Ghosts, Gods, & Gangsters of New Orleans

Old Ursuline Convent Museum

Our ghost tour pauses outside the gates of the Old Ursuline Convent, which has stood here since the early days of our city’s founding. Your guide recounts the legend of the casket girls - young women who traveled here long ago with peculiar chests in tow. According to lore, these cases contained unholy stowaways that still haunt the convent and streets nearby as vampiric beings to this day. As you gaze up at the decaying walls, you might wonder if something cursed still lurks within... Did the casket girls truly first usher vampires into New Orleans? Stand here after dark to hear the story and decide. Before we depart the convent grounds, listen closely for whispers on the wind.

After leaving the convent, we approach a grand, white-columned mansion that once belonged to Civil War general P.T. Beauregard before housing bestselling author Frances Parkinson Keyes. But not all who traversed this historic home's ornate rooms and parlors met a refined high society end. Over a hundred years ago, this was the site of one of the city's most infamous mafia hits. Some believe unsettled spirits still dwell here, caught in a phantom feud that continuously replays itself. As night falls, you may glimpse shadows of the conflict in the windows or hear faint echoes of the assassination that violently ended the rule of a notorious gangster.

Lalaurie Mansion

We pause outside the imposing facade of the stately Lalaurie residence, once occupied by the influential yet nefarious Madame Delphine Lalaurie, until a fateful day exposed her most insidious secrets. As we stand before the intricately wrought iron balcony, our guide recounts whispered tales of the ghastly revelations of diabolical experiments and unimaginable human suffering within these walls. Some say the anguished echoes can still be heard of those who perished by her philosophies. Others report sightings of the Madame herself, presiding still over her estate after death, denied her proper judgment for the reprehensible deeds committed on helpless souls. But we leave it to you to ponder... Do spirits still linger, or does public imagination haunt these grounds more fiercely than any wayward wraith could? What is evident is that this address continues to profoundly disturb anyone who learns of its history - now including those gathered among us on this tour.