New Orleans itself is considered one of the most haunted cities in America. However, most of the spooky settings in this haunted city are situated in the French Quarter. New Orleans has a rich history, filled with a diverse range of people, events, and buildings, that contributes to the potential paranormal activity of the area. However, there is no place in New Orleans with a history as rich as the French Quarter.
Some of these places harbour ghosts of the friendlier variety while others may have more malicious intentions. However, believer or sceptic, the stories, accounts, and claims of the French Quarter will put your supernatural beliefs to the test. These notorious spots may have you searching "haunted tours New Orleans" later. Today, we'll explore a couple of the most haunted spots in New Orleans' French Quarter and the riveting stories behind them.
The Witch of the Opera resides in the French Quarter.
One of the most haunted spots of the French Quarter is the location of the old New Orleans French Opera House. For some time, it was considered the most famous opera house in America, earning New Orleans the nickname of the opera capital of America. However, the New Orleans Opera House has a tragic story involving a love triangle and ending with a fire in 1919 that destroyed the building. Many people claim that some of the performers' and guests' spirits still linger in the area.
But these accounts pale in comparison to the most reported ghost originating from the opera house. The Witch of the Opera was one of the performers named Marguerite. She quickly rose to fame due mainly to her looks. However, as she looks faded, so did her fame. Soon after, her husband passed away in a tragic accident that left her in financial ruin. Marguerite was able to recover and opened a bakery nearby. She fell in love with her pastry chef, and their professional relationship blossomed into romance. Despite their romance, the pastry chef had eyes for another woman, and Marguerite became suspicious. Marguerite tailed her lover one night and caught him in the act with another, younger woman. She then suffocated the two using the gas line in the fireplace. Riddled with guilt, Marguerite took her own life shortly afterwards by hanging herself inside the New Orleans Opera House. Today, many visitors of the area say they can hear her wailing screams in the night, hence her nickname, the Witch of the Opera.
The Lalaurie Mansion's evil still permeates the French Quarter.
When it comes to the hauntings of the French Quarter and New Orleans' dark past, there's one place that has made quite the name for itself: the Lalaurie Mansion. The Lalaurie Mansion was home to one of the most infamous serial killers in the United States, Delphine Lalaurie. Her gruesome storey even found its way onto the television show "American Horror Story." Lalaurie's actions were the very definition of horror.
Delphine Lalaurie was a friendly, polite person to people of all backgrounds in public. However, she let her despicable nature out once she was away from prying eyes within her home in the French Quarter. Lalaurie had transformed her mansion into a makeshift torture chamber that she used to torment the enslaved people she had working in the estate before murdering them in gruesome ways. Finally, one of the elderly cooks of the mansion couldn't take it anymore and started a fire in an attempt to expose the truth and avoid further punishment from Lalaurie. When the fire was investigated, they discovered the horrible truth of the Lalaurie mansion, including severed limbs, enslaved people hanging by the neck, and even the bodies of young children. Unfortunately, Lalaurie's cowardice led her to flee to France to escape justice. Today, her numerous victims are said to haunt the property still.