LaLaurie Mansion

In the French Quarter of New Orleans there is an ordinary looking house, but a closer look at the hidden past of the property reveals a more complicated history- tales of secret attics, murder, and...Nicolas Cage? It’s all true in the haunted Lalaurie House.   The dark history of the Lalaurie House began in 1832 when wealthy doctor Louis Lalaurie and his wife Delphine moved into the mansion. The family was one of prominent standing in the community at that time- they were socialites and and threw lavish parties for their neighbors. Despite the appearance of their charming lifestyle, whispers of more sinister things spread through the slave class. It seemed there was an extremely high turnover with the house slaves- not only did the Lalauries frequently purchase new slaves, but no one ever seemed to figure out what happened to the old ones. Until, that is, a fire broke out in the Lalaurie kitchen. Some say it was a slave that started it in hopes to bring law enforcement into the house to investigate, but when authorities did show up, they discovered a secret attic with a grisly scene. Many of the former slaves who were thought to have disappeared were still within the house, in cages or attached to chains. All were disfigured and mutilated beyond recognition, tortured beyond belief. Many had died and their body parts were strewn around the room.   The town immediately gathered as an angry mob in order to arrest the couple, but the Lalauries barely escaped them by carriage, never to be seen or heard from again. It was then understood from multiple slave accounts that Delphine had been the mastermind behind the torture chamber, and her husband simply turned a blind eye to her horrendous experiments.  The following history of the mansion had been relatively quiet - being used at one point as a saloon and a music conservatory, until it was learned that Nicolas Cage purchased the building in 2007 under anonymous conditions. He held onto the property until 2009 until it foreclose, along with a number of his other properties. Today, the space still stands, as a private living space split into condominiums.