Madame Lalaurie, Mistress of the Haunted House

For nearly 200 years, the name Madame Delphine Lalaurie has haunted New Orleans lore. A wealthy French Quarter socialite turned alleged torturer, she has been blamed for one of the city’s most shocking and enduring atrocities — a tale that transformed her Royal Street mansion into what many call the most haunted house in New Orleans. Her story became so infamous that Madame Lalaurie was later portrayed as a character in the hit anthology television series American Horror Story.

In 1834, when a fire broke out in the service wing of her home, rescuers forced their way inside — and uncovered seven enslaved people who were starved, chained, and mutilated. The horrifying discovery enraged the city, and Delphine Lalaurie was forced to flee, her guilt assumed, her story growing ever darker as the years passed. Over time, the legend evolved, with ever-grisly claims of torture, dismemberment, and buried victims.

In Madame Lalaurie: Mistress of the Haunted House, historian Carolyn Long carefully separates fact from fiction. Drawing on eyewitness testimony, archival records, and family letters, Long reconstructs the real events behind the legend — from Lalaurie’s legal troubles and exile to her final days in Paris.

Meticulously researched and deeply compelling, this book reveals how history, rumor, and sensationalism intertwined to create one of New Orleans’ most chilling myths. A must-read for anyone fascinated by the darker corners of the city’s past.