With Halloween fast approaching, it is only fitting to delve into the dark tales that still haunt the streets of this centuries-old port city. Voodoo rituals, violent demise, and what some might describe as pure evil. Did these events cause spirits to become trapped, forever haunting the streets of the French Quarter? You decide.
New Orleans has long been known as one of the most haunted cities in the nation, if not the world. It’s long and sometimes violent history has given rise to some of the most chilling ghost stories ever told. Madame LaLaurie, Marie Laveau, and O’Flaherty’s Irish Channel Pub are just a few of the subjects that come up when one thinks of hauntings in New Orleans.
The story of the infamous Madame Delphine LaLaurie begins in 1831 when she and her husband, Dr. Louis LaLaurie, purchased a mansion at 1140 Royal St. Within a few short years it would become known as the site of unimaginable horrors and cruelty. As a wealthy New Orleans socialite, she enjoyed hosting lavish parties for the city’s elite. While getting ready for one of these events, a 12-year-old slave girl was brushing her long hair. As the story goes, the child accidentally pulled her hair, sending Madame Lalaurie into a rage. She chased the girl through the house with a bullwhip and she wound up falling off of a balcony to her death. During this time period, there were strict laws regarding the abuse of slaves and she was charged with the girl’s death. Little did anyone know that this was just the tip of the iceberg. In 1834, a fire started in the kitchen and the fire brigade rushed to the scene. The slaves in the mansion took this opportunity to show the firefighters to a small room in the attic. Indeed, it was believed that a slave started the fire in order to expose the ghastly activities taking place within the mansion’s walls. What they found was so disturbing and horrifying that they became physically ill. Slaves chained to the walls, the victims of twisted medical experiments, disfigured, tortured. The New Orleans Bee, the local newspaper, said in part, “These slaves were the property of the demon, in the shape of a woman,…” Infuriated by the discovery of these cruelties, a lynch mob formed with the sole purpose of imposinging their own kind of justice on the LaLauries. They managed to escape toward the river and weren’t heard from again. In the many decades since, there have been hundreds of reports of paranormal activity, including screams, ghostly apparitions, and vandalism which occurred when it was known that no one had entered. One hundred and seventy-five years later, locals still fear the LaLaurie Mansion and it is known as the most haunted place in New Orleans.
Marie Laveau the renowned voodoo priestess, was born a “free person of color” sometime in the 1790’s. As Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, she performed many rituals blending the Roman Catholic faith and African spiritual beliefs. She and her mother, Marie Laveau I, used their powers to correct or prevent injustices as well as to influence matters of love and luck. She reportedly was asked to intercede in the murder trial of the son of a wealthy white man. The story is that she put three guinea peppers in her mouth and prayed for hours at St. Louis Cathedral. In the morning she place the peppers under the judge’s chair and eventually the man was aquitted. She was also known to use her powers to threatent those who offended her, leaving gris-gris bags on their doorsteps to frighten them. One prominent citizen became the focus of her wrath and wound up leaving New Orleans forever. Many people have reported seeing the ghost of Marie Laveau walking the streets of the French Quarter. Her tomb can be found in St. Louis Cemetery covered with X’s and offerings of coins, candles, and voodoo artifacts that people leave in the hopes that she may grant them a favor. If you travel to New Orleans, don’t forget to pay a visit to the most famous voodoo Queen in the history of North America. Be sure to go with a tour group; New Orleans can be a very dangerous city.
O’Flaherty’s Irish Channel Pub has closed in the years since Katrina, but some say the spirits have remained. I loved this place and miss it dearly. I never experienced any phenomena when I was there, but quite a few other patrons have experienced apparitions, cold spots, and being pushed. There are three spirits that are responsible for the haunting of this place. Mary and Joseph Baptandiere lived in and ran a business out of the house in the early 1800’s. An affair between Joseph and an employee named Angelique Dubois began around 1810 and set the stage for the tragic events that are believed to be responsible for the hauntings in the centuries since. The story is not a new one. Angelique wanted Joseph to leave his wife and marry her, but he decided to remain married to his wife in order to enjoy the benefits of her wealth. During a particularly heated argument, Angelique attempted to get Joseph to aquiesce to her demands by threatening to tell Mary about their relationship. He choaked her to the point of unconsciousness and threw her out of a third story window of the house. Joseph then realized that someone had been watching everything that happened and hung himself from that third story window. His wife, Mary died at the age of 35 and seems to have remained in the house along with the spirits of her husband and his mistress.
Hauntings and ghost stories are an integral part of the history and culture of New Orleans. Along with the unique and beautiful culture of this city, there is a dark side. It has always been a place of great cultural diversity, culinary style, and musical flair, but it has also been the site of incredible violence and tragedy since it’s founding in 1718. The past has left a residual energy in the streets of the French Quarter in New Orleans that you can feel in your bones.
http://www.neworleansghosts.com/haunted_new_orleans.htm, “The Haunted Mansion”, Kalila Katherina Smith
http://www.jstor.org/pss/4232213, “Madame LaLaurie of New Orleans”, Fred R. Darkis, Jr.
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/historys_wild_women/83839 Marie Laveau: Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, Michelle Munro
