On April 11, 1834 a fire broke out in the kitchen, now thought to have been deliberately set by the manacled black slave cook. The LaLauries quickly gathered possessions and fled the premises. Neighbors noted the absence of house servants during the LaLauries escape. When a volunteer fire department arrived to put down the blaze, they broke into the rooftop "attic." What they saw was reported in the newspaper the next day.
 Firemen raced up these stairs, bashed in the sealed "attic" door. The stench of death made many of them sick. Accounts spoke of servants doused in honey and then covered with ants. Another servant had a hole drilled into his skull with a stick inserted to stir the brain. A female servant was discovered in a barred cage with her limbs broken and repositioned to resemble those of a crab. Other atrocities were even more graphic. For two or three weeks afterwards, passersby asserted they heard screams from within the deserted and damaged building, but no one dared to investigate.
Many of the LaLaurie servants were never accounted for. They had simply disappeared. When this building was being remodeled for conversion into apartments, workers opened up walls and floors. A report stated they discovered the skeletal remains of several humans. Had the LaLauries imprisoned slaves within the house's structure?
 The Lalaurie House around 1900. After the LaLauries skipped town, this building became a barbershop, music and dance conservatory, girl's school, a furniture store, Grand Consistory of Louisiana offices, a haven for delinquents and a bar. All residents allegedly experienced paranormal phenomenon. The bar owner kept a record and capitalized upon the hauntings. In 1969 a retired doctor purchased this property and converted it into upscale apartments. Last Spring actor Nicolas Cage bought the alleged haunted mansion on Royal Street.
The picture below was shot several years ago by an amateur ghost hunter who claimed the white light on the left to be a "spirit image." Most likely it was a reflection on the camera lens from a nearby streetlight or other source.
After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005 the picture below was taken inside a damaged hallway.
 Interesting moving orb phenonmena, but not conclusive because this shot was also taken by an amateur who didn't record any supporting data, such as EMF readings or possible temperature changes.
In decades past a long list of alleged phenomenon included: eerie lights in upstairs windows; inexplicable sounds of chains, screams, moans, insane laughter and whipping; the apparition of Madame LaLaurie dressed in black and carrying a riding crop; the ghost of a towering black man in chains; figures dressed in shrouds being whipped; dogs and cats being strangled and mutilated and the final moments of a little servant girl leaping off the roof to her death reenacted. Poltergeist-like activities include faucets being turned on and doors unlocking themselves.
No publicly-reported ghost sightings have surfaced in recent years and on site investigations are not allowed. |
|
"HELL HOUSE" The LaLaurie House, New Orleans
The sweet aroma of beignets lingered in my nostrils from that morning's breakfast near French Market Place. It would soon be overpowered by fresh crawfish and ground coffee beans as lunchtime approached. I crossed Decatur Street and turned north on Gov. Nicholls Street. My destination would be an 1830s vintage building at 1140 Rue Royal.
In 1832 Dr. LaLaurie, with his wife Delphine and daughter Camille, purchased the property and moved in. They immediately decorated this three-story home with costly furnishings and elaborate paintings. Delphine began to throw parties for New Orleans upper crust and was the talk of high society.
But there were two sides to Madame LaLaurie. The charming, captivating, flirtatious and highly respected hostess was on her exterior. Within was a horrific, dark sadist who allegedly beat, tortured and performed medical experiments upon her black servants. She chained the cook to an oven in the kitchen and once terrified a young servant girl so much the poor child leaped to her death from the roof. On the rooftop was a locked room known as "the attic", a place feared by all servants . They knew once a servant was taken to "the attic", they would never be seen again.
Witnesses to the servant girl's rooftop plunge filed complaints against the LaLauries. Brutallity to slaves was not tolerated in New Orleans. A judge ruled LaLaurie slaves be taken from them and placed on the auction block. However, Delphine had friends in powerful places, so those slaves were purchased by them and handed back to the LaLauries.
Madame Delphine LaLaurie. Does this look like the face of a monster? The charming structure below couldn't have been a sadistic torture chamber. Or could it?
 |
|
|
