Inexplicable Weirdness

New Orleans is hopping this week-end, full of football fans. On Friday night I had a family of three from Lafayette, LA on my tour.They were one of the few who didn’t claim to be here for the football game, just frequent visitors.They had a son, maybe twelve or thirteen. The lady told me that a few years back she’d had a strange experience on Frenchmen. She hadn’t told her husband about it before because she wasn’t sure how to tell it, and it seemed a lot to expect someone to believe. He and I both heard her story for the first time two nights ago.

A few years back they went to Frenchmen Street to listen to music, as many people do, walking all the way down Decatur to the fire station. It was their first time. When they crossed Esplanade she felt a wave of, she couldn’t really explain, inexplicable weirdness. She didn’t say anything to her husband at the time because she felt ridiculous. They walked down the street and went into a club to listen to the band. They were probably there five minutes, but the band, the room, everything made her uncomfortable. Her husband agreed; he didn’t feel quite right either.

When they walked out on the street and there were oddly shaped people everywhere. A woman who looked like she was covering a strange growth underneath her tee-shirt came up to the lady and began talking to her, but none of the words made any sense. Everyone on the street seemed to be misshapen, elongated limbs, droopy eyes, lumpy bodies, and all of them were talking, but none of the words made any sense to her. She and her husband walked quickly back to the fire station and across Esplanade. As soon as they were off Frenchmen the atmosphere lifted, like nothing had happened.


Just a note:
Before I began doing ghost tours in the French Quarter I wouldn’t have understood what she meant by this wave of “weirdness.” But after years of night walks, I do. Some nights just have their own character, strange people lurk around corners, and everyone’s mood is off. There’s anxiety in the air. When I pick up on it, the first thing I do is look to the sky and often there is a full moon, but not always, and there are plenty of full moons that don’t seem to have this effect. I haven’t noticed many nights like this, but the few I have made quite an impression.