There was so much I learned while I was on my six-day research trip in New Orleans that I had to split it into two blogs.

I did a lot of research on churches while I was there, and ohmygosh some of the names of these churches were just crazy, like Jesus Never Fails. It was interesting. Another one was named Our Lady of Perpetual Help. I grew up a Catholic, so I understand these loud proclamations of religious organizations, but these were old Baptist churches in the Ninth Ward, which is now a well-known neighborhood in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and catastrophic flooding it caused. This is where Brad Pitt built the houses for Hurricane Katrina victims, so it was all over the news.

I’m getting off topic, but the whole Katrina thing is a joke. I saw the wall they built that’s supposed to keep out the hurricane floodwater; there’s no way that wall is going to keep it out. And Brad Pitt, God bless him for his generosity in building those houses. They’re built on stilts so they’re a little bit higher than the homes that were destroyed by Katrina, but they all have wooden siding. In a hurricane those things will blow right down like the big bad wolf blew the pigs’ houses down.

In addition to researching churches, I also began thinking about religions while I was in New Orleans, because I want to tie that in to my serial killer’s narrative. For Thicker Than Blood, I looked into the rich culture of New Orleans voodoo (also called Louisiana voodoo), which is a a set of religious practices created from different African traditions and rituals. There are two different practices: Louisiana voodoo and Haitian voodoo, so it’s a very complicated tradition. The term voodoo doll came from Louisiana voodoo.

Hoodoo, on the other hand, is not a religion but rather a folklore spirituality. Hoodoo is a set of magical practices aimed at bringing good luck to people’s daily lives or warding off evil, while voodoo is a form of established religion. Hoodoo traditions include magical spells, harnessing supernatural powers, and some very sinister stuff. However, both traditions have roots in African culture.

I thought voodoo was something people in New Orleans still practiced, but according to NewOrleansOnline.com, “the word voodoo is no longer feared as it once was; restaurants, sports teams, and concerts use the word as a marketing concept.” But ritualistic hoodoo is still quietly practiced in the southern United States, primarily by Protestant Christians.

I’m still figuring out how I’ll tie religion, church history, and maybe even hoodoo or voodoo concepts into Thicker Than Blood. Stay tuned!