There are a few versions of the tale of how vampires made it to New Orleans from the European continent, so I will give you here the version I have managed to piece together thus far.

The story goes that during the colonization of America, the British were having great success in maintaining and expanding their territories, but the French colonies were dying out due to illness and starvation, as well as due to the fact that the vast majority of the inhabitants of French colonies were males, so there were few marriages and few new births.  In a desperate attempt to keep a foothold in the New World, the King of France began sending women over to the colonies, but unfortunately, his first incarnation of this idea involved sending over female prisoners and prostitutes.  As was no shock to me, this didn’t really help the situation in the French colonies, and France’s influence in America waned even further. 

Finally, the King contrived another plan.  There are two versions I have read regarding this plan.  One claims that the King sent the daughters of well-educated, well-bred families to New Orleans, and another claims that it was actually “guaranteed virgins” from church orphanages and convents.  In either case, the girls were shipped over to the South in the hopes that the would marry quickly and get started on procreation.

These young ladies arrived in New Orleans in 1728, carrying their trousseaus in hand, and they were met by the nuns of Ursuline, who took them in to their convent and kept them until they found a husband.  Their trousseaus are what earned them the nickname “Casket Girls,” because this case was shaped remarkably like a traditional casket.

Now, though the details may vary, history pretty much agrees on all of the above.  Where it gets sketchy is after the girls’ unboarded in New Orleans.  Vampire lore holds that the trousseaus were really caskets containing the undead, and that the convent secretly housed these creatures of the night on the third floor of the convent.  It is said that the windows on the third floor are sealed shut by hundreds of screws that have been blessed by a priest, but that one of the windows is often seen open during the hours when the sun has dipped below the horizon.

“Authentic” Vampire Hunting Kit

So that is the story of how vampires came to the new world as best I could put it together, and just one more reason New Orleans is the unique and eerie place that it is.  From the printed page to the silver screen, we never seem to tire of the tale either.

Yours in this life and the next!

GhOsTwRiTeR KiM 

Google the words “haunted tour” and you should get somewhere in the neighborhood of 345,000 hits: haunted Austin tours, haunted Decatur tours, haunted Lebanon tours (I kid you not!). So, narrowing down the focus a bit, I thought I would give you my top 10 picks for cities in America where taking a ghost tour might be entirely worth your while.

#10. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

The Battle of Gettysburg ran from July 1st through July 3rd in the year 1863. That three-day battle resulted in the most casualties of any battle fought during the Civil War, including nearly 8,000 soldiers dead, over 11,000 captured or missing, and over 27,000 soldiers injured. Given the bloody and violent charge of those three days, there is little wonder that moments from the battle and its aftermath seem to still be replaying in and around the rural Pennsylvania town.

#9. Atchison, Kansas

Said to be the most haunted city in Kansas, the proprietors of the Haunted Atchison Trolley Tours change their stops frequently because they have so many hauntings to choose from! Several of Atchison’s 24 homes on the Nation Register of Historical Places are also on the tour, including the beautiful McInteer Villa pictured above. The Travel Channel filmed a show called Haunted Town featuring a handful of the hauntings in Atchison, and they replay it reguarly, particularly around Halloween.

#8. Key West, Florida

Possibly the creepiest part of any haunted Key West tour will be a visit to Robert the Doll. Said to be cursed or somehow possessed by voodoo, Robert gives me a good case of the heebie-jeebies every time I catch a glimpse of him. “Papa” Hemingway has been known to make appearances around Key West to this day as well, and other haunted locations include the Hard Rock Cafe and Florida’s first bar, Capt. Tony’s Saloon.

#7. Chicago, Illinois

Gangsters, speakeasies, the Great Chicago Fire…this town has more history than a hound dog has fleas! Probably my favorite ghostly tale is that of Resurrection Mary who haunts Archer Street. She supposedly died in a car accident and is buried at Resurrection Cemetery. She is known to accept rides home after a dance, only to ask to be dropped at the gates of the cemetery.

#6. Las Vegas, Nevada

Ghost tours in Vegas will take you by places said to be haunted by such celebs as Redd Foxx, Liberace, Bugsy Siegel and, of course, Elvis. This is one tour I would love to take simply because I am curious whether it is fat Elvis or skinny Elvis who is doing the haunting.

#5. Hollywood, California

Marilyn Monroe’s Haunted Mirror

If you thought Vegas had some big names, wait until you take the Hollywood tour. These tours will take you to hotels where Montgomery Clift and Marilyn Monroe have yet to check out, graveyards that contain such greats as Bela Lugosi and Valentino, and the sites of many untimely deaths, including the Tate Mansion, the Black Dahlia crime scene, and others. Hollywood has a long and dark history, and the stories these tour guides could tell will likely not fail to chill and entertain at the same time.

#4. Washington, D.C.

Georgetown’s Famous “Exorcist” Steps

So much power concentrated in one city. Washington D.C. was designed and built to be intimidating to foreign dignitaries, but throw in a few spirits and it could be downright frightening. The Lincoln Bedroom in the White House has long been known to be haunted, and a demonic cat is purportedly spotted in the capitol building basement before major national tragedies. The Octagon House, the Blair House, the National Theatre…the list goes on and on. Sure to contain a history lesson or three, the haunted tours in Washington are said to be a great way to spend an evening.

#3. Salem, Massachusetts

The House of Seven Gables, Salem, Mass.

There is perhaps no town in the U.S. that has quite as much fun with the occult and the paranormal as Salem. Numerous ghost tours are available that highlight mysterious occurrences surrounding the witch hysteria that made the town famous, as well as other ghost sitings and historic cemeteries. The House of Seven Gables, pictured above, boasts hidden stairways and corridors that once housed runaway slaves as part of the underground railroad. It, too, is said to be haunted.

#2. New Orleans, Louisiana

Speaking of towns that relish the occult and the paranormal, welcome to the city of voodoo, vampires, pirates and more. Few places have as colorful a past has New Orleans. There are several haunted tours to choose from, covering bars, clubs, private homes, hotels, cemeteries…the list goes on and on. I highly recommend getting a closer look at some of the cemeteries myself. Not only are the crypts simply beautiful and creepy all at once, but the atmosphere and energy of those places lets you know you are not alone.

#1. Savannah, Georgia

Saving quite possibly the best for last, Savannah is just one of those towns that knows how to do ghosts. Savannah also has a checkered past, dotted with violence from pirates, the civil war, and haunted by epidemic outbreaks of yellow fever twice in its early history. Few residents of this beautiful Southern town would refuse to spin you a tale of ghostly happenings…just make sure you have enough time set aside to hear them out! I think the reason Savannah gets the number one spot on my list is this: The Pub Crawl Ghost Tour. Several of Savannahs night spots are known to have spirit activity, and since drinking and telling ghost stories are two of Savannah’s most well loved activities, they have combined the two for an adults only evening out. Put your drink in a plastic cup and you can take it with you as you walk by lantern light to the cities most ghoulish locales.

On your next vacation, no matter where it is, I recommend checking to see if they have one of these tours. It’s an unusual and relatively cheep way to see the darker side of a city, and you will probably come back with a story to tell!

Yours in this life and the next!

GhOsTwRiTeR KiM