Death, Despair, and Madness in a Midwestern Town
- gregorymaness
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Yet again I found myself tumbling down the rabbit hole that is YouTube and this time I found myself taking a walk on the dark side of small-town America. The United States does not lack for true-life tales of violent crime, darkness, despair, death, disease, horror, the macabre, and madness. We have the Salem Witch Trials. We have the axe murders of a man and his wife in Fall River, Massachusetts that were attributed to Lizzy Borden (whom was subsequently acquitted of the charges). We have the Hatfield–McCoy feud. Bloody massacres of both American Indians and American colonists and settlers. Any number of notorious and anonymous serial killers. Brutal terrorist attacks. Riots and violent labor disputes. Government violence committed against the citizenry. Ambushes and murders of police officers. Prison and jail riots. Sometimes the dark deeds took place in the light and sometimes they took place in impenetrable or almost impenetrable shadows and darkness.
The Into the Shadows YouTube channel shares a disturbing tale about the Wisconsin town of Black River Falls. The town experienced what might best be described as a darkness that plagued its residents and left a mark on the town and those that remained. The tale was related in the 1973 book, Wisconsin Death Trip, by Michael Lesy. A docudrama of the same name was released in 1999 and was narrated by Sir Ian Holm of Alien fame. I haven’t read the book, although I am thinking of trying to acquire a reprinted copy. As for the docudrama, I was unable to find it on television or any subscription services like Netflix. However, I did find it on YouTube and I intend to finish watching it in the near-future.
As someone that grew up in the Southeastern United States and that has moved to the rural Midwest, I can vouch for the potentially demoralizing, sapping effects of a long, cold, gray Midwestern winter. I can only imagine how much worse it would have been in the late 19th century and early 20th century when communications technology was less advanced and one might feel more isolated and more cut off from one’s family, friends, neighbors, and the rest of the country, particularly during inclement weather such as a snowstorm that dumps two feet of snow outside your door. Similarly, I can understand the despair and desperation that can accompany an economic downturn that impacts one’s ability to provide for oneself and one’s loved ones. But do harsh winters and bleak economic circumstances fully explain the darkness that descended upon Black River Falls like a veil? I leave that up to you to decide for yourself.
Below is a link to the YouTube video that led me to look further into the events that took place in Black River Falls, Wisconsin between 1885 and 1900, as well as links to the Wikipedia articles on the aforementioned book and docudrama. You might want to click on the links with the lights on in your home.
“This Small Wisconsin Town Has a Terrifying Story.”
Wisconsin Death Trip Wikipedia article
Wisconsin Death Trip (film) Wikipedia article
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