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Dr.
Von Zuko's Weird n' Spooky Places These
eerily beautiful and unique cemeteries have also served as an inspiration
to numerous film producers and authors such as New Orleans resident, Anne
Rice in crafting her haunting, gothic horror stories of vampires and the
undead. "Interview With The Vampire, The Vampire Chronicles," a
spellbinding screen adaptation of Anne Rice’s best seller, was filmed
with Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 as the backdrop. This ornate gothic
necropolis figures prominently in Anne’s books, as the macabre refuge of
the vampire Lestat. |
Spooky America New Orleans, LA:
More Weird n'
Spooky Scotland Haunted
Campus Stories
from Our Friends The Anne Rice Collection
Merrick The
Vampire Armand The
Vampire Armand |
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Unlike conventional cemeteries that are laid out as neat rows in grid like patterns, the St. Louis No. 1 is a unique, twisting labyrinth of narrow walkways. These narrow footpaths wind their way through serenely beautiful marble mausoleums, massive wall vaults, and dilapidated unmarked tombs. Walking through this ancient necropolis in the wee hours of the morning can be an unnerving and eerie experience, in fact many visitors have reported strange encounters with the spectral inhabitants of the graveyard. Since
1881, an apparition of the Voodoo Priestess, Marie Laveau, has
materialized many times in the narrow passages of the cemetery. Her tomb
has become a shrine to those interested in Voodoo or the occult. In the
cover of darkness, practitioners perform secret Voodoo rituals.
Practitioners often leave small offerings, scratching three X’s with a
piece of soft red brick on the crypt and knocking three times on the wall
of the tomb; believers do this to request special
favors or invoke spells. With numerous unmarked and crumbling tombs within the necropolis, unexplained phenomena seems to be common place. Strange mournful sounds emanating from the cavernous crypts and inexplicable glowing vaporous masses have startled countless numbers of people wandering the ancient cemetery. In one area of the cemetery, the ghostly image of a man’s face frequently appears on the wall of a tomb, as if he is looking out from someplace on the other side of reality. Note:
St. Louis cemetery No. 1 is the oldest surviving necropolis in New
Orleans, it is a preservation project of the National Trust for Historic
Preservation, defacing or marking the tombs such as described above is
considered vandalism and could result in fines or your arrest. Use your
better judgment; don’t do it. |
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 A
mysterious unmarked crypt, baring the tell tale signs of Voodoo
ritual. Three X's scratched on the tomb in red brick and
offerings left at the door. |
 The above ground crypts of St. Louis Cemetery #1 (click for large image) |
The Mark The Beast Rules the World by Tim Lahaye, |
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The
centuries-old, above ground cemeteries of New Orleans, are icons to an
earlier time. These hauntingly beautiful "cities of the dead"
came into existence due to the unusually high water table under the old
city. The soggy earth made under ground burial impossible before modern
drainage systems were devised. On dark stormy nights it was not uncommon
for caskets to literally pop out of the ground and float down the streets.
Of course, this was quite unsettling for the residents, and after a few
unpleasant incidences, above ground burial was agreed to as the only
secure solution.
