Twisted Tales with Heidi Wong

Episode: HORROR: The Dark Truths of American Horror Story: Coven
Release Date: October 20, 2025
Host: Heidi Wong

Overview

In this riveting Halloween special, poet and paranormal obsessive Heidi Wong pulls back the curtain on the chilling true stories that inspired American Horror Story: Coven, the third season of the hit anthology. Diving into 19th- and early 20th-century New Orleans, Wong introduces listeners to the real-life figures who were transformed into unforgettable onscreen monsters: Marie Laveau, Madame Delphine LaLaurie, and the Axeman of New Orleans. The episode explores the tangled truths behind the myth and legend, showing that, as Wong says, "Reality is the real horror."

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Introduction to Coven and its Historical Roots

[00:56 – 03:02]

• American Horror Story: Coven centers on a secretive New Orleans school for young witches and weaves in real-life figures like voodoo queen Marie Laveau, murderous socialite Delphine LaLaurie, and the unsolved serial killer known as the Axeman.
• Wong outlines each character’s journey in the series versus their historical reality, setting up a deep-dive into their true legacies.

Heidi Wong [01:00]: "These were real people whose true stories are made for TV. And today, we're going to meet all of them."

The Real Marie Laveau: Voodoo Queen of New Orleans

[03:02 – 10:15]

• Marie Laveau’s popular depiction: In the show, she’s a soul-selling, vengeance-seeking antagonist; in reality, her power rested in healing, social influence, and carefully crafted mystique.
• Laveau’s background is shrouded in mystery (her birth year is debated, between 1794 and 1801). She became a widow at a young age and began her career as a hairdresser—a role that gave her access to the city’s secrets.
• Her reputation as a powerful healer and protector grew through the 1820s and 1830s, particularly via miraculous-seeming rituals conducted in Congo Square.
• Gris gris bags—bundles of magical herbs for protection—became her signature offering.
• Rivalries with other voodoo practitioners helped cement her legendary status.
• Even in death, her tomb in St. Louis Cemetery is a site of modern pilgrimage; the tradition of drawing "three X’s" in hopes of having wishes granted endures.

Heidi Wong [06:32]: "A voodoo healer was almost a kind of therapist. If you had trouble with your spouse or wanted guidance … you’d go to a healer for help."

Heidi Wong [08:59]: "During one of these performances, Marie declared that she would use her powers to shield people from the threat of yellow fever... None of those people got yellow fever."

Madame Delphine LaLaurie: New Orleans’ Sadistic Aristocrat

[11:54 – 19:35]

• Fact vs. Fiction: The show’s Delphine feels remorse; the real woman never did.
• Born in 1787, Delphine McCarty (later LaLaurie) hailed from a wealthy, notoriously cruel family. From a young age, she witnessed—and later participated in—appalling acts of violence against enslaved people.
• Multiple suspicious deaths and reports of inhuman screaming surrounded her properties, but for years her crimes went unpunished. Her wealth and status shielded her.
• The horror culminated in 1834 when a fire led rescuers to discover seven enslaved people, mutilated and chained, in her attic. An elderly black woman admitted to setting the fire as an act of desperation and attempted escape.
• Only four of the seven survived. Delphine fled a vengeful mob and ultimately escaped to France, never brought to justice; she died in Paris in 1849.
• Her Royal Street mansion, later used as a school and owned by Nicolas Cage at one point, is now a notorious site for ghost tours.

Heidi Wong [13:02]: “She’s hiding a horrifying secret... In her home is a secret door. It leads to a torture chamber where she brutally assaults and kills her own enslaved workers.”

Heidi Wong [18:18]: “Of the seven people who were rescued, only four survived... the fire was their one final attempt at freedom.”

Heidi Wong [19:24]: "Today, the house on Royal Street has a more fitting use. It's one of the most popular stops on New Orleans’ many ghost tours—visitors have reported all kinds of weird supernatural experiences there. And honestly, I'm not surprised. That house has its fair share of phantoms."

The Axeman of New Orleans: The City’s Real-Life Reaper

[21:08 – 31:33]

• The Axeman: Infamous for a decade-long reign of terror (1910–1921), wielding axes or cleavers to slaughter victims in their homes, and never caught.
• His attacks began with Harriet Crudy’s testimony in 1910: a home invasion, a bloody assault, an arrest, but the violence continued—proving they had the wrong man.
• The Axeman’s victims were primarily Italian immigrants, a reflection of the era’s social tensions.
• Notorious letter to the press in 1919: promised to spare any house where jazz was played, sending the city into a musical frenzy that night.
• His identity was never discovered; he disappeared as suddenly as he arrived, forever haunting the city’s collective memory.

Heidi Wong [22:52]: "Unlike the last two people we learned about, the Axeman doesn’t have much of a biography. Even now, we don’t know who the Axeman was or why he attacked all these people.”

Heidi Wong [26:56]: "In one of the letters from 1919, the Axeman said he had a proposition for the people of New Orleans. He was apparently a huge fan of jazz music and promised to spare anyone who played jazz music that night."

Heidi Wong [30:35]: "Like I said, the American Horror Story version of the Axeman is mostly fictional, but the show did do a good job of focusing on his love of jazz…In real life, the stunt was one of the last times anyone in New Orleans ever heard from the Axeman."

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the enduring power of occult legends:
  "People from all over the world come to pay their respects to Marie at the famous St. Louis Cemetery. Some even hope that Marie will be able to help them from beyond the grave." (09:51)

• On Delphine LaLaurie’s unspeakable legacy:
  "The truth is, Madame LaLaurie wasn't the only sadistic murderer roaming the French Quarter in the 19th century." (19:28)

• On urban fear and the supernatural:
  "New Orleans is full of ghosts, spirits, and haunted places. Marie Laveau, Delphine LaLaurie, and the Axeman all shaped the city and its history. And if you believe in the paranormal, then it's possible that all three of them are haunting the streets of the French Quarter to this day." (31:08)

Key Segment Timestamps

• [00:56] — Introduction to Coven and real-life inspirations
• [03:02–10:15] — Deep dive on Marie Laveau: her real practices, community influence, and the growth of her legend
• [11:54–19:35] — Madame Delphine LaLaurie: her brutal crimes, monstrous family legacy, and aftermath
• [21:08–31:08] — The Axeman of New Orleans: serial murders, infamous jazz ultimatum, and his lasting enigma
• [31:08] — Concluding reflections on New Orleans’ haunted reputation

Episode Tone, Language & Style

Heidi Wong weaves storytelling with empathy, fascination, and an undercurrent of unease. She balances historical fact with myth, always grounding even the creepiest tales in tangible reality:
“Reality is the real horror.” (00:13)

Her narration is atmospheric yet respectful, especially in chronicling historic violence and racial trauma. There’s a blend of poetic observation (“That house has its fair share of phantoms”) and direct engagement with listeners, inviting them to share their own ‘twisted tales’ in the spirit of community.

Summary

Listeners leave with a fresh, deeper fear: not of witches or ghosts, but of the true human capacity for cruelty, cunning, and survival. Heidi Wong’s storytelling transforms Coven’s TV fiction into a meditation on unresolved historical trauma, occult mystery, and the spectral afterlife of New Orleans’ most infamous residents.

Stay curious—and remember, as Wong warns: “…there’s no reason to fear the dark unless you try to hide from it.” (31:25)