Ghosts of the Villisca Axe Murders
The House Where Eight Were Slain, and the Spirits Never Left
Case File: The Villisca Axe Murder House
Case No.: 43VM-1912-IA
Classification: Haunting – Violent Residual and Intelligent Paranormal Activity
Location: Villisca, Iowa, USA
Date of Incident: June 9-10, 1912
Filed by: Multiple Eyewitnesses and Paranormal Investigators
Status: Ongoing – Phenomena Documented, Explanation Inconclusive
Incident Summary
The Villisca Axe Murder House is the site of one of the most infamous unsolved mass murders in American history. On the night of June 9, 1912, Josiah and Sarah Moore, along with their four children and two overnight guests, were brutally murdered in their home. The killer, using Josiah Moore’s own axe, bludgeoned all eight victims to death, leaving behind a crime scene filled with bizarre and chilling details.
Despite extensive investigations, no one was ever convicted, and the case remains unsolved. Over the decades, the house gained a reputation for being one of the most haunted locations in the United States, attracting paranormal researchers, ghost hunters, and curious visitors who report experiencing violent, intelligent, and residual hauntings linked to the tragic event.
Phenomena Overview
The Villisca Axe Murder House is known for strong paranormal activity, including visual apparitions, disembodied voices, and unexplained physical interactions. Some of the most commonly reported phenomena include:
Unexplained Shadows and Apparitions: Many visitors claim to have seen shadow figures moving across rooms, often in the form of dark humanoid shapes lurking near the stairway and bedrooms.
Disembodied Voices and Children’s Laughter: Investigators have recorded EVPs (electronic voice phenomena) capturing faint whispers, cries, and giggles of children, believed to be the spirits of the young victims.
Doors Opening and Closing by Themselves: The home’s closet doors and bedroom doors have been seen moving with no logical explanation, often accompanied by strange knocking sounds.
Intelligent Responses to Questions: Paranormal investigators using spirit boxes and EVP recorders have captured direct responses to their questions, with voices identifying themselves as members of the Moore family or simply saying “leave.”
Cold Spots and Temperature Drops: Many guests have reported feeling sudden chilling temperatures, especially in the children’s room and the attic, where some believe the killer hid before committing the murders.
Unexplained Physical Contact: Visitors and investigators have reported feeling touches, scratches, and even being pushed while inside the house. Some claim that flashlights and equipment are knocked out of their hands by unseen forces.
Objects Moving on Their Own: Small objects, such as balls and toys, have been witnessed moving with no apparent force, suggesting a residual or intelligent presence.
Feelings of Unease and Oppression: Many visitors describe an overwhelming sense of dread, sorrow, and an unnatural presence in the house, particularly in the room where the children were murdered.
Investigation Overview
The Villisca Axe Murder House has been extensively investigated by paranormal researchers, television crews, and psychic mediums, all of whom have reported compelling evidence of supernatural activity.
EVP Sessions and Spirit Box Sessions: Multiple recordings have captured eerie phrases, including a voice saying, “Help us” and another warning “He is still here.” Some voices match names of the victims, and others claim to be the murderer.
Psychic Investigations: Several mediums have reported sensing a dark male presence, possibly the unknown killer, who allegedly still lurks in the house. Others claim to have communicated with the spirits of the Moore children, who seem confused and trapped.
Infrared and Full-Spectrum Photography: Some investigators have captured shadow figures, strange light anomalies, and orbs that defy normal explanations.
Physical Interactions: Investigators have experienced objects being thrown, batteries being drained instantly, and even scratches appearing on their bodies after leaving the house.
EMF Readings and Unusual Magnetic Activity: High spikes in electromagnetic fields (EMF) have been recorded in areas where no electrical wiring is present.
Press Coverage and Public Reaction
Since the murders in 1912, the Villisca Axe Murder House has been the subject of extensive media coverage, books, and documentaries. Some of the most notable mentions include:
True Crime Documentaries and Books: Many books have been written about the case, detailing the history, possible suspects, and the enduring mystery of the unsolved murders.
Paranormal TV Shows: The house has been featured in shows such as Ghost Adventures, Paranormal Lockdown, and The Dead Files, with investigators documenting compelling paranormal evidence.
Public Ghost Tours and Overnight Stays: The house now operates as a tourist attraction, allowing guests to stay overnight and experience the alleged hauntings firsthand. Some visitors claim to have encountered violent spirits, while others report feeling an overwhelming sense of sadness.
Case Status
The Villisca Axe Murder House remains one of the most notorious and actively haunted locations in the United States. While some believe that the Moore family spirits remain trapped, others suspect that a malevolent force lingers in the house, possibly the entity of the murderer. Paranormal investigations continue, and the activity inside the home shows no signs of stopping.
The Story
In the small Iowa town of Villisca, life in the summer of 1912 carried on in the familiar rhythms of farming, church, and community gatherings. Josiah and Sarah Moore were a respected couple, well known in the town and active in their Presbyterian congregation. On the evening of June 9, the Moores attended a Children’s Day service at their church, a festive event where their children performed alongside others. With them were two friends, Lena and Ina Stillinger, who had been invited to spend the night. By the time the family walked home through the quiet streets, the sun had long since set, and the warm June night carried the stillness of a small town at rest.
Sometime between midnight and the early hours of June 10, an intruder entered the Moore home. Whether he hid in the attic, as some believe, or slipped in through the door after the family had gone to bed, no one knows. What is certain is that he carried Josiah Moore’s own axe. The killer moved methodically through the house, striking down Josiah and Sarah first before turning the weapon on the children. In the Stillinger girls’ room, one of the victims showed signs of waking during the attack, yet she too was killed before she could escape. By morning, eight lives had been extinguished.
The crime scene shocked even hardened investigators. All of the victims’ faces had been covered with sheets or pieces of clothing, as though the murderer could not bear to look upon what he had done. The mirrors and reflective surfaces in the house were draped, as if to prevent the crime from being witnessed by the dead. A plate of food had been prepared in the kitchen and left uneaten, and beside it sat a slab of bacon smeared with blood, placed inexplicably near the axe itself. The ceilings bore marks where the killer had swung so violently that the blade struck the plaster. These bizarre details fuelled endless speculation, yet they yielded no clear motive.
Despite an extensive investigation, the case soon became mired in confusion. Several men were considered suspects, each with a plausible reason to be guilty, yet none could be tied to the murders with certainty. Reverend George Kelly, an eccentric preacher who had attended the same Children’s Day service as the Moores, confessed more than once, only to later recant. His trial ended in acquittal. Others suspected included Frank Jones, a wealthy businessman and political rival of Josiah Moore, William Mansfield, a man with a history of axe murders, and even Josiah’s own relative Henry Moore. Yet every lead dissolved into rumour and doubt. No one was ever convicted. The murders of the Moore family and the Stillinger girls entered history as one of America’s most enduring unsolved crimes.
The house, left standing as a silent witness, never escaped the weight of its past. Locals whispered about strange occurrences for decades. Visitors reported hearing the sound of children’s laughter where no children played. Footsteps echoed across empty rooms, and shadows flickered at the edges of vision. Some avoided the place altogether, believing that the spirits of the dead still lingered, replaying the events of that terrible night.
By the late twentieth century, the house was restored to its 1912 condition, stripped of modern comforts to resemble the night of the murders as closely as possible. It was then that reports of paranormal activity grew impossible to ignore. Investigators documented disembodied voices captured on tape, faint cries pleading for help, and even direct responses to questions, as though the spirits were still trying to make themselves heard. In the children’s bedroom, guests reported feeling small, cold hands touch their own, or hearing the unmistakable sound of giggles in the dark.
The attic, where some believe the killer hid before the murders, is considered the most oppressive part of the house. Visitors describe an almost physical heaviness in the air, a sense of dread so strong that many refuse to linger. Paranormal teams using EMF meters have recorded unexplained spikes in the attic and in the rooms where the murders occurred. Temperature drops of ten or fifteen degrees have been measured within seconds, leaving investigators shivering in otherwise warm rooms. Cameras malfunction, batteries drain without cause, and audio equipment frequently captures whispers and cries that were not heard by anyone present.
The house has also become known for its physical interactions. Guests have reported being scratched or pushed, while objects such as toys and balls move on their own. Flashlights are knocked from hands, doors open and close without human touch, and the sound of footsteps has been heard on the stairs when no one was there. On one occasion, investigators reported a ball rolling deliberately across the floor, as if a child’s spirit were still at play.
Apparitions are rarer, but those who claim to have seen them describe fleeting shadows of children or dark humanoid figures that vanish as quickly as they appear. Mediums who have visited the house often speak of two distinct presences: the confused and sorrowful spirits of the Moore children, and a darker energy, male and oppressive, that many believe to be the lingering essence of the killer. Whether this is the spirit of a man consumed by guilt or something more malevolent, its presence is undeniable to those who have felt its weight pressing upon them in the dark.
The notoriety of the Villisca Axe Murder House has grown far beyond Iowa. It has been the subject of books, documentaries, and television programmes, each exploring both the history of the unsolved murders and the reports of haunting that followed. Paranormal teams from across the world travel to Villisca to spend the night within its walls, and many leave convinced that the spirits of the dead remain. Some visitors describe overwhelming sorrow, others terror, and some an inexplicable sense that they were not alone.
The sense of danger surrounding the house was driven home in November 2014, when a paranormal investigator named Robert Steven Laursen Jr. joined a group staying overnight. Just after midnight, in the same hour when the Moore family had been murdered more than a century before, Laursen stabbed himself in the chest. He was found by his companions bleeding heavily, and emergency services rushed him to hospital. He survived the wound, and authorities confirmed there was no evidence of foul play. Still, the fact that such an act took place in the Villisca Axe Murder House shocked the public and fuelled the belief that the building exerts a dark influence on those who enter. For many, the incident became further proof that whatever lingers within the house is not only restless but dangerous.
More than a century has passed since the murders, yet the house refuses to let its story rest. The blood has long since faded from its walls, but the echoes of that night seem trapped within the rooms. The Moore family and the Stillinger girls remain, in the minds of many, as restless spirits tied to the place of their deaths. Alongside them lingers the shadow of their killer, unknown in life and faceless in death, a presence that continues to haunt the home as surely as the memories of the crime itself.
The Villisca Axe Murder House is more than just a relic of true crime history. It has become a place where past and present blur, where visitors stand not only in the rooms of the murdered but, some believe, in the presence of their spirits. It is a reminder of the fragility of safety, of the violence that can erupt behind closed doors, and of how tragedy can etch itself so deeply into the walls of a home that even time itself cannot erase it.