Nestled upon the largest hill in Northwestern Illinois and surrounded by towering trees and impenetrable thicket lies the hidden village of Killtown.

     Once known as a retreat destination off the Mississippi River, no roads lead to it and it is now left dark and abandoned. 

     While nature’s over-growth is keeping it’s secret from the rest of the world, the neighboring townsfolk still know the legend of the Killwinkle Estate and the formidable wrath of Eliza Killwinkle, but you’ll be hard-pressed to get them to speak a word of it.

 As the story goes… 

    Mr. Ezra Killwinkle, a highly successful entrepreneur from Chicago bought 1000 acres of property directly off the Mississippi River and the village of Killtown was founded in 1849. He then cleared a parcel of land to build a beautiful Victorian boarding house known as the Killwinkle Estate, providing the neighboring townsfolk a lavish retreat from their standard industrial living.

    Eliza Killwinkle, the daughter of Ezra, was known for her exquisite beauty and her very enchanting character. She was the most admired woman in Killtown. She was the envy of ladies near and far, and any man not already spoken for was ready to ask for her hand.

    Acting as the main concierge of her father’s estate, she made journeys into town for sundries and essential supplies, assisted guests, and was sure to make every visitor feel welcomed. 

    No matter, one trip into town proved to be most threatening. While leaving the General Store late one dark eve, she was assaulted and ravished by a voluminous raven-haired beast with the face of a man and was not recovered by the townsfolk nor returned to her father until the next day.

 This calamitous event left poor Eliza Killwinkle broken and deranged.

     While she eventually healed from her wounds, she could not escape the memory of the beast. She vowed to destroy all who resembled him and from that day forward, every raven haired gentleman who dared drop in for a stay at The Killwinkle Estate was sure to meet their inevitable demise.

     Too weak to attack the men properly, Eliza charmed them into relaxing in her father’s study awaiting her arousal and seduction. The gentlemen’s utter ineptitude and carnal fragility for the feminine form left them no match for Miss Eliza Killwinkle. 

     Come nightfall while her father slumbered and was left completely unaware, she prepared a tincture of belladonna with hemlock and laced their refreshments. Once the poison began to take notice, she called the stage coach to return them to their mundane lives.

      At first, the townsfolk did not grasp the happenings at the Killwinkle Estate. After all, every man that entered did not meet their demise. But soon, the bodies began to stack, and the people came to understand the curse’s station. 

    Concerned for their families, the local and neighboring jurisdictions began to gather and examine the Killwinkle Estate and it’s grounds to find the cause of the misfortune.

    Expeditiously searching they came upon a dilapidated trunk in Eliza Killwinkle’s quarters that was stuffed with decaying garments and other undesirables presumed to be the belongings of Eliza’s long deceased mother, Elizabeth.

     Carefully removing each of the objects as to not display disrespect, they came upon another receptacle. This one lined with garnet velvet and being far more elegant than the last.   As the box was opened, the intriguing scent of floral entwined with must encapsulated the air. Lying inside was a delicate flacon filled with a violet solution.

     Believing the item to be perfume, but still requiring verification, the authorities placed the flacon into evidence.   Before long, Eliza Killwinkle was taken into custody and sentenced to hang for the deaths of the sixteen men she had poisoned.

     And while Eliza Killwinkle is no longer a resident of this earthly plane, her spirit lives on endlessly, cursing the townsfolk who speak her name and ceaselessly pursuing the Killwinkle property for more raven-haired men to possess and destroy on The Killwinkle Estate.