"When I did Christi's Couch, the most popular stories were always when I covered dark stuff," says Christi Lukasiak, though as a listener of Christi's Couch that may not come as too much of a surprise. You may know Christi as a Dance Moms OG, but she's also VERY into the dark and creepy side of things. What better way to explore those topics than with a podcast dedicated to them! Welcome to Beyond the Norm, a podcast dedicated to all those urban legends and things that go bump in the night. Joining Christi is her gay soulmate, Stephen Maynard, who has had quite a dark past himself with gigs at haunted theme parks and running a haunted tour company! Together they'll brave the depths of every macabre story out there.

To kick things off we turn our attention to the place Christi and Stephen call home, New Orleans, to uncover it's vibrant and violent history with vampires. If you associate New Orleans with vampires, it's most likely because of Anne Rice and her 13 book opus "The Vampire Chronicles", which began with the New Orleans set "Interview with the Vampire". The book made the city synonymous with vampire culture and is host to many vampire themed events including The Endless Nights Vampire Ball, of which Christi and Stephen eagerly anticipate every year now.

But there is a plethora of real historical tales of vampires in the city itself. As a city largely founded by criminals, New Orleans was a lawless town that would make it quite easy for a vampire to prey upon those who wouldn't be missed. There are even signs visible to this day that indicate there may be some truth to these tales. Join Christi and Stephen as they cover three of the French Quarter's most infamous vamps including The Carter Brothers, The Casket Girls and The Count of Saint Germain.

Quotes

“Don't ever walk around Bourbon Street in sandals. EW! I see people all the time... just don't do it. Or heels! I love the girls who try and rock the heels. Girls. There is not one flat suface in New Orleans. You are undoubtedly going to fall into a hole at some point, stone cold sober or not.” (8:02-8:21 | Christi & Stephen)

“Well she was an energy vampire and it was funny because I was talking to her and then she goes, 'Hold on,' and then she goes [Make sucking noise] and I was like, 'What the fuck is happening,' and she says, 'I just fed on their energy!' Ok but here's the thing for being an energy vampire her energy was shit because she was an asshole.'" l(40:13-40:29 | Christi & Stephen)

“I was like, 'maybe I'm a vampire,' and he literally looked at me and was like, 'No, you are a Were-Kitten,' and I just ran with it. I will forever be a Were-Kitten. But then I got low-key pissed because I was like, 'Well I couldn't be a werewolf?'” (41:33-41:46 | Stephen)

“What doesn't track about that though is why would he bite her if he had bottles of blood already? Maybe he wanted warm fresh blood, Stephen. I'm just saying I don't trust that woman. She lied. Oh my god your victim blaming!” (49:21-49:34 | Christi & Stephen) 

Links

Send us your ghost or weird stories here: beyondthenormpod@gmail.com

Subscribe to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/BeyondtheNormPodcast

Follow Christi on IG: www.instagram.com/christilukasiak

Follow Stephen on IG: www.instagram.com/s_c_mayo

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