This party's dead : grief, joy and spilled rum at the world's death festivals

What if we responded to death... by throwing a party? By the time Erica Buist's father-in-law Chriswas discovered, upstairs in his bed, his book resting on his chest, he had beendead for over a week. She searched for answers (the artery-clogging cheeses inhis fridge?) and tried to reason with herself (does daughter-in-law evenfeature in the grief hierarchy?) and eventually landed on an inevitable,uncomfortable truth: everybody dies . While her husband maintained a semblance ofgrace and poise, Erica found herself consumed by her grief, descending into about of pyjama-clad agoraphobia, stalking friends online to ascertain whetherany of them had also dropped dead without warning, unable to extract herselffrom the spiral of death anxiety... until one day she decided to reclaim control. With Mexico's Day of the Dead festivities as astarting point, Erica decided to confront death head-on by visiting seven deathfestivals around the world ? one for every day they didn't find Chris. FromMexico to Nepal, Sicily, Thailand, Madagascar, Japan and finally Indonesia ?with a stopover in New Orleans, where the dead outnumber the living ten to one? Erica searched for the answers to both fundamental and unexpectedquestions around death anxiety. This Party's Dead is her account of this journey to understand how other cultures deal withmortal terror, how they move past the knowledge that they're going to die inorder to live happily day-to-day, how they celebrate rather than shy away fromthe topic of death ? and how when this openness and acceptance are passed downthrough the generations, death suddenly doesn't seem so scary after all What if we responded to death... by throwing a party? By the time Erica Buist's father-in-law Chris was discovered, upstairs in his bed, his book resting on his chest, he had been dead for over a week. She searched for answers (the artery-clogging cheeses in his fridge?) and tried to reason with herself (does daughter-in-law even feature in the grief hierarchy?) and eventually landed on an inevitable, uncomfortable truth: everybody dies . While her husband maintained a semblance of grace and poise, Erica found herself consumed by her grief, descending into a bout of pyjama-clad agoraphobia, stalking friends online to ascertain whether any of them had also dropped dead without warning, unable to extract herself from the spiral of death anxiety... until one day she decided to reclaim control. With Mexico's Day of the Dead festivities as a starting point, Erica decided to confront death head-on by visiting seven death festivals around the world – one for every day they didn't find Chris. From Mexico to Nepal, Sicily, Thailand, Madagascar, Japan and finally Indonesia – with a stopover in New Orleans, where the dead outnumber the living ten to one – Erica searched for the answers to both fundamental and unexpected questions around death anxiety. This Party's Dead is the account of her journey to understand how other cultures deal with mortal terror, how they move past the knowledge that they're going to die in order to live happily day-to-day, how they celebrate rather than shy away from the topic of death – and how when this openness and acceptance are passed down through the generations, death suddenly doesn't seem so scary after all. After the death of her father-in-law, journalist Erica Buist decided to travel to seven death festivals around the world, in an attempt to understand how different societies deal with grief, and how people are able to move past the knowledge that they're going to die in order to live happily day-to-day. In the course of her journey, Erica explores both fundamental and unexpected questions around death anxiety, including: How does knowledge of our mortality make us act like jerks? Do you need to be religious to reduce mortal terror? Why is this New Orleans voodoo priestess talking to a doll thirty seconds into our interview? Why did a man in Derby keep his wife's corpse in the bedroom? Does death anxiety really make us more racist, and men more amenable to violence against women? Is it OK to take a selfie with a skull? Do older people in California really believe an $8,000 injection of teenagers'... Journalist Erica Buist traveled to seven death festivals around the world (Nepal, Madagascar, Indonesia, Sicily, Japan, Mexico, and New Orleans) to understand how other cultures deal with death Journalist Erica Buist travels to seven death festivals around the world (Mexico, Nepal, Sicily, Thailand, Madagascar, Japan, Indonesia) in search of better attitudes towards mortality