The tombs and graves of the St. Louis Cemeteries rise from the ground, creating labyrinthine memorials aptly dubbed "cities of the dead." Most are in even rows with quaint street names. Some are of crumbling brick and broken marble. Others are miniature mansions clad in decorative ironwork with angelic guardians. Grand or humble, each is a relic of the story of New Orleans. Politicians, pirates, Mardi Gras Indian chiefs and one voodoo queen rest below. In an unprecedented inquiry, author Sally Asher reveals the lives within the mysterious and majestic tombs of the St. Louis Cemeteries.

New Orleans is so much more than the Bourbon Street scenes you may have seen––it’s a 300-year-old city made up of vibrant neighborhoods, diverse populations, and traditions layered upon each other. World class food is available not only in our famous restaurants, but in corner restaurants across the city. Mardi Gras is the party we throw for ourselves, but invite the world to take part in. If partying with 1,000,000 friends is not your style, there are festivals nearly every week of the year to suit your taste and interests. Join Mark Bologna, host of the popular Beyond Bourbon Street podcats and curator of the Instagram page of the same name, as he explores the people, places, music, history and culture that make New Orleans unique.

Throughout his life, Louis Armstrong tried to explain how singing with a barbershop quartet on the streets of New Orleans was foundational to his musicianship. Until now, there has been no in-depth inquiry into what he meant when he said, “I figure singing and playing is the same,” or, “Singing was more into my blood than the trumpet.” Creating the Jazz Solo: Louis Armstrong and Barbershop Harmony shows that Armstrong understood exactly the relationship between what he sang and what he played, and that he meant these comments to be taken literally: he was singing through his horn. To describe the relationship between what Armstrong sang and played, author Vic Hobson discusses elements of music theory with a style accessible even to readers with little or no musical background. Jazz is a music that is often performed by people with limited formal musical education. Armstrong did not analyze what he played in theoretical terms. Instead, he thought about it in terms of the voices in a barbershop quartet. Understanding how Armstrong, and other pioneer jazz musicians of his generation, learned to play jazz and how he used his background of singing in a quartet to develop the jazz solo has fundamental implications for the teaching of jazz history and performance today. This assertive book provides an approachable foundation for current musicians to unlock the magic and understand jazz the Louis Armstrong way.

Welcome to the spooky streets of New Orleans! Stay alert! Ghosts lurk around every corner. Even the most unexpected places might be haunted by wandering phantoms. Did you know that New Orleans cemeteries are built above ground? Or that thousands of visitors each year come to see what ghosts and spirits may appear in these beautiful Cities of the Dead? Can you believe that the ghost of Marie Laveau--the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans--was once seen dancing on a tomb, with a snake wrapped around her? Pulled right from history, these ghostly tales will change the way you see the Big Easy, and have you sleeping with the light on! ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Louisiana is a place of legend, especially in the deep, dark bayou. Visit the swamps, and smell the usual combination of decaying vegetation and sluggish water. You might sense another smell, too—one you can’t identify but seems distinct. It could be more of a feeling than an odor. That feeling is fear, and it spreads past the bayou and into the heart of New Orleans. Louisiana Ghost Stories is a collection of original tales based on fact mixed with myth. A place of legend, the state is also a place of storytelling, and many of those stories grow like thick vines in the memories of locals and visitors alike. Step into the haunted plantations. Hear about voodoo and gris gris. Examine pirate legends, and follow ghosts into the dark. Come face to face with the Cajun werewolf, known as the “loup garou.” Hear of the heinous offenses of infamous serial killer, the Axeman. Learn the horrid history of the LaLaurie mansion, and even stumble upon a tale of Hallow’s Eve. With stories eerie, mysterious, sexy, and colorful, prepare yourself to be scared as legends come to life and haunt the page.

Looming onto the television landscape in 2011, American Horror Story gave viewers a weekly dose of psychological unease and gruesome violence. Embracing the familiar horror conventions of spooky settings, unnerving manifestations and terrifying monsters, series co-creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk combine shocking visual effects with an engaging anthology format to provide a modern take on the horror genre. This collection of new essays examines the series' contribution to television horror, focusing on how the show speaks to social concerns, its use of classic horror tropes and its reinvention of the tale of terror for the 21st century.

This study investigates the emergence of powerful female leadership in New Orleans' Voodoo tradition. It provides a careful examination of the cultural, historical, economic, demographic and socio-political factors that contributed both to the feminization of this religious culture and its strong female leaders.

A “lovely collection” of essays by the NPR commentator about his beloved adopted city, both before and after Hurricane Katrina (Publishers Weekly). NPR commentator Andrei Codrescu has long written about the unique city he calls home. How apt that a refugee born in Transylvania found his place where vampires roam the streets and voodoo queens live around the corner; where cemeteries are the most popular picnic spots; the ghosts of poets, prostitutes, and pirates are palpable; and in the French Quarter, no one ever sleeps. Codrescu’s essays have been called “satirical gems,” “subversive,” “funny,” “gonzo,” and “wittily poignant”—here is a writer who perfectly mirrors the wild, voluptuous character of New Orleans itself. This retrospective follows him from newcomer to near native: first seduced by the lush banana trees in his backyard and the sensual aroma of coffee at the café down the block, Codrescu soon becomes a Window Gang regular at the infamous bar Molly’s on Decatur; does a stint as King of Krewe de Vieux Carré at Mardi Gras; befriends artists, musicians, and eccentrics; and exposes the city’s underbelly of corruption, warning presciently about the lack of planning for floods in a city high on its own insouciance. Alas, as we all now know, Paradise is lost, but here Codrescu also writes about how the city’s heart still beats even after 2005’s devastating hurricane. New Orleans, Mon Amour is a portrait of an incomparable place, from a writer who “manages to be brilliant and insightful, tough and seductive about American culture” (The New York Times Book Review). “Finely honed portraits of a fabled city and its equally fabled inhabitants. The author, who has called the Big Easy home for two decades, shows how, like some gigantic bohemian magnet, New Orleans attracts some of the world’s most talented, self-indulgent freaks. Codrescu finds himself quite at home there. He expertly weaves pages of New Orleans history through his stories of personal discovery and debauchery. . . . Readers can’t help coming away from reading it without an abiding hope in the ability of ordinary people, under the worst circumstances, rising to whatever challenges they face.” —Publishers Weekly

Ici Repose is a comprehensive visual guide to the tombs in New Orleans' historic, predominantly African-American St. Louis Cemetery #2, Square 3. This includes society and organization tombs (religious orders among them), and missing tombs. Each row within the cemetery is prefaced with a "you are here" map, which allows you to walk down the row, finding the names associated with each tomb, based on publicly available information which has been correlated and cross-referenced. Within the rows, there is a photo of each tomb, along with its tombstone inscriptions and historical and biographical notations. There are also translations of French inscriptions; a list of tombs that can be identified as the work of a particular stone cutter; a section on the Square's wall vaults; and discussion of the discrepancies that have cropped up between the different sources.

The Deluxe Edition of Ici Repose is a full-color, comprehensive visual guide to the tombs in New Orleans' historic, predominantly African-American St. Louis Cemetery #2, Square 3. This includes society and organization tombs (religious orders among them), and missing tombs. Each row within the cemetery is prefaced with a "you are here" map, which allows you to walk down the row, finding the names associated with each tomb, based on publicly available information which has been correlated and cross-referenced. Within the rows, there is a photo of each tomb, along with its tombstone inscriptions and historical and biographical notations. There are also translations of French inscriptions; a list of tombs that can be identified as the work of a particular stone cutter; a section on the Square's wall vaults; and discussion of the discrepancies that have cropped up between the different sources.