Old Ursuline Convent

You're on Chartres Street now, a short walk from the LaLaurie house, standing outside the Old Ursuline Convent. Look past the wall and the gatehouse at the long, plain building behind them: stucco over brick, rows of tall windows, almost no decoration. Now find the roof. That broad hipped roof is broken only by a few small, low dormer windows. Keep your eyes on those. Ghost tours certainly do.

The story goes like this. The convent's attic holds the old chests, the casquettes, carried here by young French brides the nuns supposedly sheltered. Something came over in those chests that wasn't clothing. The vampires of New Orleans, people say, began right up there. Visitors stand on tiptoe at this wall, phones raised, hoping to catch something at those dormers.

Now the record.