Madame Delphine LaLaurie is largely considered America’s first female serial killer. She mutilated and tortured the enslaved people she hired to maintain her mansion.
The atrocities described at the house resemble some of the material in the "penny dreadful" sensationalist literature which was popular at the time of the fire. The disparate nature of the claims by witnesses suggest some may have inflated and exaggerated her crimes under that literary influence. Regardless, Madame Delphine has become a central figure in the mythology of New Orleans, one which gives it a cultural flavor unlike any other city in America.
The atrocities described at the house resemble some of the material in the "penny dreadful" sensationalist literature which was popular at the time of the fire. The disparate nature of the claims by witnesses suggest some may have inflated and exaggerated her crimes under that literary influence. Regardless, Madame Delphine has become a central figure in the mythology of New Orleans, one which gives it a cultural flavor unlike any other city in America.