Into the Dark the Blog

On the night of June 9, 1912, the town of Villisca, IA was rocked by 8 horrendous murders. Six members of the Moore family Josiah B. Sarah and their four children Herman Montgomery (11), Mary Katherine (10), Arthur Boyd (7), Paul Vernon (5), and two guests were viciously bludgeoned to death in the Moore’s residence. This is a crime that has been unsolved for 110 years.

On June 9 the affluent Moore family, Josiah B, Sarah (his wife) and their 4 children and two of the children’s friends, Ina Mae (8) and Lena Gertrude Stillinger (12) attended a Children’s Day Program at the Presbyterian church. With the Children’s Day Program over late in the evening, Joe Moore calls Blanche Stillinger to ask if the girls Ina Mae and Lena Gertrude could stay over, as the two did not want to walk to their grandmother’s house in the dark, Blanche stated that this would be fine. This was around 9:45 or 10 pm.

The bodies of all eight were found the next morning a neighbor grew concerned that the Moore’s had not come out for their morning chores, and called Ross Moore, Josiah’s brother, who unlocked the door and checked the guest bedroom to see the horror that lay inside. Ross told the neighbor to call Henry Horton, the towns primary peace officer.

A search of the house was conducted in which all six of the Moore family and the two Stillinger girls’ bodies were found. The murder weapon was a bloodied axe, that belonged to Josiah Moore, it was found in the in the guest bedroom, where the Stillinger girl’s body was found.

There was an investigation into the murders, and several people were arrested, but no one was convicted of this heinous crime.

This place has been visited by paranormal investigators for a long time, it’s been featured on tv shows, local news there was even a movie based on the happenings of June 9 and 10 of 1912. So what draws paranormal investigators to such a place? In my opinion The Moore House is a place that is perfect for investigating. The History is out there for all to read, but it is the evidence that the paranormal community is looking for, continued existence after the mortal body has perished.

Many paranormal investigating groups have visited the Villisca Axe Murder house, and have had varying evidence captured. If you and your group are up for it, I would suggest going to Villisca for either a day tour, the cost is $10 per person and no reservation is needed, just show up Tuesday-Sunday 1 PM to 3:30 pm. An Overnight stay will run you $428 which allows a group of 1 to 6 people. For more information, check out the Villisca Ax Murder House website at https://www.villiscaiowa.com/index.php.

This is Mike D signing off, stay spooky my friends.

What causes hauntings?

This question has been on the mind of every ghost hunter and paranormal investigator for decades. The popular belief is that extreme emotion is the basis for people’s spirits to hang around long after the body has died. The extreme emotion being a violent or death too soon. We cannot be sure, as we are still alive. There are varying theories, some plausible, some not so much. I will go over the types of hauntings and give my ideas. As always use your own judgment.

Residual hauntings.

These are the types of hauntings that seem to re-play over and over again. A ghost is seen walking through a house, showing no evidence that it sees anyone else there. The living are often startled by these events, and seek to discern why the ghost is there, or they try to make contact with them. My theory is the place is where the ghost was most comfortable. It was their home for so long and they are happy there. There is no poltergeist activity in these types of hauntings, no objects moving on their own and the like. One theory posited for this type of encounter is The Stone Tape theory.

The Stone Tape Theory is thought to happen because mental impressions can be projected during emotional or traumatic events as energy. This energy is then absorbed into the very fabric of a home and replayed over and over under certain circumstances. Just what those circumstances are is still up for debate. It could be seasonal, like around the Holidays.

I had an experience once, while living in Chicago just before The Thanksgiving holiday. My mother, stepfather and I were in the family room of our apartment, just chatting about the upcoming family gathering for the holiday, when a figure of a man walked past the doorway of the room. I saw the figure, as did my mother and stepfather. He got up grabbed a baseball bat and started to look all around the apartment for this “person”. Now all of the doors leading to the outside were securely locked, and no window was broken. After a few minutes of searching my stepfather came back into the room where my mother and I were sitting, he was frustrated and angry.

“Did you see that guy walk through here?” My stepfather asked.

“Yes.” My mother and I answered in unison.

“Where did he go?” He asked, angrily.

“Did you check the doors and windows?” My mother asked.

“Yeah,” He answered, his temper cooling some.

“And they were all locked up tight, right?” My mom asked,

“Yeah.”

“And the windows aren’t broke?” I chimed in.

“No, nothing ‘s broke.” My stepfather said

“And no other person in the apartment, right?” My mom asked.

“No, but this guy just waked through the hallway right in front of us…”

“That was a ghost.” I said.

“There’s no such things as ghosts, come on.” He spoke.

“Well, where is he then?” My mom asked.

Was it just because of the time of the year that we all saw this figure walking through our apartment? I cannot say for sure, but he was there. Maybe it was because he was comfortable there. Maybe it was the time of year that made this figure present itself to us.

To me, in my not so scientific mind, would be the very essence of the Stone Tape Theory, a life of pleasant memories turned into energy and absorbed into the walls of our, then, apartment allowed the vision of this person to be revealed to us due our collective excitement for the upcoming holiday adding to that very energy. In my opinion, not all ghosts or spirits reveal themselves due to traumatic events, sometimes they are just happy where they lived.

 

Intelligent Hauntings.

These tend to be more “active” events, with knocks in response to direct questions or objects moving about seemingly on their own. In my last posting I told the story of a philosopher in ancient times seeing a sprint, who was chained and buried in a garden. This is an intelligent haunting. The spirit needed help, and the philosopher gave it, and the spirit was never seen again.

 Some type of unfinished business, or traumatic event, holds these souls on our plane. The spirit could have unfinished business, or they could have died so suddenly that they do not realize that they died. Living members of the family could be so emotionally distraught that the spirit cannot move on until the living come to terms with their demise. Sometimes there is the fear of Judgment in the afterlife that holds the spirit here.  Whichever the reason the specter of a human soul still holds some degree of consciousness and interacts in ways with the living, this is the very definition of an intelligent haunting. The main thing to remember is that in either of these types of hauntings the spirits/ghosts/souls were once human, they are not demonic as some tend to ascribe to these events. Demonic entities, poltergeists, doppelgangers and the like are not, nor have they ever been human souls, and therefore are a whole different ballgame.

 

In conclusion, Dear Reader, please try to understand the difference between Residual Hauntings, and Intelligent Hauntings, and always keep searching for your answers.

 

Why do so many people, all from various beliefs and religions, and walks of life believe in the paranormal? I believe in God (the Christian version) although I have never seen Him, I have faith that He is there, watching over his children. It should come as no surprise then that so many believe in ghosts and spirits assuming, of course, that they have a faith system that they adhere to. The same principle would then apply, their Higher Power, although unseen by them, is watching over them. This is called faith. What one believes in often goes hand in hand with their faith, as is the case with the paranormal, I suspect. I have faith that there is a God, and I also believe in ghosts and spirits. I have seen the latter.

The first ghost I saw was an old co-worker of my mother’s. His name was John. John watched over me and my two brothers when we were young. He took us to the circus several times, and we went to the zoo often. He was just generally a good guy. One day, I must have been 15 or 16 years old, I was waiting at a bus stop on one of the busiest streets in Chicago. I saw John across the street, and so I shouted his name over the traffic on Western Ave. He looked around, spotted me, waved, and went on his way. I thought nothing more about it. When I got home my mother was in the kitchen making dinner for the family. I said, ” Hey Ma, guess who I saw.” “Who did you see?” She asked in return, not turning from the stove. “I was over on Western in the Old neighborhood, and I saw Uncle John walking towards Leavitt.” “No, you didn’t,” my mother said as she turned toward me. “I sure did, right on…” She cut me off with a wave of her hand. “You couldn’t have possibly seen him, he died seven years ago.” Was John checking up on me? To this day I don’t know.

The preceding is why I became so enthralled with the paranormal, the unanswered questions of life after death. What happens to us? Do we just fade away into nothing? Do we ascend to our Reward, or slide down to punishment for a life of sin? I think this is why so many people believe in the paranormal, they want to find the answers before they shuffle off the mortal coil. Whichever the case, keep searching Dear Reader, keep searching.

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Ghosts, hauntings, paranormal phenomena this is what this blog is all about. Here I will post my thoughts and theories on the paranormal. Please join me on this journey Into the Dark.

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