All southern port towns have their share of ghost stories, but none more so than New Orleans, which has truly embraced its reputation as a center of all things paranormal. All of the criteria that tend to produce ghost legends—a coastal location, a checkered past, a rich cultural history, and a potent mix of old and new world religion— can be found here. The city is full of haunted mansions, taverns, and graveyards, and you can’t go far without hearing stories of cursed pirate ships, Civil War-era spirits, and voodoo hexes. In this realm, one of the most famous figures is undoubtedly Marie Laveau, a Creole woman who gained a massive following during the 1800s as one of the first practitioners of voodoo. She died in 1881, but for years after many people claimed to see her walking throughout the French Quarter, and more than 120 years later many ghostly legends about the “Voodoo Queen of New Orleans” still persist.

一、新奥尔良，路易斯安那州

所有南部海港城市都有不少鬼故事，但是还没有一个能多过新奥尔良，这座城实至名归地是各类灵异现象的中心。你能在此找到所有可能产生鬼故事的条件：沿海位置、错杂的过去、丰富的历史文化、新旧世界宗教信仰的强有力混合。城里遍布闹鬼的宅子、酒馆、墓地，不出几步你就可以听到许多有关被诅咒的海盗船，内战期间的冤魂和巫毒妖婆的故事。这其中最出名的人物毫无疑问是玛丽·利维，这个克里奥尔女人在十九世纪作为巫毒术最初实践者之一，拥有大批追随者。她死于1881年，但是数年来许多人称见她走过法国街区，而且在120多年之后，许多关于新奥尔良巫毒女王的鬼魂传说还在继续。



Most Haunted Place: LaLaurie House

In the heart of the French Quarter lies an ornate mansion that in the 1800s belonged to physician Louis LaLaurie and his socialite wife Delphine. As the story goes, it was rumored at the time that the couple treated their slaves viciously, and there was evidence Lady LaLaurie was responsible for the murder of a 12-year-old girl. The rumors were validated when one night a fire broke out in the mansion’s kitchen. Firemen raced to the scene, and when they kicked down a door to the slave quarters they were astonished to find several slaves chained to the wall in a kind of makeshift dungeon. Many have since claimed that the LaLaurie’s were performing grotesque surgical experiments on the slaves, but modern evidence suggests that this is probably an exaggeration. Either way, the sadistic couple is said to have soon fled the city, and Lady LaLaurie eventually disappeared. The mansion where the horrors took place still stands today, and several ghosts have been sighted, among them the spirits of both Delphine LaLaurie and the young slave girl she is said to have murdered.

最恐怖之地：拉劳里宅邸

在法国街区的中心有一座装饰华丽的宅邸，它在十九世纪属于内科医生路易斯·拉劳里和他的社交名流妻子戴尔芬。据说，这夫妻俩对待他们的奴隶非常恶毒，并有证据表明戴尔芬太太谋杀了一个12岁的女孩。有一晚宅子的厨房着火，使得这些传闻得到了证实，消防员赶到现场，当他们踢开通往奴隶宿舍的门时，震惊地发现几个奴隶被锁在一个临时地牢的墙上。此后就有传闻说拉劳里在奴隶身上做变态的外科手术，但是现代证据表明这可能只是夸大之词。不管怎样，这对残忍的夫妻很快逃离了城里，拉劳里夫人最终不知所踪。这个发生恐怖故事的宅邸今天仍不得安宁。人们看见过许多魂魄，包括拉劳里先生和夫人以及那个被谋杀的奴隶小女孩的鬼魂。