Was the Devil Man of Algiers real? Explore the strange New Orleans urban legend of a horned stranger whose terrifying sightings fueled mass hysteria in the 1930s.

Now we don’t need to tell you how fast a rumor can spread these days.  Any wild story is posted online and in mere seconds, thousands of people know about it.  These stories might make you laugh, or get in a fight – or even worse, make you so scared you don’t feel like leaving your house!

One such place was the community of Algiers, just across the Mississippi River from New Orleans.

Where is Algiers, New Orleans?

Algiers is the second oldest neighborhood in New Orleans, and is the only Parish community on the West Bank of the Mississippi River. Algiers is the 15th Ward of 17 wards of New Orleans. 

Once a major shipbuilding and railroad town, it began as “King’s Plantation,” a holding port for newly arrived African slaves.  In later years, freed slaves formed their own community called Freetown.  Their neighbors were displaced Cajuns from Canada, along with European immigrants – the cultural gumbo that defined New Orleans.

African Americans in Algiers were a superstitious and spiritual folk, practicing old rituals from Africa and Haiti.  Voodoo and hoodoo (or conjuring) ceremonies were common.  During the Civil War, local papers reported on bones disappearing from graves for suspected voodoo ceremonies.  Voodoo and hoodoo flourished in Algiers well into the 20th-century.  Famous jazz and blues artists even wrote songs about it.

Which brings us to the story of The Devil Man of Algiers, one of New Orleans’ best-known urban legends.

The Devil Man of Algiers Appears

Back in the 1930s, New Orleans residents were already spooked by some terrifying local gossip. They’d heard tales of the Axeman, a serial killer targeting Italian immigrants.   Then there were the Needle Men, long feared in the African American community.  Locals claimed the Needle Men were medical students injecting black citizens at night with paralyzing drugs, using their bodies for autopsy practice.

Then word spread about a mysterious man who seemed to float through the air like a spirit.  He had “long black horns, bright pink ears shaped like sunflowers and eyes like a chicken.”  He left a trail of destruction at local bars and homes.  Locals named him the “Devil Man.”  

One of the the first recorded sightings of the Devil Man was from a married couple driving home from a dance one night.  A strange man waved them down, asking for a ride.  His appearance made the wife nervous, so they refused.   Ten minutes later, the same man stopped them, miles down the road.  Now truly scared, they threw their liquor out of the car and sped away.  

Ten minutes later, the same man appeared again.  But this time, he said nothing and casually transformed into the Devil before their eyes!  The wife fainted and her husband sped off.  Sure enough, a few minutes later the Devil Man appeared again.  This time, on top of a brown horse, racing the car all the way back to town.

The shaken couple told their neighbors, and word spread rapidly about this strange Devil Man.  The Algiers police began an extensive search but found nothing.  More stories came in of the Devil Man accosting African American women in the streets.  So many Devil Man stories flooded the Algiers police department they threatened to arrest anyone who even said they’d seen him!

Another story spread about a woman dancing in a West Bank dance hall, when she noticed a horn sticking out of her partner’s head.  Police arrested and jailed the man.  But when the jailer left that night, the same man was standing on the sidewalk, grinning at him.  The officer shot him at point blank range, only to have the man bend over, pick up the bullets and return them – with his hairy hands.

Is Clark Carleton the Devil Man?

Trying to calm the public, the police arrested an unknown man for loitering named Clark Carleton.  A hotel proprietor had reported an odd looking, wild-eyed black man showing up at his establishment, demanding something to eat.  He claimed to be from the hills of Arkansas, saying “my ears look like they are waiting to hear the up-yonder spirits and my eyes look like they are looking for the moon.  Even the Devil would feed me.”

The hotelier gave him a piece of pie and a sandwich. Some passing school kids then taunted the man.  He shouted to get lost or he was going to put the Devil on them.  Then the kids started yelling “Devil Man! Devil Man!”  Carleton ran off, some said into the local cemetery.

When interrogated, Carleton boasted he was, indeed, the Devil Man – but greater than the Devil.  Sometimes he called himself “Lord Harold.”  He claimed the gold Neptune, or his advisor King Zulu, guided him to Algiers from Arkansas.  Said he had supernatural powers, including the ability to transform himself into a spirit to terrorize the streets of Algiers.  Which he would do as long as the police mistreated him.

Mass Hysteria in Algiers

Sure enough, after Carleton received a 30 day jail sentence, the Devil Man sightings only grew.  Locals spotted him in various bars, taking off his hat to show his horns, scaring bartenders into free drinks.  He’d pour whiskey down the backs of female patrons with a howl, then vanish.  But some bars were happy to advertise that the Devil Man drank there.  Because any sightings led to thirsty crowds trying to catch a glimpse – some with rifles and shotguns.

What followed was a period of mass hysteria.  The story was a front page headline in New Orleans papers.  Armed mobs roamed the streets for any sign of the Devil Man.  A near riot broke out at an elementary school when someone shouted “Devil Man!”   Terrified students ran home while teachers barricaded themselves inside.

Still trying to calm the public, Algiers police claimed the only “Devil Man” was the one sitting in their jail cell – the rest were copycats.  And this man was no devil, but a con man wanting money, free drinks, or just a bit of attention.

In time, the Devil Man sightings died down and became just another bizarre New Orleans tale.  But not before there was one more appearance.  One of the last mentions of the Devil Man was the reported birth of a “devil baby,” with “horns n’all,” in an Algiers neighborhood.  The neighbors panicked, saying the Devil Man was here to stay.  What happened to this baby, no one knows.

Is the Devil Man, or his spawn, really gone?  While stories of a horned creature may have ended, there’s no shortage of hostile, no-good men prowling New Orleans bars on any given night.

But as a local nun once said, around the time of the devil baby story:  “Ain’t nobody got no business messin’ around with no man who professes to be the Devil!”

-THE END-

Where Did This Story Come From?

“The Devil Man of Algiers” is adapted from actual newspaper accounts from the 1930s, as well as stories from the oral tradition.  These Devil Man stories were told to folklorists from the WPA’s Louisiana Writers Project, a New Deal program.  These accounts and interview quotes were also featured in the book Gumbo Ya-Ya: A Collection of Louisiana Folktales compiled by Lyle Saxon, Edward Dreyer, and Robert Tallant. Many of the quotes from our adaptation came from this source.

For more coverage of the Devil Man, listen to this podcast episode.

If you enjoy dark New Orleans folklore, listen to The Devil’s Mansion of New Orleans, another legendary tale from the Crescent City.