 Ads heard during the podcast that are not in my voice are placed by third-party agencies outside of my control and should not imply an endorsement by Weird Darkness or myself. Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and is intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised. Depending on the circumstances and mental state of mind, it does happen that people sometimes freak out. In most cases, there is a logical and scientific explanation that can shed light on people's perplexing behavior, but there are also cases that baffle those who have researched the events. The Gorbell's Vampire Incident is a bizarre event that still remains unexplained. There are some theories that attempt to explain what caused hundreds of ordinary children to suddenly turn into vampire hunters. It was as if the kids had gone completely mad and nothing could stop them from haunting a monster that they were convinced was roaming the neighborhood. What on earth happened on that day? I'm Darren Marlar and this is Weird Darkness. Welcome, Weirdos. I'm Darren Marlar and this is Weird Darkness. Here you'll find stories of the paranormal, supernatural, legends, lore, the strange and bizarre, crime, conspiracy, mysterious, macabre, unsolved and unexplained. Coming up in this episode... Zachary Davis had a history of mental disturbance, but no one could have predicted the horrors he was truly capable of. When poor travelers are found dead in the frozen winter, could it be that there is something more to their story? Could they have been killed not by the cold, but by a demon of the snow? Southwest of Tombstone, Arizona are the remains of a simple adobe cabin, nicknamed the bloodiest cabin in Arizona. Oscar Beckwith was a hermit who lived in the woods in a small, squalid shack with no furnishings but a bunk, two stools and a stove, on which he cooked human flesh. Over the years, from ancient to more modern times, there have been a number of incredible cases of mass hysteria. Some are so unbelievable, it's difficult to understand how they happened at all. But first, we look at a specific case of what some believe was mass hysteria. What caused hundreds of Scottish children in the 1950s to suddenly become vampire hunters? We begin with the Gorbils Vampire. If you're new here, welcome to the show. While you're listening, be sure to check out WeirdDarkness.com for merchandise, my newsletter, to enter contests, to connect with me on social media. Plus, you can visit the Hope in the Darkness page if you're struggling with depression or dark thoughts. You can find all of that and more at WeirdDarkness.com. Now, bolt your doors, lock your windows, turn off your lights, and come with me into the Weird Darkness. Mass hysteria is not a new phenomenon. Derived from the Greek word for womb, hysteria has existed as a diagnosis for millennia, and the Gorbils Vampire incident is proof of it. On September 23, 1954, the Southern Necropolis Cemetery in Glasgow, Scotland was filled with hundreds of schoolchildren who were hunting a creature they referred to as a vampire with iron teeth. Equipped with stakes and knives, the youngsters suddenly turned into fearsome vampire hunters. The kids said the creature that later became known as the Gorbils Vampire was responsible for the disappearance of two boys from their school. Before embarking on the vampire hunt, the children tried to explain to adults that the vicious creature must be caught. They claimed this evil being was the one that had abducted and possibly even killed their friends. Adults listened to these wild and childish tales with amusement, but no one took the alleged vampire story seriously. When the children noticed that their parents and teachers were ignoring them, they took matters into their own hands. Secretly, they passed messages, arranged meetings, and produced weapons. The children plotted their attack carefully. Then they went to the cemetery where they believed the vampire was hiding and started looking for the elusive creature. When the police arrived at the scene to find out what was happening, they were shocked. Hundreds of children were running all over the cemetery. They were obviously fully determined to find the Gorbils Vampire and nothing was going to stop them. For hours, the police officers tried to remove the gangs of children from the Southern Necropolis. All attempts to move the children failed. Then it started to rain and the kids went home. Was it over? Had they overcome the Vampire Hysteria? No, certainly not. Hundreds of children continued to chase the Gorbils Vampire for the next two days. This extraordinary event gained worldwide coverage. What was happening in Glasgow? Who could be blamed for the children's Vampire Hysteria? As always, someone or something must be blamed and it was said that American horror comic books were the cause of this mass hysteria. In the book, The Gorbils Vampire, Cliff McCabe writes that there were no records of any missing children in Glasgow at the time and media reports of the incident began to search for the origins of the urban myth. The blame was quickly laid at the door of American comic books with chilling titles such as Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror, whose graphic images of terrifying monsters were becoming increasingly popular among Scottish youngsters. These comics, so the theory went, were corrupting the imaginations of children and inflaming them with fear of the unknown. The situation was so serious that a campaign was launched and the case reached the parliament where it was championed by Alice Cullen, Labour MP for the Gorbils. The bizarre Gorbils Vampire incident resulted in the 1955 Children and Young Persons Harmful Publications Act being passed. The act still stands today. It should be added that other theories suggest the children were influenced by the book of Daniel, especially the passage that reads, Behold, a fourth beast dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly and it had great iron teeth. Another possibility was the kids were inspired by Jenny Wee, the iron teeth an old woman said to haunt Glasgow Green in the early 19th century. There was never any vampire living in or around the cemetery, but some books are simply not suitable for children and certain stories can be harmful for youngsters. The children hunting a vampire in Scotland is only one of numerous cases of mass hysteria. There are several ancient mass hysteria cases that show people can do outrageous things for no apparent reason. Mass hysteria is a term used to describe a situation in which various people all suffer from similar hysterical symptoms. This could be a phantom illness or an inexplicable event. The first documented case is recorded on an Egyptian papyrus dating from 1990 BC, reporting abnormal movements of the uterus that resulted in unusual mental and physical symptoms. In 1676, children living in an orphanage school in Holland suddenly started behaving like dogs. They were barking and crawling on the floor. According to theologian Balthazar Becker, who personally witnessed this unexplained behavior, the children would suddenly collapse and get a strange look in their eyes. They tugged and tore themselves, he said, striking at the ground with their legs and arms and even with their heads, crying, yelling and barking like dogs so that it was a terrifying thing to see. The children's behavior was explained as possession by the devil. People prayed in the churches across the city to save the children from the devil's clutches. Finally, the children were reunited with their families and everything went back to normal. A very baffling event took place during the Medieval period in Europe. In July of 1374, in Aachen, Germany, dozens of villages along the Rhine River were suddenly swept by a dancing plague called Coriomania. For no apparent reason, hundreds of people took to the streets, leaping, jerking and hopping to music. The strange thing was that no one else could hear the music except for those who danced. How was that possible? Another odd aspect of this story is that people didn't want to stop dancing. They didn't eat, drink or sleep. All they did was dancing, shouting and hallucinating for days. Sometimes, even when they fell, they continued to dance while they were on the ground. Obviously, they couldn't control their movements until, finally, their weakened bodies collapsed from exhaustion. This outbreak of dancing mania spread as far as France and lasted for several years, almost just as suddenly as it had come, though, it disappeared. The great Swedish witch panic lasted from 1664 to 1676 and was one of the most horrible incidents in Swedish history. According to ancient historical accounts, as a child lay sleeping, the witch who was usually a neighbor was said to enter the room after shrinking and crawling through the keyholes or walking through a door. The child was escorted to the roof and placed on the belly of a farm animal which was hovering upside down. Together, they flew to Blackula or Blue Hill and picked up more children on their way. Blackula was a legendary meadow where the devil held his earthly court during a witch's Sabbath. Flames from hell shot through a hole in the floor as people sat, eating, cursing and paying respect to the devil. The devil asked the child if he or she would serve him and all they could say was yes. The child's finger was cut and the devil took some blood. Later, the children were given gifts such as knives to kill their parents and books of curses. A witch brought the children home before the morning. Later, hundreds of children were convinced they had met the devil. The story is based on real events. More than 500 children witnessed that they had been abducted during the night by Satanists and taken to Blackula where devil worshipers held their annual meeting. Another odd case of mass hysteria striking France during the medieval period involved the case of the meowing nuns. In one very large convent, one nun suddenly started to meow like a cat. Soon afterwards, several other nuns also meowed. At last, all the nuns meowed together every day at a certain time for several hours. The whole surrounding Christian neighborhood heard, with equal chagrin and astonishment, this daily cat concert which did not cease until all the nuns were informed that a large group of soldiers were placed by the police before the entrance of the convent. The soldiers were provided with rods and were ordered to beat the nuns until they promised not to meow anymore. The nuns ceased with this odd behavior. A similar case also gripped a convent in Germany when a nun began biting her companions. Subsequently, it triggered a biting epidemic that spread to other convents and reached as far as Rome. A poisoning scare terrorized Milan, Italy in 1630, coinciding with pestilence, plague, and a prediction that the devil would poison the city's water supply. On one April morning, people awoke and became fearful upon finding that all the doors in the principal streets of the city were marked with a curious daub or spot. Soon there was alarm that the sign of the awaiting poisoning was at hand and the belief spread that corn and fruit had also been poisoned. Many people were executed. One elderly man was spotted wiping a stool before sitting on it when he was accused of smearing poison on the seat. He was seized by an angry mob of women and pulled by the hair to a judge, but died on the way. In another incident, a pharmacist and barber named Mora was found with several preparations containing unknown potions and accused of being in cahoots with the devil to poison the city. Protesting his innocence, he eventually confessed after prolonged torture on the rack, admitting to cooperating with the devil and foreigners to poisoning the city and anointing the doors. Under duress, he named several accomplices who were eventually arrested and tortured. They were all pronounced guilty and executed. The number of persons who confessed that they were employed by the devil to distribute poison is almost incredible. Day after day, persons came voluntarily forward to accuse themselves, knowing that execution would likely be the result. Okushmairi is a Japanese custom involving a pilgrimage to give thanks to the Sun Goddess by visiting the Ice Shrine. In 1771, a mixture of mass hysteria and ritual took place in Japan. Within four months, five million people visited the Ice Grand Shrine, a Shinto shrine dedicated to the goddess Amaterasu Makimi. People's odd behavior made the authorities very nervous. According to eyewitness accounts, outbreaks were characterized by collective frenetic dancing, crying, singing and obscene and bizarre behavior, including cross-dressing, amnesia and trance states. Similar incidents took place in 1830 and 1867. The cause of the mass hysteria was never determined, but it is believed the outbreaks were somehow related with the political situation in the country and fear of foreign powers. In 1835, journalist Richard A. Locke wrote an intriguing story revealing that the astronomer, Sir John Herschel, had perfected the world's strongest telescope in a South African observatory and had discovered various life forms on the moon, a two-legged beaver, a horned bear, miniature zebras and colorful birds among the animals. His most astonishing observation was that he could see human-like forms on the moon flying about with bat-like wings. The creatures were given the scientific name of vespertillo homo, meaning Batman. These beings were described with angelic innocence, peacefully coexisting with its fellow creatures in an environment apparently absent of carnivores. The story resulted in a series of six newspaper reports appearing in the New York Sun and it caused a worldwide sensation. One of the most well-known instances of mass hysteria in history is that which occurred in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. It all started when a group of young girls began to display bizarre behavior. The tight-knit community was at a loss to explain the convulsive seizures, blasphemous screaming, and trance-like states that afflicted the youngsters. The physicians called in to examine the girls could find no natural cause of the disturbing behavior. If the source of the affliction was not due to physical malady, then it must be the work of Satan, people reasoned. People living in the village began praying and fasting in order to rid itself of the devil's influence. The girls were pressured to reveal who in the community controlled their behavior. This led to the identification of three women who were later examined. One of them, a slave girl named Tidaba, confessed to seeing the devil who appeared to her sometimes like a hog and sometimes like a great dog. Even more troubling, Tidaba confessed that a conspiracy of witches permeated Salem Village. In March, the afflicted girls accused Martha Corey. The three women previously denounced as colluding with the devil were marginal to the community. Martha Corey was different. She was an upstanding member of the Puritan congregation. Her revelation as a witch demonstrated that Satan's influence reached to the very core of the community. Events snowballed as the accusatory atmosphere intensified and reached a fever pitch. During the period from March into the fall, many were charged, examined, tried, and condemned to death. The hangings started in June with the death of Bridget Bishop and continued through September. As winter approached, the hysteria played itself out as criticism of the procedures grew. In October, the colonial governor dissolved the local court of inquiry. The convictions and condemnations for witchery stopped. 19 victims of the witch hunt had already been hanged, though. One crushed to death under the weight of stones and at least four died in prison awaiting their trial. In another case, in the early 1800s, Hammersmith London was terrorized by a ghost that was haunting the local churchyard, the surrounding laneways and roads. The ghost was generally described the same way by all who encountered it. It was very tall and very white. The fear was so great that armed citizens started patrolling the area. That is until someone shot what they thought to be the ghost. With the year, now 1804, and the stories of the ghost continuing, armed citizens began to roam the streets in order to hunt down the ghost. On the 3rd of January that year, one of these citizens did come face to face with the ghost and such a tragedy played out. Francis Smith was patrolling the area with a loaded gun when he entered Black Lion Lane. As he made his way through the hedge-lined path, he spotted a white figure coming towards him. He called out to it, told it to stop, but when the figure continued coming towards him, Francis raised his firearm and fired. The white figure dropped to the ground. On closer inspection, Francis Smith realized he had just killed an innocent man, a bricklayer and plasterer by the name of Thomas Millwood. Later it turned out that the ghost was John Graham, an elderly shoemaker who took on the guys to frighten his apprentice. A poisoning mania struck France and Italy during the 1600s. In 1659, Pope Alexander VII was informed that great numbers of women had admitted to poisoning their husbands. One group of wives who met regularly to plot their deeds were arrested and punished. Three young women who poisoned their husbands were handed in to Rome. Up to 30 women were whipped publicly through the streets, and several were banished from the country. The punishments did not frighten other women, who continued to poison their husbands in France and Italy. Up next, Zachary Davis had a history of mental disturbance, but no one could have predicted the horrors he was truly capable of. When poor travelers are found dead in the frozen winter, could it be that there is something more to their story? Could they have been killed not by the cold, but by a demon of the snow? These stories and more when Weird Darkness returns. Strange creatures, gruesome murders, oozing organisms, unfathomable abductions, enigmatic expeditions, an age-old malevolence, and much more. Author JC Moore delivers a collection of dark horror tales that are both chilling and poignant. Dark Intrigue's Book One is filled with horror fiction for fans of short story anthologies, horror collections, ghost fiction, suspense, possession, and more. Dark Intrigue's Book One by JC Moore, available on Kindle or as an audiobook narrated by Darren Marlar. Find Dark Intrigue's Book One on the audiobooks page at WeirdDarkness.com. That's WeirdDarkness.com slash audiobooks. On August 10, 2012, the trajectory of an everyday middle-class family in Tennessee irreparably changed. 15-year-old Zachary Davis and a flurry of madness murdered his mother with a sledgehammer and attempted to burn his house down while his older brother was still inside. Even the courts debated as to whether the young man was deeply disturbed or simply pure evil. Zachary was a quiet boy who clearly had a history of mental illness. When his father Chris died of Amatrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease, in 2007, the nine-year-old Davis went into a tailspin. According to Gail Cron, Zach's paternal grandmother, the boy was taken to see a Dr. Bradley Freeman at Vanderbilt University Medical Center shortly after his father's passing. The psychiatrist noted that the boy certainly did suffer from some kind of mental defect. Zach claimed to hear voices and he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and depressive disorder. Although Zach was normally quiet, he was becoming even more withdrawn. In one of his four sessions with Dr. Freeman, Zachary claimed to hear the voice of his father. Psychologists recognize that experiencing a deep depression like the one Zachary had descended into after the death of a loved one, particularly at such a young age, is normal. While Zachary did go through the first two phases common in the bereavement process, including numbness and depression, he did not make it to the third, recovery. This is in part because perhaps his mother pulled him out of therapy shortly after he had begun. Indeed, even his grandmother would remark at his trial that had Zach receive the proper medical attention that he required, this may not have happened. The family instead moved to Sumner County, Tennessee to try and move on with their lives, or so they thought. Melanie worked hard as a paralegal and trained hard as a triathlete. She did her best to get past Chris's death and to keep her boys happy. Unbeknownst to her, her youngest son Zachary was beyond her grasp. The 15-year-old was an outcast among his peers. He often spoke in a monotone whisper and would wear the same hoodie every day. He had an app on his phone about serial killers and another that listed torture devices. His notebooks were writhe with such disturbing anecdotes as, You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter. He read the Stephen King novel Misery in played violent video games. It was not evident that he was outwardly violent, however, until that night, August 10, 2012. Zachary, his mother and 16-year-old brother Josh, went to a movie together. When they returned, packed several items into a backpack and satchel, including clothing, notebooks, a toothbrush, gloves, a ski mask, and a claw hammer. On the outside, it could have seemed as though Zachary was going to run away from home, but on the inside, something far more sinister was at play. Melanie went to bed at 9 p.m. When she was asleep, Zachary retrieved the sledgehammer from the basement and entered his mother's room. He bludgeoned her to death and struck her nearly 20 times. Then, drenched in her blood, Zachary closed her door, went to the family game room, and drenched that in whiskey and gasoline before setting it aflame. He shut the door and fled the house. He had intended to kill his brother Josh in the fire, but because he closed the door to the game room, the fire did not spread immediately, and the older brother was consequently awoken by a fire alarm. When he went to retrieve his mother, he found her a bloodied mess. Josh escaped the fire to a neighbor's house. Zach was found by authorities nearly 10 miles from his home. He told authorities that, I didn't feel anything when I killed her. In a videotaped confession presented as evidence to the court, Zachary Davis chillingly explained how the disembodied voice of his father told him to kill his mother. When asked by a detective in his confession if he could go back in time, would he still carry out the attack, Zach said that, I would probably kill Josh with a sledgehammer too. Defense attorney Randy Lucas asked during the trial, did he tell you to do anything specific to your mother? Zach said no and he showed no remorse when investigators presented him with pictures of his mother's blood-soaked body. In fact, he never showed any remorse at all. He said he chose a sledgehammer as the murder weapon because, I was worried that I'd miss and that this tool adding gave him the highest chance of killing her. At the trial, the jury was also presented with Zachary's interview with television personality Dr. Phil McGraw. McGraw asked, why did you kill her? And Zach said that, she wasn't taking care of my family. He laughed when he described how large and heavy the murder weapon was. He also laughed when he described the sound the sledgehammer made when connecting with his mother's head. It was a wet thumping sound. When asked why Zach hit his mother multiple times, the teen replied, I wanted to make sure she was dead. At one point in his trial, Zachary tried to blame the murder on his brother. The claim surprised even his defense attorney, who admitted openly in court that Zachary Davis killed his mother. The defense was merely trying to get a more lenient sentence for Davis, and trying to pin the crime on his brother didn't help his case. Judge D. David Gay said, you became evil, Mr. Davis. You went to the dark side. It's that plain and simple. The justice system and the 12-member jury grappled with the notion that while Zachary had clearly premeditated his mother's murder, it was also apparent that he was deeply unwell. Dr. McGraw tried to show compassion toward the teenager. When I look in your eyes, I don't see evil, I see lost. Zach's paternal grandmother appealed to his severe mental illness and the lack of help he received. Every teacher, every guidance counselor should have to stand trial with Zach, Cron said. Zach is not a monster. He's a child who made a horrible mistake. She believes Melanie failed to get Zach the help he needed, and that Melanie paid for the mistake with her life. Dr. Freeman, the psychiatrist who first diagnosed Zachary, also testified in court that his judgment was driven by his psychosis and that because of his mental illness could not have possibly premeditated the murders. The jury and judge did not feel the same, however, and Zach was sentenced to life in prison after a jury deliberated only three hours to reach a guilty verdict. A life sentence in Tennessee is a minimum of 60 years, with the possibility of parole after 51 years. Zachary Davis will be in his mid-60s by the time he might get out of prison. Whether the murder was cold-blooded or brought on by psychosis, it is, regardless, a tragic story of a family destroyed. Yuki Anna, or the Lady of the Snow, is an evil spirit lurking around and waiting for people lost in a snowstorm. She is a female demon and a symbol of death in Japanese mythology. Yuki Anna is far from being kind, attractive, and benevolent, and her attributes are not unlike that of a vampire. Yuki Anna, also called Yuki Joro, or Snow Woman, Yuki Anesa, Snow Sister, Yuki Bonba, Snow Baba, and Yuki Haim, Snow Princess, was once a pregnant woman who was not helped during the snowstorm. Unable to find shelter, she was covered with snow on the mountainside. Dying slowly from cold, she was very unhappy that no one wanted to help her and simply left her to die. Yuki Anna appears on snowy nights as a tall, beautiful woman with long black hair and blue lips. Her extremely pale, almost transparent skin makes her almost invisible in the snowy landscape and also to her victims. Despite her unusual beauty, she looks ghastly and eerie, and her eyes can terrify mortals. Sometimes, she is described as dressed in a kimono, and occasionally, she even appears naked. She floats across the snow, leaving no footprints. In some versions of Yuki Anna tales, she has no feet, which in Japanese beliefs means that she is a ghost. She can disguise herself into a cloud of mist or snow if threatened. In legends, Yuki Anna is Onryo, an evil ghost driven by vengeance, believed to be capable of harming and even killing. She takes revenge on people who did not help her in need. Even in different regions of Japan, there was an ancient belief in Yuki Anna, an evil and very deceptive demon. She is particularly dangerous for children when darkness falls and snow was accumulating on the ground. It is important that parents do not let their children outside. Legends say that during the snowstorm, the wind carries the laments and painful cries of the victims. A long time ago, there lived two woodcutters, Minokichi and Musaku. Minokichi was young, and Musaku was very old. One winter day, they could not come back home because of a snowstorm. They found a hut in the mountain and decided to sleep there. On this particular evening, Minokichi woke up and found a beautiful lady with white clothes. She breathed on old Musaku and he was frozen to death. She then approached Minokichi to breathe on him, but stared at him for a while and said, I thought I was going to kill you, the same as that old man, but I will not because you are young and beautiful. You must not tell anyone about this incident. If you tell anyone about me, I will kill you. Several years later, Minokichi met a beautiful young lady named Oyuki, or Snow, and married her. She was a good wife. Minokichi and Oyuki had several children and lived happily for many years. Mysteriously, she never aged. One night after the children were asleep, Minokichi said to Oyuki, Whenever I see you, I am reminded of a mysterious incident that happened to me when I was young. I met a beautiful young lady like you. I do not know if it was a dream or if she was a Yukiana. After finishing his story, Oyuki suddenly stood up and said, That woman you met was me. I told you that I would kill you if you ever told anyone about that incident. However, I can't kill you because of our children. Take care of our children. Then she melted and vanished without a trace, and no one saw her again. When Weird Darkness returns, Southwest of Tombstone, Arizona are the remains of a simple adobe cabin nicknamed the bloodiest cabin in Arizona. Oscar Beckwith was a hermit who lived in the woods at a small, squalid shack with no furnishings, but a bunk, two stools, and a stove on which he cooked human flesh. These stories are up next. Behind the scenes video updates about future projects and events I'm working on. You can share your own opinions on ideas to help me decide upon Weird Darkness contests and events. You can hear audiobooks I'm narrating before even the publishers or authors get to hear them. You also receive bonus audio of other projects I'm working on outside of Weird Darkness. You get all of these benefits and more, starting at only $5 per month. Join the Weird Darkness Syndicate at WeirdDarkness.com slash syndicate. That's WeirdDarkness.com slash syndicate. When thinking of gunslingers, murder, the gold rush, and ghosts, one can't help but to think of Tombstone, Arizona, where the wildest of the West was fought. But Southwest of Tombstone, in Cochise County, are the remains of a simple adobe cabin by the name of Bronco's Cabin, nicknamed the bloodiest cabin in Arizona. Bronco's Cabin is the scene of at least 21 deaths, with many of those who died buried on the property. Built in 1858 by Frederick Bronco, a man from Germany who had worked for the Sonora Exploring and Mining Company before starting his own San Pedro Silver Mine with his partners John Moss, the chemist and two other miners, James and his brother William Williams. They employed a cook, David Bontrager, and hired Mexican workers, and for a while they found success. Unfortunately, their workers turned on them, killing John Moss and James Williams as well as Frederick Bronco, who was killed with his own rock drill to the abdomen. William Williams escaped because he was in Fort Buchanan getting flour when the murders happened. He is the one who found the bodies. David Bontrager had been kidnapped by the workers and eventually let go because they believed him to be a good Catholic. He was initially suspected of the murders, but was later cleared. The next claimant of Bronco's Cabin was Milton Duffield, the first appointed U.S. Marshal in Arizona once it became a territory. He was known to always be armed and to have a temper. After retiring, he became the owner of Bronco's Cabin. Unfortunately, a man named James T. Holmes also believed that he was the owner of the cabin. When Duffield arrived to evict Holmes, Holmes feared he was armed and shot Duffield dead. Duffield was buried at Bronco's Cabin. Holmes was sentenced to three years in prison. Other owners, Sidney R. DeLonge and his partners, N. M. Rogers and Tom Jeffords, also became owners of Bronco's Cabin. Sadly, Rogers was killed by Apaches and two others were also found killed. In 1877, the father of Tombstone, Ed Scheifelin, lived there and used it as a permanent camp. Supposedly, he used the fireplace in the cabin to test samples. He told a soldier of his find and the soldier stated the only rock Scheifelin would collect there would be a Tombstone. Scheifelin filed his claim under Tombstone. In 1879, the city took the name officially. Thankfully, Scheifelin was not one of the victims of Bronco's Cabin. Other deaths include five thieves who hid out at Bronco's Cabin who fought over how to divide their stolen treasures. Their pursuers found them dead after they all shot each other. They were also buried there near the cabin. There were also a few who were killed by Apaches. Besides these deaths, there have been numerous shootings and even one story about a man who was killed and thrown into a well. With all of this bloodshed, it earned its nickname as the bloodiest cabin in Arizona, but with reports of paranormal happenings surrounding it, it is still a frightening place. People have reported uneasy feelings, apparitions, including the ghost of the man who walks around the property but once you try to approach him, he fades, and ghostly noises including machinery from the mines. Multiple paranormal investigators have some very interesting videos where they have spoken with ghosts through digital means. Unfortunately, Bronco's Cabin has been ravaged by time. It is in ruins and the desert is eating away at what is left. You can visit, though I do recommend you be safe, but there are people who don't believe even the ruins will be there in a few years. So if you have put this place on your bucket list, I suggest you see it soon, because if not, Bronco's Cabin may soon be swept away in the sands of time. Simon Vander Cook was a 55-year-old eccentric wanderer from Lansingburg, New York, a fortune-seeker who relatives said was always filled with utopian schemes. In 1882, he claimed he had discovered gold outside of Alford in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Berkshire County had several small iron mines with marble and other minerals found there as well, so a gold discovery was not considered impossible. Vander Cook purchased the land for his gold strike from Oscar Beckwith in exchange for shares in the company he formed to mine the gold. If Vander Cook had actually discovered gold, the mine was not producing enough to sustain full-time operation, and he earned money by cutting trees on the property and selling the lumber. Beckwith believed he had been swindled and threatened to sue Vander Cook. Oscar Beckwith was a 72-year-old hermit who lived in the woods just across the border in Austerlitz, New York. He had a small, squalid shack with no furnishings but a stove, a bunk, and two stools, situated in an isolated spot under a ledge of rock. In spite of his age, Beckwith was strong and powerful, described as a desperate man who had served time for stealing horses. Vander Cook boarded at a farm near Alford, Massachusetts, owned by Harrison Cawkins. He left there the morning of January 10, 1882 to pay a call on Oscar Beckwith, and he never returned. Cawkins went to Beckwith's shack to look for Vander Cook, and as he approached, he could smell burning flesh. When Beckwith came out to meet him, Cawkins said, For God's sake, what are you burning? Nothing but some pork rinds, Beckwith responded. He said Vander Cook had left with a man from Green River, New York, and would not be back until March. Cawkins remained suspicious and returned the next day to find that Beckwith had fled, and inside the shack were the mutilated remains of Simon Vander Cook. The back was split down between the ribs, and the other portions were sawed and cut up. The bowels and intestines were in a basket, strips of flesh were on the bed, and an arm and leg lay on the floor alongside a blood-stained axe. In the stove, were the charred bones of his head, feet and arms. The coroner ruled that Beckwith had murdered Vander Cook, but there were no funds available to pursue the killer. The town of Alfred offered a $500 reward for his capture. The governor of New York also offered $500, and the sheriff of Columbia County offered $250. The rewards generated several arrests on suspicion, but Beckwith had already fled to Canada. With no news of Beckwith's whereabouts, the newspapers began publishing local rumors. It was alleged that Vander Cook's liver was found in Beckwith's frying pan, and part of it was missing. It appeared to some that Beckwith had washed Vander Cook's flesh and was preparing to salt it down to sustain him during the winter. It was not hard to believe that Beckwith was a cannibal. He was known to have indiscriminate eating habits. A stage driver who knew him said Beckwith had eaten a horse that died of disease. As rumors of Beckwith's cannibalism became public, the stories became more extravagant. A woman named Mrs. Wolsey Peck had gone to Pigbury's near Beckworth's Shack a few years earlier and had never returned. Perhaps Beckwith had murdered and eaten her. It was stated that Beckwith had a fondness for human flesh, especially that of Native American women. He became known as the cannibal of Austerlitz. Beckwith remained at large until 1885. Detective J. B. Gildersleeve of Columbia County tracked him throughout Canada and finally captured him in Bracebridge, Ontario. He brought Beckwith back to New York to stand trial. Oscar Beckwith was tried in Hudson, New York and convicted of the first degree murder of Simon Vander Cook. However, a succession of appeals, retrials, and lunacy hearings led to five more trials before Beckwith was ultimately convicted and sentenced to hang in 1888. Through six trials, Beckwith's alleged cannibalism was never mentioned. Beckwith was hanged in Hudson, New York, March 1, 1888. It would be New York's last execution by hanging and, at the age of 78, Beckwith would be the oldest man to hang in New York State. A modern gallows was shipped to Hudson in pieces from New York City. It was guaranteed to break the condemned man's neck quickly and cleanly, but they hadn't factored in the old man's toughness. Beckwith swung for 18 minutes before dying. WeirdDarkness.com is also where you can find all of my social media, listen to free audiobooks I've narrated, visit the store for Weird Darkness t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, phone cases, and more merchandise, sign up for monthly contests, find other podcasts that I host, and find the Hope in the Darkness page if you or someone you know is struggling with depression or dark thoughts. Also on the website, if you have a true paranormal or creepy tale to tell, you can click on Tell Your Story. You can find all of that and more at WeirdDarkness.com. All stories in Weird Darkness are purported to be true unless stated otherwise, and you can find source links or links to the authors in the show notes. The Gorbell's Vampire is by Cynthia McKenzie for Message to Eagle. Ancient cases of mass hysteria was posted at ancient pages. The disturbing story of Zachary Davis is by William DeLong for All That's Interesting. Demon of the Snow is by A. Sutherland for Ancient Pages. Brunkhouse Cabin is by Amanda Penn. And The Cannibal of Austerlitz was written by Robert Wilhelm for Murder by Gaslight. Weird Darkness is a production and trademark of Marlar House Productions. And now that we're coming out of the dark, I'll leave you with a little light. Romans 16 verses 17 and 18. I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you've learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery, they deceive the minds of naive people. And a final thought from C. S. Lewis. Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, what, you too? I thought I was the only one. I'm Darren Marlar. Thanks for joining me in the Weird Darkness. Hey Weirdos, be sure to click the like button and subscribe to this channel and click the notification bell so you don't miss future videos. I post videos seven days a week. 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