New Orleans Ghosts- The gory stories!
When Ernie, our tour guide asked what kinds of stories we wanted, he suggested gory stories. Immediately one of our other tourists declared that he wanted the gory stories. These are NOT the kind of story I prefer, so I quickly suggested spooky ghost stories. I want the shivers, not to feel sick to my stomach. For these stories, I was wrong....
Romeo Spikes
The architecture of the New Orleans French Quarter is so unique! The buildings are like square boxes stuck close together on the street. Most of these buildings have balconies on the second floor, supported by metal posts. Some of these balconies are works of art with metallic scrollwork, and hanging plants. Walking down the sidewalk usually meant walking under balconies, some of them dripping as hanging plants were watered. Ernie took us down the street, and paused suddenly at one of the posts supporting a random balcony. Back in the day, families looking to protect their teenage daughters would include a unique architectural feature called Romeo Spikes or Romeo Catchers. These were wicked looking spikes surrounding the balcony posts so that any young man wanting to climb the balcony would find it very painful. Sure enough, we were standing under a balcony where all of the posts were surrounded by these Romeo Spikes.
As the story goes, there was a young man dating the daughter of a prominent family not far from the French Quarter. One night, the family went out for dinner as the daughter begged off, feeling too sick to go. They left her alone, and she promptly let her boyfriend in by the front door so they could spent their time...snuggling....Unfortunately, her father had forgotten his wallet, so they were surprised when he suddenly returned unannounced. In a panic, the young man leaped over the balcony, holding onto the edge, but as he did, he misjudged where the pole was, and managed to stab his hip on the Romeo Spikes below. Crying out in pain, his hands slipped from their grasp of the balcony bars, and the weight of his body hit the Romeo Spike, ripping through his flesh all the way up from his hip through his abdomen, stopping only when he fell backward and landed on the ground. Not all of him safely landed, for the spike had caught his intestines, and they were looped up and over the balcony spikes. He died a gruesome death. Now, however, he haunts the balcony, replaying his death over and over. Passersby might be walking under the balcony late at night, and feel a drip on their arm. With surprise, they look down and find it's too dark to be just water, oh no, it's blood. Feeling the brush of something else, they look up and find the hanging viscera....
The LaLaurie Mansion
Ernie made sure we got to walk under several dripping balconies on the way to the most haunted house in New Orleans. I had walked past this house several times just that day, and until we stopped in front of it, I would never have guessed it's gruesome history. In 1834, Dr. and Madame LaLaurie were wealthy socialites, well known and well liked throughout the city. One night, while they were having a lavish cocktail party at their home, a fire broke out in the kitchen. Everyone evacuated while the fire brigade rushed to put out the fire. Investigating the house to make sure the fire was completely put out, they found a locked room on the third floor where they could hear screams and cries. They broke down the door, and were overwhelmed by the awful stench.
Inside the room, slaves were chained to the walls and tables, many of them dead, all of them mutilated from medical experiments that Dr. LaLaurie had performed on them. Some had their faces altered. One man had some sort of primitive sex change performed on him. One woman was found in a box, her limbs broken and reset so that she looked like a human crab.
As news of the horrors within the house reached the people out on the street, they formed and angry mob to get the LaLauries, but they had slipped away and escaped to Paris. After the house was abandoned, neighbors said they could hear screams coming from the house. Everyone said it was haunted. It was abandoned for years. When people finally moved in, there were stories of screams, of chained men walking through the house, of animal corpses being found- all of them mutilated. One man tried to open a furniture store, and came down one morning to find all of the furniture covered with blood and feces. Thinking it was a cruel joke, he ordered new furniture, installed new locks, and when the new furniture arrived, stayed watching all night long to try to catch the prankster. He fell asleep, and when he woke up, the furniture was again covered with blood.
The house is still known as the most haunted in New Orleans. Nicholas Cage owned it for several years, because hey, if you have that kind of money, why not own the most haunted house in New Orleans? He was forced to sell it when he hit financial troubles, and it's now owned by a development company. NO IDEA what kinds of stories they have to tell!
Romeo Spikes
The architecture of the New Orleans French Quarter is so unique! The buildings are like square boxes stuck close together on the street. Most of these buildings have balconies on the second floor, supported by metal posts. Some of these balconies are works of art with metallic scrollwork, and hanging plants. Walking down the sidewalk usually meant walking under balconies, some of them dripping as hanging plants were watered. Ernie took us down the street, and paused suddenly at one of the posts supporting a random balcony. Back in the day, families looking to protect their teenage daughters would include a unique architectural feature called Romeo Spikes or Romeo Catchers. These were wicked looking spikes surrounding the balcony posts so that any young man wanting to climb the balcony would find it very painful. Sure enough, we were standing under a balcony where all of the posts were surrounded by these Romeo Spikes.
As the story goes, there was a young man dating the daughter of a prominent family not far from the French Quarter. One night, the family went out for dinner as the daughter begged off, feeling too sick to go. They left her alone, and she promptly let her boyfriend in by the front door so they could spent their time...snuggling....Unfortunately, her father had forgotten his wallet, so they were surprised when he suddenly returned unannounced. In a panic, the young man leaped over the balcony, holding onto the edge, but as he did, he misjudged where the pole was, and managed to stab his hip on the Romeo Spikes below. Crying out in pain, his hands slipped from their grasp of the balcony bars, and the weight of his body hit the Romeo Spike, ripping through his flesh all the way up from his hip through his abdomen, stopping only when he fell backward and landed on the ground. Not all of him safely landed, for the spike had caught his intestines, and they were looped up and over the balcony spikes. He died a gruesome death. Now, however, he haunts the balcony, replaying his death over and over. Passersby might be walking under the balcony late at night, and feel a drip on their arm. With surprise, they look down and find it's too dark to be just water, oh no, it's blood. Feeling the brush of something else, they look up and find the hanging viscera....
The LaLaurie Mansion
Ernie made sure we got to walk under several dripping balconies on the way to the most haunted house in New Orleans. I had walked past this house several times just that day, and until we stopped in front of it, I would never have guessed it's gruesome history. In 1834, Dr. and Madame LaLaurie were wealthy socialites, well known and well liked throughout the city. One night, while they were having a lavish cocktail party at their home, a fire broke out in the kitchen. Everyone evacuated while the fire brigade rushed to put out the fire. Investigating the house to make sure the fire was completely put out, they found a locked room on the third floor where they could hear screams and cries. They broke down the door, and were overwhelmed by the awful stench.
Inside the room, slaves were chained to the walls and tables, many of them dead, all of them mutilated from medical experiments that Dr. LaLaurie had performed on them. Some had their faces altered. One man had some sort of primitive sex change performed on him. One woman was found in a box, her limbs broken and reset so that she looked like a human crab.
As news of the horrors within the house reached the people out on the street, they formed and angry mob to get the LaLauries, but they had slipped away and escaped to Paris. After the house was abandoned, neighbors said they could hear screams coming from the house. Everyone said it was haunted. It was abandoned for years. When people finally moved in, there were stories of screams, of chained men walking through the house, of animal corpses being found- all of them mutilated. One man tried to open a furniture store, and came down one morning to find all of the furniture covered with blood and feces. Thinking it was a cruel joke, he ordered new furniture, installed new locks, and when the new furniture arrived, stayed watching all night long to try to catch the prankster. He fell asleep, and when he woke up, the furniture was again covered with blood.
The house is still known as the most haunted in New Orleans. Nicholas Cage owned it for several years, because hey, if you have that kind of money, why not own the most haunted house in New Orleans? He was forced to sell it when he hit financial troubles, and it's now owned by a development company. NO IDEA what kinds of stories they have to tell!