June 20, 2010

Mardi Gras Madness: Tales of Terror and Mayhem in New Orleans

Mardi Gras Madness: Tales of Terror and Mayhem in New Orleans – Tales of Mardi Gras Mayhem that will not Appear in Tomorrow’s Headlines – for Good Reason, is a book of short stories based in New Orleans during Mardi Gras of 2000.

Book Description:
“What sort of creatures may have haunted the Mardi Gras festival and who may have said farewell to the flesh in a horribly unique way (and why and how) are the subjects of this collection of murder stories set in New Orleans.” – Mardi Gras Madness

My Thoughts
Short stories are a great solution for when you don’t have enough time to get fully engrossed in a book for the whole day, weekend, or week. The short stories contained in Mardi Gras Madness are easily read in 15 minutes to 30 minutes each. This makes it perfect for a thrilling read before bedtime.

Each of the stories in the book are murder short stories set in New Orleans, during Mardi Gras. Vampires, ghosts, voodoo, and of course the farewell to the flesh that is Mardi Gras envelop the stories. I love vampires, so those were my favorite short stories included.

Some of my favorite short stories included are:

“Faces Made of Clay” is quite a haunting read that really captures the emotions of losing loved ones and the dangers of not moving on from them can do to a person.

“King Corpus” reveals the dangers of giving in to too many temptations, and perhaps getting what you wished for.

“Masking Indian” is a story that is sad, yet uplifting and shows that even when you lose a loved one, you can take part of them with you (even if it is an old ghost costume).

“Sacrifice” explains how New Orleans perhaps is able to be so low beneath sea level and (aside from levvys breaking), the Mississippi River is contained. While it is a sad and terrifying experience for the woman being sacrificed, it does have a somewhat happy ending.

“Fat Tuesday” was probably one of my favorite short stories included. It is about a freelance writer who ends up writing about murders from what looks like a real vampire. He gets a little too close though and things get scary for him before he can escape Mardi Gras.

“Farewell to the Flesh” is another story about a vampire who is a hero because he is out to make the world better, and seems to only feast on evil people. It is a fun read which also brings in voodoo and the church as well.

Overall, I was really satisfied with the short stories in Mardi Gras Madness. The only drawback for me was that it made me want to go back to New Orleans even more. I think this is a great book for those that like New Orleans, Mardi Gras, vampires, ghosts, voodoo, and of course, thriller and scary stories.


* Thank you to the publisher of Mardi Gras Madness, Cumberland House and Turner Publishing, for providing me with a copy of this book for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

3 comments:

BNM said...

you won my build a bear giveaway, i need you to send me ur info. I emailed u but dont know if i sent it to the right email so just wanted to let you know

Andhari said...

I have no idea Mardi Gras relate to many scary stuff haha story please. Here we use such celebration for a party!

Sheri, RN said...

Thanks so much Brittany! :) I'm excited.

Andhardi - Yup, they party like crazy in New Orleans for Mardi Gras, but of course there is a dark side to it sometimes too.