The Big Easy Travel Guide: 12 Ways to Stay Entertained in New Orleans
Best Spooky Attractions
St. Louis Cemetery No. 1
Believe it or not, a cemetery is one of the top New Orleans points of interest and definitely one of its spookiest. Every year, thousands of visitors flock to St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 to tour its unique maze of above-ground tombs. Here you’ll find the final resting place of some of the founders of New Orleans and several well-known historical figures.
However, its biggest draw is the tomb of rumored voodoo queen, Marie Laveau, who lived in 19th-century New Orleans. Countless voodoo and ghost-themed tours stop off at her grave, weaving stories of magic and miraculous healing powers.
Nearby is also the pyramid-shaped, future grave of actor Nicolas Cage, which currently only has the words “omnia ab uno” on it meaning “everything from one.” Needless to say, his unique, yet morbid, purchase has become an attraction in itself.
Although the tours are offered year-round, the best time to experience them are around Halloween when the spirits of the dead are thought to be most active and the tour guides most enthusiastic.
LaLaurie Mansion
One of the most haunted places in New Orleans, LaLaurie Mansion has a terrifying history of murder, torture and paranormal disturbances. Madame Marie Delphine LaLaurie lived there with her husband and their slaves until a fire and subsequent smear campaign drove them out. Legend has it that Madame LaLaurie tortured and even killed some of her slaves, leaving them chained up for days in the house’s attic.
Although those claims have never been fully substantiated, the stories remain a part of the house’s history to this day. Nevertheless, a murder did occur in the house years later, supposedly the work of supernatural forces. Even when the house was converted into an all-girls school, strange occurrences continued, such as students getting scratched by an unseen woman.
Today, while you can’t go inside the house itself (it’s privately owned), numerous ghost tours include the LaLaurie house as a stop, recounting the details of its creepy history. However, you can visit the Gallier House or the Hermann-Grima House, which both stood in for the LaLaurie Mansion in “American Horror Story: Coven.”
A trip to the Waitomo Caves is certainly illuminating, particularly if you want to learn more about the glowworms who call the caverns below home.
The Mortuary
Formally an actual mortuary, The Mortuary is a spooky New Orleans attraction that operates year-round. For most of the year, you can book an escape room experience in one of the five different themed rooms that feature everything from zombies to serial killers.
During Halloween, however, The Mortuary transforms into an elaborate haunted house complete with Hollywood-style special effects. Guests make their way through countless creepy scenes, encountering live scare-actors and perhaps even a real haunt or two.
The weekend after Halloween, The Mortuary also offers a blackout experience of the haunted house with a tiny flashlight as your only guide through the darkness. Enter if you dare, and you might even catch a glimpse of the ghostly mortician who’s said to still haunt his former workplace.
