Horrific Hauntings : The Villisca Axe Murder House

On the quiet residential roads of a small town named Villisca, sits a vintage white house called "The Villisca Axe Murder House". Once the world gets filled in darkness, the absence of lights and sounds is the primary indication to site visitors that this residence is different from the neighbourhood homes. Upon closer inspection, you may be aware its doors and windows are sealed and blanketed. On the veranda, an eroded sign carved "Murder House" warns its guests instead of welcoming them. 

The walls nevertheless protect the name of the murderer or murderers who bludgeoned the  Moores and the two guests to death, on June 10, 1912. Even more than a century later, the secrets tend to attract many guests to this house.

 Visits by paranormal investigators have given audio, video and photographic proof of paranormal events. Excursions had been reduced short because of children's voices, falling lamps, moving ladders and flying objects. Psychics have reported the presence of spirits residing in the home and sceptics have left the house as believers. Is the Villisca Axe Murder House haunted? I leave it to your judgement.

History

 Before serial killers and mass murders were a thing, adults and 6 children were found brutally murdered in their beds inside the small mid-western town of Villisca, Iowa.

 The Moore family was made up of parents Josiah b. (aged 43), Sarah (aged 39), and their four kids: Herman Montgomery (aged 11), Mary Katherine (aged 10), Arthur Boyd (aged 7), and Paul Verrnon (aged 5). An opulent family, the Moores used to be widely known and they were liked by their neighbours. On June 9, 1912, Mary Katherine Moore invited Ina Mae (aged 8) and Lena Gertrude Stillinger (aged 12) for a sleepover at the Moore residence. That night, the girls and the Moore family attended the Presbyterian Church to participate in Children's Day event, which Sarah had coordinated. After it ended at 9:30 pm, the Moores and the Stillinger sisters walked to the Moores' house, arriving at around 10 pm.

 At 7 am the next day, June 10, Mary Peckham, the Moores' neighbour, grew concerned after she noticed that the Moores did not come out to do their morning chores. Peckham knocked on their house door. As nobody replied, she tried to open the door and found that it was locked. Peckham let the Moores' chickens out and called Ross Moore, Josiah's brother. Like Peckham, Ross got no reply when he knocked at the door and shouted. Ross unlocked the front door with his replica of the house key. As Peckham stood on the porch, Ross went into the house and opened the visitor bedroom door, where he saw Ina and Lena Stillinger's lifeless bodies on the mattress. After looking at the gruesome scene, Ross instructed Peckham to call Henry "Hank" Horton, Villisca's police officer, who arrived quickly thereafter. Horton's search of the residence found out that the Moore family and the 2 Stillinger sisters were bludgeoned to their demise. The weapon used was an axe that belonged to Josiah, which was found within the room in which the Stillinger sisters were discovered.

 Doctors concluded that the murders took place between midnight and 5 am. Spent cigarettes inside the attic showed that the killer or killers patiently waited inside the attic till the Moores and the Stillinger sisters fell asleep. The killer(s) began their onslaught from the master bedroom, wherein Josiah and Sarah Moore were slumbering. Josiah obtained more blows from the axe than the other sufferers; his face was slandered so much that his eyes had been gouged out. The ceiling in his room additionally had a mark made whilst the killer lifted the axe to kill him.

 The killer or killers used the blade of the axe on Josiah but, used the blunt side on the other victims. Herman, Mary Katherine, Arthur, and Paul are the ones bludgeoned next in the head similar to their mother and father. Afterwards, the murderer came back to the master bedroom to inflict more blows on the older Moores, knocking over a shoe that was filled with blood, before shifting downstairs to the guest bedroom and killing Ina and Lena. Apparently, later a 4-pound slab of meat was taken out of the icebox and laid close to the axe. Investigators also observed untouched meals and bloody water in their search.

 Investigators believed that all of the victims except Lena Stillinger had been asleep while murdered. They claimed that she was conscious and attempted to combat back, as she was found perpendicular to the mattress, and with a rebelling wound on her arm. Lena's nightgown was raised up until her waist and she wore no undergarments, leading to a hypothesis that the killer(s) sexually molested her or at least tried to. An extremely long investigation resulted in numerous suspects, with one among them being trialled two times. The first one ended in a hung jury and the second led to an acquittal. Despite multiple attempts and theories, the crime remains unsolved to date.

Paranormal Occurrences

 Being the location of a brutally horrendous crime, it is quite obvious why many agree that the residence is haunted and the ghost tales encircling the house are eerily frightening.

 Many who visited the former residence of the Moores have reported supernatural experiences. A few declare that the murder sufferers still remain, trapped inside the house, while others agree with the tales of a darkish entity lurking in the attic area, similar to the murderer. However, others say that multiple energies exist within the house (more like a Poltergeist), which were in all likelihood added by different investigators or created because of their differing intentions.

 One sure thing is that the house is extremely active. Doors appear to open and shut on their very own, objects shift around on their own and odd sounds can be heard. Bangs, clangs, footsteps and specifically voices are a constant in this property. Another claim that is mainly chilling, is the sudden change in visitors' mood which is almost always negative.

Current State

 The Villisca Axe Murder house is now open seasonally for guided tours and the house can also be rented for sleepovers and paranormal investigations. I definitely would suggest this place to people looking for a place to explore the paranormal but also would suggest being attentive to the abrupt mood changes experienced inside the Murder House.