Ghost Stories Of Old New Orleans

“He struck a match to look at his watch. In the flare of the light they saw a young woman just at Pitot’s elbow—a young woman dressed all in black, with pale gold hair, and a baby sleeping on her shoulder. She glided to the edge of the bridge and stepped noiselessly off into the black waters.”—from Ghost Stories of Old New Orleans Ghosts are said to wander along the rooftops above New Orleans’ Royal Street, the dead allegedly sing sacred songs in St. Louis Cathedral, and the graveyard tomb of a wealthy madam reportedly glows bright red at night. Local lore about such supernatural sightings, as curated by Jeanne deLavigne in her classic Ghost Stories of Old New Orleans, finds the phantoms of bitter lovers, vengeful slaves, and menacing gypsies haunting nearly every corner of the city, from the streets of the French Quarter to Garden District mansions. Originally printed in 1944, all forty ghost stories and the macabre etchings of New Orleans artist Charles Richards appear in this new edition. Drawing largely on popular legend dating back to the 1800s, deLavigne provides vivid details of old New Orleans with a cast of spirits that represent the ethnic mélange of the city set amid period homes, historic neighborhoods, and forgotten taverns. Combining folklore, newspaper accounts, and deLavigne’s own voice, these phantasmal tales range from the tragic—brothers, lost at sea as children, haunt a chapel on Thomas Street in search of their mother—to graphic depictions of torture, mutilation, and death. Folklorist and foreword contributor Frank A. de Caro places the writer and her work in context for modern readers. He uncovers new information about deLavigne’s life and describes her book’s pervasive lingering influence on the Crescent City’s culture today.

Travel beyond Bourbon Street into the macabre history of one of the most haunted cities in the United States with the author of Wicked New Orleans as your guide. New Orleans—the Big Easy, the birthplace of jazz, home of Cafe du Monde and what some call the most haunted city in America. Beneath the indulgence and revelry of the Crescent City lies a long history of the dark and mysterious. From the famous “Queen of Voodoo,” Marie Laveau, who is said to haunt the site of her grave, to the wicked LaLauries, whose true natures were hidden behind elegance and the trappings of high society, New Orleans is filled with spirits of all kinds. Some of the ghosts in these stories have sordid and scandalous histories, while others are friendly specters who simply can’t leave their beloved city behind. Join supernatural historian Troy Taylor as he takes readers beyond the French Quarter and shows a side of New Orleans never seen. Includes photos!

Ray Durante is a paranormal investigator and would-be writer from New York City, who travels to New Orleans, Louisiana, in search of a good ghost story for his upcoming book. New Orleans certainly has no shortage of ghost stories, considering it is one of the oldest cities in the southern United States. Upon his arrival, Ray wastes no time and begins his research by conducting a paranormal investigation on his first day there. As the days go by, he continues his research and takes a haunted tour that eventually leads to his meeting with a local Creole street musician named Rini. Rini gradually introduces him to a whole new world, which just may turn his own world upside down. Join Ray on his journey through the haunts of the French Quarter in what will surely become the most intense time of his life.

In this book Tiya Miles explores the popular yet troubling phenomenon of "ghost tours," frequently promoted and experienced at plantations, urban manor homes, and cemeteries throughout the South. As a staple of the tours, guides entertain paying customers by routinely relying on stories of enslaved black specters. But who are these ghosts? Examining popular sites and stories from these tours, Miles shows that haunted tales routinely appropriate and skew African American history to produce representations of slavery for commercial gain. "Dark tourism" often highlights the most sensationalist and macabre aspects of slavery, from salacious sexual ties between white masters and black women slaves to the physical abuse and torture of black bodies to the supposedly exotic nature of African spiritual practices. Because the realities of slavery are largely absent from these tours, Miles reveals how they continue to feed problematic "Old South" narratives and erase the hard truths of the Civil War era. In an incisive and engaging work, Miles uses these troubling cases to shine light on how we feel about the Civil War and race, and how the ghosts of the past are still with us.

It’s not hard to find restless spirits in the Big Easy. Let the popular paranormal investigator guide you through its winding streets and history. Newly revised and updated, this installment in the much-acclaimed Ghost Hunter’s Guide Series is designed for locals, new residents, and travelers seeking the haunted history of the Crescent City and nearby locations. Detailed descriptions and historical background for more than two hundred locations guide readers to sites where they might encounter ghostly apparitions. Sites and spirits in the Garden District and French Quarter include the ghosts of voodoo priestesses, victims of yellow-fever epidemics, several well-known French Quarter restaurants, and the famous Lalaurie Mansion, thought to be the most haunted house in New Orleans. A section on City Park, the Faubourg Marigny, and nearby Chalmette, the site of the Battle of New Orleans, is also provided. A chapter dedicated to day trips suggests the paranormal possibilities awaiting travelers destined for the famous River Road plantations and Baton Rouge. Praise for Jeff Dwyer’s Ghost Hunter’s Guide to the San Francisco Bay Area “While sometimes scary, [the ghost stories] more often serve as reminders of the sometimes quirky, and oftentimes tragically haunting, history of the people of California.” —The Reporter (Vacaville, CA) “I thought I knew everything about the wine country, but I apparently overlooked the protoplasmic ‘walk by night’ world.” —Mick Winter, author of The Napa Valley Book

“He struck a match to look at his watch. In the flare of the light they saw a young woman just at Pitot’s elbow—a young woman dressed all in black, with pale gold hair, and a baby sleeping on her shoulder. She glided to the edge of the bridge and stepped noiselessly off into the black waters.”—from Ghost Stories of Old New Orleans Ghosts are said to wander along the rooftops above New Orleans’ Royal Street, the dead allegedly sing sacred songs in St. Louis Cathedral, and the graveyard tomb of a wealthy madam reportedly glows bright red at night. Local lore about such supernatural sightings, as curated by Jeanne deLavigne in her classic Ghost Stories of Old New Orleans, finds the phantoms of bitter lovers, vengeful slaves, and menacing gypsies haunting nearly every corner of the city, from the streets of the French Quarter to Garden District mansions. Originally printed in 1944, all forty ghost stories and the macabre etchings of New Orleans artist Charles Richards appear in this new edition. Drawing largely on popular legend dating back to the 1800s, deLavigne provides vivid details of old New Orleans with a cast of spirits that represent the ethnic mélange of the city set amid period homes, historic neighborhoods, and forgotten taverns. Combining folklore, newspaper accounts, and deLavigne’s own voice, these phantasmal tales range from the tragic—brothers, lost at sea as children, haunt a chapel on Thomas Street in search of their mother—to graphic depictions of torture, mutilation, and death. Folklorist and foreword contributor Frank A. de Caro places the writer and her work in context for modern readers. He uncovers new information about deLavigne’s life and describes her book’s pervasive lingering influence on the Crescent City’s culture today.