The Haunted Guide to New Orleans: Ghosts, Vampires & Voodoo Protection (History & Guide)

Come along for a haunted treck through New Orleans, where evil ghosts horrify, and good ghosts inspire. New Orleans thrums with ghosts, some so strong they terrify holy Voodoo priests. This guide, for the truly intrepid, leads you to ancient ghosts who patrol the French Quarter. Reveals the spirits who dine at Antoine’s and Commander’s Palace. Introduces you to the eternal residents of the Hotel Monteleone. Lures you under the shade of giant oaks to the undead duelling nearby. Teases you with mirages of vampires climbing from flooded caskets in Lafayette Cemetery. Fuels you with the power of Voodoo to call on your departed ancestors. Warns you to sneak past ruptured tombs and wicked mansions like Madame LaLaurie’s, where tortured spirits wail. 

Rory O’Neill Schmitt, PhD, manages faculty development at University of Southern California’s Bovard College. Her award-winning short film, Garden District, has garnered more than twenty awards from around the world. Dr. Schmitt has penned three books with Arcadia Publishing and The History Press: Navajo and Hopi Art in Arizona (2016), New Orleans Voodoo: A Cultural History (with O’Neill, 2019) and Edgar Degas in New Orleans (with O’Neill, 2023).

Rosary O’Neill, PhD, is a Senior Fulbright Drama Specialist and winner of nine Fulbright Awards. She has published nineteen plays with Concord Publishers (Samuel French Publishers) and has published three play anthologies and six books. A professor emerita at Loyola University New Orleans, Dr. O’Neill founded Southern Rep, the first repertory theater in New Orleans.