Would you be brave enough to tour the Villisca Ax Murder House by lantern light on Halloween? (Or any other night of the year?)
We sometimes went to Villisca instead of Corning. Villisca wasn't a county seat town, but it had a good selection of stores. The two main reasons we went there were probably Danielson Implement, the John Deere dealer, when Dad needed tractor parts and Dr. Richey, the chiropractor. At some time on one of those trips, the house pictured here was pointed out to me and I heard the story of how an entire family plus two girls who were staying overnight were killed with an ax.
I don't remember being especially frightened by the story. Probably because it happened so far in the past - 1912 - forty some years ago at the time I heard the story. Or maybe because I was told Mom's cousin was born that day and how they would never forget her birthday!
In the early 80's in an attempt to bolster Villisca's sagging economy, they decided to hold "Villisca Ax Murder Days". There was a parade and other typical small town celebration activities. I remember a walking tour around town was offered, which included walking past the house. I didn't do that, but I did go to City Hall where the ax, the murder weapon, was on display. You could still see the blood stains. I also attended a presentation at the Rialto Theater where the murders and possible perpetrators were discussed and bought a reproduction of The Villisca Review newspaper published the day the bodies were discovered.
Apparently the murders divided Villisca's residents based on the theory of who may have been involved in the murders. Hard feelings on both sides were still felt 70 years later and "celebrating" the horrible crime only caused more hard feelings. "Ax Murder Days" was dropped after a year or two, but interest in the mystery was revived; books were written, movies were made; new theories evolved.
After watching the movie, "Villisca, Living With A Mystery", I was convinced who the murderer most likely was. Since then, after reading more, I'm not so certain. It's a fascinating subject.
Over the years, the house itself suffered from the modernization of green steel siding and being a rental property. After a couple years of remaining empty, it was in danger of being torn down when Darwin and Martha Linn bought it in 1994 and began restoring it to its original condition. The house is now on the National Historic Registry. It is possible to tour the house and even sleep in it overnight if you are brave enough.
If I were going to go through a haunted house this Halloween, I would want to go through the Villisca Ax Murder House. I would want to see if I "felt" any spirits as others have reported at www.villiscaiowa.com. Unfortunately, it has already been booked for "leased overnights" all this week. Maybe next year....or maybe I'll just visit it during daylight hours! Happy Halloween.
ooohhhh! Not me! Do you think the murderer is still living?
ReplyDeleteOK, now, when I heard the story of the Villisca Ax Murders, it kept me awake at night. There was a detail that they thought he might have waited in a closet until everyone was asleep, and I couldn't help imagining him sitting in that closet in the big room upstairs at Tuck Corner. So I suppose I stayed awake because he couldn't come out until everyone was sleeping. (See? I protected us all!) I remember talking about it with you, and you said, "Oh, Kari, if he's still alive, he's an old man by now!" Yeah, an old man WITH AN AX, Mom!!
ReplyDeleteFollow-up: I told this story at the pumpkin-carving party last night. The lights suddenly went out (Ken bumped the switch) and I said it was time for ghost stories--which put me on the hook for telling one. Not technically a ghost story (unless it was the ghost of Ol' Man Ax-Murderer in our closet) but good and creepy none-the-less!
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