With Halloween fast approaching, Louisiana’s history of ghost stories and mysticism bears
noticing. 
Popular tales of the supernatural have long existed in the state’s culture. In New Orleans, there is the popular tale of Marie Laveau, who practiced voodoo prominently in the 19th century. The Myrtles Plantation, located in St. Francisville, is a reportedly haunted plantation that holds tours exploring its paranormal legends. In rural Louisiana, many people have long held firm the belief of ghostly beings like the Cajun bedtime monster Madame Grands Doigts and the ghost like flame creatures found in swamps known as Feux Follets.  
University alumnus and LSU Law Center archivist Travis Williams plans to explore these and other Louisiana folklore in his upcoming film “Requiems.” 
A six-episode web series, “Requiems” is Williams’ endeavor to identify and elaborate on several tales from Louisiana’s eerie history. 
“Each episode stands alone, and each episode takes on a different piece of Louisiana folklore or a Louisiana ghost story or even an urban legend,” Williams said. “It’s sort of ‘The X-Files’ meets ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ set in Louisiana. The main thread of the series is that we have a hospital that caters to victims of the supernatural.”
The main character of “Requiems” can see into people’s memories, furthering the series’ curiosity factor. After being received at the hospital, the character encounters other patients and their
experiences with mystical beings. 
“In every episode, she interacts with a different member of the hospital staff or fellow patients and through her, we as the audience see … that person’s story,” Williams said. “Every episode is someone in the hospital’s backstory of how they got into the hospital. The crux of the series is trying to figure out what got our main character in the hospital, because that’s not information that we give you in the first half of the series at all.”
Along with investigating Louisiana folklore, Williams’ purpose for making “Requiems” is the cause of art for art’s sake. For Williams, the process of writing, producing and directing the series was just as much motivation for the project. The cast contains both University students and faculty members. 
University theatre student Devin Williams plays the lead character with alumnae Jenny Ballard and Rachel Theriot fulfilling supporting
roles. 
“It’s a volunteer cast and crew,” Williams said. “Our purpose was really just to create some art. We’re people who enjoy the process of filmmaking, the technical challenges it provides. We’ve had the idea for about 10 years now. I was looking for something to do that was very collaborative, something that was going to let me work with a lot of people on the same project.”
One of the production’s biggest challenges was working outdoors in Louisiana with a complete film crew, cast and cameras. The volatile weather combined with less than ideal conditions made for a difficult shoot.
“We have a lot of scenes that are outdoors,” Williams said. “We shot in Louisiana in the summer heat. ‘How are going to get light out there?’ ‘How are going to caravan out to some remote location and actually get this done?’”
The seeds of Williams’ stories have been in the works for years, but true production began about a year ago. The cast and crew are a mix of both students and guests of Williams, which came together to flesh out the episodes to completion. 
“I’m the producer,” Williams said. “I’m the writer of all six episodes. It’s definitely my baby. I did bring in guest directors for half of the episodes. We’re in Louisiana. We have access to some of the best ghost stories in the world, some of the best folklore in the world. It’s a very rich resource. We shot six episodes, but I have a list of ideas … We could have done it two more times.” 
Based on Louisiana’s history of mystery, it’s no surprise that Williams’ ideas are in abundance. From country tales to urban legends, “Requiems” covers stories from the full gambit of the state’s peculiarity. 
“We do the Cajun werewolf, which some people are familiar with, some people are not,” Williams said. “We have the ghosts of Confederate soldiers on Highland Road, which, again, some people who live in Baton Rouge say, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve been telling ghost stories about people seeing soldiers out on Highland Road for years.’ Some people are like, ‘Wait, that’s news to me. When did this become a thing?’”
“Requiems” was mostly shot in different locations throughout Baton Rouge, with the film’s farthest site being Grand Isle. Some notable landmarks make guest appearances throughout the series. 
“The very first episode deals with those Confederate soldiers on Highland Road, so you spot them on the corner of Highland and Lee, right in the shadow of the water tower,” Williams said. 
Following the premiere of the series’ first three episodes, Williams will debut each new episode on a weekly basis over six weeks on his website. The premiere will have a $5 admission fee with all proceeds benefitting the 10/31 Consortium, which organizes the Baton Rouge Halloween Parade.
You can reach Gerald Ducote on Twitter @geraldducoteTDR.

Gallery • 10 Photos

Emily Brauner

LSU graduate Travis Williams (left) poses with junior theatre major Devin Williams (right) who stars in Travis' horror film series "Requiem," premiering Friday, October 17 at 7 p.m. at Theatre Baton Rouge.