Episode 55
The Letter Postmarked From HELL
Up nextBack to the full archiveThe documented facts
- The Axeman of New Orleans terrorized the city in 1918 and 1919, chiseling out back door panels, killing with the victims' own axes, and stealing nothing. He was never caught.
- A letter dated Hell, March 13, 1919, published by the Times-Picayune, claimed to be from the Axeman. It professed a fondness for jazz and promised to spare anyone playing jazz at a quarter past midnight on Saint Joseph's night, March 19, 1919. Its true authorship was never verified.
- On March 19, 1919, New Orleans erupted in music. Dance halls, bars, and homes played jazz all night. The Axeman did not strike that night.
- The first victims were grocers Joseph Maggio and his wife Catherine in May 1918. The attacks ended in 1919, the last known victim Mike Pepitone on October 27, 1919, and the killer was never identified.
The Draugr does not invent. He documents.
Episode 55 case file
The facts
- The Axeman of New Orleans terrorized the city in 1918 and 1919, chiseling out back door panels, killing with the victims' own axes, and stealing nothing. He was never caught.
- A letter dated Hell, March 13, 1919, published by the Times-Picayune, claimed to be from the Axeman. It professed a fondness for jazz and promised to spare anyone playing jazz at a quarter past midnight on Saint Joseph's night, March 19, 1919. Its true authorship was never verified.
- On March 19, 1919, New Orleans erupted in music. Dance halls, bars, and homes played jazz all night. The Axeman did not strike that night.
- The first victims were grocers Joseph Maggio and his wife Catherine in May 1918. The attacks ended in 1919, the last known victim Mike Pepitone on October 27, 1919, and the killer was never identified.
The evidence
- A letter dated Hell, March 13, 1919, published by the Times-Picayune, claimed to be from the Axeman. It professed a fondness for jazz and promised to spare anyone playing jazz at a quarter past midnight on Saint Joseph's night, March 19, 1919. Its true authorship was never verified.
- On March 19, 1919, New Orleans erupted in music. Dance halls, bars, and homes played jazz all night. The Axeman did not strike that night.
- The first victims were grocers Joseph Maggio and his wife Catherine in May 1918. The attacks ended in 1919, the last known victim Mike Pepitone on October 27, 1919, and the killer was never identified.
Sources
- Sources are being gathered for this file. The facts above are documented.
The words, as I spoke them.
Transcript
[B1] A killer wrote to the newspaper from Hell. His letter warned New Orleans: play jazz on Saint Joseph's night, or face the axe.
[B2] A grocer and his wife, found in their bed. The killer chiseled their back door, crept in, and swung their own axe. Nothing was stolen.
[B3] More attacks followed, all the same. Locked doors still locked. No robbery, no motive. Only a chiseled panel and a bloody axe.
[B4] The city obeyed. One March night in nineteen nineteen, New Orleans played jazz until dawn. The Axeman never came that night. But he came back.
[B5 WHISPER] They have never caught me, and they never will. I am a demon from the hottest hell.
[B6] Leave a comment in the comment section if you would play jazz tonight to stay alive. Follow for a new true nightmare every day. Sleep with the lights on, if you can.
Dramatized for the telling. The facts above are documented; the narration is the Draugr’s retelling of them.
Wear the nightmare
The Dreaded wear the mark.
Enter the shop
