Haunted Mansion Stories- Tale of the Rocking Granny

Tale of the Rocking Granny[1]

Name: Lady Katarina

Born:

Died:

            Between voodoo believers, few names are spoken of with such awe as Madam Leota and Lady Katarina. Where one took the other gave. Leota harmed while Katarina soothed. Death surrounded the medium when healing flowed from the Lady’s hands.

            As a young girl Katarina Hajek, a bohemian gypsy, was kidnapped outside Budapest.  Though never identified, her abductors were rumored to have been members of a secret cult obsessed with discovering dark magic from all over the world. Katarina was subjected to countless unspeakable rituals and tortures but she was strong and refused to give-up the ghost. She learned much of evil and how to undo its effects and after a time she managed to escape and flee to America.

            New Orleans is a magnet for all that is connected to the unseen world and Katarina soon found herself there under the tutelage of a wise old healer. For over 40 years she watched over the city and often would tend to the victims of Leota’s curses. This earned her the enmity and jealousy of the powerful witch.

            One day Lady Katarina was overheard trying to convince Little Leota of her sinful ways. Infuriated, Madam Leota made a rare trip out of Gracey Manor and confronted her elderly nemesis. Spells and curses of all types were hurled at the good-hearted Katarina but to no effect as she sat calmly rocking in her chair, a song of protection on her lips. Then a cold glee came over Leota as a sinister new idea came to her. With a single word of, “Forever”, Leota took advantage of Katarina’s preservation charm. She would be preserved, for all eternity in her rocker.

            Leota had her newest victim brought to the manor and locked away in a dark chamber where she wasted away. Yet even in death Lady Katarina defied Leota as ghosts continually visited her for comfort and advice on how to fight against their imprisonment.

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[1] Rocking Chair Ghost by Robert Miller, “Frogmiller” on Flickr.com