Big Easy Spirits

Mary Oneida Toups was known as the High Priestess of the French Quarter, but her life, and her death, remains a mystery to this day, thanks to a natural disaster and the laissez faire attitude of New Orleans.

How did this middle aged former housewife become the most powerful witch in New Orleans? Listen and find out!

December 1989, Vanessa Bodden was last seen getting into a white car in the early hours of the morning. Her mutilated body was found a few weeks later in an abandoned building in her neighborhood. Thirty years later, Vanessa's killer is still unknown and her niece Danielle is now pushing for justice for her aunt. 

The Rosegate House is a staple of the Garden District in New Orleans. It's also home to a few ghosts and writer Anne Rice. Learn more about the history, the ghosts, the settings for famous novels... and Kelly's obsession with "E.R." and more of our feelings on Scientology... in this week's episode. 

Big Easy Spirits listeners know we’re based in the greatest city in the world… New Orleans. And even though the coronavirus pandemic has cancelled this year’s festivities, we’re taking this week off to celebrate Mardi Gras however we can. So, take this time to catch up on episodes you may have missed, stay tuned for an all-new episode next week and Happy Mardi Gras to you wherever you may be listening from! Cheers!

A listener suggestion turned into a story of a trio of haunted hotels in the French Quarter all linked by a mysterious Civil War military hospital that Kelly is trying urgently to find more about. Take this short hotel hop and plan your COVID-free hop visit! 

Doctor John Montanet, a Senegalese prince turned Voodoo master, inspired the transformation of 3rd Ward's own Mac Rebbenack into the colorful Dr. John, psychedelic rock pianist and performer.

Big thanks to the Historic New Orleans Collection. Visit their website for more information on Doctor John Montanet and more.

Edna Muscarello Lester, a 32-year-old mother of three, was pulled from a fire in her home on the morning of Nov. 15, 1982. A closer look uncovered 15 stab wounds found across Edna's body. The case is still unsolved.

What happens when you combine the deep, dark swamps of Louisiana with Bigfoot? And is it possible for a chimpanzee and an alligator to have a baby? All your questions and more, answered. 

This week we dive into the history of one of the most famous haunted houses in the country: The Mortuary. Originally a private home, the site of the now haunted house was a funeral home for over 80 years. In this week's episode. get all the background on the location and the real ghosts that haunts the building's halls.

This week, Ashley and Kelly catch up after a week apart and dive into the ghostly patrons of one of New Orleans' top restaurants. Since 1918, Arnaud's in the French Quarter has been the ultimate in the city's fine dining scene... and it's dinner is served under the watchful eye of its ghostly founders - Count Arnaud and his daughter Germaine. 

The two blocks of Gallatin Street was known for its many saloons, dance halls, brothels, brawls, prostitutes, robberies, disappearances and... murders. And Delia "Bridget Fury" Swift ... yes, that was her real name and gang name ... was in the middle of it all! Would you join her and Mary Jane "Bricktop" Jackson's girl gang? 

But can they? Not if you have a jazz funeral.  This week, we discuss what jazz funerals actually are and what does it mean when they say "cut loose?"

Listen and learn more about this unique New Orleans tradition.

This week we start with a few ghostly tales from the famous Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop in the French Quarter... but things take a turn as Kelly's investigation brings a few historical inaccuracies to light. Take the right and find out about the Lafitte Brothers, the blacksmith shop and more! 

Merry and bright or creepy and dark?  You be the judge. This week we explore the mysterious Charity Hospital Christmas tree.

Originally founded on May 10, 1736, by a grant from Jean Louis, a ship builder and sailer, then moved to it's final Tulane Avenue location in 1939 – Charity Hospital is a well-known abandoned building in New Orleans' Central Business District.  In it's heyday, Charity Hospital was one of the largest hospitals in the country. Thanks to Hurricane Katrina's 2005 destruction, the building has been left empty and vulnerable to countless ghost stories and spooky tales.

In December 2015, a local New Orleans woman spotted what appeared to be a lit Christmas tree shining from one of the dark, empty building's many windows.  

Did the casket girls bring vampires to New Orleans? Did those vampires look like Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise? Are there still vampires housed in the third floor of the convent?

This week we look into the history of the Old Ursuline Convent and how the "casket girls" fit into that history. Thanks to listener Lauren for the story suggestion!

Wrought iron is one of the most iconic features of New Orleans' French Quarter; but did you know those beautiful iron fences and balconies hide history and secrets...some of them deadly!

On Oct. 26, 2020, Elizabeth Tornabene and her sister Hattie were brutally murdered by her boyfriend Oscar Urias. Urias attacked and killed the sisters, chasing Hattie down the street into a neighbors garage. We discuss the horrid and very sad details of the day's events in this week's BESP. 

This week, Ashley shares the history of the land that now houses the Superdome, home of the New Orleans Saints. Is it cursed? Hear why many think it was and what roll a local Voodoo priestess played in a little pre-show entertainment in 2005. 

About four hours outside of New Orleans, DeRidder is home to an architecturally beautiful, yet insanely creepy Gothic jail. After a double execution in 1928, the jail is forever known as "The Hanging Jail." Learn the story of the gruesome 1926 murder of DeRidder taxi driver J. J. Brevelle at the hands of Joe Genna and Molton Brasseaux and the duo's 1928 hanging. 

Is the jail haunted? Would you take a nighttime lantern tour of the historic site?

Bonnie Parker and Clyde Champion Barrow were an American criminal duo who, through TV and movies, were romanticized as a couple in love and on the run. They were dramatically gunned down in the middle of Bienville Parish, Louisiana after only a few years of coupled crime. Hear the Louisiana leg of their story and take a virtual road trip to the 1930s with us this week! 

Note: Unfortunately, there was no Beyonce or Jay-Z involved in the making of this episode.

There were a lot of fires, a lot of creepy nuns and a whole lot of ghosts... This week, we dive into the history of what is considered one of the most haunted hotels in the country - the Bourbon Orleans Hotel. 

In this week's episode, Ashley tells the story of the eerie "witch bottle" someone found on the West Bank and KEPT! IN THEIR HOUSE! Learn what a "witch bottle" is, plus a little Voodoo, gris-gris and more!

This week, Ashley asks the question: What do these all have in common?  A Metairie cemetery, rhinestone suits, Emmylou Harris, Mick Jagger, Napoleonic law and a midnight body snatching! 

The answer: Country rock musician Gram Parsons.

In our first quarantine episode, we explore the "Fancy Prostitute of Basin Street." Kate Townsend started as a barmaid in Liverpool, England, and ended as one of the most successful madames in all of New Orleans. Yet she met her end in 1883 by the hand of a lover. Hear her story in our lucky No. 13 episode. 

In this episode, we give a lot of binge-worthy shows and documentaries to watch while we are all stuck inside, as well as share a few listener stories... are the listeners two of Kelly's friends? Yes. Does that make their stories any less creepy? HELL NO! Send your ghost and true crime stories to bigeasyspirits@gmail.com!

One night in 1934, a young girl comes running out of a French Quarter apartment with her wrists cut. She tells of a story about two brothers who cut her wrists to fed on her blood. This is the story of John and Wayne Carter, the Vampire Brothers.