VILLISCA, Iowa – Over the years, if I told my friends that we were going to Iowa for my husband’s family, I had to ask myself questions like:
The fact is that our trips to Hawkeye State are pretty amazing and involve some of what I just mentioned: massive smart food dinners and visits to some notable places. They do not involve entering the scene of a brutal axe murder of the early twentieth century. century.
But that’s what we did before this summer, when we saw (seeing the creepy music) Villisca Axe Murder House in Villisca, Iowa, in southwest Iowa, halfway between Omaha, Neb. , and Des Moines, Iowa, advertised through some as “one of the most haunted places in America. “
My daughter Laura’s idea was to check after seeing something online about what happened here: the horrific punch murders of six members of Moore’s circle of relatives and two visitors in the early morning of June 10, 1912.
As a fan of the genuine police genre, I was intrigued and said, “Why not?”
We were also joined by my youngest daughter and sister-in-law, a former fourth-grade teacher known more for her murderous dessert Buster Bar than for her love of real crime. It wasn’t his thing, but it’s a sport. So we left.
Instead, I’ll give you a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like to be there.
As we left Highway 71 for Villisca (population 1162), we passed buildings you’d see in many small ones in Iowa: Casey’s General Store and Dollar General. The Axe Murder House is further down second street, past Villisca United Methodist Church and colleague.
It looks like most of the beautiful houses here, until you see the sign in the front yard: “House of the murder of Villisca Axe”.
The space first built in 1868 had some owners after the notorious murders of 1912, but belongs to Darwin and Martha Linn, who renovated it and opened it to tourists. It costs around $10 for a guided tour. If your organization needs to spend the night here, it will charge you $428. (Ummm, yes. No thanks.
After excursion advisor Johnny Houser told us the tragic story of the backyard, we entered space and went back in time. It was terrifying to see the look of the kitchen as if it had been in June 1912.
Even creepier? The living room is very similar to the farm living room that my husband’s parents lived in for more than 50 years. The dark carpentry around the doors is almost identical.
The narrow, winding stairs leading to the upstairs rooms, where most of the assassins took position, creaked at every turn. We discovered mirrors covered with sheets and dolls chasing us from the children’s beds. It didn’t help the feeling of darkness here. It’s hard not to feel the heaviness.
The attic, where the killer allegedly hid, was claustrophobic. However, some paranormal investigators have said in the afterlife that they thought it was light, provoking the minds of young people who need to get in touch.
We didn’t stay long in space. I stayed longer than my sister-in-law, whom I discovered checking her phone near the barn in the back. We enjoyed our stay at Villisca Axe Murder House. cozy
If you like this kind of thing, it’s probably worth stopping. If you’re a paranormal investigator, one night may even be your cup of tea.
But for my part, I’m going to keep the desserts “Field of Dreams” and Buster Bar.