by Kimmie Chameleon:
Ghost Adventures Recap: “New Orleans”
Original Air Date (Travel Channel): Friday February 22, 2013
Season 7 Episode 24
Location
In this episode of Ghost Adventures, the crew takes us to three separate locations in New Orleans, Louisiana. First location is the infamous bordello, May Baily’s, then it’s over to a haunted mortuary, and lastly to the Voodoo Queen’s house.
History
Located near the swampy shores in the south, New Orleans, Louisiana has a long and dark notorious history. It seems that Mother Nature has had her hand in disrupting the peace in New Orleans several times. The most recent disaster took place on August 29, 2005 when hurricane Katrina hit the city with such a force that it destroyed the protective levees and flooded the entire city. 1,833 people lost their lives due to the destruction of Katrina, and the city still struggles to rebuild today. Zak, Nick, and Aaron take a trip to the hardest hit area of Katrina…the Lower Ninth Ward. Empty lot after empty lot is seen where houses used to exist. An overwhelming feeling of sadness comes over Zak as he reaches the levee walls.
Long before New Orleans legalized prostitution in 1897, the red light district known as ‘Storyville’ was a popular spot for men looking for the physical affection of women. May Baily’s was a popular bordello that catered to the needs of these men. It still stands, and proudly displays it’s prostitution license framed on the wall as you enter. In 1917, prostitution was once again illegal, but for some past patrons, they still visit…only in spirit form. Janice Bates, an employee at May Baily’s, tells the crew about an experience in the main room of the house. A wall that displays all sorts of tourist pamphlets came flying off of the shelves one day. A co-worker named Joel backs up her story because he witnessed the event with Janice. What he noticed was that all of the pages of the pamphlets opened up to a page that discussed hurricane Katrina. Zak can’t help but wonder if maybe a victim of Katrina is trying to be heard. A New Orleans tour guide named Matthew Pouliot tells Zak that a bartender that worked at this location once said that during a staff meeting all of the glasses on the bar came crashing down for no explainable reason. Matthew also shows the crew a photograph that he snapped in October 2012 of a woman that was scratched by some unseen entity while on a tour in the house.
You may remember Bloody Mary, the high-priestess voodoo queen from the Ghost Adventures crew’s last visit to Louisiana back in 2010. She has invited the crew over to investigate her personal home because she believes that a dark energy is pestering her son that lives with her. She did her best to cleanse the home, even banishing the dark spirit to the attic. A month later her son alerted her to the fact that the attic door creaked open by itself. She now takes them to the basement that was completely flooded with water in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. It is her belief that all of the muck and slime that destroyed lives on that day completely stripped and changed the energy of New Orleans.
The “haunted mortuary” formerly known as PJ McMahon and Sons, was a fully operational funeral home for over 60 years. Over 20,000 people were handled through this mortuary when it was in operation, and lies in the middle of all the famed cemeteries in New Orleans. Jeff Borne bought the mortuary in 2007 and now uses the basement as a year-round Halloween attraction. A spooky maze meanders through the old embalming area. He tells the crew that it seems as though a couple of children haunt the place. Lance Hock, building manager, shares with the crew a 35mm photograph he shot of an apparition. It is clearly a little girl, and after examining the negative, cannot be debunked or even explained. Another well seen ghost is a man wearing blue pajamas in the basement.
The Lockdown
While Nick and Aaron investigate the home of Bloody Mary, Zak decides to investigate May Baily’s by himself. While near the bar, he experiences a cold sensation and quickly gets out the Mel Meter to try to document the evidence. The meter lights up and rises at a quick rate. Zak now heads to the wall that houses all of the pamphlets that have been known to fly off the wall. He decides to get out the SB-7 device and conduct a session.
Zak: “How did they kill you? What did they use?”
SB-7 device: “Gun.”
Zak continues with his session for a bit longer and asks:
Zak: “What was the name of the storm that came through here that killed you 7 years ago?”
SB-7 device: “Katrina.”
Zak: “Do you want me to send somebody a message?”
SB-7 device: “I’m dead.”
Zak now feels completely drained and complete sadness for the voice that just came through. He acknowledges the spirit and seems genuinely caring about this soul’s unrest.
After ending his investigation at May Baily’s, Zak has Billy join him over at the haunted mortuary. They both head down to the basement in the Halloween themed maze. They become disoriented and separated. Billy conducts and E.V.P. session, and upon review, they can hear a disembodied female voice, but can’t quite decipher what she is saying. Zak begins to take photographs using the full-spectrum still camera and captures a shot of what appears to be a man sitting on a chair.
Over at Bloody Mary’s house, Nick and Aaron have been treated to the voodoo queen’s ritual that encourages whatever spirits are in the house to come out. After she leaves, the guys immediately find activity. Nick hears a voice and goes to investigate it. As he walks down the hall with the night vision camera, he turns a corner and is confronted with a loud hissing sound. He jumps back and tries to collect himself, then he feels the sensation of a force coming at him so he jumps back again and we can see books on a shelf fly off the wall. The lights in the house flicker on and off and the digital recorder captures:
E.V.P. “Get out, or we’ll kill you.”
Nick hears the sound of a dish moving in the kitchen, so he and Aaron go in there. While Nick is talking to Aaron, an E.V.P. is captured:
E.V.P. “You can’t stop me.”
The guys decide that now is a good time to do an SB-7 session.
Nick: “Can I sit down?”
SB-7 device: “You’ll be sorry!”
Aaron is pumped and wants to go into the attic. He stands on the ladder that leads to the attic. What he and Nick don’t know is that an E.V.P. is captured:
E.V.P. “Nick is f*cked. Aaron is f*cked.”
Aaron begins to ask a question:
Aaron: “Did you like what just happened in the other room?”
SB-7 device: “Can we talk?….They’re coming…The basement…Please go!”
Aaron and Nick are surprised by this direct order from the spirit box and have endured a long evening of well documented poltergeist activity.
Quotable Quotes:
Zak: “It’s a very very sad feeling here.”
DarkMedia contributing writer Kimmie Chameleon was born and raised with a healthy appreciation for horror and science fiction. She currently covers Supernatural, Ghost Adventures, BBC’s Being Human, Syfy’s Being Human, and Sherlock. When she’s not out ghost hunting with her kids, you can find her stealing a moment to add to her own pieces of fiction. Follow her on Twitter @dvsduo and “friend” her on Facebook.
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