Hollywood movie star Nicolas Cage has had a long and successful acting career with many memorable blockbuster movies. But off screen Cage also has a passion for the spiritual world and the macabre. His personal art collections and real estate dealings display an affection for horror and real-life hauntings. And it all started with an all too real experience he had before he became famous.

       As most fans know Nicolas Cage’s real name is Nicolas Coppola and that he is the nephew of legendary Hollywood director Francis Ford Coppola. At a young age while staying at his uncle’s home, Cage was sleeping in a bedroom in the attic. It was a dark spooky room complete with the scratching noises of bats living in the walls. One night as he was in bed falling asleep the bedroom door swung open and he saw a pitch black silhouette of a woman with big hair. Thinking it was his aunt coming to say ‘Good night’, as she would often do, he said ‘Good night’ to her but received no response. Suddenly the dark figure moved towards him and Cage could feel his body go completely cold. He let out a scream and threw his pillow at the shadow woman and it disappeared. Needless to say it was the beginning of his interest, and some might say obsession, with ghosts and hauntings.

       Throughout his career Nicolas Cage has accumulated quite a collection of spooky items. He has been notorious for collecting original pieces of art depicting such things as vampires and undead. He also owns statues of gargoyles along with other strange items like ancient skulls; some which decorate his many homes. As a big fan of horror movies, Cage has an interesting collection of original movie posters and items from some of the most famous horror classics. Just recently he sold a 1931 movie poster for ‘Dracula’ starring Bela Lugosi. It sold for $300,000.

       Along with his unique art collections, Cage has been an avid collector of homes around the world through his own real estate company. He has purchased and still owns many mansions, castles, and estates in the United States and other countries. Many of these properties are quite old with histories of hauntings in them; but none more so than the mansion he bought in New Orleans.

       Located at 1140 Royal Street in the French Quarter, the Lalaurie House is a landmark and one of the most haunted homes in the country. Original owned by Dr. Louis Lalaurie and his wife Delphine in the 1800’s, the mansion has a history of hauntings that lead back to the cruel and insane practices of Madame Lalaurie. The wealthy Lalauries had a staff of slaves working as servants in their home. They would cook their food, clean their rooms, and tend to their many guests. But behind the scenes, Madame Lalaurie was secretly and viciously torturing her slaves. One night a terrible fire broke out in the kitchen. It is suspected that the cook who was chained to the oven could no longer live with the cruelty and set the house on fire. As firefighters put out the fire they discovered horribly tortured slaves behind a secret door in the attic. Dozens were chained to the walls, tied to operating tables, or in cages barely big enough for animals. Body parts were strewn about the floors, in buckets and on shelves. Some of the slaves were found with strange operations on their bodies. Stomachs were cut open with intestine tied around their wastes. Others were found with strange holes in their heads and their brains stirred. One was found with his limbs broken and reset in different positions resembling a crab. A few others had their sexual organ mutilated and experimented on. And sadly a few of these tortured slaves were actually found still barely alive. The firefighters fled the scene and word got out of the horrific find. As mobs grew outside the house, the Lalauries fled never to be seen again.

To this day many paranormal experiences have been witnessed in the mansion. Few have been able to stay in the mansion for more than a few nights, and it has gone through several owners over the years; one of the most recent being actor Nicolas Cage. Fully knowing the history of the mansion, Cage remodeled it and added to the theme with creepy artwork and statues. As a rule Cage and his family will usually spend a few nights in each of the properties he buys before reselling them. But he wouldn’t let his family stay at the Lalaurie House and chose to spend the night alone. He never speaks of what he experienced that night, but he opted not to spend a second night. When asked if he would allow paranormal investigators to document the hauntings, Cage refused saying that he had too much respect for spirits to have them exploited in that way.

After remodeling and spending only one night in the mansion, it is once again available for purchase. It’s unknown why Cage decided to resell it after owning it for such a short time, but perhaps it had something to do with his one night stay. Maybe someday he’ll be willing to tell his story or depict the history of the infamous Lalaurie House in a film. I’m willing to bet his uncle Francis would love to be the director.
 

- Tom Stewart