In the Big Easy, it’s always spooky season. New Orleans is a city steeped in history and ghostly tales just waiting to be shared with the world. New Orleans Magazine editor Ashley McLellan, along with digital media editor and podcast producer Kelly Massicot, bring you a yearly season of stories from Beyond the Grave.
Season 3
The site of the Bourbon Orleans Hotel has lived many lives, including that of a cultural and society hotspot, a refuge for nuns and orphan girls and now a place to rest your head for those looking to experience New Orleans. Confederate soldiers, ghostly children and a lone haunting dancer have all checked in and never checked out.
The rumors surrounding the tragic death of Jayne Mansfield were vast. Did she truly lose her head along a lonely stretch of highway outside of New Orleans? This week, we learn the true story and how her death has potentially saved countless lives.
What do Marie Laveau and Nicolas Cage have in common? This week we talk about the history of the Cities of the Dead all across New Orleans. From family vaults to the Cage pyramid, we dive into the practices of honoring our loved ones for eternity.
Mary Jane “Bricktop” Jackson roamed the mid-1800’s red light area of New Orleans known as Gallatin Street was a notorious figure among the thieves and murderers that lived there. “Bricktop,” (so named for her sturdy build and bright red hair) and the stories of her infamous fights with and murders of men and women alike, have made her one of the most colorful characters from the city’s long history. On this episode, we take listeners on a tour of those dark streets and find out which crime finally sent Mary Jane to a prison cell.
All Episodes:
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The site of the Bourbon Orleans Hotel has lived many lives, including that of a cultural and society hotspot, a refuge for nuns and orphan girls and now a place to rest your head for those looking to experience New Orleans. Confederate soldiers, ghostly children and a lone haunting dancer have all checked in and […]
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The rumors surrounding the tragic death of Jayne Mansfield were vast. Did she truly lose her head along a lonely stretch of highway outside of New Orleans? This week, we learn the true story and how her death has potentially saved countless lives.
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What do Marie Laveau and Nicolas Cage have in common? This week we talk about the history of the Cities of the Dead all across New Orleans. From family vaults to the Cage pyramid, we dive into the practices of honoring our loved ones for eternity.
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Mary Jane “Bricktop” Jackson roamed the mid-1800s red light area of New Orleans known as Gallatin Street was a notorious figure among the thieves and murderers that lived there. “Bricktop,” (so named for her sturdy build and bright red hair) and the stories of her infamous fights with and murders of men and women alike, […]
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We all know the Pontalba Buildings that run along the sides of the St. Louis Cathedral and Jackson Square, but do you know the story of the woman who built them? The Baroness survived death, a barrage of bullets and much adversity before leaving her mark on New Orleans and beyond!
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What do a Kansas City business man, Chicago millionaire and a railroad tycoon all have in common? Death, poison and Minnie Wallace. But was this New Orleans Creole beauty really a cold-blooded killer? Or was she just unlucky in love?
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An immortal vampire that found his way to New Orleans? Some believe that the mysterious former New Orleans resident Jacques St. Germain and the infamous Comte de Saint Germain share more than just a bloodline…
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"When I die, I'm going to take the whole town with me." What is the story behind this haunting message? And who was Julia Brown?
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On this Halloween, our friend Poppy Tooker shares all of her ghostly encounters at the popular Tujaque's Restaurant. From drag queens to child ghosts, Poppy has a story for everyone!
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As if 1930s Depression Era New Orleans wasn't stressful enough, two brothers terrified New Orleanians as they fed their way through the French Quarter. Though caught, hanged and buried; years later the bodies of John and Wayne Carter mysteriously disappeared. Were they really the Vampire Brothers after all? And if so, where are they now?
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In December 2015, Lisa Walley Staggs posted on her Facebook page that a "tree" had been lit on a random floor of the abandoned Charity Hospital. Abandoned since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the typically dark building sported holiday cheer, but why? Who or what was in there?
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In 1927, a gruesome and murderous scene was found as police entered 715 Ursuline Street in the heart of the French Quarter and found two young women, expertly butchered and placed into traveling trunks. The suspects? The women's husbands, brothers named Henry and Joseph Moity. This week's story includes murder, "lady fingers," a prison escape […]
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Though made famous by author Anne Rice with tales of vampires and witches, her noteworthy New Orleans home at 1239 First Street in the Garden District has a much longer and more ominous past. The Greek Revival-style house was built in the 1850s and spans a sizable 9,000 square feet of living space, perfect for […]
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Legend says the New Orleans Superdome was built atop the former Girod Street Cemetery, which was established in 1822 and housed 1,100 tombs. Is this the reason why, at their inception, the Saints never had a winning season? Was the curse ever broken? Do the living and the dead chant "Who Dat" in harmony on […]
