Marita Crandle - New Orleans Vampires: History and Legend

Published by Haunted America

A Division of The History Press

Charleston, SC

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2017 by Marita Woywod Crandle

All rights reserved

First published 2017

e-book edition 2017

ISBN 978.1.43966.270.0

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017940960

print edition ISBN 978.1.46713.742.3

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is dedicated to those with
a thirst for knowledge
and a hunger for the truth.

FOREWORD

As a Stoker family historian and vampire enthusiast myself, I am so pleased to be writing this foreword for Marita. Her writing of this book evokes the memories of similar historical tales that my great-granduncle Bram Stoker became aware of during his lifetime.

For the past ten years I have been digging into some of the critical sources pertaining to my great-granduncles writing of Dracula. I am fortunate enough to have been able to analyze his Dracula research notes in the Rosenbach Museum, his Lost Journal found in one of his greatgrandsons attic in a cottage on the Isle of Wight and, quite recently, the Dracula Typescript owned by Paul Allen. I feel like each of these treasures is a gift from the past pointing me in a direction to better understand my famous relative.

Published 120 years ago, Dracula, a classic, continues to evoke speculation from eager readers intrigued by the historical facts mixed with Brams wonderful fiction. I lecture regularly at literary and film eventson the topic of the history and mysteries that surround Draculaand always find that fans of the novel are genuinely interested in any background information I can provide.

I met Marita at a book signing of my own for Dracula: The Un-Dead, which she hosted at her vampire boutique. Dracula: The Un-Dead is a sequel to Dracula I coauthored in 2009. I saw the spark in Maritas eyes as she made my acquaintance, much like the enthusiasm I felt at discovering Brams Lost Journal. To Marita, I was a link to the past. I could see that to her I was a tell, insomuch as I was tied to all she was interested in, and the questions were mounting in her head. At the time, I did not know Maritas maiden name, nor did she know its significance to Romanian culture and her own tie to Vlad Dracula.

Reading through her New Orleans Vampires: History and Legend helped me remember that Bram Stoker had visited New Orleans with Sir Henry Irving and the Lyceum theater troupe in January 1896. I wonder just how much Bram became aware of local New Orleans history and folklore, much like he was drawn to similar horror stories in his native Ireland as a young boy. While he was writing Dracula, he focused on medieval accounts of what were thought to be real vampire-like creatures coming back from the dead from eastern European countries.

I am thrilled that Maritas curiosity about vampires and history has led to this book, which is a bit of a treasure itself for those intrigued by legends, as it unravels the interesting bits to make sense of the historical value yet leaves the mysteries of the legends intact.

The mere air of the French Quarter has one spinning with questions of the past. To a historian, New Orleans is like a candy store, having one gleaming in all directions and unsure which scrumptious piece to devour first. This book satisfies ones craving sweet tooth and carnivorous fangs!

DACRE STOKER

PREFACE

I was about eight years old when my cousin Vera came to dinner at our house in California. Originally from Germany, my father moved our family to California a few years before that. Once we were settled, many other family members followed, and my cousin Vera was one of them. Vera, at the time, was president of a Crocker Bank branch close to our home. My cousin was giddy that evening with news from her day at the bank.

It seemed that a gentleman from Romania had business at the bank that required my cousins attention. When he sat down at her desk and saw the nameplate in front of him, Woywod, he immediately pushed back his chair and fell to his knees, bowing in front of her. Vera stood up to see what had happened. He respectfully avoided looking in her eyes as he said, You are Queen of the gypsies! He repeated this over and over, mixed with some Romanian words. Vera was stunned, standing there over him, not knowing what to do. She finally convinced him to return to his chair. It apparently took him some time to regain his composure, but eventually, they were able to make terms with his idea of her status and commenced with the business at hand. However, once their business was completed, he did make his exit from her office walking backward, bowing his way out the door. We all had a good laugh that night around the dinner table, and I didnt think of it again until about twenty-eight years later, after my move to New Orleans.

My father was very unhappy with my decision to move to New Orleans and give up my position as director of marketing for a conglomeration of companies, with home offices in California and Canada. The position offered a very attractive salary, diversity, travel and responsibility. I loved my job and my life in California, until that job sent me to New Orleans on businessa trip that changed my life forever.

My father found it impossible to understand why I would leave my house, my friends and my family to move to the French Quarter and tend bar and openof all thingsa vampire store. I must say, it was difficult to explain, because I didnt fully understand it myself. Some say Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, had placed a spell on the city. Legend has it that her spell is all consuming, instilling a lust for returning to New Orleans to all those who visit here. Whether it was the curse of Marie Laveau, or simply the magical feel of everything New Orleans had to offer, I didnt feel it necessary to defend my decision. I simply forged ahead. It almost felt that the universe made the move for me, as everything fell exactly into place. I decided to stop questioning it and just enjoy the amazing adventure that was unfolding before me.

Then one day my father called with some incredulous news. My father was an avid reader and often followed the advice of the New York Times bestseller list, as many do. His interest was particularly peaked by a book titled The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, as it was vampire themed. When he called, he let me know that a copy of the book was already on its way to me, and he urged me to read it as soon as it arrived. He explained in his excitement that in the book he had discovered that our family had ties to Vlad the Impaler, one of the most infamous vampires of all time. The Historian is a beautifully written book of historical fiction telling the story of a father and daughter in their quest to find Dracula, aka, Vlad Tepes.