percentsure thatyouaresonotabeliever,
everybump in thenightstarts tocrowd into
that tiny .01percentuntil itstarts togrow,
andallofasudden, youwakeupwithyour
jawclenchedandyoureyespinchedanda
wholenewrespect for theundead.
Thisgoeson forwhat feels likean
eternity.Finally, Icheckmycellphone—
3:36a.m.—and try torememberwhether
it’s3a.m.or4a.m. that thewitchinghour,
the timeofnightwhenwitches, ghostsand
demonsaremostpowerful,begins.
Todistractmyself, Ireplaytheday inmy
mind,connectingthedotsbetweenall the
places,peopleandstorieswe’d found.Just
thatnight,overaradioactive-greenglass
ofabsinthe,ourbartender,Straight-Razor
Shannon,hadgushedaboutthenightly
ghostvisitsatherapartmentoverthe
morgue.AtdinneratArnaud’s,wewound
upwithawaiternamedHannibal—bornon
Halloween.Thehotelmanagerhadbeena
cemeteryguide,enthusiasticallygivingus
tipsonthetombsnottomiss,andthestreet
artistwhosoldmeaprinthadshownoffthe
photohis friendtookofamysteriousorb.
I thinkofDawn,who toldus that
wheneveryouvisitNewOrleans,what-
everyoucame for, you find tenfold. She
was right:Weasked forhaunted, and the
city tookus into itswarmlywickedarms.
That’s the thing:Even thoughwegot
whatwecame for,whenIreally thinkabout
it,nothingwasactuallyscary.People in this
city talkaboutvoodoo, vampiresandspirits
like they’d talkaboutnewblooms in their
flowerbedoranoff-the-menudrinkat their
favoritebar—exciting,but justpartof life.
It’snotscary. It’s justreallycool.
Imentallyaddanew line tomybucket
list: tohaveaghoststoryofmyown.
SowhenIhearmuffled footstepsoutside
mydoorway, Ipull thesheetsdown from
mycrescent-wideeyes.Atbedtime, aNew
Orleansnighthasonly justbegun.
ABBYKINSINGER
is the associateeditor of
AmericanWay
. She still scares easily.
82
OCTOBER2015
AMERICANWAY
CLOCKWISE
FROMTOP
RIGHT
:
my reading
withCari; Priestess
Miriam’s voodoo
templeandcourtyard
Allofasudden,youwakeup
withyour jawclenchedandyoureyes
pinchedandawholenewrespect for
theundead.
GETT
IN
G
THER
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