Reading spooky Halloween stories on the most mysterious, freakiest and most terrifying night of the year makes sense. You want to get the most out of this crazy and spooky holiday. And nothing makes these stories better than them being real – the more real the story, the more scary the outcome.
In this blog post, with the help of local spook-perts at The Halloween Store, we look at three gruesome and dark real-life stories, so you truly transform Halloween into the scary holiday it can be.
Three Dark Stories to Tell on Halloween
The Murder House
The Villisca Axe Murder House in Villisca, Iowa, is well-recognized for being a major tourist attraction for ghost and horror hunters. And with good reason: it was the site of a gruesome unsolved 1912 murder, where six children and two adults had their skulls completely crushed by the axe of an unknown murderer.
It remained pretty dormant until 1994, when it was restored to its previous condition and made into an “old haunted home” visit, becoming a popular tourist attraction.
Then in November of 2014, Robert Steven Laursen Jr., of Rhinelander, stabbed himself in the chest multiple times yet survived. He never explained why he did it, which merely enhanced the mystic and scary feeling of the Villisca house.
Animals in the Walls
In 2015, the Bretzuis family decided that they wanted to insulate their home in Auburn, Pennsylvania. To their shock, it was discovered that it was already insulated – with plenty of dead animal bodies.
The bodies were wrapped in newspapers from the 1930s and 40s, alongside half-used spices and other random items.
However, it was also stated that the scores of dead bodies were due to Dutch magic, a ritual originating in Pennsylvania Dutch countries to treat ailments and gain physical and spiritual protection. But no one knows for sure.
The bodies have since been removed.
The Death of Elisa Lam
In the lobby of the Cecil Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, Elisa Lam went missing. The Canadian was on a solo trip, exploring the West Coast until she disappeared. The last image of her was an elevator, seemingly out of her mind, concerned that an unidentified force was coming after her. It was January 31st, 2013.
Soon after, the police were involved, and her parents arrived to help with the search. But they had nothing. No evidence came up; no leads pan out.
What made the entire story even more frightening is that the Cecil Hotel had a history of murders, rapes, torture and death. It was basically a hell hotel, with a fearsome reputation of where bad things happen.
So what happened to her? Theories range from psychotic episodes to demonic possession, to murder by a musician to other suspected individuals. The reality is that the story is much sadder than many expected.
You can find the true story of what happened, alongside the history of the Cecil Hotel, by watching the documentary now on Netflix.