It’s the time of year when America gears up for its celebration of all things Halloween. Take a stroll around the neighbourhoods of New Orleans and you will quickly appreciate just how seriously some of the locals take it. This is Voodoo City, City of the Dead, or, is it just that Michael Jackson is back to reprise his greatest hits?

Here, death has a special significance, whether it be in the form of a museum… hey, look out lady, stand still around here for too long and you might just end up in a duet with Michael Jackson on something like Remember the Time…

Or maybe through the creation of a city of the dead above ground in locations such as Lafayette Cemetery or the St Louis Cemeteries. These mausoleums are a requirement for most, not just the rich, to stop the bodies floating to the surface in a city largely built below sea level… now, that would be a Halloween party with a difference! Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough is clearly a sentiment that must have bypassed these residents…

If you want to avoid premature residence in the famous cemeteries above, try some of the local voodoo elixir’s along N. Rampart in the French Quarter… if you have a mind to risk a reprise of Bad with Michael Jackson that is.

But never mind the afterlife, a quiet stroll in the Treme in the present will likely provide more than a hint of what it’s like to be Off The Wall…

Then again, take a stroll down the neighbouring Esplanade Avenue and you may just gain a peak into the precursor to an intriguing domestic Thriller…

But beware to protect your property, as once you have gone out to do your own thing, you might find that like many others around the French Quarter you’ve become the victim of a Smooth Criminal…

The threat of skeletal misdemeanours aside, taking the bus along Magazine Street through the Lower Garden District may provide you with a lifelong NOLA message… you just Got To Be There, at least, that is, if you believe yourself to be…

Until we speak again, remember Halloween is just One Day In Your Life, so enjoy, and rest assured that Michael Jackson has been keeping some good company this last few years c/o a whole lotta NOLA legends…