Phantomoscillia

Halloween was still a few weeks away. With the winds coming off the bayou, it got a mite chilly at night but during the day was still warm. In early evening, I made my way down the streets of New Orleans, passing the walking tours, full of tourists soaking up all the grisly history that filled the streets with gore and lore. I don’t need to pay for a tour, I have seen all the haunts before.

I made my way past Madame Laveau’s house (the Voodoo Queen). I made my way past Delphine LaLaurie’s house, a place where a veritable horror show of atrocities was committed against the enslaved and indentured servants of the household. I made my way down the street where everyone died of yellow fever and all the buried bodies came floating back up when the next storm came, polluting the water and causing more deaths. I made my way to La Pharmacie Française, where illegal and torturous medical experiments were performed on unconsenting individuals. I made my way down to the Place d’Armes, where rebellious enslaved peoples and criminals were hung.

I slide from the French Quarter back through a side street onto Bourbon st, where the ghouls of the flesh are made manifest, under painted ironwork balconies. If there is anywhere I should be able to see a ghost, it would be here, at this time of year. So much horror and unfinished business. Am I just the only one left ?