My Night at the Villisca Axe Murder House
By Heather, Patron of The Activity Continues
We visited the house in June 2004, so 18 years ago now. At that time, there was no barn near the house (some years later they built a barn to give people a modern place to use the restroom), nor the big white sign announcing the house. The house had absolutely NO electricity, no running water, no utilities of any sort. There was no big electricity pole or lines near the house either. We were given one non-electric lamp to use in the living room (i can't remember now if it was oil or not but oil seems like a risky thing since your house is precious and fires can happen easily).
The owners at the time were very nice. The husband (I can't remember their names now) gave us a tour of the house before leaving us for the night. The website at the time didn't have NEAR the information it has now, and only gave a very basic background of the family and what happened. We decided not to research about the house or experiences in advance of our visit, because we wanted to go in without being jaded. We had a tour in early evening (so full daylight) which ended before sundown. As a group, we agreed that we would not antagonize the spirits at all, and we would do our best to kindly interact with them, especially the children. We only had cameras (one was digital and one was disposable) and one personal digital recording device (mine) to capture anything that night.
Our pictures really didn't pick up too much except "orbs" which I know are controversial. There's one orb in particular, however, that seemed odd because of its location and NOTHING else around it - not a single other orb. Considering we typically say orbs are just dust, reflections of moisture/rain, or bugs, this one doesn't seem to fit and it's big. We did record during the night at various times; at one point we left the digital recorder in the attic for a couple hours (my husband put it there - no way I was going to do it). However, I've NEVER listened to it. Based on my personal experiences, I'm too scared to listen to it. I believe we still have the audio file on one of our computers, but I'm not sure about it.
Things that happened:
1) Our flashlights and cameras kept losing battery power and sometimes very quickly. What was weirder, was that our battery power would be back to normal once we went outside for a few minutes. It happened to ALL of us on a variety of our equipment.
We all had made sure the batteries in our flashlights and cameras were new. We had brought extra batteries because we knew there were no utilities there. (Side note: in 2004, there were no smartphones like we have now; we had the older flip phones or Nokia types, so we didn't even use them that night).
2) During the tour by the owner, we were in the living room. I sat down in a chair that was in the corner of the room as we were told about the family. All of the sudden, I was completely overwhelmed by a wave of sadness and despair (lack of words to really describe the feelings). I started tearing up and tears ran down my face, and I could NOT control it. I have had a couple other experiences in my life, but NOTHING like this, ever. I stood up and apologized as I got a tissue from my friend. The owner said no apologies were necessary, as it seems that happens to a lot of people, and mostly women who sit or stand in that corner of the room. He said that they think it may have been the mother's favorite spot to sit in the room so it could be her that I was feeling. I'm telling you - it was such unbelievable sadness!!
3) My next personal experience occurred during the tour as we went upstairs. Keep in mind, we knew nothing of the set-up of the house, how big (or as we found out, small) it is. The parents bedroom is right at the top of the stairs, and to the left at the top of the stairs is a door. During the owner telling us about the parents' death, I noticed the door and figured it was a closet. Next, the owner opened that door and I realized it was an attic. The owner went ahead into the attic, and some of my group went in as well. I was one of the last ones to step into it. Again, all the sudden I got hit by a huge wave of what I can only describe as feeling "bad vibes", "danger", "evil" - my stomach dropped and I felt literally queasy. I quickly turned around and left, not having even walked into the attic more than two steps. My husband and one of our friends hadn't even entered the attic yet, so they went around me to enter the room. I told them there's NO WAY I was going to stand in that room for any amount of time. I again apologized to the owner and told him what I had just felt. We left the door to the attic open so I could hear him continue the tour, and he stated that there's a theory the killer (or killers) hid in the attic waiting for the family to go to sleep before murdering them. This made complete sense to me based on what I felt when I entered the attic. I never went in that attic the rest of our stay - never.
4) At one point, we all took a walk to the town cemetery to take pictures and get fresh air. It was nice outside, but it had just rained a little bit. When we all got back to the house, we noticed in the kitchen that ALL the chairs were pulled out from the table. I know for a FACT they were all pushed in when we left. We had a key to the house and we locked up before going. It's possible the owner saw us leave and did it, as I can't disprove that point. Still, it was definitely freaky seeing that.
5) The owner had told us on the tour that they think the murders occurred when the train went by at like 1:45am. He told us some people have said they've seen a mist upstairs in the parent's bedroom around that time. So, me, my husband and one of our friends decided we'd stay up all night and watch for anything, while the other 3 slept downstairs in the living room. We played cards in the little kids' room for quite some time. Dan (my husband) and our friend were facing me, so I could see them fully. I was sitting cross-legged, and all the sudden I felt a hard tapping on the bottom of my tennis shoe. I jumped a bit and said "wooohh". The guys were like "what's wrong?" I said I just felt a hard knocking on the bottom of my shoe. No one else had seen anything or heard anything. I can still feel it on my left foot if I stop to think about it.
6) During the evening, my friend Jen and I decided to go to the guest room on the main floor where the two Stillinger girls had been sleeping.
Jen had brought children's books and toys along with her to try interacting with the kids. As we entered the room, Jen and I both saw a "shadow" in the corner near the closet; however, it wasn't like a normal shadow. It was black and blocked the view of what was behind it. It quickly disappeared as we entered the room. It happened so fast, we both looked at each other and Jen asked if I had seen that - I confirmed I did. I was nervous about being in the room after that but I stayed positive hoping it was either the kids or just our imaginations. We sat on the bed and decided to try recording for EVPs. We read the kids a story and decided to leave the toys Jen brought in that room including a small ball. The next day after Jen got home, she called me. She asked me if I had put the ball back in her bag. I said I never went back into that room the rest of the time there. Everyone says they never put the toys back in her bag, but somehow that ball went home with Jen.
That's all that I personally experienced at the house. I do believe it's haunted and most definitely filled with residual energy.
I have included some pictures from that night including the large orb over the house (I personally have never had another photo with an orb like THAT in it, FYI).
Don't you think the outside windows for the attic on the east side look like another certain famously haunted house?
Those stairs are super narrow and super steep too!
These are the Parents' Room
These are the Moore Kids' Room
We want to thank Heather so much for sending us her fantastic story and photos. Giving us the creeps for days, thanks friend!!
