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Dare To Spend The Night

Home of The Villisca Axe Murders of 1912

By Jason Ray Morton Published 3 years ago 3 min read
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Southwestern Iowa, in the small town of Villisca, is home to one of the most notorious unsolved murders of the state and while the unsolved bludgeon murders remain a mystery, so does the haunting of the Villisca Axe Murder House. This, is one o f those places, despite doubters and detractors, that brings people out to examine the possible paranormal phenomenon. Some, suffering the wrath of the evil spirit inside, even being mysteriously wounded in the process of recreational, paranormal, investigations. For the low, low, price of $500.00 a night, you can pay to sleep in a house with potentially malicious spirits.

It's a calm summer night in 1912 and Josiah Moore, one of Villiscas' most prominent citizens is at home with his wife, his kids, and two guests. Everything seemed normal until the next morning when local neighbors noticed the lack of activity at the Moore home. Eight people had been killed through the course of the night, including the children in their beds. A heinous crime that left a stain on the city's legacy. Now, a hundred years later the site has been restored and is a highly visited location for paranormal investigators and haunted tours.

Tragedies happen. What happened in November of 2014 is questionable. If you subscribe to Irwin Shrodinger, the simplest answer is usually the right answer. When it comes to violence, especially violence in a small tourist site, simple may or may not cut it.

On November 7th, 2014, Robert Laursen Jr and a group of friends reserved the house to do their own paranormal investigation. Laursen, an amateur paranormal investigator, had gone on other ghost hunts. This was not his first time. At about 12:45 a.m. his friends heard him, Laursen, yelling for help. According to local law enforcement officials, 12:45 a.m. is believed to be the time of the original murders.

Laursen, after yelling for help, was found with what was recorded as a self-inflicted wound to the chest. His friends called first responders and Laursen was later taken to the hospital. He has yet to publicly comment on what really happened in the upstairs bedroom, the bedroom the Moore children were murdered in. He claims his lack of comment is due to respect for the Linn family, the caretakers of the house, and the ones to contact for tours and overnight access.

The question remains, what, if anything, happened to Laursen that night? While it's not uncommon for someone to have second thoughts after committing suicide, anyone that's dealt with suicide events will tell you the series of events doesn't make sense for a couple of reasons. The most notable of the two being that anyone that seriously wants to end their lives doesn't cry out for help or plan it where there are many people that might find them and intercede. A tourist attraction with a bunch of friends would make successfully committing suicide a bigger chore than the act. The second reason, the location of the injuries. Stabbed in the chest is not a regular place to attempt to kill oneself. Getting a knife or edged weapon through the ribs to the major organs would require strength and a degree of commitment. So, what then would make a paranormal investigator lose it this way? I don't know. I can only say with certainty that during my visit to the famed Axe Murder House, I could feel the darkness inside this small town home.

The bedroom where Laursen was "stabbed" in the chest, where the children died, is chilling to spend time in. I swear the sound of children laughing had been piped in. I honestly didn't want to go up to the bedroom. It was my peaked curiosity that drove me there. While outside smoking, talking to my partner in crime, I noticed what looked like a small boy looking out at us. Maybe, what I thought I saw, was the evil spirit that Laursen saw. Maybe, it was an illusion. One way or the other, I did not want to go back again and have left ghost hunting up to those that know what they are doing.

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About the Creator

Jason Ray Morton

I have always enjoyed writing and exploring new ideas, new beliefs, and the dreams that rattle around inside my head. I have enjoyed the current state of science, human progress, fantasy and existence and write about them when I can.

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