It was early afternoon on our last full day in New Orleans, and I was wandering Lafayette Cemetery #1. Standing at the gates of the graveyard were several guides hawking their services. They offered to explain how they were able to fit so many bodies into a single crypt for tips. We politely declined and started to explore on our own.

But as I browsed the famous rows of mausoleums, I did find myself wondering about the logistics of the long list of names carved into many of the stone slabs. I paused and pulled out my phone. FourSquare already knew I was at the cemetery (creepy in a totally different way) and popped up on my screen offering some tips. Just a tap away I found the information I was looking for: “Great land management use” user JasonIzzyS wrote “Crypts can be reused every 1 year & 1 day. Bodies decompose within that period, temps reach 200+ to cremate body naturally and save land!”

Nice. That’s five dollars saved.

I turned around to view the above-ground grave I had stopped in front of. My heart skipped a beat. Carved into the marble above me was my own last name.

Creepier still, where most of the crypts had lines of names engraved on their facades, this face was blank. I snapped a picture as evidence and then, goosebumps rising on the back of my neck, got the heck out of there.

They say New Orleans is the most haunted city in the US. What do you think single reader?

Do you believe in ghosts?