Big Easy Spirits

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.