The Ghosts Of New Orleans
New Orleans is one of the most haunted cities in the country.
The list of places that have ghosts is extensive, but the list of places without ghosts is likely non-existent. It can be hard to track what happened where, but we’ve compiled our favorite haunting back-stories for you!
Madame LaLaurie and her slaves
In the early 1800s, Madame LaLaurie, a member of a rich and powerful New Orleans family, went insane after her third husband left her. She began to experiment on and torture her slaves, a fact which first came to light when a slave “fell” to her death in the mansion courtyard. The authorities freed all of LaLaurie’s slaves, but this was no more than a temporary delay – the woman quickly bought each of her slaves back and resumed her cruel work. A year later, a fire revealed just how deep her cruelty went as the victims were rescued from the burning building. One slave had had her bones broken and reset so that she was forced to walk like a crab; another had a wooden spoon stuffed through a hole drilled into his skull. One had been peeled, so rather than skin, he had tissue and muscle; another had been disemboweled. In the mansion basement, numerous bodies were found in a makeshift mass grave, likely the bodies of slaves who hadn’t survived Madame LaLaurie. The woman was ultimately exiled to France, never to return to New Orleans. At least, not in life.
After LaLaurie’s death in France, mysterious happenings were reported. In 1894, the mansion having been renovated into apartments, a man was killed after he and his friend had been struggling with some sort of supernatural harassment. In the 1900s, the mansion was a boarding school for African-American girls, many of whom were attacked – bruised and scratched – in their sleep. They all blamed a phantom woman. It’s widely believed that Madame LaLaurie’s spirit returned to her mansion after her death and continues to harass any who dare live in her home.
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Sneak peek of our new acquisition. An apothecary gaper! The gaper figurehead appeared in the 16th century as a sign used outside the apothecary storefronts in the Netherlands. Also known as a “yawner”, the gaper is displayed with an open mouth, sometimes with a pill resting on the tongue.
Dr. Dupas was the pharmacist at what is currently the Pharmacy Museum, and not the most ethical man to ever live. Rather than simply trying to help the general public, he took advantage of his position to experiment on pregnant slaves, engage in voodoo rituals, and engaged in other cruel practices against victims, mainly women. His spirit, in his favorite brown suit, is still spotted around the museum occasionally, throwing books, moving objects around, and setting off the alarm. Women, in particular, even more so pregnant women, are more likely to have encounters with him – perhaps he continues to seek out potential victims.
In the mid 1800s, a relative of the Turkish Sultan rented the LaPrete House for himself and his wives, and quickly set up his own Middle Eastern paradise with scimitar-armed guards and an abundance of incense. Part of his paradise, however, included kidnapping women and children for his own perverted pleasures. His obscene preferences remained fairly secret, however, until one morning, when a neighbor noted a river of red liquid flowing from under Suleyman’s door. Upon entry, the authorities found a massacre. Everyone in the building had been brutally killed and hacked apart – except for Prince Suleyman. He had been buried alive, his hand reaching above the dirt as he tried to crawl out of his grave. To this day, screams can still be heard from the house, and on occasion, Suleyman can be seen sitting in the window.