In the spirit of Halloween, I recently drove down to Cut Off in South Louisiana to learn more about the origins of a creature who has emerged as one of the most identifiable monsters in the Cajun community: the Rougarou.
Thanks to authors like the late Anne Rice, New Orleans has long been associated with mystery, murder and the macabre, but the bayous along South Louisiana have their own dark stories and creatures. Alexis Braud, an author, illustrator and folklorist from Cut Off says the physical features of the bayou present the perfect eerie backdrop for scary tales.
“You don’t want to be wandering in the bayou by yourself. There’s a lot of stuff that can get you. We have a Walmart and everything now, but there was an alligator that kept on going back-and-forth at near my mother’s house. So, even right now we have to be careful going outside for the snakes and the like. I can’t even imagine how disturbing it was when back in the day there were no lights at all and more trees, and the swamp was a lot closer and the marsh was a lot closer. So, the Rougarou tends to be one of the scary things that your mama warned you about. You better listen to me or the Rougarou is going go get you,” said Braud.
While most people think of a werewolf-like monster when thinking of the Rougarou, Braud told me the Cajuns understand the Rougarou to be a shapeshifter. Braud says the Rougarou can take on many forms, but it usually has one role: enforcer.
woman dedicated to preserving Cajun traditions and folklore says the Rougarou can take many forms. I visited her at her family’s home in Cut Off, Louisiana to learn more about the origins of the Rougarou and why the real monsters are often walking among us. Braud is dedicated to preserving Cajun traditions and folklore. And while our conversation revolved around the Rougarou, Braud explained why the some of the scariest monsters are the ones often walking among us. Listen to the podcast here.