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| NOCC: Vampire Lore and Other Urban Legends |
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Company: Wizard World
Product: New Orleans Comic Con 2012 Coverage
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From Twilight to True Blood, vampires are all the rage right now. While people may disagree on how the children of the night are portrayed in their respective media, everyone can agree that there is something really cool about the bloodsuckers that manages to keep people interested and wanting to know more about them.
For the last 20 years, Lord Chaz has been a tour guide in New Orleans specializing in vampires. In fact, Lord Chaz was the original New Orleans ghost and vampire tour guide, turning what was originally just a hobby into a career. During New Orleans Comic Con 2012, Lord Chaz took the time to entertain a captive audience with vampire lore and what it is about New Orleans that makes it a hub for the stories.
Before getting into the details, Lord Chaz was clear that his job wasn't to convince anyone on his tour whether or not vampires and ghosts are real. Instead he researches his stories, using only credible data like police reports and other verified factual reports.
Long before Anne Rice, vampires had a connection with the city. According to Lord Chaz, these ties are related to the story of the "Casket Girls," a group of immigrants who made their way to New Orleans in the 1800s. When New Orleans was just beginning as a port settlement along the Mississippi River, men outnumbered women 5 to 1. What might sound like a really great opportunity for women was a troubling statistic for the young city. With such an imbalance in numbers, the city would not be able to survive, losing huge chunks of population with each passing decade.
To help solve the city's problem, the Ursuline nuns, who came to New Orleans to help it flourish, decided to travel to France to entice French families into sending their daughters to New Orleans to marry. When the girls arrived, the nuns quickly intercepted them at the port and brought them to the Ursuline convent, which still stands in the city. One of the odd things about the girls was each arrived with luggage shaped like caskets, earning them the name, "Casket Girls." |
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Even more peculiar, when the luggage was opened, each box was empty - so there was no logical reason as to why the girls brought them in the first place. The "caskets" were soon locked in the third floor attic. Adding to the legend, the Roman Catholic Church sealed the attic, including placing boards on all of the third floor windows and nailing them shut with blessed nails. Ask anyone who has spent any time in New Orleans, sealing what is meant to be a vent is not a good idea - especially on a hot Summer day.
Since then, people have claimed to see the boarded windows open at night, feeding the legend that the "Casket Girls" were actually vampires. The story gained even more weight in 1978, when a group of paranormal investigators decided to stake out the convent and watch for the windows. The following morning a group of girls who were part of the group were found dead on the convent's steps. According to official police reports, the girls had giant animal bites in the side of their necks and were drained of nearly 90% of the blood in their bodies. According to Lord Chaz, draining that much blood from anyone is impossible. Once the human heart stops, the valves seal and stop pumping blood.
Lord Chaz also shared the story of John and Wayne Carter, who lived on Royal Street in the 1930s. While by all accounts the brothers were honest men working on the river, behind closed doors they were serial killers responsible for the deaths of eighteen people. The brothers would kidnap their victims and cut them in their apartment; not to kill them, but to ensure their blood flowed easily out of their bodies so the brothers could consume it.
When the brothers were finally arrested, they were executed and buried. Years later, the tomb was opened and the bodies were missing. According to Lord Chaz, these are the sorts of stories that have helped propagate the idea of vampires in New Orleans. However, he also mentioned that the region around the city has always had a special place in occult lore.
According to local Native American lore, the area now occupied by the city is a spiritual nexus. Indians once used the French Market as a ritual ground and believed the area held vast spiritual energies. The belief has actually led to stories of the city being built over a portal to Hell. |
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Lord Chaz also touched on the city's place in spiritual lore; in particular it's connection to Voodoo. Similar to vampires, the practice of Voodoo is, according to Lord Chaz, often misconstrued by the public. For starters, the Voodoo practices in New Orleans are much different from the religion practiced in Haiti, where it originates. They share similar rituals, but both share completely different dogmas. Another misunderstood concept is the Voodoo doll, which contrary to popular belief isn't meant as a "curse." In New Orleans Voodoo, the doll is actually a good luck charm. The act of pressing needles in the doll isn't meant to harm a particular aspect of a person, but "cure" it.
New Orleans Voodoo also shares a stronger integration of the Roman Catholic faith. While freedom of religion was accepted in New Orleans, slaves weren't allowed to practice their faith in the open. Instead, they would gather in Congo Square. As time went on, the multitude of religious practices in Congo Square began to merge, essentially forming New Orleans Voodoo. This included traditions from Haitian Voodoo as well as the integration of Roman Catholic icons like the Virgin Mary and St. Peter.
Lord Chaz mentioned that the underlying structure of the Catholic faith and Voodoo are very similar in principal. Many of the deities in Voodoo have direct analogs with Saints and other Catholic spiritual entities. These similarities were also important in the development of Voodoo practices in New Orleans. Smart Voodoo practitioners, such as Marie Laveau, were able to tie Catholic beliefs into Voodoo, making it more palatable to white Catholics living in the city. |
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Returning to the topic of vampires, Lord Chaz mentioned that the idea of what a vampire is has, over time, been distorted through media representations. To Lord Chaz, vampires are nocturnal predators, not the magical creatures we often see in movies or read about in books. There are massive differences between vampires of legend and those seen in fiction. For example, the idea of fangs is something that was introduced in the Varney the Vampire series written in 1845. Vampires of legend would instead rip through a victim's neck, allowing for a more effective blood flow.
Similarly, many of the icons that are supposed to repel vampires, like crosses, are distortions added in different vampire stories through the centuries. Vampire legends pre-date most Judeo-Christian religions. Pinning down the actual start of vampire legends is hard; all cultures had some entity featuring vampire-like traits. As far as Lord Chaz's research goes, some of the earliest stories date back to Egypt and the Disciples of Osiris. With such an old legacy, it is silly to think crosses and other icons would have an effect on vampires.
Another interesting difference between fictional and legendary vampires is the idea that vampires are immortal. While a popular belief - fueled primarily by fictional stories - legendary vampires aren't immortal. Otherwise, they couldn't be killed (a task that goes beyond a simple stake to the heart). Instead, vampires are just longer lasting. As a comparison, Lord Chaz compared the life span between humans and vampires to that of a fruit fly and human. To the fruit fly, which only lives about a day, humans would seem immortal. In the time it takes for the fly to go through its entire life cycle, humans never change.
Despite the misrepresentations and distortions, Lord Chaz credits the enduring popularity of vampires to their representation in media. They're simply romantic creatures.
For more information on Lord Chaz and his Vampire and Ghost Tours, be sure to check out the related link. |
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-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker |
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