'The Conjuring' Writers Will Scare Up 'LaLaurie Mansion' Horror Franchise, Based On The Famous Haunted House (Once Owned By Nicolas Cage)

Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes, writers of The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2, are ready to get creepy again with a whole new horror franchise. The two are developing an entire series of films set around LaLaurie Mansion, a house in New Orleans with a sordid history that may or may not be haunted (also: Nicolas Cage once lived there).Deadline broke the news about the LaLaurie Mansion horror franchise, revealing that the films will be developed and produced by Chad Hayes and Carey Hayes, Doug McKay, Cindy Bond, and Michael Whalen. Joshua Ryan Dietz and Dylan Bond will serve as executive producers, with local historian Andrew Ward is consulting on the project.

"The LaLaurie Mansion is as scary a place as there is in the world and we won't hold back in giving audiences the full effect. Chad and Carey will have their hands full, but they are true masters in cinematic retellings of disturbing material," said Doug McKay.

The Hayes brothers added:

"We love writing films in which we get to tell true stories – incorporating moments that people can look up and discover did in fact happen. With the LaLaurie House we get to do exactly that. There is a wealth of documentation of a very dark and frightening past of true events. Not to mention that after spending some time there, what we personally experienced was truly unnerving."

The LaLaurie Mansion is an infamous spot for ghost aficionados – and even if the house isn't haunted, it has a dark enough past to chill your blood. The New Orleans residence was once home to Delphine LaLaurie, who tortured and murdered several of her slaves. Her crimes were discovered when the house caught fire, but she evaded any sort of repercussions by fleeing the city. The house still stands to this day and is featured on several "ghost tours" of New Orleans. The story was fictionalized in American Horror Story: Coven, where Kathy Bates played Delphine LaLaurie. It also inspired the absolutely terrible found footage movie The St. Francisville Experiment.

There's a lot of horror stories surrounding the LaLaurie Mansion, but it's worth noting that some of them have been exaggerated and embellished over time. Still, ghost stories persist, and as the site Ghost City Tours states:

"For almost 200 years, there have been reports of paranormal activity coming from this house. It shouldn't surprise many that a lot of the hauntings can be traced back to the slaves that Madame LaLaurie kept on the property. Reports of moaning coming from the room where the slaves were kept are common. Phantom footsteps echo through the house with regularity. Many people who have stood near the house have reported feeling as if they were taken over by a negative energy."