Episode 73: The Ball: A Kitchen Table Historian Short Story
In 1912, a horrific murder took place in Villisca, Iowa. Some people say the spirits of the victims still remain. After seeing the ball, I might just be a believer myself.
The Ball: A Kitchen Table Historian Short Story
Villisca is a sleepy town in southwest Iowa. While there’s not much there now, it’s still full of the reminders of a much more prosperous and prestigious past. There are many beautiful and well-kept Victorian and Queen Anne houses, and the town square, the heart of the town, is comprised of turn of the century …
A KTH Short Story: Music from Beyond
When you wander around the dark by yourself for hours at a time, sooner or later you start to wonder what might be out there in the dark with you. During my senior year at Iowa State University, I worked as a campus security officer. While I was keeping an eye out for people doing …
Episode 72: KTH Shortcast: Music from Beyond
In this short story that your grandma didn’t want you to hear, a campus security officer has a brush with the supernatural at a midwestern university. What happened to them on that long ago night?
Episode 71: The Body on the Island: The Final Days of Margaret Treese
In 1947, a woman’s mutilated body was found on Credit Island, near Davenport, Iowa. Little did investigators know, the case was going to be one of the most brutal crimes in the history of the region. Sources “Margaret Beatrice Treese” – Iowa Cold Cases – Margaret Treese “The Tattooed Lady: …
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The Body on the Island: The Final Days of Margaret Treese
George Whitbeck pointed to the patch of grass where he had found the body that morning. The photographer for one of the local papers had asked him to pose for a picture, indicating the place where it had been. He did his best, standing still, feet together, pointing. When he had driven onto Credit Island …
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Episode 70: The Body in the River: A 1911 Murder in Fort Wayne, Indiana
When two children found a body floating in the river, Fort Wayne, Indiana, police were baffled. The man had clearly been murdered, but there was no identification on the body. Their search for who he was would begin a mystery that lasts to this day. Sources Directory of Deceased American Physicians, …
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The Body in the River: A 1911 Murder in Fort Wayne, Indiana
When Steve Lanigan first saw the bloated shape floating in the St. Mary’s River, he wasn’t sure what it was. Neither was his companion, Joe Redmenski. They had both played at the Fort Wayne dump before, but they had never seen anything like that. And that was what made it so much more exciting. The …
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Episode 69: The Missing Bell – The Clinton County, Iowa Courthouse War
Courthouses were a big boost for the economies of frontier towns, and they were willing to do nearly anything to get them. When a long-running courthouse feud started again in Clinton County, Iowa, in the mid-1800’s, a group of local citizens decided to not take these insults lying down.
The Missing Bell – The Clinton County, Iowa Courthouse War
Courthouses are, without a doubt, iconic structures within our civilized societies. However, many people would probably be shocked to discover the lengths – both legal and illegal – that pioneers would go to in order to get one To many people, courthouses represent justice. They promise us law and order, that we will be judged …
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