The Villisca Axe Murders: 1912 Tragedy

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Hey, y’all, it’s Weird Wednesday! Where on some Wednesdays, I blog about weird stuff and give writing prompts.

Today: The Villisca Axe Murders: 1912 Tragedy

On the night of June 10, 1912, eight people were murdered with an axe in a house in Villisca, Iowa. Josiah Moore (shown above), and his wife Sarah, along with their four children and two neighbor children, were killed in their beds by a person who has never been identified. And I mean never—the internet doesn’t even have a favorite suspect.

I used to live in Iowa, and I have actually been to the “Villisca Axe Murder House,” now a museum and historical site, and a frequent host to ghost tours. Visitors are free to leave their mark on the rafters in the barn, writing messages which range from the usual names and dates to oddly creepy warnings like “Don’t stand on your head in the kids’ room.” On my visit I was struck by how little has changed, though Iowa has traveled more than a century into the future: at the end of our tour, we were discussing suspects and expressing sympathy for the victims, exactly as people have been doing outside that house for over 100 years.

Check out the blog post for the whole story and some creepy writing prompts, such as: 

The Closet

According to an early rumor about the case, there was evidence the killer hid in a closet and left cigarette butts, and the mark of his own butt on a bale of cotton batting, to show he’d been in the house before the family got home that night at 9:30. Then the killer waited until at least midnight to actually attack.

So first of all, this isn’t based on any actual evidence. But it would make for a good story, because in June in Iowa in a little house without air conditioning, those closets would be sweltering. How would a murderer withstand hours in a tiny, overheated space? Could he be incredibly disciplined? Could he be having a psychotic break? Sneaking onto the paranormal side of things, could he be a ghost or inhuman creature? What would happen if a murderer attempted to hide in a closet and fainted from heat exhaustion?

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