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University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

615 McCallie Ave, Chattanooga, TN 37403, USA

Among one of the many secondary battle sites to the Civil War is the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Battle of Chattanooga in November 1863 was a crucial step forward for the Union forces to gain a foothold in the Deep South as the battles raged eastward from Missionary Ridge up to the famous Lookout Mountain. The Union was led by William Tecumseh Sherman, and the Confederates were headed by Braxton Bragg. When the two-day battle finished, over twelve thousand men lay dead. In a supernatural twist, it is not the Civil War battle sites that reputed to be haunted, instead, it is the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga that is said to hold all the ghosts.

Is the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Haunted?

Founded back in 1886, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, or UTC, was initially called Chattanooga University and then University of Chattanooga before being accepted into the University of Tennessee system by 1969. Early heavy enrollments really made the university thrive since its inception, as each year the school branched out further and further into the downtown area to acquire more buildings to meet the high student demand. As with any university, there are always stories about the macabre or supernatural that seem to break through and become legend and UTC is certainly no exception.

Haunted Hooper Hall

Hooper Hall holds more administration offices than it ever did classrooms, except for a lone science lab. Sometime in January of 1924, a grounds manager named John Hocking suffered a personal tragedy as his wife and child died in a house fire. Tormented with grief, Hocking went into the science lab and committed suicide via asphyxiation from the chemicals kept in the lab. Over the years, more administration offices crept up in the building and staff have reported unusual activity. Doors opening or slamming with nobody there, heavy fast footsteps on the antiquated tile floor. Students report feeling watched by an unseen presence that seems to bring a chill with it.

Bizarre enough is that the dean’s office is located in the same building. His office staff have reported that late one night after a meeting, an unusual and loud cuckoo clock sound would go off behind his locked office door. Informing the dean about clock going off in jest one day, he confessed to his staff that his office in fact didn’t have a cuckoo clock or any other such device that would make a sound.

Patten Chapel and the Woman in White

Nearly adjacent to Hooper Hall is a building called Patten Chapel. Naturally, it holds within it a sizable chapel for worship services and has been known to hold weddings and funerals for those who weren’t even students at all, due to its antiquated southern charm. Despite being an on-campus church, the Patten Chapel is haunted by the spirit of a woman dressed in white. She has been seen in both the daytime as well as night time, drifting for an instant by stunned students and agog faculty members. The look of her dress is thought to be that of a nurse and some have speculated her to have been a Civil War nurse tending to the city’s many wounded before suffering death herself. Of course doors slam and voices whisper, but the most disturbing is the eerie organ music in the chapel that has been played in the dead of night with nobody manning the organ at all.

Confederate Cemetery and Brock Hall

Down campus on its edge is an actual graveyard simply called Confederate Cemetery. It was erected during the Civil War era and has the body of soldiers as well as slaves in its ground. Near this edge stands Brock Hall. This four-story campus cornerstone wasn’t always a college landmark building. On the same grounds decades before, the area served as a local jail for Confederate soldiers. Executions were also said to have taken place on the very spot as well until the troops in the area eventually moved out. Decades later when the university was constructed, Brock Hall was erected on the very site in which all this occurred. Incidentally enough, the university’s morgue and medical college were also housed in this building.

Over the years, both students and faculty alike have reported a wide range of paranormal activity. Longtime professor of Spanish, Dr. Roberto Rojas was particularly attuned to what was occurring. He had been known to speak about leaving his office to get a quick coffee across the street at the campus food court, only to return and his papers and books in his office to have been tossed about in a flurry. Rather than straighten things, he also spoke of such piles being mysteriously and meticulously being put back together while he was in a neighboring room without anyone entering or making a sound at all. Extremely cold air has permeated the many floors of the building even during sizzling hot summer semesters before spiking back up without any explanation. Despite the cold hair and activity, some students have even seen shadow figures that have been known to be spotted on the building’s stairwell. Are these figures the disembodied spirits of the executed Civil War soldiers who once stood there long ago?

Today, unlike other universities and places of higher learning, UTC has not tried to ignore or shut down any talk of the paranormal on its campus. In fact, it has rather embraced it during the Halloween season and has even held an overnight ghost hunt watch on occasion to document any paranormal activity.

Haunted Marquette University

1250 W Wisconsin Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53233

Choosing and attending a university is one of the most difficult decisions a student can ever make. Family history at an institution, faculty with award-winning accolades, and even die-hard allegiance to the sports programs are just some of the reasons that help decide where someone goes. But what if your choice was a university that is haunted? Marquette University is perhaps the most haunted school in the entire state of Wisconsin.

Is Marquette University Haunted?

Marquette University was founded all the way back in 1881 and stands a private Roman Catholic school that was initially built by the Jesuits under the instruction of the local Bishop of Milwaukee. The university was built in regards to the ever-rowing German population in the Milwaukee area. Growing throughout the decades by adding many academic programs, Marquette emerged as one of the more established private university powerhouses in the Upper Midwest area. But as students have shuffled in and out over the years they have naturally walked away with a degree, but many have also walked away with an unintended education in paranormal encounters as well.

The Haunted Schroeder Hall Dorm

One of the most haunted places on campus is within the Schroeder Hall dormitory. Particularly on the ninth floor is where most activity has taken place. It’s difficult to label whether the spirit is a simple poltergeist or something more sinister. A student confessed to the university’s newspaper about an encounter with the spirit which resulted in a mysterious broken ankle after being spooked to the point he was reaching for his Rosary before he felt his ankle snap. Supernatural tensions were so high that the priest was brought in to bless the room to quiet down any activity. Another student had what some believe to have been actual tinted ectoplasm seep through the dormitory wall! Even with cleanup and inspection, there was never a true source or cause for the mysterious liquid to form.

The Haunted Humphrey Hall

Down campus at Humphrey Hall, the paranormal activity there is just as compelling. Objects have frequently been known to move around mysteriously or even disappear completely before being returned. This part of campus was formerly the children’s hospital decades ago and many think that the departed spirit of a child wanting attention is the likely cause.

The Haunted Johnston and Mashuda Halls

Over in Johnston Hall, a long-standing story had a young Jesuit priest committing suicide there many years ago in 1963. Doors opening, mysterious tapping sounds, and even a low moan sound have been heard by students there. And even at Mashuda Hall, objects that levitated and moved caused such a disturbance that there is a long-standing rumor around campus that an actual exorcism was performed in the hall so as to end the paranormal activity!

Today, Marquette University still enjoys both high academic, and sports success. Activity is few and far between on campus, but as with anything regarding such institutions of record, there are always ghost stories that are here to stay.

8444623228

321e East York Street, Savannah, GA, USA

10:00AM - 10:00PM (Eastern Time) daily.

Savannah’s best spooky ghost tours, investigating the disturbing and macabre secrets of America’s most haunted city. Explore hidden secret cemeteries in the eerie dark of night and discover what lurks in the shadows of our creepy old squares. Choose from sinister adults-only tours, a salacious haunted pub crawl, a family friendly ghost tour or a true crime cocktail tour! More info at https://madcattours.com

St. Roch Cemetery

(504) 304-0576

1725 Music St, New Orleans, LA 70117, USA

For anyone looking into visiting one of the historic and haunted cemeteries of the New Orleans area, a quick search is likely to show St. Louis Cemetery No.1 or Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 as the top ones. While neither cemetery will disappoint those looking to bask among the many rows of historical mausoleums and gothic headstones while searching for paranormal activity; they’re not the only cemeteries in the area that have a reputation for supernatural encounters. The little known St. Roch Cemetery in the heart of the city has earned a reputation of being one of the more haunted places to visit.

Is the St. Roch Cemetery in New Orleans Haunted?

The history behind the origin of the St. Roch neighborhood goes back to the mid-1800s. This smaller parish area was originally called Faubourg Franklin which was named due to the emerging railroad connections that it shared with the Pontchartrain area. However, as with most of New Orleans at the time, a deadly outbreak of Yellow Fever was ravaging the population. A German priest named Father Peter Thevis prayed for the intercession of St. Roch, a Catholic patron saint for good health. Fr. Thevis prayed that should nobody in his tiny parish die, he would build a chapel in honor of St. Roch. True to his saintly ways, the intercessory prayer worked with nobody dying and Fr. Thevis built not only a chapel but also a shrine and eventual cemetery. Word of the saint’s protection spread and the area was renamed in honor of St. Roch. Today the enormous iron gates bearing the saint’s name as it’s flanked by a pair of praying angels is what welcomes many to the cemetery.

The cemetery itself holds one of the rare paranormal distinctions of having a ghost dog on the premises which itself is ironic considering St. Roch is a patron saint for dogs as well. Over the years many visitors have seen a big black dog with shadow-esque features strolling throughout the rows of headstones. In the paranormal community, some say that a black dog is indicative of foreshadowing an event, while others claim it’s the supernatural manifestation of a repressed spirit.

This ghost dog that has prowled about the St. Roch cemetery only has the entrance or exit from which to enter, and some animal lovers have been heard to try and approach the dog to help aid it only for the dog to vanish into thin air or run into the entrance of a mausoleum and disappear!

Another ghostly specter resident to the cemetery is simply known locally as “the Hooded Ghost.” There’s no known origin to this spirit that is described as wearing a dark-colored robe with a hood. The Hooded Ghost’s face has yet to ever fully been described as anyone who has seen them has taken more notice of the height of this very elusive spirit. Some speculate this hooded entity may not altogether be a positive one as a sense of dread or sudden heart palpitations have befallen people that spot the elusive spirit.

Unlike some of the other cemeteries in New Orleans, the St. Roch Cemetery is maintained by the adjoining church and actually has longer, albeit normal business hours that typically restrict entry near sunset. This is one cemetery that’s off the beaten path and not subject to many ghost tours, thus making a visit to it a real supernatural treasure.

3960 Nora Ave, Pocatello, ID, USA

October 3, 10, 17, 24, 2020

8pm-11pm

We absolutely love Halloween! A time to be anyone you want. To have fun and forget fears of life and enjoy the scare of the Haunt!
We are a local family that loves to spread joy and love all year here in Pocatello. Nikki and Frank grew up with a love for Halloween from childhood. We have been scaring together for 5 years now and cannot wait to have you all back this year. Normally we will be open only on Halloween night. This year, we are going to do every Saturday in October! Then on Halloween we will throw our annual festival at the MEC 1567 Way to Grace, Pocatello from 12pm-8pm.

4921 Expo Drive, Manitowoc, WI, USA

October 2nd, 3rd and 4th, 2020

Windigo Fest is a celebration of all things Halloween! Join us Friday October 2nd, Saturday October 3rd, & Sunday October 4th 2020.

 

Now located at the Manitowoc County Expo Center 4921 Expo Drive in Manitowoc, WI, home of popular tourist destinations including Dead by Dawn’s Dead and Breakfast, The Wisconsin Maritime Museum, and the Rahr West Art Museum.

 

All Hallows Eve enthusiasts with a hunger for the strange and unusual can experience a weekend filled with various seasonal activities including:

  • outstanding music

  • costume contests

  • dark art exhibits and contests

  • bizarre performances

  • the windigo maul featuring unique and distinctive vendors

  • parade

  • magnificent food

  • and more!

Come for the day or stay for the weekend….but don’t be caught dead without checking out the fourth annual All Hallows Eve Windigo Fest! Check back often to see updates!

 

 

4803311202

1797 West University Drive, Tempe, AZ, USA

Open 7 Days a Week. See Website for Available Times

Award Winning Escape Room Experience in Tempe, AZ.

Customizable Difficulty levels, great for everyone from beginners to enthusiasts. Escape Rooms are great for families, friends, date night, birthday, or corporate team building. 

512-999-7504

17501 La Hacienda Dr. Austin, TX 78734

Fatal Fear Haunted House started as a passion project, a “pro-level” home haunt driven by our love for horror and a deep connection to our community. With the help of dedicated volunteers, we transformed Halloween into an unforgettable experience, with one goal in mind: to terrify and thrill our guests while raising funds for local nonprofits and performing arts venues. Each year, we pushed the limits of what a home haunt could be, blending intense scares, immersive storytelling, and jaw-dropping effects to create a show that had the whole town talking.
Fast forward to today, and Fatal Fear is ready to take the next big step. After years of terrorizing the Steiner Ranch neighborhood, we’ve outgrown our original home and are planning a relaunch at a brand-new location. This time, we’re going commercial—but we’re not losing sight of what made us great. Our haunt will still deliver that same intense, immersive experience, with a gripping storyline, state-of-the-art effects, and characters that will haunt your nightmares long after you leave. The sets will be bigger, the scares will be sharper, and the terror will be off the charts.
We’re committed to staying true to our roots, keeping the intimate, handcrafted feel that made Fatal Fear so special. Our new location will allow us to expand in ways we could only dream of, but our heart will always be in the community that supported us from the start.

Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, New Orleans

(504) 658-3781

1427 Washington Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130, USA

New Orleans is a fantastic old-world city built upon a supernatural charm that many other cities in the United States seem to lack. Ask anyone about this charm associated with New Orleans and you may get responses that speak on Voodoo High Priestess Madame Laveau, the strange haunts of the LaLaurie Mansion or the Lafitte Guest House, Pat O’Brien’s ghost pub, or the ghosts at the Old Absinthe House. But by far and away the number one thing most people associate and speak to the level of paranormal activity in New Orleans on are the cemeteries. Looking for a good haunted one? The Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 has you covered.

Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, New Orleans

Situated within the famous Garden District of New Orleans, Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 was believed to have originally been built back in 1832. At the time, the city of New Orleans has charged a local official named Benjamin Buisson to plot out the land and have it consecrated. Once boundaries were meted out, Buisson ended up giving this particular cemetery the name of Lafayette, which was named for the city of Lafayette that had been annexed and absorbed by the ever-expanding New Orleans city.

Sitting just blocks north of the Irish Channel which was named for an influx of Irish immigrants in the early 1800s, the cemetery holds a large contingent of Irish graves who fell victim to the Saffron Scourge yellow fever epidemic of the 1800s. The cemetery is believed to contain over 7,000 graves, but also contains an untold number of ghosts and spirits.

Is the Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 in New Orleans Haunted?

The most fascinating aspect about the Lafayette No. 1 Cemetery’s haunted reputation is not that it is haunted by a spate of famous ghosts from historical tombs, but is based on the visitor experiences with the paranormal here. A former groundskeeper caught an older woman stealing flowers off fresh graves to sell in the French Quarter to tourists. He warned her and sent her on her way only months later to die herself and be buried. To his surprise, late one night, he witnessed firsthand her spirit descending over the gated fence to pluck fresh flowers off another grave.

Strange sounds run the gamut in the permanently haunted grounds as walking tour visitors have been known to hear sobbing within close earshot. Tears in such a place are to be expected, but not when nobody else is standing around you at all! EVPs (electronic voice phenomena) have been captured in all areas of the cemetery grounds to include the words: “hospital”, “fever”, and “help me”.

Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, New Orleans

Spots to purchase in the cemetery are opened once a year and the rumored price is to be upwards of $200,000 for a plot due to the super high demand. For family tombs, the top portion is always open and whatever remains are pushed in, the previous remains are dropped into the bottom of the antiquated tomb. Such unintended burial formalities are perhaps what has caused a slew of shadow figures to be photographed all across the cemetery.

As with most cemeteries in New Orleans, the walking tours and public access to the Lafayette are incredibly limited and often the cemetery closes by 2 pm. Anything after that is considered a trespassing situation and this is done to avoid any unusual and unwanted occult behavior that may occur in this historical cemetery.

Big Woods Cemetery

3925 Big Woods Cemetery Rd, Vinton, LA 70668, USA

For people looking to explore some of the most haunted cemeteries in the United States, there is absolutely no question that they look to the city of New Orleans to fill this need. Unexplained as it may be, New Orleans is a city of heart, soul, voodoo, and magic that over time has created some of the most haunted places known to man. While cemeteries such as St. Louis Cemetery No 1 or St. Roch Cemetery of New Orleans are confirmed paranormal hits, for those willing to take a little bit of a drive the Big Woods Cemetery of Edgerly, Louisiana is a definite can’t miss where a ghostly gatekeeper looks to keep the living out permanently.

Is the Big Woods Cemetery Haunted?

Big Woods Cemetery was officially consecrated as a cemetery all the way back in 1827 when a wealthy Louisiana resident named James Bryan donated a dozen acres of land for the cemetery’s construction. It would take another decade or so before the plots began to gradually fill in with the graves of the deceased. Overcast with enormous oak trees, the cemetery remained an Edgerly mainstay for burials over the years even with the nearby adjoining Antioch Cemetery being added at a later date. To this day, the deceased are still interred inside Big Woods, but it’s the many ghost sightings over the years that have had some visitors to the cemetery on quite a paranormal edge.

Unofficially dubbed “the Gatekeeper”, many believe that there is a singular chief entity that roams about the grounds of the Big Woods. Oral legends from area locals claim that the stories began with people witnessing a brightly lit mist that would float about the cemetery in the dead of night. Nobody has ever been known to approach it, as those (un)fortunate enough to see it have explained that there is a sense of dread or uneasiness that seems to be attached to it that makes the living want to stay away.  It’s possible that his misty manifestation may be from the Gatekeeper who is said to prowl about the cemetery.

The most commonly reported encounter is seeing a dark shadow in the loose form of a man pacing somewhere near the main cemetery gate. One unlucky visitor claimed that upon approaching the gate near sunset, they were chased off the property by someone in a dark-colored antique-looking truck that was rather hellbent on them not entering the cemetery. Similar to the automotive troubles of the Smith Anderson Cemetery of Maine, visitors to Big Woods have claimed that upon coming across the shadow of the Gatekeeper, they immediately look to leave the cemetery only to find that their car engines fail to start preventing a hasty escape.

Some visitors believe that female spirits are responsible as the sightings of a young girl spirit walking and crying before disappearing might be responsible for some of the paranormal activity here. One visitor, in particular, claimed to come across a woman in a black robe with bright red hair smiling a devilish smile before walking past a large headstone and seemingly disappearing. Other times, visitors have seen streaking orbs blitz between rows of worn tombstones before being absorbed into the air itself with claims of ectoplasm being left behind on the tops of tombstones.

Big Woods Cemetery may be a three-hour drive due west of New Orleans, but with all the paranormal activity going on there, it’s hard not to mention the haunts of this so-called eternal resting place.

2 Bukchon-ro, Gahoe-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea

8 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays

Seoul Ghost Tour: The Dark Side of Seoul

Korea’s #1 ghost and dark history walk. Explore the dark alleys of the city’s 800-year history of bloody massacres, mourning ghosts, and hidden scandals. This is the side of Seoul the tourism board doesn’t want you to see. Bring friends and a change of underwear.

Pat O’Brien’s - New Orleans

504-525-4823

718 St Peter St, New Orleans, LA, USA

Whether it be called a pub, tavern, bar, saloon, joint, inn, lounge, taproom, ale-house, beer joint, or brewery, businesses that serve alcohol are often a much sought after activity for the socially thirsty. New Orleans has the fourth most number of bars to household population in the entire United States. With the infamous street festival Mardi Gras drawing in crowds upwards of 50,000 people within a few city blocks, as well as the city of New Orleans having a very liberal open alcohol container law, the city goes through thousands of gallons of alcohol. The hottest spot before, during, and after Mardi Gras is none other than Pat O’Brien’s bar, where you’re likely to encounter spirits in both the bottom of a glass as well as floating past you.

Is Pat O’Brien’s Haunted?

Pat O’Brien was a man who opened up a bar in New Orleans on the heels of the Prohibition Era in December 1933. Coming off his previous venture of owning a speakeasy in town, O’Brien helped to craft from the plentiful Caribbean rum that coursed through the city, a new and future long-time drink staple of the city….the Hurricane. Due to the overcrowding and diminutive size of the place, the pianos were placed upright against one another which helped fuel the classic New Orleans dueling piano jazz music we have today (these pianos have also been heard to play a few notes by unseen ghosts). Interestingly enough, the bar’s location on St. Peter street was originally constructed all the way back in 1791. Does the age, history, and reputation of serving over one billion people at this location play into the supernatural?

Pat O’Brien’s - New Orleans

Pat O’Brien’s Courtyard

The most haunted spot in the bar is said to be the ladies’ restroom up on the second floor. Women visitors and employees alike have said that even the ascent to the second floor near the restroom brings forth a certain eeriness. Vicious cold spots along with a heavy stomping sound that seems to descend from the antiquated attic storage area above are the first things they notice. Once inside the restroom, the ghostly activity ratchets up even more with the supernatural antics of what is believed to be a former female restroom attendant. Footsteps and bizarre sounds emitting from the restroom stalls; a quick peek underneath the front of the stall shows it to be unoccupied, yet the human sounds continue.

Like most establishments in New Orleans, the backside area holds smaller courtyards and the one at Pat O’Briens features typical patio furniture for visitors. Many times during non-peak hours, the staff will have the patio furniture straightened and perfected for any visitors, only to walk back outside moments later and see that the furniture has been completely strewn about in disarray by an unseen force.

Today Pat O’Brien’s is fully open for business and enjoys a rather busy establishment. It’s worth noting that given the absolute historic location, many people have posed for an array of photographs inside the bar, but have noticed that after the picture is taken unexplained shadowy figures and the outlines of ghosts are spotted in the pictures.

The Old Absinthe House

(504) 523-3181

240 Bourbon St, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA

The 200-Year-Old Haunted Old Absinthe House

As a popular tourist destination, New Orleans enjoys one of the premier street fair spectacles in existence every February with the infamous Mardi Gras. Thousands upon thousands of people immersed in total revelry take adequate and proper use of the supremely lax public drinking laws within the city limits. Popular crafted street drinks such as the Hand Grenade, Hurricane, and Crawdad Bloody Mary make the good times even greater. One of the more hidden gem cocktails for the swarthy city streets is an Absinthe Frappe, which of course is composed largely of absinthe. For those unfamiliar, absinthe is an anise-fennel flavored spirit that contains trace amounts of thujone, a chemical that has been known to pack quite a hallucinogenic punch. No better place to indulge in this sort of drink than at the Old Absinthe House located right on Bourbon Street in the heart of the French Quarter. However, a glass of Absinthe may not be the only spirit you encounter at this historic establishment.

Is the Old Absinthe House Haunted?

The Old Absinthe House

The Old Absinthe House was built somewhere around the year 1807 and was initially a ground floor street saloon that went by the name of The Absinthe Room. It was said that a bartender named Cayetano Ferrer is the one who created the famous Absinthe Frappe from the hotly imported spirit that was being shipped into the city. For decades the bar and the drink were a hit until it ran afoul of Prohibition. The bar was moved down the street for a time to a backroom speakeasy until the Volstead Act was eventually repealed and the bar staff returned to their original location with a second-floor upgrade, renovated into a Spanish villa-style exterior outside, and it was renamed The Old Absinthe House. However, despite the new name, there are some old ghosts to go along with it here.

The Ghost of Jean Lafitte

The most famous spirit here is said to be that of pirate Jean Lafitte himself. The early 19th-century pirate and bootlegger is said to haunt the second floor of the bar, where some people have claimed to see not only Lafitte standing near the window in his trademark hat but also next to the ghost of former President Andrew Jackson. It was here in this very building, according to legend, that Old Hickory himself met with Lafitte to help him get an edge on the plans for the Battle of New Orleans.

People have said that upon stumbling upon the two spirits, that they fade away into the air. Lafitte and Jackson are not the only two famous spirits that haunt, voodoo queen Marie Laveau also has been spotted staring out into space at different places in the bar. Laveau’s presence also paranormally paradoxical in the sense that she is said to haunt around her tomb at St. Louis Cemetery No 1 as well. Former employees at the Old Absinthe also have spoken about drink glasses mysteriously being moved around or accidentally knocked off bar tables by unseen forces. Even with some table chairs being rearranged, one of the more audible manifestations is the sound of laughter and merriment from corners of the bar in which nobody is present at all.

Be it spirits who enjoyed the many good times at the Old Absinthe House or something more unexplained, the activity here is believed to have been fed off the energy of all the many decades of barroom activity that’s been confined here. Today, the Old Absinthe House is open for business, a local ghost tour favorite, and one of the most popular places in all the French Quarter.

St. Louis Cemetery No. 1

504-596-3050

425 Basin St, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA

New Orleans is a supernaturally charged city with a heterogeneous mixture of life, death, soul, voodoo, and the outlying occult.  Centuries of ships and sailors from all over the world have come to this bustling port city engaging in everything from commerce and cutthroat behavior, to trade and ceremonial magic.  Over time such behaviors have resulted in thousands and thousands of people from all over the world having their final resting places being carved out deep in the Louisiana soil. One of the more haunted cemeteries in the city is St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 where the sightings are so frequent that it closes even before sundown due to all the activity.

Is the St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 Haunted?

St. Louis Cemetery No. 1

St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 was first consecrated and opened up for the departed all the way back in 1789.   The nearby Saint Peter Cemetery had actually brimmed overcapacity and the St. Louis was then opened up to accommodate the area’s ever-mounting dead.  It was named for the nearby Catholic Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis which is one block over from the very heart of the French Quarter.  Close to seven hundred tombs and nearly one hundred thousand dead are said to be interred inside, but what of the paranormal activity?

The Tomb of Madame Marie Laveau

The Tomb of Marie Laveau - St/ Louis Cemetery number 1

One of the most prevailing theories is that the activity in the St. Louis No. 1 is high because of its most famous posthumous resident. The Voodoo Queen herself, Madame Marie Laveau is buried inside the cemetery gates.  A New Orleans fixture since the early 19th Century, Madame Laveau is credited with bringing and polarizing the occult practice of voodoo to New Orleans.  After her death and interment, her followers still visited her grave decades later and adhere to a voodoo practice of drawing three “x’s” on her tombstone in favor of a wish being granted.  While this has lead to vandalism and crackdown on activity in the cemetery, it has also lead to harm. Those not taking Madame Laveau seriously have mocked her grave and touched the tombstone only moments later to fall violently ill, as well as having sinister misfortune befall them.

The Tomb of Marie Laveau - St/ Louis Cemetery number 1

People also have claimed to see the ghost of former 19th Century sailor Henry Vignes who haunts his family’s tomb.  Legend has it his lost some important papers after sailing away only to come back and find them missing before falling ill and dying.  Decades later visitors have talked about a tall, pale-looking man with intense eyes who appears from out of nowhere and asks if anyone has seen his papers before disappearing behind a headstone.  Some people have also seen his spirit and heard him exclaim that he’s very tired and needs to find rest.

Today, the only visitors allowed inside St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 are those who sign up via a tour group or ghost hunt to enter as vandalism and occult practices are so high that the city formally made it off-limits to the public.  But if you enter, be mindful if you feel a spirit grab your hand and tug, it may be that of Alphonse a young man who has lost his grave and wants you to help him find it.