Most Haunted Places in America: Villisca Ax Murder House
Villisca, Iowa was an agricultural town in 1912. A population of about 2000 didn’t make it the smallest town in Iowa but its remote location in the corner of the state kept it isolated from the more popular towns. Villisca translates to “pleasant view” and this once booming town fit the description until one tragic Sunday evening on June 9, 1912. That is the day that evil snuck into this tranquil place and killed 8 people, 6 of whom where children, with an ax. Now this house has a name, the Villisca Ax Murder House and is known all over as one of the most haunted places in America.
Even today, this is considered to be a gruesome act. The Moore family came home Sunday night from the Children’s Day Program around 10pm. With them were the Stillinger sisters that have came home to stay the night at the Moore’s home. They say that the murderer was hiding in the attic when they returned. The next morning a neighbor noticed no one was up for morning chores and the house seemed still of activity. The neighbor called another family member to come check on the family.
It was then that the remains of the 8 people were found, each in their beds, having been decapitated with an ax. The victims were businessman Josiah Moore (43), his wife Sarah Moore (44), their kids; Herman (11), Catherine (10), Boyd (7) and Paul (5) along with the Stillinger sisters, Lena (12) and Ina (8). Unfortunately, even after death there was one more moment that the victims had to endure. The coroner ruled they had died around midnight Sunday and do to bureaucratic red tape, none of the bodies were released for burial, staying right where they were found, until around 11pm Monday evening.
During the time after there have been many owners and renters in the home until 1994. In disrepair and close to being destroyed, Darwin and Martha Linn bought the old home in hopes of restoring it. Already rooted in the town’s history, they own the Olson-Linn Museum located in the town square, the Linn’s thought they would be preserving the area’s history. They set out, using old pictures, renovating the home back to the original condition at the time of the murders in 1912.
It was the renovations that must have awaken the spirits there. The paranormal activity of the home has been reported to be very high. Many paranormal investigators have come to the home hoping to identify who might be haunting the location. Most that have come have not been disappointed. Reports of floating orbs, children playing, whispers, children laughing and giggling, falling lamps, banging sounds and objects moving around have all been described.
There is also an eerie, evil presence among the spirits in the home. This has been especially present in the attic where it is though the murderer hide waiting for the family to fall asleep. This spirit is thought by many to be the actual person who committed this ghastly act of violence. A reported told the story that when she opened the door to the attic, an unknown force kept her from entering the attic. She said it was almost like a force field at the door that would not let her cross.
Here are some EVP’s (electronic voice phenomena ) captured during an investigation in 2005 along with a ghost video of a ball in 2008.
Related posts:
- Burlington County Prison Museum Ghosts
- Gettysburg Battlefield Ghosts
- Ghost Video of the Villisca Ax Murder House
- The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum Hauntings
- Ghosts Reveal Hannah’s House Secret
25 comments ↓
im sorry but just to tell u thr is no reel proof this place is haunted. to proove it to me you shuld call taps and have them look the place over if they get something then i will beleve untill then thr is no proof on my side
Joshua,
I too am a big fan of TAPS and the show but there are many paranormal investigators out there doing great work trying to find strong evidence to support ghost activity. I think it isn’t fair to say that if TAPS doesn’t investigate it, it isn’t true.
We visited Villisca March 7th and stayed the night. We had an AMAZING time here and it is full or activity. The evidence we captured is on our website http://www.pprkc.org
This is a “Must Investigate” for all paranormal and mass murder followers
YYAAAYY!!!
hahaha
“A special thank you to Demi Morton for showing us this AMAZING ghost story and haunted place…… ”
Yes
– This story was pointed out to us from another ghost enthusiast!
Thanks DEMI!
it was astounding. u really must believe but this u must see
I have a pic of me in the attic at villisca and there is clearly an ORB behind me. Freaked me out when I zoomed in on the pic. Definitely haunted and I am a skeptic. I can email JPG if u’d like….
Sure – email it to ghostwriterATghosteyes.com – If you want also send name (if you want me to add it) and a brief description of what was happening and we will put it up!
sorry but to tell you the truth i must say that ghost are real but that house isn’t haunted. i’ve been to that house a bunch of times and i still have not encountered any dead ghost’s just broken floors and spiders along with the occasional dust bunnie. i live in caddo mills texas and me and my friends go to Villisca, Iowa every year at halloween to prove that it isn’t haunted.
How can you say this place isn’t haunted 8 people were brutally murdered..its haunted.
yah you know this place is haunted iv been in it its freaking crazy we were all upstairs and the pianno started playing and we had the doors loked and chairs in the way so no one could get in! then i went to go upstairs by myself at 11 and i looked at the mirror and saw a figure in the mirror behind me and i looked back and nothing was their and then looked back at the mirror and it was gone so i checked the wall for any hidden divice and their was none i almost shit my pants!!!
I think TAPS investigations are a total joke. They spend more time making jokes than investing. Jason is not really intuned to anything. He can wait to get out of a site, I guess he is scared
I’ve seen a couple of reports on this particular house. Terrible tragedy. But I watched something on it yesterday that troubled me. The current owner of the house was retelling the tale of how the family went to church, came home with two guests in tow, etc. But then this guy goes on to tell what happened during the period of the actual killing, as if that could be known! As I’m listening, I’m thinking to myself that somebody must have survived and was an eyewitness. But, no, all eight were killed. So, why is this guy standing there talking about what order they were killed in, and who ran, or tried to hide, or protected somebody? He even said the wife saw her husband being killed, and her last words right before she was hacked herself were, “NO! Oh, No!!” to be sure, she probably did utter such a thing, but he wasn’t there! I do believe in spirits and hauntings, have had a lot of personal experiences, but I hate it when people go and embellish on things unnecessarily, and just for the sake of making the tale more salacious. That’s one of the main things that gets in the way of skeptics seeing what really IS there.
i dont see how anyone can say a place like this is not haunted .i beleive in ghost i have had many exsperinces my self. ive never had bad exsperinces but never the less they werent from this world as we know it.scary yes.stop and think about it if someone killed your wife or husband are your children and your childrens friends or you. if you can are you not gonna come back to haunt who ever it was you can bet if its me and i cant get them in this life i will be looking for the in the next life.then i beleive there are just some ghosts out there looking to have a scary good harmless time. we all enjoy a good time and laugh once in a while. i think those that take that chance to go out looking for ghost are very brave. i will wait on mine to come to me they always do
thumbs up to all u ghost hunters . and all you unbelivers watch your backs you might get you a visit from an unknown spirit
I agree that taps are the worst investigators ever, How they ended up with their own tv show I will never know. They are rude and stupid. They do not even act interested. Ghosts or spirits hardly ever come out for these guys because they are so rude not to mention dense.
I agree with Mia. I have been interested in the Villisca house since 1991 when I first read about it in a news article,It was at that time I knew one day I would visit and that day/night came this year in April of 2010 I spent the night there with 5 of my girlfriends some were firm belivers in ghost the others were not By the end of the night everyone was a beliver you see there is NO DOUBT in my eyes that the home is haunted I do belive however that the owner and the caretaker of the home Johnny try to ” sell” people on its story making people wonder if its a hoax or not but the things that happend to us in the home could not have been rigged..I saw first hand things being moved,heard footsteps on the floor above us, heard scratching in the walls,growling, felt something or someone touch my neck..the closet door opened on command.. it was a scary nigght to say the least more happend but its one of those things that you will have to find out on your own…Have fun and happy haunting!
Taps, what a joke. All you ever see of them is mostly their own actions.
They leave one hanging. Some of their research is alright but mostly it’s a joke.
I have had personasl experances that would send them a running.
Ghost Adventures came there and caught evidence. Look up the episode on YouTube. TAPS? who are they? They should never have a tv show. GAC for life.
This guys a nut job-the house is right down the road from me,its haunted alright.but the only spirits earthbiund to the home is harry whipple,kathy,and leena. The rest are there on there own free will to remain with the others.check out millerparanormalresearch.com for some amazing evidence-also,sorry but taps are frauds.been busted faking it yrs ago-
@bettie from what I’ve learned the family actually forgives the killers,and has said so in evps,well..sarah moore said it anyways,and the reason whipple is stuck there is due to the guilt over the children being killed and him not stopping mansfield,he claims only joe was the target but when sara woke up when bill hit joe he got her and went on a rampage-check out youtube for apra paranormals evps-and tricounty paranormals evps too–Amazing rediduals of the actual acts taking place.seriously read roy marshals book villisca and go to miller paranormal research .com for some good stuff,I don’t see why anyone can still say they hid in the attic,instead they were in the basement-the attic was a toilet room for night use so why would u hide where there gonna go into yet strike when a train goes by at 2am?
I still say that Henry Lee Moore was the Murderer
He was way too Evil
Our team was fortunate enough to investigate in Sept. While we were there we thought it was pretty quiet..but it was not. On evidence review we captured a child saying “Lena and Ma’s dead”
As you may know “Lena” was one of the Stillinger sisters who were killed that night as well.
This is definitely a location that we will be reinvestigating.
I think it’s real because I watched a show, Ghost Adventures, and it seemed pretty real. A lot of voices were being heard through out the house!!!
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