You'll Never Believe What Terrifying Thing Happened In This Tennessee Town

It’s very likely you haven’t heard of Jeremiah Lexer. As a wealthy east Tennessee plantation owner and one of the original settlers in Hamblen County – largely attributed to one of the founding members of Talbott – it would have been easy for him to fade into the tapestry of Tennessee history, merely another distinguished man with a bit of a dark side. That is, if he hadn’t committed the unthinkable in July of 1902, a day that gave him a name as one of the most prolific small town killers in history.

Pigeon Forge Chamber

Lexer lived with his wife, children and grandchildren on his plantation in Talbott, Tennessee. They were a wealthy family, one that was upstanding in the town and held historical significance to Talbott.

Killing Time / Facebook

Unknown to many, however, were Jeremiah's mental illnesses. With current technology and psychological advancements, Lexer has been post-diagnosed with bipolar disorder and acute schizophrenia.

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Beginning in 1887, mysterious accounts of missing persons in the town began to crop up, continuing until 1902. Many people attributed the deaths to life in the mountains, with wildlife rampant and home life calm and comforting.

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Killing Time / Facebook

It was in the summer of 1902 that Talbott's world came crashing down. Lexer went on a brutal killing spree, slashing to death then meticulously dismembering his family members with an ax, before throwing himself out a plantation window to his death. When the police were called to take a look at the property, they found more than 30 dismantled bodies strewn in shallow graves across the plantation.

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The home is now open to the public from late September to November with a general admission price, so that you too can walk the rooms where an entire family was murdered in cold blood. Illness induced or not, death by ax is terrifying. You can still see the marks from the murder weapon, the sweet scribblings of the children on the walls. It's a horror you'll never forget.

Here’s the thing: we aren’t against haunted houses. We love them. But if they’re the former homes of wicked serial killers…? We may have to rethink that. *gulp* Would you go?!