10 Creepy Facts and Legends about New Orleans

New Orleans has inspired many a vampire novel, but locals believe that the city is the home of real vampires. The most infamous is probably Jacques St. Germain, a supposedly ageless and charming man who moved to New Orleans in 1902. Stories say blood-stained clothes from different time periods and bottled human blood were found in his home.

Additionally, brothers John and Wayne Carter were executed in the 1930s for kidnapping and drinking the blood of young girls until they died. The gruesome brothers’ bodies mysteriously vanished, and since then reports of sightings have emerged all over the city. You can visit Royal Street, where all of these men once lived, and decide for yourself if the legends are true.

New Orleans has a thriving and exciting relationship with voodoo culture that dates to the early 19th century. Pioneered by Haitians who fled to the city after 1791, the religion embraces nature, spirits and ancestors with elaborate rituals and practices.

New Orleans’ most prominent voodoo icon is said to be Marie Laveau, a community figure revered for her caring nature and legendary voodoo practices. She died in 1881, and locals and visitors alike still leave offerings at her final resting place in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. You can visit this graveyard and the Creole Cottage that Laveau owned, and if you stay during St. John’s Eve, you may even get to glimpse the voodoo queen rise again.

From the outside, LaLaurie Mansion is a picturesque display of early 19th-century architecture, with iron-wrought balconies and a baroque façade. However, it’s notorious for being one of the most haunted buildings in the USA due to its horrific past. The mansion’s owner, Marie Delphine Macarty, also known as Madame LaLaurie, tortured and killed many enslaved people back in the mid-1800s. Witnesses claimed to have seen severed limbs, people being suspended by the neck and the bodies of young children in her house. Entrance isn’t permitted, but you get to learn about the grisly history of the LaLaurie Mansion by joining a ghost tour.

If you dare to stay near LaLaurie Mansion, browse the hotels in the area.

The St. Louis Cemeteries, located half a mile northwest of Bourbon Street, contain the tombs of many New Orleans icons, and welcome guests to explore their secrets. These 3 labyrinth-like graveyards date back to the late 18th century, with most of the intricate tombs set above ground. For an in-depth look into these mysteries, embark on a guided tour delivered by local experts.

St. Louis Cemetery No. 1’s most popular ghostly residents include voodoo queen Marie Laveau and the tragic figures of Henry Vignes and Alphonse. Many visitors have claimed to have seen these spirits wandering the maze of graves, unsurprisingly drawing plenty of paranormal enthusiasts.

New Orleans is no exception when it comes to folklore monsters. The Grunch are said to be humanoid creatures that lurk in the woodlands of East New Orleans. These nocturnal beasts are believed to look like an albino Chupacabra, though some claim they look like goat-headed humans with razor sharp teeth and claws. 

No one is entirely sure of their origins, whether they stemmed from an outcast settlement or are the product of voodoo, but to this day people claim to hear strange cries and see floating lights over the old Grunch Road. Be careful driving the streets at night, as it’s said that the Grunch lure their victims from their vehicles with injured animals.

The spine-tingling Cajun tale of Rougarou originates from Southern Louisiana and is often told to young children to prevent them from misbehaving. This creature is believed to be a human that transforms into a vicious white animal, variations include wolves, dogs, cattle or even pigs, and roams the swamps and sugarcane fields. 

According to the legend, the Rougarou causes havoc kidnapping children or drinking the blood of unlucky victims. Some believe the Rougarou are under a brutal curse from a voodoo witch, and upon their death become human again to warn their killer not to reveal the incident for a year. Failure to do so will cause the individual to become the next Rougarou.

The Myrtles Plantation is an 18th-century antebellum plantation in St. Francisville, about 100 miles northwest of New Orleans. Numerous ghost sightings have been reported over the years, making it one of the most haunted landmarks in the USA. The plantation’s most popular and yet to be debunked encounter is the apparition of a young enslaved girl, known as Chloe, that was caught on camera in 1992. 

Today, the Myrtles Plantation operates a bed and breakfast, attracting brave travellers looking to experience paranormal sightings around New Orleans. Embark on a guided tour of this sinister property and discover secrets involving a burial ground, a haunted mirror and why the ghost of William Winter cannot pass the 17th step.

One of Bourbon Street’s oldest bars, Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop Bar is said to be haunted by the ghost of the mysterious pirate Jean Lafitte, who built the bar between 1722 and 1732 to operate an illegal smuggling business. The bar appears old and delipidated to add to the eerie atmosphere, though its reported hauntings are scary enough.

Staff often catch an apparition dressed in period clothing near the fireplace, while others have reported seeing ghostly red eyes in dark corners of the bar. It’s supposedly also haunted by the spirit of a young woman who committed suicide on the top floor, but you’ll have to visit yourself to be sure.

Hotel Monteleone, built in 1886, is a luxurious Beaux-Arts style hotel in New Orleans’ French Quarter. Over the years, hotel staff and guests have experienced unexplainable encounters within its ornate walls.

From a locked restaurant door that manages to open and close itself every night to elevators stopping at the wrong floor and leading people into dark halls, there’s all sorts of unexplained activity going on. It’s even believed that the spirit of a toddler named Maurice Begere roams the Hotel Monteleone’s 14th floor looking for playmates, though coincidentally, it’s actually the 13th.

The bizarre legend of the Casket Girls began during the colonisation of New Orleans, when young French women were sent to the city for marriage. It’s said that these girls, who carried their belongings in chests, resided at Ursuline Convent until they could be wed.

Their chests were kept in the attic, but their contents mysteriously disappeared overnight. Fearing a demonic presence, the nuns had the caskets nailed shut, the attic locked and blessed, and the girls labelled as vampires and cast out. After years of supernatural myths spreading throughout New Orleans, the story took a gruesome turn in 1978 when 2 reporters supposedly broke into the attic and their bodies were found, decapitated and drained of blood, the next morning.