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For this investigation, the GA team heads to a location I’ve never heard of before, the Vallisca Ax Murders house, which was a very grizzly murder scene back in 1912. An entire family was murdered in the home for unknown reasons by a person who has never been caught. 6 children and 2 adults were beaten to death with an axe right after they came home from church. It’s so shocking it’s almost hard to believe.

It’s a small house that seems to sit in a normal community. But as Zak finds out, the house seems restless and those who are familiar with it feel completely overwhelmed by what lurks inside. Zak also interviews other investigators who feel the house is covered in a dark energy. The investigators have been scratched and reportedly got a voice saying the spirit lurking in the house is named "Legion".

As Zak conducts his interviews, he talks with two sisters who used to live in the house (tell me that doesn’t make your hair stand on end). They claim to have heard children’s voices and that they felt a presence while they lived there. While talking they head upstairs to the bedrooms where Zak is greeted by a clown doll he can’t get away from. He can’t even look at the blasted thing! But on a serious note, as they stand in the bedroom Linda begins to have a mild breakdown. She is overwhelmed with emotion and grief and doesn’t want to be in the house. Oddly, her sister who is downstairs all but runs out of the house and begins to have a breakdown of her own. She hates being in the house and wants nothing more to do with it. We see her wandering the street trying to compose herself. Nothing actually happens, but she just can’t stand to be there.

They do a lot of digging into the background of the murder and find there were several suspects. There was a Reverend Kelly who actually confessed to the crime but the jury ignored the confession. There is also Andy Sawyer, but they were never able to prove anything against him. Quite frankly the events sound like Amityville and Lizzy Borden all rolled into one. There are several suspects, no witnesses, some mishandled evidence, no motive and clues that lead in all sorts of directions.

The guys even bring in an axe which they borrowed from the museum which could be the actual murder weapon. That is some pretty creepy business right there.

They also bring in Roy Marshall who has worked closely with the case for years. He is very well versed in the investigation and has even written a book about the subject. He is also a skeptic , but is interested in any additional information to solve the murders.

To start things off they go with an EVP session. Roy listens in for voices or other noises. Things are pretty uneventful, but when they decide to go over the recordings of the last hour while Roy is still there they feel they capture a voice saying "I killed six kids". It takes a long time to bring that to the surface and multiple people guessing, so it could just be filling in the blanks. Strangely with Roy there they get no EVPs, but once he is done for the night they seem to pick up.

One thing that they totally seemed to skip over was the sound of footsteps and then a door closing. This was caught clear as can be on the IR camera and I have to say it freaked me out completely. I am actually quite shocked at how nonchalant they were about the whole thing. They didn’t go check it out, didn’t try to debunk it, didn’t go up there and do an EVP session. They simply make note of it and move on. I mean that really looks like a door slamming shut for no reason.

Putting that piece of evidence aside they break out the spirit box and claim to get the name of Lena, the name of one of the murdered girls. They also get the name Paul, the name of one of the murdered boys. There is also a voice saying that "everyone’s fine". For a big finale they ask who the murderer was and they get a name of Andy. And Sawyer was a suspect. Is this all just wishful thinking or are they really getting words from beyond? Are the kids actually saying who murdered them?

At this point the guys split up and Aaron heads down to the cellar while Zak heads up to the attic with the axe. After wandering around in the attic, Zak props up the axe, then lays down beneath it, and demands the evil entity swing it at him. I will readily admit, that scared the crap out of me. Had that axe moved even a fraction I probably would have soiled myself. The tension of those couple of minutes was just about unbearable.

While up there they claim to get EVPs of "we’re gonna keep them in the dark", "cause they don’t step in heaven yet" and "yer gonna give up blood". Some odd and sinister phrases for kids to be blurting out if that is indeed what’s going on.

Down in the cellar, Aaron is talking to the kids and they say the bad man is upstairs. Is something upstairs with Nick and Zak? Is Zak lucky to be alive by taunting someone with that axe?

They bring the investigation to a close, and although there was no physical contact in any way there does seem to be a lot of stuff going on in the house. Did they really capture something? Things seemed quiet with Roy, but then picked up, so what does that tell us?

I really don’t know what to say about the evidence, but this was by far the creepiest and most exciting episode the guys have done in a long time. This was an on the edge of your seat investigation. If there was a location that needed more time, this was it.

But I have to say there is some disappointment too.

I have no idea why they didn’t investigate the door slamming upstairs since that to me was the biggest evidence of the night. I normally discount EVPs since they are so subjective and so easy to manipulate, but if the ones from this location are to be believed it gives me the chills. Could the children still be stuck in the house after all these years? Do they really know who killed them?

Honestly I wish they would have stuck around done more of an investigation. I really hope they come back to this one again someday. The place is absolutely fascinating and in a rare change I think they got some evidence that is worth a second look. There is a lot more to be investigated about this place.

This is by far the best episode of the season.

A bit of additional information in case you’re interested:

http://www.prairieghosts.com/villisca.html

Other Articles of Interest:

• Ghost Adventures – Fort Chaffee – S04E10
• Ghost Adventures – Rolling Hills Asylum – s04e02
• The Dead Files – Terror in the Shadows – S01E03
• Paranormal Cops – Stirring Up The Dead – S01E03
• Ghost Adventures – Amargosa Opera House – S04E11
• Ghost Adventures – Black Dahlia House – S12E01
• Paranormal State – Bedroom Eyes – S05E13
• Ghost Adventures – Sacramento Tunnels – S04E23
• Ghost Adventures – Washoe Club and Chollar Mine
• Ghost Adventures – Salem Witch House – S04E19

The Ghost Adventures Team heads off to Old Fort Erie in Canada where a bloody battle took place between American and British troops. In 1814, during a confrontation between the troops, 1,000 men were killed in the first two hours of fighting and by the end of the first day, 4,000 had lost their lives. Men were devastated by cannonballs, as well as a massive explosion that killed hundreds of men almost instantaneously when a powder keg exploded. Bodies were stacked several men deep in the ditches. The death would be overwhelming.

There are also tales of Captain Kingsley who died in his bed and pushes out the men who come into his room. He seems more fond of the ladies as he sticks around to touch their hair. Another tale involves a Sergeant who lost his head while getting a shave outside. The cannonball killed him and blew off the arms of his barber.

And there is the Sally Port where men found bones of the dead during a restoration of the Fort. But since they didn’t have time to look for the rest of the remains, the legend goes that they ground up what they did find and mixed it with the mortar.

Speaking of bodies, there is also the homeowner who found 28 bodies on his property while excavating the land to build his new house. Obviously the dead are scattered all over the place.

The investigation gets underway with Zak putting a PX device in a cannonball and placing it near where the powder keg exploded. They get the words "up" and "he’s up there" on the device. Of course, I’m no more fond of this device than their previous boxes that do the same thing. There just isn’t any evidence or true explanation of how it works.

There is an EVP of "kill ’em" as Zak is talking about Daryl, the docent who volunteers his time. And there is very slight and very short EMF spike. Hard to say if that is really of any significance.

Moving on to the big part of the night, the guys bring in Daryl as a trigger object since he works there, has ancestors who died in the battle and has seen shadow figures himself at the fort. As he is standing in the kitchen by himself with the voice recorder there is a large shadow figure on the wall of what looks like a full arm. The hands look a little claw like I must say, so this looks rather creepy. So is that the real deal? Did they really capture something there? It certainly scares the hell out of Daryl and he takes off right after that.

I really don’t know what to think about that thing. It could certainly be some compelling stuff, but if I do have a complaint it’s that it almost looks too good. It’s almost a little too clear and too easy to see. It’s very odd though.

Zak follows up and puts a voice recorder in the room and gets "let them eat" as a response. He thinks that is significant. I guess it has something to do with the kitchen and food, but it seems pretty random to me.

Even though it looks like the kitchen is going to be a hotbed of activity, not much else happens. Daryl and Aaron head off to the Port Sally while Nick heads to Capt Kingsley’s room.

Aaron claims to hear footsteps while he is in there, but there is not much activity. There certainly isn’t the smell of fire and brimstone that has made 14 people quit over the years.

Nick doesn’t seem to have much going on in Capt Kingsley’s room, but he claims there is something in there and that he can hear talking. However, there is no pushing or shoving to make him leave the room as many people claim.

At the end of the lockdown they head to the exhibit where several bones are on display that were found by a homeowner as he was leveling the land to build his new home. They claim to get EVPs of "hit, war, yell, I’m here hit, horrible, killed for it". It’s certainly a lot of terms that could easily describe the war and what took place during the attack. Zak feels he is talking about having his bones on display.

The shadow is obviously the most interesting part of the episode. It’s really hard to say what’s going on there. Let’s be honest, faking that kind of a shadow would be easy, but, if that were the real deal it would be really remarkable. Daryl was on his own, no lights were one in the room. Daryl sees something, but he’s not sure what. Do we have some trickery or some wild proof?

The other EVPs really don’t interest me and the voices from the PX are things I will discount. They are interesting, but I don’t have confidence in that device. But again, a very interesting episode that could have some very compelling evidence.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Haunted Collector – Bare Bones and Octagon Haunting – S02E08
• Ghost Adventures – Fort McArthur Museum – S09E07
• Expedition Unknown – The Sultan’s Heart – S02E11
• Deadly Possessions – Ed Geins Cauldron and The Crying Boy Paintings – S01E05
• Paranormal Lockdown – Monroe House – S02E01
• Ghost Adventures – Vulture Mine – S04E07
• Haunted Highway – Island of Lost Souls – S02E01
• Destination Truth – Ghosts of Masada/The Leprechaun S03E10
• Haunted Towns – McDonough GA – S01E08
• Haunted Towns – Fall River MA – Lizzie Borden House – S01E07