A Nightmare in Villisca

I’ll admit, I’ve listened to *a lot* of true-crime audiobooks, and most blur together after a while—same murders, same theories, same flat narration. *A Nightmare in Villisca* jolted me out of that rut. Estep’s background in forensics gives the book a credibility lacking in so many “haunted crime scene” stories, but what really hooked me was his willingness to sit with the *weirdness* of this case. The murders themselves are horrifying enough (eight people, including six children, bludgeoned in their beds), but Estep doesn’t just rehash the facts—he asks: *Why* did the killer cover mirrors? Why were the victims’ faces *arranged* post-mortem? And why, over a century later, do visitors still report shadows moving in the house? Fox’s narration is a masterclass in restraint. He doesn’t over-emote during the gory details, which makes the rare moments of urgency—like when he describes the killer’s possible escape route—land like a punch. My only critique is the pacing in the middle act; Estep’s deep dive into suspect alibis drags slightly, and I found myself fast-forwarding through a few legalistic tangents. That said, the payoff is worth it: the final chapter, which ties the physical evidence to local folklore about a ‘black-eyed entity,’ sent chills down my spine. The production is minimalist but effective—no jump scares, just the occasional distant thud or child’s whisper, leaving you to fill in the blanks. If you love true crime but wish it dared to ask bigger questions, this is your next listen. Just maybe not before bed.