THE LOST DEAD --- GHOST HUNTER | Investigator

New Orleans is a very old city, and old cities usually have their urban legends well woven into the fabric of everyday life. Such are the tales of the Rougarou (an American werewolf) the Grunch (a local New Orleans Chupacabra) Vampires and of course Zombies. But not to many outside the city have heard of what locals call The Lost Dead. If a animated corpse can or could haunt you The Lost Dead is that creature to do so.

Some think they are part vampire others a cross between a vampire and a zombie. But in dissecting the legend brings forth even a few new hypothesis. And several layers of degrees separating them from both of the well known enigmas.

The bodies of Lost Dead have many of the same distinctive characteristics as the bodies of vampires of folklore. They do not decay or fall victim to corruption, instead, they swell and may even attain a "drum-like" form, or shrivel to a Zombie like creature. Crosses and the usual ways of dispatching Vampires or a zombie does not work on the Lost Dead. and basically that's how you find out that the lost dead are a totally different breed of un-dead.

Yes some have a ruddy complexion and their clothes are ill fitting (either hanging on them or popping the seams), and are, according to one account, " Always life like and fresh from being gorged with new blood of it's victim". They look like a un-kept person or a vagabond of a vampire and they may range in age from that of a young child to the elderly. Some old New Orleanian's say they are just dead folks that don't know where to go. their minds are not all their and they don't know whether to stay in the grave or tomb or to just dig their way out and go home. But still Dead is dead and by all medical ideas they are that just dead.

The activities of the Lost Dead are nearly always strange and paranormal, verging from merely leaving their above ground grave and tombs and "roaming about" and being seen even on Bourbon Street during the daylight hours. Stiffly they walk a wreck of a vagabond and a stench foul as the grave and as corrupt as the decaying corpse in the tomb.

Among other things, this unique Louisiana creature is believed to knock on the doors of houses or even in venture into a New Orleans Hotel or business's and call out the name of the persons inside. Much often The Lost Dead or so likened to that of the Banshee as a foreteller of death it's also hard to separate the differences.

If The Lost Dead gets no reply the first time comes to a home, it will pass without causing any harm but leave mud from the Cemetery on the door step and the lingering smell of a decaying corpse as it's calling card.

If someone unfortunate does answer the door, he or she will die a few days later and become another of the Lost Dead and roam New Orleans until Judgment Day. For this reason, there is a superstition present that one should not answer a door until the third knock or third ringing of the bell.

You see The Lost Dead only knock twice. Same goes for answering a telephone, for the Lost Dead are said to know how to dial a phone and if your answer before the third ring and they call your name you are then marked for certain death! If you wait until the third ring they they are said to be stupefied and just hang up. The only thing I personally don't understand is why they don't ring doorbells?

The Lost dead have been known to slit your throat or wrist with a sharp knife or broken bottle then with great strength ... hold you down and drink your blood as states a few Gentility area tales. Other stories (depending on what ward or district you live in) often tell of them hugging or squeezing a person to death until they explode blood from their eyes and orifices. Those who live near the Canal Street Cemeteries tell this story and believe that the Lost Dead burst all the major internal organs of its victim by hugging them. Still others in The Mid City Bayou St. John Area have said they grab you with a vice like grip dragging the victim forcefully to the St. Louis cemetery Number 3. And taking the victim back to their own grave and entombing the live person within to take their place. In Uptown New Orleans The Lost Dead are said to be found each day and returned to their graves this usually goes on for several weeks until the body is so rotted away it cannot crawl out again to annoy the living.

Still others from the West Bank of New Orleans tell that the Lost Dead are merely just a poorly animated corpse who with little or no mind left since the advent of embalming merely room the city until they fall or rot away to pieces.

In the late 1800's locals were said to always made sure they buried their dead in their finest clothes only because if they woke up in the cold grave and walked the streets the family would not be embarrassed when then neighbor said yours Mama's Dead corpse is waling the Streets... Or because if your dead with no place to go but walk the french Quarter night and day you might as well look nice until somebody buries your ass again!

Many times they say that it was up to family members only to capture their dead relatives and put them back in their grave under lock and key. A very old new orleans tale tells that's why so many tombs have fences around them and actual heavy doors with great padlocks. Some say the higher the tomb the fresh body was always put on top so if it tried to escape it would fall and burst as it hit the ground saving the family the trouble of searching the neighborhood until they found them.

Unlike Vampires Daylight does not affect them Unlike zombies they are not able to be enslaved to do ones bidding. And many local Voodoo and Hoodoo Kings and Queens are said to be called into to service to identify what the creature is that has been seen roaming the city Streets of New Orleans.

The Lost Dead is a taboo subject that few will speak of to strangers. And if you can get them to talk you will hear stories of how years a go their relatives haunted the family each night knocking at the front door and calling their names to let them in. This type of haunting is said to only last a few weeks in the summer . I guess because the extreme heat of the city wears on the dead very fast. And sometimes for a few months from October until March.

How and Why you can become one of the lost Dead!

In New Orleans they say if you die on Mardi Gras day your chances of becoming a Lost Dead is greater then any other time of the year. If your born on February 29th or May 1st your a instant shoe in.

Many believe it involves some strange Voodoo Hoodoo curse that goes back to Marie Laveau. They say she was trying a new ritual to make a different kind of zombie that would do your bidding for only a few weeks then return to the grave. But of course something went wrong. Or the spell was never perfected, and that many Voodooist are trying to get the spell right and are doing this to unsuspecting victims. They are said to pour a black powder in your drink and that's it!. Bam, your a lost Dead!

Some say you can become a lost dead if your final wishes are not carried out .A school friend of mine in grammar school once told me and some friends that her Grandma was a Lost Dead. She said she came to the door one morning and that's why she was late for school that day. She said that the old woman's corpse yelled and demanded a pair of red shoes and would not leave until her dad through a pair out of the window to her. (since she had not been buried in them and that was her final wish.) She told us her Grandma's corpse promptly put on the shoes and left never to be seen again. She also showed us a not from her dad saying the Lost Dead came to our house this morning at 7 :am and that she should be excused for being late because everyone knows what that entails. We watched her give the note to the teacher who just read it, folded it up and went on with teaching the class.

How To Put a Lost Dead back in it's Grave.

Voodooist today say that the lost dead are merely people who were not baptized when they were born and you only need to take the lost dead to the church and pour holy water over their head so they can get their rest and go to Heaven. Once done the corpse falls to the ground never to move again.

Others merely gather up all the bravest family members and go out with rope and big sticks and capture the Lost Dead and put it back in their graves kicking and biting all the way. Or you can just not answer the door until the third knock!

So far in my many Paranormal Investigations and Adventures I have not come across a Lost Dead eye to eye. I know the stories and usually hear a new one about them now and then. But I will just sit around until one day theirs a knock at my door or the phone rings asking me to come and investigate the phenomena. But I won't answer until the third knock or ring!

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GINA LANIER is a New Orleans native who has studied paranormal activities, the occult and haunting's for nearly thirty years. She has participated in and conducted large-scale location haunting's and recently has shifted her focus to include the investigation and study of haunted toys such as dolls, toy furniture, games and other hallmarks of childhood.

Gina’s paranormal studies stem from several childhood experiences with the unknown including witnessing full body apparitions and clairaudient encounters with deceased relatives. These experiences continued beyond childhood and this is when Gina resolved to learn as much as possible about psychic and paranormal phenomenon to determine what, exactly, was making contact with her and with others who claimed to have been contacted from the Other Side.

Gina owns and operates a construction and refurbishment company in the Greater New Orleans area and this has afforded her exposure to many allegedly haunted locations and people over the years; several of these clients welcomed Gina’s expertise and insight when it came to documenting and investigating their haunted homes and businesses.

Gina Lanier has been selected by Haunted America Tours as one of the lead investigators for its soon-to-be-launched Ghost Hunters Of America. If you would like to contact Gina, please submit your request and as much information as possible about your situation to her care of her web site Email: mskitowhawk@cox.net

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Gina "Gnothz" Lanier
Please call me at 504-915-5505 or Email: mskitowhawk@cox.net