Halloween is New Orleans
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Spooky Traditions Make New Orleans a Scareseeker's Ultimate Halloween Destination
Perhaps no other city in the country celebrates Halloween with the gusto of New Orleans, and no wonder. Haunted houses, sprawling cemeteries, above-ground crypts, voodoo queens and spells, pirate lore and America's most noted vampire writer are part of the local landscape throughout the year, so a holiday celebrating the macabre is right up this town's dark alley.
A variety of tours focus on cemeteries, haunted sites, ghosts, voodoo and vampires. Most of New Orleans' 40-plus cemeteries are open during daytime hours for anyone to explore on their own, but the most popular guided cemetery tours are of St. Louis No. 1 and Lafayette. St. Louis, founded in 1789, is the burial ground for numerous illustrious New Orleans citizens. Some authorities say the Laveau-Glapion tomb is the resting place of voodoo queen Marie Laveau, while others believe her daughter (also a voodoo priestess) is interred there. The stark white monument is always adorned with flowers, candles and other offerings.
Lafayette, established in 1833, is another of the city's earliest and most historically significant above-ground burial sites. It is one of only seven U.S. locations listed on the World Monument's List of 100 most endangered sites, and was a setting for the film "Interview With the Vampire." Both cemeteries are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Visitors are spellbound by the above-ground construction of crypts necessitated by New Orleans' below-sea level elevation, as well as the often elaborate architecture and materials. Look for imported marble, exquisite sculpture and even iron or stone benches for mourners that are incorporated into the design of some tombs.
Some tours include settings for books such as Anne Rice's The Mayfair Witches and films such as "Pretty Baby" and "Cat People." Others specialize in voodoo, which took root in New Orleans with the arrival of thousands of slaves from the French West Indies in the 1700s. Its best known practitioner is Marie Laveau, a free woman of color who became the city's most powerful voodoo priestess in the 1820s and 30s. She was sought out for advice, healing and empowerment, often in the form of potions, powders and oils.
The New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum traces voodoo's ancestral roots to ancient Africa and explores the influences of native American, European and Haitian cultures upon the religion. Altars, artifacts and actual rituals such as blessings, cleansings and alternative healing are among the attractions.
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