One New Orleans ghost story relates the tale of a young man who ended up on the wrong end of a Romeo catcher.
The story goes that a young woman was left alone by her parents as they went out for a night on the town, saying she was too ill to join them. As soon as her parents were gone from their home on Orleans Street, her boyfriend showed up glad for the time alone. However, the bad news is that the girl's father had forgotten his wallet at the house and unexpectedly returned to retrieve it.
Upon hearing the father re-enter the house, the boy tried to make a quick escape over the balcony, only to get his hip caught on the Romeo catcher.
The father, thinking he was chasing away a thief, fired a gun into the air to scare the boy, which caused him to let go of the pole, and the Romeo catcher ripped him from stem to stern, stringing out his intestines like streamers a birthday party.
This “gutsy” ghost can still be found hanging around the French Quarter, so to speak.
