New Orleans, however, known for its southern hospitality, has always found the most heartfelt way to care for its people. The rug had been pulled out from underneath what had been a flourishing city, and lifestyles changed dramatically. Rather they sat with their plates on the porch steps, thankful for every morsel. More often than not, these vagrants were granted work and a plate of food but were never invited into the home. The downtrodden could often be found begging for food at the back doors of the homes of fine citizens for a little yard work. The only wanderers were derelicts who roamed the city in search of a little easy work for something to eat. People stayed at home, kept to themselves. However, just a decade later came the stock market crash and with it the Great Depression. Courtesy of the Ralston Crawford Collection, Hogan Jazz Archive, Tulane University.
If vampires truly had been in New Orleans at the time, it would surely have been easy to feast. It was a time of “anything goes,” footloose and fancy-free, that also created carelessness among residents and visitors to the city. A surplus of disposable income triggered a new sense of freedom with the celebration of nightclubs, new energetic music called jazz, loose women, the Storyville district, and excitement that was unmeasurable to anything the city had ever seen.
In fact, the city was coined “The Big Easy” because, at the time, work in New Orleans was so easy to find. The busiest port in the country brought flourishing business and plenty of jobs. How was it that the brothers, thinking themselves vampires, gifted with eternal life, could be so careless in their plans for survival? Perhaps it was the drastic changing environment in New Orleans that ultimately led to their demise.ĭuring the early 1900s and Roaring Twenties, the city of New Orleans was bustling and booming.
#1932 BLACK AND WHITE 1 YEAR OLD PHOTO SERIAL#
It’s said the brothers were tried as serial killers, convicted and eventually executed. The brothers explained to authorities that they were, in fact, vampires and would, if released, have no option but to continue to kill, as their need for drinking blood was beyond their control. They were quickly apprehended, and upon their capture, confessed almost immediately, begging to be murdered. Only this time, the police waited for the brothers to return.
Unaware that the girl had escaped, John and Wayne Carter went about their routine as usual. Rather, the kidnapped were no more than a food source headed for certain death. They spoke very little and gave no concern for their victims’ well-being. The brothers would then redress the wounds with fresh bandages. They caught the blood in cups from which they drank until their hunger was sated. Immediately upon their return, they would take the bandages off each of the captive’s wrists and, using a knife, reopen their wounds until blood flowed freely from the victims’ cuts. It seemed the brothers left early each morning just before daybreak and returned every evening just after dark. The unmistakable suffocating odor of death permeated the apartment. Two more bodies wrapped in blankets were tucked away in yet another room. Once the police and the girl arrived at the home, which was owned by the Carter brothers, they were horrified to find, as the girl had described, four other victims, half-dead, tied to chairs in one of the rooms.Īll victims had their wrists wrapped with bandages, moist and stained with blood. Somewhat skeptical, the police agreed to follow her back to the home on the corner of Royal and St. The girl claimed that she was only able to escape due to her captors’ carelessness in securing her ropes. Her story sounded a bit farfetched: tied up by two brothers, along with several other victims, and held captive so the brothers could drink their blood. A young girl stormed down Royal Street, visibly panicked, her stride broken only by the diligent interception of a police officer. Indeed, the gruesome story of the Carter brothers reveals something about vampires - and maybe about the Crescent City itself. But what form do real vampires come in? Do vampires exist? There is a fascinating and suggestive tale from the history of New Orleans, one of America’s most haunted cities. Vampires come in many fictional forms, some of them serious, some of them silly.
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