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A review by macabrereadersam
New Orleans Ghosts, Voodoo, and Vampires: Journey into Darkness by Kalila Smith
2.0
Before I review this book let me give some background as to how I came to read it. My dad's girlfriend recently went on a trip to New Orleans and did the haunted ghost tour. As we both love to read she purchased this book and lent it to me. Being casually interested in all things paranormal I thought it would be an interesting read.....
My thoughts on this book...
1) The section about the various ghost hauntings throughout New Orleans was interesting. The facts of documented death as well as highly emotional events were very well presented. These were supported with eye-witness and personal accounts from the author.
2) The section about voodoo was also rather interesting because once again it was well documented. I had some previous introduction to the history of voodoo in my Introduction to Anthropology course a few years ago. I think the author did a great job not only describing the misconceptions about voodoo but also in giving the facts of voodoo.
However, that's where the things I like ended. Now for the things I could not stand....
1) The final section in the book deals with vampirism in New Orleans. The book takes a rather interesting approach to this topic. Instead of taking it lightly and approaching it as nothing more than urban legend, she presents it as fact stating it is a well documented occurrence. Vampires are a thing of fiction until one bites me I cannot take someone seriously who believes that they exist. I do believe there are people who think themselves vampires.....they should be receiving mental health attention.
2) This book is in its sixth freaking edition. You would think by now the major grammatical and spelling errors would be worked out by now. But wait....the author blames it on the ghosts haunting her home office. All is forgiven.....*sigh* the errors were so blindingly obvious they cannot be forgiven.
3) The pictures in this book were completely worthless. They were in black and white which is okay, but the quality was god awful. The reader could not (without squinting and a great imagination) make out the things that were identified in the caption. Also, the placement of the pictures rarely coincided with the event or topic being discussed.
4) There was a heavy reliance on psychics throughout the novel as the author claims to be some sort of medium. I believe that there are mediums out there but the author as well as the other psychics/mediums in the book were so vague that I could not believe in them. I'm open to being proven wrong but until then I will just say it ruined the book for me.
I always say I will read anything once. this book has me rethinking that philosophy. There are actually books out there that are not worth reading, and this is one of them.
My thoughts on this book...
1) The section about the various ghost hauntings throughout New Orleans was interesting. The facts of documented death as well as highly emotional events were very well presented. These were supported with eye-witness and personal accounts from the author.
2) The section about voodoo was also rather interesting because once again it was well documented. I had some previous introduction to the history of voodoo in my Introduction to Anthropology course a few years ago. I think the author did a great job not only describing the misconceptions about voodoo but also in giving the facts of voodoo.
However, that's where the things I like ended. Now for the things I could not stand....
1) The final section in the book deals with vampirism in New Orleans. The book takes a rather interesting approach to this topic. Instead of taking it lightly and approaching it as nothing more than urban legend, she presents it as fact stating it is a well documented occurrence. Vampires are a thing of fiction until one bites me I cannot take someone seriously who believes that they exist. I do believe there are people who think themselves vampires.....they should be receiving mental health attention.
2) This book is in its sixth freaking edition. You would think by now the major grammatical and spelling errors would be worked out by now. But wait....the author blames it on the ghosts haunting her home office. All is forgiven.....*sigh* the errors were so blindingly obvious they cannot be forgiven.
3) The pictures in this book were completely worthless. They were in black and white which is okay, but the quality was god awful. The reader could not (without squinting and a great imagination) make out the things that were identified in the caption. Also, the placement of the pictures rarely coincided with the event or topic being discussed.
4) There was a heavy reliance on psychics throughout the novel as the author claims to be some sort of medium. I believe that there are mediums out there but the author as well as the other psychics/mediums in the book were so vague that I could not believe in them. I'm open to being proven wrong but until then I will just say it ruined the book for me.
I always say I will read anything once. this book has me rethinking that philosophy. There are actually books out there that are not worth reading, and this is one of them.