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Top Terrifying-But-True Horror Stories Reported in the News

Sure, a scary movie, book, or program can get your heart racing in the moment, but you can rest comfortable afterwards knowing that what you witnessed was a work of fiction. What's scarier is when the actual world becomes creepier than anything Stephen King could conjure up.

Real fear occurs all around us every day, even if it doesn't always make it into your newsfeed. Murders, disappearances, demonic possession, and devil worship aren't simply fiction from a writer's imagination; they're news headlines.

We've compiled a list of some of the most horrific and inexplicable real-world stories below.

The Axe Murder House

The Villisca Axe Murder House in Villisca, Iowa is a popular tourist destination for both ghost seekers and horror fans. The location of a brutal unsolved 1912 murder in which six children and two adults had their skulls totally smashed by an unknown perpetrator's axe was acquired in 1994, restored to its 1912 form, and made into a tourist attraction. Staying at the ancient haunted house costs $428 per night, and tourists frequently claim unusual paranormal encounters, such as images of a guy with an axe wandering the hallways or faint screams of children.

The haunting, however, took a worse turn in November of 2014. Robert Steven Laursen Jr., 37, of Rhinelander, Wisconsin, was on a routine recreational paranormal visit with friends when he experienced genuine terror. According to VICE:

His companions found him stabbed in the chest—an apparently self-inflicted wound—called 9-1-1, and Laursen was brought to a nearby hospital before being helicoptered to Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha.

According to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, Laursen received the self-inflicted injury about 12:45 a.m., around the time the 1912 axe murders in the home began.

Laursen was able to recuperate from his injuries, but he has never talked publicly about what happened that day. The event was unpleasant for the home's owner, Martha Linn. "It's publicity, but it's not the type of publicity you're looking for." I don't want people to assume that if they come to the Villisca Axe Murder House, something will happen that would force them to do anything like that.” Today, the home is accessible for tourist visits and overnight stays.

The Haunted Doll

When you think of haunted dolls, you often think of the eerie old Victorian-looking porcelain variety. None of which you're likely to have lying around. However, don't get too comfy with any children's toys too soon: a Disney's Frozen Elsa doll that was given as a present for Christmas 2013 in the Houston region made news earlier this year when it appeared to be haunted.

The doll recited phrases from the movie Frozen and sang “Let It Go” when a button on its necklace was pressed.

“For two years it did that in English,” mother Emily Madonia said. “In 2015, it started doing it alternating between Spanish and English. There wasn’t a button that changed these, it was just random."

The family has owned the doll for more than six years and never changed its batteries. The mother says the doll would randomly begin to speak and sing even with its switch turned off.

In December of 2019, the family decided to get rid of the scary doll. They discovered it inside a bench in their living room weeks later. “The kids said they didn't put anything there, and I believed them because they wouldn't have searched through the rubbish outside,” Madonia explained to KPRC2 Houston News.

Elsa stopped singing the English version of "Let It Go" at that moment, speaking only Spanish when pressed. The strange doll was then double-bagged and placed at the bottom of the family's rubbish, which was carried out on garbage day. They went on a trip soon after, but when they returned, Elsa had also returned and was waiting for them in their garden.

Elsa was shipped to a family friend in Minnesota, who fastened the haunting doll to the front bumper of his truck this time. According to Madonia's most recent February Facebook update on the scary doll, it does not appear to have found its way back to Houston.

A Dangerous Exorcism

Kennedy Ife, 26, of North London, began acting strangely and aggressively in August 2016 after experiencing throat pain. Before his family confined him to a bed using wire ties and severe force, he allegedly bit his father, threatened to chop off his own penis, and spoke of a python or snake inside of him.

According to the BBC:

“The family then set about attempting to ‘cure’ Kennedy through restraint and prayer over the next three days, the court was told.”

His brother, Colin Ife, told police:

“It’s clear that thing was in him, what we believed was a demon because it was not natural. It was clearly trying to kill him,” he said.

“We had to restrain him for himself. It was clear if we didn’t restrain him, he could have tried to harm people in our family.”

Kennedy Ife had been chained to his bed for three days without medical treatment when his brother contacted 911, saying that he was suffering from dehydration. He looked to be having respiratory problems and was pronounced deceased at 10:17 a.m.

According to The Independent:

While police were at the house Colin Ife allegedly carried out an “attempted resurrection” by chanting and praying for Mr. Ife.

Kennedy Ife had been chained to his bed for three days without medical treatment when his brother contacted 911, saying that he was suffering from dehydration. He looked to be having respiratory problems and was pronounced deceased at 10:17 a.m.

According to The Independent:

Kenneth Ife told jurors he ordered his sons to take shifts and use "overwhelming force" but denied that an "association with cults, occults and secret societies" played any part in the death.

After a four day jury deliberation, all seven family members were cleared of charges on March 14, 2019.