep killed by a wolf
- leading an immoral life (prostitutes, murderers, alcoholics, rapists)
- committing suicide
- death by violence or drowning
- dying without benefits of Last Rites
- dying and not getting a burial or improper burial rites
- a cat jumping over the corpse's coffin
- a shadow falling over the corpse and/or coffin
Really, it's a miracle that everybody isn't a vampire already.
And then, there are the “psychic vampires” that drink life force instead of blood. They can do serious damage to your energetic system! Which I'm guessing is supposed to be like your nervous system, except with energy? I don't know. They didn't teach me a damn thing in health class.
Repetitive psychic attacks can cause extensive damage to the energetic system leaving the victim weak and immune deficient.
You also have descriptions of the “vampire lifestyle”, which sadly, is an actual thing down here. I blame the Interview with the Vampire movie - we get a lot of wanna-be Lestats in the French Quarter.
And “vampirology” is totally the scientific term for the study of vampires.
There are pictures in the book, as well, of Haunted History tour guides posing at various locations - occasionally with famous people who have been on the tour (and Nicholas Cage, who may actually be a vampire), bad quality images of supposed ghosts, and lots and lots of ectoplasm.
The images are all black and white, and terrible quality. It's hard to make out background details, let alone anything that's supposed to be a ghost. And the horrible quality of the images wouldn't be as bad if the running narration didn't keep raving about what AMAZING pictures the company has. It's a shame none of these “amazing” pictures made it into the book.
If you're just looking for something spooky and light to pass the time, this book is okay. But there are better options available on any of the topics covered.