Ghosts, Vampires And Spirits Lure Travelers Seeking Bone-Chilling Thrills

Ghosts, vampires and spirits lure travelers seeking bone-chilling thrills.

- Susan B. Barnes

On a dark, moonless night, my friend and I joined a small group as we quietly walked the narrow cobblestone streets of New Orleans, listening to our guide tell tales of the sights around us. She pointed to shadowed, curtained windows, some even shuttered, and described unimaginable acts that took place behind them. She shared stories of horses and wagons rolling along these same streets, carrying the dead. She talked of “people” said to have been spotted for generations.

Our group hung onto our guide’s every word as we crisscrossed the city during Haunted History Tours’ New Orleans Vampire Tour. Afterward, over drinks, we recounted the stories we had heard, imagining what had happened in the bar where we sat … across the street … in our hotel … and what spirits and otherworldly creatures may lurk about.

Imagine our surprise the next morning as, snuggled in the comfort of our beds in the hotel room, we tuned the TV to the Travel Channel only to see our guide from the night before telling some of those same vampire stories to a national audience.

New Orleans is considered the most haunted city in the United States, “a place where the dead refuse to rest” and which voodoo queens, professed vampires and other practitioners of the mystical arts call home. This city embraces its darker side and “welcomes everyone: the living, the dead and those souls in between.” In fact, one can enjoy myriad vampire, ghost and cemetery tours yearround, and New Orleans & Company even developed a haunted walking itinerary that highlights spots throughout the city where visitors are most likely to encounter spirits.