There are certain places where we all know or believe that ghost roam freely and effect the lives of the living. Some encounters with them range from whispering ghost voices and strange aromas; Some ghost are very noisy and of course they move things about; Some are just shadows and others full body apparitions.

These are many places around the world where ghost are said to appear on a regular schedule and as we would then surmise that these are considered the most haunted places in the world.

I have experienced haunting's and paranormal experiences in many diverse locations from the tropical paradise of Jamaica and the mystical adventure parks of Florida. I have even experienced things in a couple of prisons that one might call just unbelievable. And un--nerving and frightening at the time of the experience. Still I would love to tour of some of the creepiest, most ghost-filled places on this planet. Wouldn't you? But I live near New Orleans just across the Mississippi River and close enough to be haunted on a daily basis. I have survived through hurricane Katrina and so have many of the locations and their ghost.

Haunted places around the world, The World's Most Haunted Places may make you a real believer in ghosts. Here is a collection of true ghost stories from the world's most haunted places. This list will have some familiar names, and some places you never expected to be haunted. Paranormal activity is an really a very international affair, and ghosts and apparitions intermingle with the living everywhere day and night. When it comes to the number and regularity of ghost sightings and unexplained events, these real haunted sites can't be beat. A collection of history, folklore, and true ghost stories from the world's most haunted places.

Also See: Haunted America Tours 100 most haunted and Paranormal Places on earth here! THE 100 MOST SCARIEST PLACES TO SEE REAL GHOSTS OR HAVE A PARANORMAL ENCOUNTER AS VOTED BY THE MANY VISITORS TO HAUNTED AMERICA TOURS WEBSITE. The World's 100 Most Haunted Places

NEW ORLEANS STYLE DAY OF THE DEAD

All Saints Day sacred for local Catholics day of the dead, For Catholics worldwide, November 1st, known as "All Saints Day," is a holy day of obligation. But in New Orleans, it's an occasion that is met with slightly more fanfare compared to other places around the world. READ MORE HERE: www.hauntedamericatours.com/HOLIDAYS/HALLOWEEN/dayofthedead/neworleans/

The Well Known Secret New Orleans' Voodoo Cemetery Gates Of Guinee, The Portal To The Afterworld.

Ghede' is a very wise man for his knowledge is an accumulation of the knowledge of all the deceased. He stands on the center of all the roads that lead to Guinee, the afterworld. To find these mysterious gates in the city of New Orleans might take a little detective work. Some Locals say if their open when you find them... beware! If you then enter you will never return to the real world.

The exact location of the haunted cemetery gates isn't really ever told to outsiders of the Secret Societies. New Orleans Tour Guides and Haunted Cemetery or ghost tours will skirt around the issue, or just look at you like they don't know what your talking about, so never mention it (seriously). They say just to talk about the accursed cemetery gates spells doom to those that ask or search for it or speak of it openly to anyone. Those who know feel it is inviting them , "The Ghede" to take you away. Only someone pure of heart with only one burning question to be answered by the dead is ever told the whole truth. A unnamed New Orleans Voodoo priestess says quite bluntly, search and you shall find them rusted shut, or worse they will certainly find you and be wide and opened.

To find these gates, they say is to find the way to communicate openly with the dead. And not just the spirits of those that have died in New Orleans. Local Voodoo followers of Marie Laveaus' Secret Society profess that anyone can come to these gates of Guinee if you can find them.

Speak the name of the deceased you wish to speak to aloud five times through the bars, and they will come and speak to you from the other side. One real warning though, if the rusted shut heavy gate opens do not enter. For you will be one of the living trapped in the world of the dead forever. If you arrive and the Guinee gates are open turn and walk away crossing yourself three times as fast as you can and don't look back.

In New Orleans voodoo-religion, Guinee is the legendary place of origin and abode of the voodoo gods. It is here that the souls of the deceased go after their death. On their way to Guinee, they first have to pass the eternal crossroads which is guarded by Ghede.

" Although one is pure of thoughts and in heart, searches for the gates of the truly dead. You never know when the November winds blow, If the cursed gates are searching for you too."

"If you enter the gates backwards you might have a small chance, to flee with your life all intact. But if your motives are untrue then the living death calls your name , then there is nothing you can do."

... Attributed to Madame Marie Laveau, 1800's New Orleans

† THE MANY TRUE FACES OF THE VOODOO QUEEN MARIE LAVEAU †

No one knows the face of Marie Laveau, we only know her voodoo legacy, legend and myth!

Although there is plenty of tall tales and assorted historical information about Marie Laveau (Lavaux) and her daughter and namesake in the legends and lore of Old New Orleans, known as Marie II, photos or pictures of her do not exist. The many drawings and paintings alike of her actually do. But none capture the real image of her. Schneider's painting was done in the 1920's close to over 40 years after her death. It is based on a painting by George Caitlin which is of a lady wearing a tignon (a required head-covering during the slave era that evolved into fashionable headdress), and bares no resemblance of Marie Laveau except by name. No portrait was ever painted of her from life and no actual photo of her has ever surfaced publicly.

Story by Mickey Of Miami, Artwork by Ricardo Pustanio www.hauntedamericatours.com/voodoo/Marielaveau/picturesmarielaveau/

CEMETERY GHOST

From about the 7th century, European burial was under the control of the church and on consecrated church ground. Practices varied, but in continental Europe, bodies were usually buried in a mass grave until they had decomposed. The bones were then exhumed and stored in ossuaries, either along the arcaded bounding walls of the cemetery, or within the church under floor slabs and behind walls.

Burying corpses in land enclosed within the city walls had a negative impact on public health. As a consequence, some cemeteries were moved away from heavily populated areas. As an example, in the late 18th century, skeletons exhumed from major Paris cemeteries were moved into ossuaries in the Catacombs, and burials were prohibited in inner-city locations.

Cemetery company and municipally-owned cemeteries, independent from churches and their churchyards, date largely from the early 19th century, certainly in their landscaped or garden cemetery form, although the cemetery reform movement began c. 1740.

The earliest of the spacious landscaped-style cemeteries is Père Lachaise in Paris. This embodied the idea of state- rather than church-controlled burial – a concept that spread through Europe with the Napoleonic invasions, and sometimes became adapted leading to the opening of cemeteries by private companies. The shift to municipal cemeteries or those established by private companies was usually accompanied by the establishing of spacious, landscaped, burial grounds outside of the city limits.

Cemeteries are usually a respected area, and often include churches or other religious buildings (chapels); and sometimes a crematorium for the cremation of the dead. The violation of the graves or buildings is usually considered a very serious crime, and punishments are often severe.

The style of cemeteries varies greatly internationally. For example, in the United States and many European countries, modern cemeteries usually have many tombstones placed on open spaces. In Russia, tombstones are usually placed in small fenced family lots. (This was once common practice in American cemeteries as well, and such fenced family plots are still visible in some older American cemeteries.)

Among the sites associated with New Orleans voodoo is the tomb of its greatest figure, Marie Laveau. For several decades this "voodoo queen" held New Orleans spellbound-figuratively, of course, but some would say literally, as legends of her occult powers continue to captivate. She staged ceremonies in which participants became possessed by loas (voodoo spirits) and danced naked around bonfires; she dispensed charms and potions called gris-gris, even saving several condemned men from the gallows; and she told fortunes, healed the sick, and herself remained perpetually youthful while living for more than a century-or so it is said (Hauck 1996; Tallant 1946).

The following is excerpted from the book City of the Dead: A Journey Through St. Louis Cemetery #1, New Orleans, Louisiana by Robert Florence © 1996, The Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Southwestern Louisiana, @ pages 60-63:

“Marie Laveau (c. 1794-1881) Marie Laveau
after Franck Schneider after George Catlin c. 1920s Oil on canvas By the same artist: Baroness Pontalba


Marie Laveau was the reigning Voodoo priestess of the nineteenth century. New Orleans Voodoo as a social phenomenon came into its heyday during the 1800’s. Under Marie Laveau’s guidance Voodoo thrived as a business, served as a form of political influence, provided a source o[f] spectacle and entertainment, and was a means of altruism. But what Voodoo is in its pure form is religion: forms of worship brought to Caribbean and American colonies through the slave trade.

Due to slavery, the entire life of the transplanted African was tragically altered. Naturally the religious beliefs and practices would change. This mutation of West African religion under the strain of slavery ultimately gave rise to the New-World phenomenon known as “voodoo.” More than any one person, Marie Laveau transformed the religious practices of African slaves into a major social and cultural institution of nineteenth-century New Orleans. On many levels, her life was an embodiment of New Orleans Voodoo.

To begin with, New Orleans Voodoo is steeped in Catholicism. Marie Laveau, the most renowned Voodoo figure in the history of North America, has been buried in a Catholic cemetery which has a separate section for Protestants. She was a devout Catholic who attended Mass at the St. Louis Cathedral nearly every day. First public record of her appears at the Cathedral, where she was married to Jacque Paris on August 4, 1819. To a greater extent than her predecessors, Marie Laveau would mix holy water, Catholic prayers, incense, and saints into the African-based Voodoo rites.

New Orleans Voodoo, like New Orleans culture, is a mixture. Marie Laveau herself was a mixture: She was a free person of color, born to Charles Laveau, a wealthy French planter, and a mother who sources indicate could have been a mulatto slave, a Caribbean Voodoo practitioner, or a quadroon mistress. Marie may also have been part Choctaw. The objects and actions employed in the practice of New Orleans Voodoo are called “gris-gris.” “Gris” is the French word for grey, signifying a mixture of black and white magic, magic which can be used for different purposes. Gris-gris, the basis of New Orleans Voodoo practice, is a concept which is based upon mixture.

Marie Laveau’s gender is indicative of New Orleans Voodoo. Hers was a matriarchal sect, like the African religion upon which it is based. Marie Laveau also embodies New Orleans Voodoo as an impresario. Voodoo ceremonies in Marie Laveau’s day were looked upon by some people as entertainment; she was the one who introduced this show-biz element. She understood theatrical staging, possessing a good sense of what people would line up and pay to see. These performances, and her general voodoo practice, were highly lucrative. Aspects of nineteenth-century New Orleans Voodoo were also business-oriented, and she was a consummate businesswoman.

Marie Laveau could very well be the person who eternally solidified the connection between the City of New Orleans and the practice of Voodoo. But despite her historic significance, much confusion surrounds her life, and this tomb. For example, the commemorative plaque states that this is the “reputed” burial place of this woman. Some of the information on the headstone corresponds with what is known about her: Marie, nee ‘Laveau’, married carpenter Jacques Paris. He dies within six years and she has become the “Widow Paris.” She thereafter became common-law wife to ship captain Christopher Glapion, who had distinguished himself in the Battle of New Orleans. The names Laveau, Paris and Glapion are all accounted for on this family tomb.

Yet the date of death, 1897, is not hers, but closer to her daughter’s, Marie Laveau II. So the question is, which one of them is buried here? Some say they were both buried in this tomb; others believe neither are here. Many people think their remains were switched between the St. Louis #1 and #2 cemeteries. The answer to this question is unclear and perpetually debated, as there are endless discrepancies in recorded information about her, much of it being legend. Yet even if Marie Laveau had been buried here, her remains would not necessarily be inside. Since bones are one of the most popular forms of gris-gris, it is likely that a Voodoo practitioner cleared them out of the vault shortly after her entombment.

St. Louis Cemetery No. 1

Haunted New Orleans, Louisiana- Considered by locals visitors and paranormal investigators world wide as actually the most haunted Cemetery in the world, and No. # 1 haunted Cemetery in all the United States. This New Orleans Haunted graveyard is said to be haunted by the ghost of the world famous Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, Marie Laveau. Her spirit has been reported inside of the cemetery, walking between the tombs wearing a turban, and mumbling a New Orleans Santeria Voodoo curse to trespassers. Her Voodoo curse is loud and even heard by passerby's on nearby Rampart Street. Locals say this has started in recent years for she is alarmed by the many vandals and state of the cemetery. Voudon Believers and Tourist and locals still come to her tomb every day and leave many, many Voodoo offerings (candles, flowers, the monkey and the cock statue, Mardi Gras beads, Gris Gris bags, Voodoo dolls and food in hopes of being blessed by her supernatural powers from beyond the grave . Many make a wish at her tomb marking three X's. while others say they have her Ghost on film emerging undead from her tomb. They say her soul appears here as a shiny black Voodoo cat with read eyes. If you see it run!

(To learn more on Marie Laveaus' tomb and Saint Louis Cemetery number one visit Haunted New Orleans Cemeteries, haunting's and history. Please click here to visit Haunted New Orleans Tours Cemetery page www.hauntedneworleanstours.com/cemeteries/citiesofthedead/.)

There is no architecture in New Orleans, except in the cemeteries ?
- Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi

So much of New Orleans is at, or below, sea level that early settlers who buried their dead - and there were many of them - found that during the frequent flooding great waves of moldy coffins would float to the surface of the sodden earth. Eventually, graves began to be placed, Spanish-style, in above-ground brick and stucco vaults, surrounded by small fences. These cemeteries grew to resemble cities, laid out in "streets"; today, as the tombs crumble away amid the overgrown foliage, they have become atmospheric in the extreme. The creepiness isn't totally imaginary, either - though armed muggers, rather than ghosts, are the danger these days. You should never venture here alone. Nearly all the city tours include a trip around one of the graveyards; some specialize in them.

Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 Washington Ave and Prytania. Built in 1833, by 1852 - when 2000 yellow fever victims were buried here - the Garden District cemetery was filled to capacity. Today it is an eerie place, with many tombs sinking into the ground, and some of them slowly opening in the shadow of tangled trees. It's no surprise that all this decaying grandeur should capture the imagination of local author Anne Rice, who has used the place in many of her books - she even staged a mock funeral here, to launch publication of Memnoch the Devil ; the corpse was herself, wearing an antique wedding dress, in an open coffin carried by pall bearers.

St Louis Cemetery No. 1 400 Basin St between Conti and St Louis. The oldest City of the Dead, dating from 1789, this small graveyard is full of crooked mausoleum jutting into narrow pathways. On the fringes of the Quarter, it is a regular stop on the tour bus circuit, and you will invariably come across a crowd by the tomb of "voodoo queen" Marie Laveau , graffitied with brick-dust crosses. Marie Laveaus Ghost is said to haunt the cemetery. and many Ghost photos, and EVP's occur.

St Louis Cemetery No. 2 200 N Claiborne Ave between Iberville and St Louis. One of the most desolate Cities of the Dead, hemmed in between a Tremé housing project and the interstate. Built in 1823, it's a prime example of local cemetery design, with a dead-straight center aisle lined with grandiose Greek Revival mausolea. A second Marie Laveau, thought to be the actual daughter aand known as Marie Laveau II, has her tomb here, also daubed with red-chalk crosses, and several Voodoo offerings. Many say they see ghostly lights even from the above overhead interstate at night.

St Louis Cemetery No. 3 3421 Esplanade Ave, Mid-City. A peaceful burial ground, built in 1856 on the site of a leper colony, St Louis No. 3 is mostly used by religious orders; all the priests of the diocese are buried here, and fragile angels balance on top of the tombs. People who live in the area say they see orbs of light floating down the roads as they pass. Orbs can be seen at night floating down the long main roads and dancing amongst the tombs.

Lafayette Cemetery No. 2

Lafayette No. Two is located on Washington Avenue, Saratoga St., Sixth St., and Loyola Avenue. Originally built by the city of Lafayette, it passed to the city of New Orleans along with its more-famous sibling. A very spooky Cemetery. Orbs and ghost Photos or more then common.

Greenwood Cemetery

At 5242 Canal Blvd., Greenwood is home to the Protective Order of Elks Society tomb, as well as to other society tombs of varying groups. Writer John Kennedy Toole ("A Confederacy of Dunces") is buried here. Orbs have been seen and photographed And Many an EVP.

St. Roch Cemetery

1725 St. Roch Avenue, this cemetery is off the beaten track. The most famous feature here is the Chapel built by Father Thevis in thanksgiving for deliverance from one of the frequent yellow fever epidemics of the 19th century. Recipients of favors have placed various souvenirs in the chapel, such as old leg braces, or replicas of body parts, to represent favors granted. Guided cemetery tours are recommended.

New Orleans has many different ways of honoring the lives of those who have died. One of the Catholic traditions followed in this city is observed on Good Friday, when we celebrate the Stations of the Cross (in memory of Christ's suffering and crucifixion). Catholics walk on a route of nine local churches, stopping to pray at each. The Stations of the Cross ends at St. Roch's Cemetery at 3:00 p.m., the hour of our Lord's death.

St. Roch lived during the middle ages, and worked with those suffering from the plague. The cemetery is named after him because of a pledge made by a priest who prayed to him during the yellow fever crisis of 1868. It is now a shrine, and Mass is said there on Monday mornings.

Cypress Grove

Sometimes called the Fireman's Cemetery, this cemetery was founded in 1840. Numerous graves and vaults commemorate deceased firemen, and there are several unusual tombs such as that of the Chinese association Soon On Tong. Located at 120 City Park Avenue near the convergence of Canal Street, there are several other cemeteries to tour in the area.

Hebrew Rest Cemetery

Located at 2100 Pelopidas St., Hebrew Rest was founded in 1872. The beautiful gates were made for the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial in 1884 and are the only existing structures that survive from that event.

Holt Cemetery
Holt Cemetery Holt cemetery is an under-ground cemetery-- possibly the only one in New Orleans. The people buried here are poor, but the graves are very personal and the site is very peaceful. Orbs or very common and the feeling that someone is touching you or tugging on your clothes is constantly felt.

Gates of Prayer Cemetery

The oldest extant Jewish cemetery in New Orleans was founded in 1846. Located at Canal and Bernadotte Streets, it contains many older tombstones with Hebrew inscriptions. There is also a tomb in the form of a lighthouse commemorating a merchant who dedicated his life to the Lighthouse For The Blind

Chalmette Battlefield and National Cemetery

Established in May 1864 as a final resting place for Union soldiers who died in Louisiana during the Civil War, the cemetery also contains the remains of veterans of the Spanish- American War, World Wars I and II, and Vietnam. Four Americans who fought in the War of 1812 are buried here, but only one of them took part in the Battle of New Orleans.

Six miles southeast of New Orleans is the Chalmette Battlefield, which preserves the site of the January 8, 1815, Battle of New Orleans, a decisive American victory over the British at the end of the War of 1812. Facilities include a tour road, visitor center, and the Malus-Beauregard House (c.1833). Adjacent is the Chalmette National Cemetery. Located on St. Bernard Highway in Chalmette. The Battlefield is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Adjacent to the battlefield, is the United States Civil War Chalmette National Cemetery, honoring Civil War soldiers who died on both sides. Those buried there include members of the famous Buffalo Soldiers. The cemetery sits on a tract of land which is approximately where the British artillery was located during the Battle of New Orleans. Both of these sites are maintained by the National Park Service, and are open to the public.

The Chalmette National Cemetery web site has searchable databases, listing the soldiers who are buried at this location, The Union Army and the Confederate Army. Chalmette National Cemetery
Confederate Database www.cwc.lsu.edu/cwc/projects/dbases/chalm.la.csa.htm

Also located on the Chalmette Battlefield grounds, and serving as a museum and visitor center, is the Beauregard House. Beauregard House was never used as a plantation, and was built in 1830. It is named for René Beauregard, its last owner, the son of the Civil War Confederate General, P. G. T. Beauregard (whose monument is at the entrance to City Park, at the north end of Esplanade Avenue). While many visitors arrive by automobile, many also arrive by riverboat, the Chalmette Battlefield being part of the tour.

Additional artifacts of the Civil War can be seen at the Confederate Civil War Museum, located in downtown New Orleans, 929 Camp Street, just one block from Lee Circle

Masonic Cemetery

400 City Park Avenue, Many photos of orbs and shapes of all kinds have been photographed here. EVP's or more then common. and a lot of times people find the remains of occult practices and and Voodoo rituals left on the graves. Many have reported that they have seen ghostly figures as they drive by the cemetery day and night. One tale tells of a huge Mausoleum with stairs to a roof top viewing point. many say the see spirits walking up and down the stairs often. Some locals call it the New Orleans Haunted stairway to heaven. The entire cemetery has a strange calm over it. Many Photos that you might take at this cemetery or said to come out distorted.

Odd Fellows Rest Cemetery

5055 Canal Street, This Cemeteries wall vaults make up the entire corner of 1 city block. many who await the Canal street Streetcar say they have witnessed strange sounds lights and seen the shadowy figures of people behind the locked gates. Many metal tombs and ornate designs. Known for many years by locals as the creepiest cemetery in New Orleans proper. People wait against one of it's wall daily to catch the public transport bus. One New Orleans Cemetery bus driver tells the tale of many a ghostly rider getting on his bus. When he ask them to pay they just disappear, or so he says.

St. Patricks Cemeteries

143 City Park Avenue This sprawling cemetery starts in one location and picks up in another. The entire Canal Street City Park avenue area is host to over 6 cemeteries all in in walking distance. Many ghost tours have night time excursions to these particular cemeteries. Word has it that this is the Cemetery to capture Ghost Photos and EVP's. It is said to be very haunted by the ghost of a stout white haired woman that will follow you around the cemetery as if curious of your doings or actions.

Metairie Cemetery

5100 Pontchartrain Blvd. and founded in 1872, Metairie is entered in the National Register of Historic Places. It contains diverse cemetery architecture, including a Roman temple, an Egyptian Revival tomb, and the memorials of the Army of Tennessee and the Army of Northern Virginia. Open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily, it can be safely toured. Go to the funeral home office for information.

This site was previously a horse racing track, Metairie Race Course founded in 1838. The great oval of the old racetrack can still be seen as part of the cemetery roadway system. Metairie Cemetery covers 150 acres with over 7,000 graves.

According to a story well known locally, one Charles T. Howard, a "new money" wealthy gentleman who came to the city from Baltimore, Maryland, was refused membership in the track's exclusive "Louisiana Jockey Club". In revenge, he purchased the track grounds and converted it into a cemetery. Some local historians accept the story, others say that the race grounds were sold due to financial stress. Either way, the cemetery was opened here in 1872, and the tomb of Charles T. Howard is prominently placed in the center.

A few tombs predating the foundation of this cemetery can be found here; these were originally erected in other local cemeteries and were moved here after Metarie became the city's most prestigious cemetery. Metarie Cemetery has the largest collection of elaborate marble tombs and funeral statuary in the city.

Notables buried in Metarie Cemetery include William C. C. Claiborne, the first U.S. governor of Louisiana, P.G.T. Beauregard and other Confederate veterans, and jazz musicians legendary greats Louis Prima and Al Hirt.

Other impressive Metairie Cemetery tombs:

the pseudo-Egyptian pyramid
the former tomb of Storyville madam Josie Arlington
Moriarity tomb, with a 60 foot tall marble monument. A temporary special spur railroad line was built to bring the materials for the impressive monument here.
Memorial of 19th century police chief Hennesey, whose murder sparked a riot.

Valence Street Cemetery

This cemetery was once known as the City Cemetery of the City of Jefferson, one of those cemeteries laid out to meet the needs of the residents of the city's suburbs. When New Orleans annexed Jefferson City in 1870, the cemetery went with the deal.

An interesting place, the cemetery has a number of old society tombs such as the St. Anthony of Padua Italian Mutual Benefit Society, the St. Joseph's Sepulcher of the Male and Female benevolent Association, and the Ladies and Gentlemen Perseverance Benevolent Association.

Also, when German philanthropist John David Fink's remains were removed from the Girard Street Cemetery when it was demolished, they were buried in this cemetery.

NEW ORLEANS CEMETERY GHOSTS PHOTOS: OFTEN CALLED THE MOST HAUNTED CEMETERIES IN ALLTHE WORLD!

Please also see: HAUNTED CEMETERY GHOST

ZOMBIES

Many locals, perhaps hundreds, of all classes and races (even in antebellum days) knew of grand Voodoo Zombie rituals often held at the so-called "Wishing Spot" on the bayou St. John. This is where the blood of roosters was poured into the black Bayou to feed the spirits. And many so called witness said real Zombies were made.

In New Orleans Zombies are thought to be very real entities. They are not just the re-animated bodies from the St. Louis Cemeteries but they can be too spirits of ghosts trapped in Bottles. Many local ghost stories urban legends and olden time tales do talk of about real Zombies coming out of the dirty oven wall crypts in New Orleans Cemeteries. As do they tell of cursed and hexed Zombie Bottles doing their sole masters bidding.

Please read: The Real Reverend's Zombie here!

The Ten Most Haunted Places in New Orleans, Louisiana To see a Real Ghost!

Gina Laniers' Top Ten Most Haunted List

Everyone Knows.... "To live in New Orleans is to live with real ghosts!"

New Orleans is the Ghost capital of America. Paranormal events occur here more then in most of the cities in America Put together. Or so they say. Paranormal investigators and part-time ghost hunters alike dream haunted hot spot is usually the Crescent City.

From tales of Zombies, Vampires, Devil Babies and the Grunch (a cajun Chupacabra), the Loup Garou and the hosts of ghosts that haunt this mystical place it's hard to come up with the definitive best top ten by any means.

1. The Lauarie House

" THE HAUNTED HOUSE 1140 Royal Street New Orleans, Louisiana." Listed on the National Register of Historic Places Lalaurie House still stands. In Americas' most haunted city, the tortured ghost hold many secrets within the walls of this great haunted mansion.

Lalaurie The real New Orleans Haunted Mansion

"In the Rue Royale stands this quaint, old-fashioned house about which so much has been written, and around which cluster so many wild and weird stories, that even in its philosophic day, few in the old faubourg care to pass the place after nightfall, or, doing so, shudder and hurry on with bated breath, as though midnight ghouls and ghosts hovered near, ready to exercise a mystic spell over all who dare invade its uncanny precincts."
Marie Puents, The Daily Picayune, March 13, 1892

The three-story building at the southeast corner of Royal and Governor Nichols street, to some the most famous private residence in old New Orleans, gained its eerie title, ‘The Haunted House,’ from an oft-repeated tale in which spirits of tortured slaves clank their chains during the midnight hours in remembrance of awful punishment meted out to them by their mistress – a high-bred lady of old New Orleans who had been charged with finding an uncanny delight in dealing inhumanly with her slaves.

Like all such tales, the story has grown in ferocity through its countless retellings and the probabilities are that even the original story of over a century ago was a gross exaggeration. It now appears that the mistress of this home was the first victim of yellow journalism in this country and that she was far from being the ‘fiend’ tradition has labeled, or should we say, libeled her. The facts of this ‘strange true story’ are as follows:

The traditional tales of the Vieux Carre have it that this house was built in 1780 by two brothers, Jean and Henri de Remarie, and that such guests as Marshal Michel Ney, Napoleon’s famous commander; the duc d’Orleans, later, Louis Philippe, king of France; and the Marquis de Lafayette have slept in this mansion. But we are compelled to make the pertinent observations that Marshal Ney never came to Louisiana, that Louis Philippe was here in 1798, and that Lafayette visited New Orleans in 1825 – yet the ‘Haunted House’ was not built until 1832!

There are those who denounce historical accuracy when it destroys fallacious tradition … those who claim that a good story must never be sacrificed and crucified on the cross of truth. Much as one admires the colorful tradition of old New Orleans, our mission is to give a factual history of the landmarks of the Vieux Carre. So, to stick to fact, we must point out that the lots upon which the ‘Haunted House’ stands were purchased by Mme Louis Lalaurie, September 12, 1831, from Edmond Soniat du Fossat, and the house then built was not ready for occupancy until the spring of 1832. As it was part of the tract given the Ursuline nuns, this was the first, and only, house built on this particular site.

Mme Lalaurie was one of five children born to Louis Barthelemy Chevalier de Macarty and Marie Jeanne Lovable, two who stood high in the social life of old New Orleans. One of their daughters was christened Marie Delphine Macarty. She first married, on June 11, 1800, Don Ramon de Lopez y Angula, the ceremony being performed at the St. Louis Cathedral by Luis de Penalver y Cardenas, the first bishop of the diocese of Louisiana, and the marriage certificate was signed by the celebrated Fray Antonio de Sedella. The husband was described in this document as Caballero de la Royal de Carlos, Intendent of the Provinces, a native of the community of Regno,Galicia, Spain, and the legitimate son of his Lordship Don Jose Antonio de Lopez y Angula and Dona Ana Fernande de Angule, daughter of Dona Francisca Borja Endecis.

Shortly after the Louisiana Purchase, on March 26, 1804, Delphine Macarty’s husband was recalled to the court of Spain, the letter carrying this royal command stating that the young Spanish officer was ‘to take his place at court as befitting his new position.’ At this time Don Ramon was consul general for Spain in this new American territory. While in Havana, en route to Madrid, Don Ramon suddenly died and a few days later his daughter was born in the Cuban city. This infant was baptized Marie Delphine Borja Lopez y Angula de Candelaria, but she became best known in later years as ‘Borquita,’ meaning ‘little Borja,’ from the fact that she was named after her father’s grandmother.

Left a widow, Delphine Macarty and her baby daughter returned to New Orleans. Four years later, in 1808, she again married, choosing for her husband a prominent banker, merchant, lawyer, and legislator named Jean Blanque, a native of Bearn who had come to Louisiana with Prefect Laussat in 1803. At the time of his marriage, June 16, 1808, Blanque purchased the residence at 409 Royal Street and in this home Delphine became the mother of four other children: Marie Louise Pauline, Louise Marie Laure, Marie Louise Jeanne, and Jean Pierre Paulin Blanque. In that stylish Royal Street home or in the ‘Villa Blanque,’ a charming country place fronting the Mississippi River just below the city limits, Delphine Macarty Blanque divided her time, both places frequented by the socially elect.

Delphine Lalaurie by Ricardo Pustanio

Jean Blanque died in 1816, and Delphine Macarty remained a widow until June 12, 1825, when she again married. Her third husband was Dr. Leonard Louis Nicolas Lalaurie, a native of Villeneuse-sur-Lot, France, who came to New Orleans to establish a practice. Borquita, the daughter by her mother’s first marriage, became the wife of Placide Forstall, member of a distinguished Louisiana family, and Jeanne Blanque married Charles Auguste de Lassus, only child of Don Carle de Lassus, former governor of Upper Louisiana, and later governor of the Baton Rouge post of West Florida when they were under Spanish rule.

The Lalaurie mansion was erected in 1832 and for the next two years was the scene of many fashionable affairs, for the Lalauries entertained on an elaborate plan. On the afternoon of April 10, 1834, an aged cook set fire to the house during the absence of her mistress. When neighbors rushed into the mansion to fight the fire and try to save the furniture and other valuables, slaves were found chained in their quarters. Although the fire was extinguished, the indignation of those who found the helpless slaves blazed high and a newspaper editor, Jerome Bayon of the Bee, published a heated account of the happening and quoted those who had investigated the Lalaurie slave quarters. This newspaper account roused public indignation to such a pitch that on April 15 a mob, led by irresponsibility, charged the house and began to wreck it. The rowdies were finally dispersed by a company of United States regulars who had been called out by a helpless sheriff.

Paranormal Photos of the Lalaurie House

During the excitement Madame Lalaurie and her husband took to their carriage and, with their faithful Creole black coachman Bastien on the box, swept through the howling, cursing rabble and, with the horses lashed to a the full gallop, made her way out of the city. It is supposed the carriage reached Bayou St. John where a lake craft was secured, for on April 21, 1834, the Lalauries were in Mandeville, across Lake Pontchartrain, at the home of Louis Coquillon. There Madame Lalaurie signed a power-of-attorney placing her son-in-law Placide Forstall in charge of her affairs, while her husband signed a similar document in favor of his wife’s other son-in-law, Auguste de Lassus. From Mandeville the Lalauries made their way to Mobile, where a ship took them to France.

Neither Delphine nor her husband ever returned to New Orleans. She remained in Paris, living there honored and respected in spite of the lurid tales that lived after her in New Orleans. Following her death on December 7, 1842, her body was secretly returned to New Orleans and buried in St. Louis No. 1 Cemetery.

The Lalaurie mansion was sold to various owners but the tale that it was ‘haunted’ and the midnight rendezvous for ghosts grew in the telling as only such stories can grow. The principal ‘ghost’ is, according to the most frequently quoted tale, that of a little girl slave who, to escape the whip of her mistress, climbed to the roof and jumped to her death into the courtyard below. Another tale, equally untrue, was that the mistress of the mansion buried all her victims in the courtyard well. The general impression that the place was haunted was sufficient to keep superstitious blacks from passing the house after nightfall.

In the days of Reconstruction following the Civil War, the old Lalaurie mansion became the Lower Girls’ School. During the government of the carpetbaggers, whites and blacks were taught in the same rooms until the formation of ‘The White League’ in 1874, when the white element marched on the house and expelled the black pupils. In the 1880’s the mansion became a conservatory of music. No matter who has lived in it since, or the manner of business that was carried on in the ground-floor stores, the name ‘haunted’ has clung to it in spite of the testimony of those inhabiting the place that ghosts have never disturbed their slumbers.

Tradition has it that the handsome entrance door ‘was hammered out of iron by the slaves Madame Lalaurie kept shackled to the anvil.’ This must be taken with several generous pinches of salt, for the doors is not of iron but wood and the decorations on it were not cared but put on by appliqué, a sort of plastic wood applied and formed as a sculptor would lay on modeling clay. These ornamentations show, in the lower oblong panel, Phoebus in his chariot, lashing his griffins. Scattered over the door are urns, flowers, trumpet-blowing angels, a beribboned lyre, an American eagle bearing on its breast the shield of the Union, leaves, scrolls, and whatnots – a marvelous example of some unknown craftsman’s art. To save the door from the knives of souvenir-hunters, one owner painted it a dingy brown-black.

George W. Cable’s Strange Stories of Louisiana, and Judge Henry C. Castellanos’ New Orleans As It Was, contain full accounts of the Lalaurie episode. My account, differing in many respects from those of these earlier writers, is based on recently found documents, notarial acts, and family documents.”

Delphine LaLaurie and her third husband, Leonard LaLaurie, took up residence in the house at 1140 Royal Street sometime in the 1830's. The pair immediately became the darlings of the gay New Orleans social scene that at the time was experiencing the birth of ragtime, the slave dances and rituals of Congo Square, the reign of the Mighty Marie Laveau, and the advent of the bittersweet Creole Balls. Madame LaLaurie hosted fantastic events in her beautiful home that were talked about months afterward. She was described as sweet and endearing in her ways, and her husband was nothing if not highly respected within the community.

At the same time, it is said, Madame’s friendship with infamous Voodoo Queen, Marie Laveau, began to grow. Laveau lived not far from LaLaurie’s Royal Street home and the two women became acquainted when Laveau did Madame’s hair occasionally. It is said that under Laveau’s tutelage, Madame LaLaurie began to act upon her latent interest in the occult, learning the secrets of voodoo and witchcraft at the hands of a might mistress of the craft.

There are reported incidents of people seeing, feeling and hearing the ghosts of tormented slaves in the LaLaurie home, and there are even reports of the Madame herself being seen there. The docile house servants who entreated the assistance of outsiders when the house was about to burn to the ground are said to often return to their task - running and slamming doors and shouts are heard repeatedly. Nor are the spirits of the restless dead quiet: the reports of moans and weeping outnumber all others. Furniture moves about by itself, people feel the touch of unseen hands, and there are several who have seen the ghostly faces of the dead peering from the upper windows and the chamber of horrors that became the crucible of their miserable lives.

New Orleans is one of the oldest and most multi-faceted cities in the United States, and there are other tales, similar to those of the LaLaurie home that, sadly, have made their way into our history. But the gruesome horror of this particular event was so ghastly that it stains the city's memory to this very day.

2.Voodoo Cemetery Gates Of Guinee -- The Voodoo Gates to Hell on Earth

One old tradition still observed in New Orleans today was to search for Secret Voodoo Cemetery Gates Of Guinee, The Mysterious Portal To The Afterworld. Bringing something as an offering, (a piece of King Cake, Mardi Gras Beads etc.). The dead love sweets and gifts, and even more so they love King Cake in New Orleans. In Voodoo, the soul continues to live on earth and may be used in magic or it may be incarnated in a member of the dead person's family.

This belief is similar to Catholicism in that the soul is believed to be immortal. Elaborate burial customs have been established to keep the dead buried in the ground. It is believed that corpses, or a persons spirit bottle* that have been removed from their tombs may be turned into zombies, who then serve the will of their masters.

3. St. Louis Cemetery Number 1.

Considered by locals visitors and paranormal investigators world wide as actually the most haunted cemetery No. # 1 haunted Cemetery in all the United States.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Some of the more interesting tombs in St. Louis Number One are a huge tomb that holds the remains of some of the participants in the Battle of New Orleans; chess champion Paul Morphy; New Orleans' first black mayor, Ernest N. "Dutch" Morial. But the most famous and interesting tomb here is said to be where Voodoo Queen Marie Leveaux is buried. People still visit her tomb to light candles, perform various religious acts and leave offerings. New Orleans' first black mayor, Ernest N. "Dutch" Morial is buried right next to her.

Across the street, with its front facing N. Rampart St., is Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, which originally was the mortuary chapel built to handle the funerals and last rites of victims of yellow fever in 1826. It is the oldest surviving church in the city.

Vault burial was introduced in New Orleans during the Spanish regime, and our oldest cemetery -- St. Louis No. 1 (1789) -- has society tombs built by the French Society, the Portuguese Benevolent Association, the Cervantes Mutual Benefit Society, the Italian Society, and the Orleans Battalion of Artillery.

This New Orleans graveyard is said to be haunted by the ghost of the world famous Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, Marie Laveau. Her spirit has been reported inside of the cemetery, walking between the tombs wearing a red and white turban with seven knots in it, and mumbling a original New Orleans Santeria Voodoo curse to Cemetery trespassers. Her Voodoo curse is loud and very audible, heard often by passerby's on nearby Rampart Street. Locals say this has started in recent years for she is alarmed by the many vandals and state of the cemetery.
Voudon Believers and Tourist and locals still come to Marie Laveaus tomb daily to leave many, many Voodoo offerings. (candles, flowers, the monkey and the cock wish statue, Mardi Gras beads and parade Krewe dabloons, Gris Gris bags, Money, Voodoo dolls and food) All in hopes of being blessed by her supernatural powers from beyond the grave. Many make a wish at her tomb marking three X's. while others say they have her Ghost on film emerging undead from her tomb.

Voodoos of the New Orleans Secret Society say her soul appears here as a shiny large black Voodoo cat, with fire red eyes. If you see this Were cat run! One New Orleans Voodoo Manbo suggest upon seeing this Devil cat, cross your self three times and back away. One should never let the cat see your back. If Marie's spirit, or Devil cat sees it... you will be cursed for ever to do her biddin.

Others say Marie laveaus familiar, her large snake that she called Zombi, (or spelled Zombie, or Zomby) is buried in the tomb with her body. One voodooist says he was placed in the coffin alive with Marie's dead body by her daughter Marie Laveau II . A story or two have been told over the years of people seeing a large black boa constrictor, or black anaconda over 12 feet long slithering amongst and between or through the tombs tight small allies. Always close to Marie Laveaus' tomb is Zombi, guarding it night and day. local New Orleans Voodooist say this is a great ghost snake spirit, not a real snake. A few young teenaged boys on a recent Haunted cemetery tour tried to catch Zombi, they said they chased him down a tight alley and Zombi just disappeared. Zombi's ghost has been said to be seen high atop Marie Laveaus' tomb basking in the noon day Sun. He protects her tomb from those that mock her says many of the Voodooist of Marie Laveaus secret Society. One tale of this ghost snake tells that Zombi followed a recent New Orleans visitor back to her hotel room. He appeared and began to wrap his coils around her as she slept, Zombi frightened her out of her wits. The reason, she spit on Marie Laveaus grave.

Often stories or told of Ghostly nude Voodoo Probationers in an eternal dark secret Ritual. Always after midnight and well into the early morning hours. With Marie laveaus' ghost dressed in white presiding over the ritual. Nude Voodoo Ghost dancers, male and female can be seen and heard in an orgy of spiritual Voodoo calling dow the power.

Many times fine china plates and cups and saucers and ornate silverware or found through out St Louis No.1 graveyard. Paranormal Investigators say this is part of the ancient wiccan practice of the occult. It is called the" Dumb Supper". This is a old ritual, a mock table setting of a meal. An two empty plates filled with invisible ghostly food. It is usually a setting for the ghost and the a setting for the person who questions the ghost. This is to call the dead to answer your most sought after questions. Sometimes wine glasses or even bottles of rum and or wine, cigars or packs of cigarettes, bags of chips, or candy or even many times a loaf of french bread. All this can be found placed before many of it's tombs. Visitors think it's litter, but if you look at how it is placed you then realize it is a special ghost offering to the spirits of the cemetery.

Other know and un known ghost haunt this cemetery, there is a ghost called by some Henry. This haunted Cemetery Ghost story tells that he gave his tomb to the lady who owned a boarding house to keep the papers for him if he died. Local workers for the cemetery say she sold the tomb when he was away at sea. When he returned he died and was buried in potters field. Every day his ghost is said to walk up to someone visiting the cemetery asking if they know the where about's of the Vignes' tomb. Many a tour guide has related the tale of Henry and have said how he appears ragged and lost. And his blue eyes will look right into yours. The tall white shirt dressed man seems very real. Until he walk away into thin air. Sometimes he will tap you on the shoulder, or lead you to a lone tight alley between tombs asking " Do you Know anything about this Tomb here?" Then he disappears. Henry has also been known to have walked up to people at burials and asked if they think there's room in the tomb for him! His voice often appears on EVP's saying I "I need to rest!" And in ghost Photos he appears in a Dark suit with no shirt.
Another well known ghost of St. Louis No.1 is that of Alphonse he is a lonely young man and will take you by the hand telling you his name and asking can you help him find his way home. He is also known by some to be seen carrying flowers and vases from other tombs and placing them on his own. Those who have seen him say he is afraid of a tomb with the name Pinead on it and is said to warn visitors to stay away from it. He always has a smile on his face but is said to start crying then just disappear. Alphonse has been Known to turn up in many of a ghost Photo.

Ghost cats and dogs are said to prowl the cemetery daily. Very near the great walls of oven tombs. None of these ghost animals have ever shown signs of meanness. Several Tour guides say these are the animals of an 1800's cemetery keepers guard dogs and pets. Often they lurk the cemetery waiting for their owner who was buried in St. Louis No.2 to return to feed and care for them.

Etienne Bore, pioneer in sugar development; and, Paul Morphy, world famous chess champion and many more are buried here.

"Easy Rider" featured Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda tripping out at St. Louis Cemetery No. 1,

Orbs, ghost photos, EVP"S, strange paranormal phenomena and ghost activity, Voodoo rituals, witchcraft, and haunting's to many to mention all happen in this the most haunted Cemetery in America

4. Lafayette Cemetery No. 1

Lafayette No. 1 is the cemetery most often used in films made in New Orleans, and is across the street from the famed Commander's Palace Restaurant in the Garden Distict. It was the burial grounds for what was once the City Of Lafayette. You will find a number of prominent New Orleanians buried here. Designated a city burial site in 1833, Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 is placed on the National Register of Historic Places by virtue of its significant history, location, and architectural importance.

"Interview with a Vampire" starred Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Kirsten Dunst. It was filmed throughout the French Quarter and Lafayette Cemetery No. 1,Dracula 2000", starring Johnny Miller and Omar Epps, .

Located in the Garden District, Washington Ave and Prytania, section of New Orleans and accessible by the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar.

Built in 1833, by 1852 - when 2000 yellow fever victims were buried here - the Garden District cemetery was filled to capacity. Today it is an eerie haunted place, with many tombs still sinking into the ground, and some of them slowly opening in the shadow of tangled trees. Near the downtown-side gate of Lafayette No. 1 Cemetery stands a tomb that, to a father's eyes, resembles a crib. Nestled within, according to the fading inscriptions, are the earthly remains of three siblings who in a matter of days fell victim to yellow fever.

Ghost stories and tales of the undead, Zombies and being burried alive. Many of these ghost tales are said to be just Cemetery urban legends... Others swear thia is the most haunted Cemetery for parnomal encounters and a feeling of being truly haunted.

It's no surprise that all this decaying grandeur should capture the imagination of local author Anne Rice, who has used the place in many of her books - she even staged a mock funeral here, to launch publication of Memnoch the Devil ; the corpse was herself, wearing an antique wedding dress, in an open coffin carried by pall bearers.

Tombs in Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 are constructed with a shelf near the top where recently deceased bodies are placed. The shelf doesn't extend all the way to the back so when it's time to add another body to the family tomb the previous bones can be pushed to the rear where they fall through joining any remains already present.

Regulations limit the opening of tombs to once a year, not nearly frequently enough during times like the yellow fever epidemics, so temporary "storage ovens" line some of the exterior walls in Lafayette Cemetery No. 1.

Hours:

Monday - Friday: 7:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Saturday: 7:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Sunday & Holidays: Closed (Except Mother's Day, Father's Day and All Saint's Day)

4. Metairie Lakelawn Cemetery

5100 Pontchartrain Blvd. and founded in 1872, Metairie Lakelawn is entered in the National Register of Historic Places. It contains diverse cemetery architecture, including a Roman temple, an Egyptian Revival tomb, and the memorials of the Army of Tennessee and the Army of Northern Virginia. Open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily, it can be safely toured. Go to the funeral home office for information.

Metarie Cemetery

This site was previously a horse racing track, Metarie Race Course founded in 1838. The great oval of the old racetrack can still be seen as part of the cemetery roadway system. Metairie Cemetery covers 150 acres with over 7,000 graves.

Many Local tales of ghost seen in Metarie Cemetery here day and night.

According to a story well known locally, one Charles T. Howard, a "new money" wealthy gentleman who came to the city from Baltimore, Maryland, was refused membership in the track's exclusive "Louisiana Jockey Club". In revenge, he purchased the track grounds and converted it into a cemetery. Some local historians accept the story, others say that the race grounds were sold due to financial stress. Either way, the cemetery was opened here in 1872, and the tomb of Charles T. Howard is prominently placed in the center. Often people say his ghost is heard moving arounmd in his tomb,

A few tombs predating the foundation of this cemetery can be found here; these were originally erected in other local cemeteries and were moved here after Metarie became the city's most prestigious cemetery. Metarie Cemetery has the largest collection of elaborate marble tombs and funeral statuary in the city. A local Psychic says ghost tourist often come from their own cemeteries to visit this cemetery and admire the fine tombs.
Notables buried in Metairie Cemetery include William C. C. Claiborne, the first U.S. governor of Louisiana, P.G.T. Beauregard and other Confederate veterans, and jazz musicians legendary greats Louis Prima and Al Hirt.
Other impressive Metairie Cemetery tombs:

The giant Moriarity tomb, with a 60 foot tall marble monument. A temporary special spur railroad line was built to bring the materials for the impressive monument here.

Memorial of 19th century police chief Hennesey, whose murder sparked a riot. his ghost is said to walk around the cemetery keep a watchful eye for vandals.

You can tour the grounds without worrying about the crime associated with the downtown graveyards. The pseudo-Egyptian pyramid the former tomb of Storyville madam Josie Arlington. noted Tomb features the bronze statue of a woman at the door of the tomb, her back turned to the other graves. Cemetery workers have said she leaves her post at night to stroll among the tombs.

You can tour the grounds without worrying about the crime associated with the downtown graveyards.

A gleaming white Egyptian pyramid with a sphinx keeping watch at the door; the row of ornate Italian- American society tombs, nicknamed "mob row"; and the grave of Louis Prima, topped with a trumpet-playing angel and engraved with lyrics from "Just a Gigolo."

5. Chalmette Battlefield and National Cemetery

Established in May 1864 as a final resting place for Union soldiers who died in Louisiana during the Civil War, the cemetery also contains the remains of veterans of the Spanish- American War, World Wars I and II, and Vietnam. Four Americans who fought in the War of 1812 are buried here, but only one of them took part in the Battle of New Orleans.

Chalmette Battlfield Ghosts

Six miles southeast of New Orleans is the Chalmette Battlefield, which preserves the site of the January 8, 1815, Battle of New Orleans, a decisive American victory over the British at the end of the War of 1812. Facilities include a tour road, visitor center, and the Malus-Beauregard House (c.1833). Adjacent is the Chalmette National Cemetery. Located on St. Bernard Highway in Chalmette. The Battlefield is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Adjacent to the battlefield, is the United States Civil War Chalmette National Cemetery, honoring Civil War soldiers who died on both sides. Those buried there include members of the famous Buffalo Soldiers. The cemetery sits on a tract of land which is approximately where the British artillery was located during the Battle of New Orleans. Both of these sites are maintained by the National Park Service, and are open to