There’s no better time to tell ghost stories than on crisp, cool nights of fall—perhaps around a crackling campfire or in a spooky forest. Here are a few true crime stories to add to your Halloween storybook…if you dare!
H.H. Holmes Murder Castle: Like Hotel California, only real
Imagine a hotel with a reputation so deadly that TripAdvisor would have to create a “Haunted” category just for it, and you’ve got Dr. H.H. Holmes’ Murder Castle. Located in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago, Holmes’ hotel was allegedly built for one very sinister purpose. Yep, you guessed it: Murder.
More trapdoors than a Scooby Doo villain’s lair. This wasn’t your typical B&B. Built during the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, the three-story hotel contained retail spaces and a drugstore on the first floor, which gave the business legitimacy. The upper floors, however, were a nightmarish maze of windowless rooms, some soundproofed, some equipped with gas lines for asphyxiation, and others with hidden trapdoors that sent unsuspecting victims barreling down the basement.
Victims in the Shadows: Holmes preyed mostly on women. He would charm them, promise them a room for the night or even a job—and then it was literally lights out. He subjected his victims to horrific experiments, torture, and eventually murder.
Deathly Disposal: Holmes used myriad macabre methods to dispose of his victims’ bodies: Dissolving them in acid-filled vats, dissecting some in his basement laboratory, and even selling skeletons to medical schools. No one knows for sure how many people he killed, but estimates range from as low as 20 to more than 200 victims.
Holmes’ Demise: Holmes tried to burn down the building to collect the insurance money, but when that failed, he fled toward Texas, where he hoped to open a second location. However, he was arrested before he could—not for murder, but for insurance fraud. A search of his property led to the discovery of several partially destroyed bodies. Holmes was eventually hanged in 1896 and buried in a coffin filled with cement that was then encased with more cement, per his request.
The Candyman: Because Nothing Says “Trick or Treat” Like Cyanide
Remember when your parents used to check your trick-or-treat candy before you were allowed to have any, just in case someone tampered with it? This long-lived practice isn’t based on an urban legend or mere parental paranoia. The twisted tale of the Candyman has left a long-lasting sour—or, more accurately, bitter—taste in the mouths of trick-or-treaters everywhere.
A Diabolical Scheme: Father of two Ronald O’Bryan had his own plans for trick or treat night in 1974. Deep in debt, he decided to lace Pixy Stix with cyanide and give them to his kids in order to cash in on their brand-new life insurance policies. He added some poison to their friends’ treats as well, in an attempt to deflect suspicion.
The Tragic Trick: Ronald’s 8-year-old son Timothy ate his Pixy Stix before bed. When he complained it tasted bitter, Daddy Dearest gave him some delicious Kool-Aid to wash it down. Within an hour of consuming the tainted candy, the boy fell fatally ill and was rushed to the hospital. Though Timothy couldn’t be saved (he had reportedly consumed enough cyanide to kill two people!), the news spread quickly across the Texas neighborhood, saving other children from ingesting the poisoned Pixy Stix. Another child nearly fell victim to his trap, but luckily was unable to open the tube to get its contents.
Unmasking the Monster: Within a few days, investigators learned that Ronald had recently taken out life insurance policies on both of his children. Worse yet, a local professor came forward to report that Ronald had spoken to him about the dangerous effects of cyanide, and someone else reported someone matching Ronald’s description had tried to purchase the poison from his chemical company.
A Grisly End: The following year, O’Bryan was convicted and sentenced to death on one count of murder and four counts of attempted murder. In 1984, after nearly a decade of appeals, he was executed by lethal injection.
Lynette Ledford and the Toolbox Killers: DIY for the Demented
Long before the era of Pinterest, Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris set a whole new standard for DIY gone wrong. Also known as the Toolbox Killers, these two sadistic serial killers made their own twisted toolkit for terror in the late ’70s. The Halloween murder of Lynette Ledford brought their killing spree to an end, and her gruesome ordeal is a reminder that even the most innocent-looking tools can turn into weapons in the wrong hands.
Devising a Plan: The depraved pair picked up dozens of hitchhikers along the California highway in early 1979. These 20-some women did not become victims; rather, the would-be killers were practicing their technique for picking up unsuspecting victims and scouting for remote locations where they would later dump bodies.
The Sharpest Tools in the Toolkit: Bittaker and Norris built a toolbox of terror equipped with heavy-duty tape, hammers, pliers, coat hangers, and ice picks—which they used to kidnap, rape, torture, and kill at least five young women.
The Last Hitchhiker: Lynette Ledford was just 16 when the Toolbox Killers picked her up on the side of the road on Halloween night in 1979. Ledford recognized one of them, who was a regular at the restaurant where she worked as a waitress. The pair tape-recorded her torture and dumped her body in plain view, allegedly to see how the media would respond.
The Final Nail in the Coffin: Less than a month after Lynette’s death, Norris bragged to an old prison friend about the crimes. Shaken by what he heard, the friend reconsidered his life choices and decided to turn him in to police. The audio recording of Lynette’s abuse was reportedly the most damning evidence presented at trial. Norris, who accepted a plea deal in exchange for his testimony against his co-conspirator, was sentenced to life in prison; his partner was sentenced to death. Both have since died: Bittaker succumbed to natural causes in late 2019, and Norris followed a few months later.
Cover photo by James Kemp on Unsplash
