Voodoo in New Orleans

The HorrorScapes series takes on such well-trod topics as Dracula, King Tut, and Salem witchcraft, but it’s especially nice to see this eye-opening take on a subject often avoided. Using clear paragraphs ideal for the reluctant reader, Person supplies background on ceremonies, gris-gris, and the religion’s geographic origins (Benin, Africa) as well as setting a historical context for New Orleans. However, the bulk of the text involves Marie Laveau, the voodoo queen who rose to prominence around 1820 and whose story has enough dark facets to flesh out an entire biography. Laveau was a powerful voodoo priestess—allegedly, she held three guinea peppers in her mouth for hours before placing them under a judge’s chair to sway a verdict—but also a practicing Catholic who nursed injured soldiers and victims of yellow fever. Info boxes on every page supply further jolts, including the unsettling rumor that Laveau’s tomb is encircled each night by a giant snake. Purple predominates a gritty design heavy on modern-day photos of a city still obsessed with this mysterious practice.