London, Ontario: Serial Killer Capital of The World

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It looks like a really nice place to live, doesn’t it? But looks can be deceiving, because there was a point in time, not as far back as you’d think too, that this city wasn’t the best place to live.

From 1959 – 1984, London had a population of over 200,000 citizens. During this time, they had as many as 32 sexual homicides, not all of which are currently solved, and estimated to have had at least 8 serial killers there during this time period.

In this blog, I’m going to talk about two of the more known killers during this time in London’s history.

Gerald Thomas Archer - The Chambermaid Slayer

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Gerald Thomas Archer was born in 1932, in London ON, where he was born and raised. In 1966, he met his wife, and they were married a year later. Then in 1999, Archer died from a heart attack.

Before Archer was arrested in 1971, he had killed three women. The first was in January of 1969. A woman named Jane Wooley, was found stabbed, and with most of her clothes off, and money from her wallet was gone. Then in September of the following year, Edith Authier was his next victim, and she was found nearly the same way, as she was also stabbed, and cash from her wallet was taken as well. Then finally, Archer killed his last victim in January of 1971 where not long afterwards, he was caught and arrested for.

The reason he was given the name “The Chambermaid Slayer“ was because that’s what all his victims had in common. Sometimes serial killers will target someone based on their appearance, or how they treat them. But for Archer, it was their job. One thing that all of these women had in common, was that they all were Chambermaids at various hotels. Thus, how he came to be known as “The Chambermaid Slayer“.

Christian Magee - The Mad Slasher

Christian Magee was born in 1948 in Strathroy, Ontario. He was raised by an abusive father, and ended up dropping out of high school. And the reason he got this name was because when his victims would fight back, he’d take out a jackknife and would slash their throats.

Magee was arrested for his crimes in June of 1976, but before he got caught, he assaulted 5 young women. But only 2 of which, survived. The first was in March of 1974, her name was Judith Barksey. Next was in November of the same year. Her name was Sylvia Holly. After that, was Rosalie Winters & Patricia Jenner in 1975. Then last was Susan Lynn Scholes in June of 1976.

Sadly, Rosalie & Sylvia were the only ones who lived.

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After he was arrested, Magee had his trial in 1977, where he was found not guilty through insanity. So he’s now at Penetanguishene Mental Health Centre in maximum security.

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Kaitlyn is a 19 year old college student from the small city of Brockville, Ontario. Kaitlyn is attending Algonquin College, and currently in the Professional Writing program, and she aspires to be a writer for TV & Film. All of her life, Kaitlyn has been a huge nerd for fictional books, shows and movies of all genres. She’s especially grown up watching anything & everything related to crime, and it was only a few years ago that she became a fan of horror.

If you’ve like to see more of her content, check out her YouTube channel, Maze Craze, as well as her Quotev account of the same name.

Hope you have a good day. And remember: Always watch your back…

How To Better Your Chances Of Getting Away With Murder

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve watched lots of different murder mystery films and shows. From the Hallmark murder mysteries to Forensic Files, CSI: New York to Castle, and the list goes on. In every episode, or film, there’s always that one moment near the end where you just KNOW who it is, and the exact mistake they made which resulted in them getting arrested. So for this blog post, I decided to write about ways that could’ve helped the killers get away with their crimes, but ones that might also work in the real world as well.

#1: Don’t Work Alone

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Sure you’re chances of someone snitching, or deciding to chicken out at the last second do shrink when you’re on your own, but having a partner, or a team does also have it’s own benefits. What about an alibi? If you need help taking care of the body? It’s probably going to be a lot harder to figure out those on your own. Especially the alibi.

When working with someone else, it opens up some more opportunities than you might not have had before since you were by yourself. For example, if you partner up with someone, and they have a target as well, then you can take each other’s targets out, and then the other doesn’t have as much to worry about if they make the suspect list. Just so long as they have their own alibi, then they’ll be off the list sooner. Another can be that in the scenario where one person is fully until the end, no regrets and not wavering, but your partner is, then you can always kill them and try to make it seem like it was them all along. That way, it betters your chance of getting away, even if you did all the work.

#2: Always Cover Your Tracks

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I think it goes without saying that this particular blog post is in the scenario that this isn’t a crime of passion, but rather pre-meditated. The difference being that with a crime of passion, it’s in the heat of the moment and you aren’t thinking straight. If this is the case, I encourage you to call you 9-1-1 immediately, no matter how scared you are. This way, you can tell the police exactly what happened, and if not killed instantly, the victim can be saved if gotten medical attention soon enough. If that’s the case, then you get charged with assault and not murder. Whereas with pre-meditated, that means that you were already planning on killing someone. If that’s the case, obviously you don’t want to get caught, which in that case, you might want to think about the evidence that you’d be leaving behind.

Whenever a murder occurs, a forensics team is called to looks for as much evidence there that they can collect, and run tests on to hopefully find clues that will lead to hopefully solving the case. This would include running tests on blood, hair, fingerprints, any residue left if a gun was used, and so much more.

So some ways that might work when helping to get rid of forensic evidence is

1. Wearing gloves - This will allow you to touch anything and everything but so long as you’re wearing gloves, you won’t leave any fingerprints.

2. Getting rid of the body and weapon - This one I find is a very obvious idea. Because a dead body can be used for multiple tests to uncover so much evidence. For example, if there’s a struggle, they could find DNA of the killer under the victim’s fingernails. So, if they can’t find the body, then all that evidence is gone, and it’s just a missing persons case. But then even if they did discover the body (which I don’t recommend burying for this exact reason. Burning it might be your best option), so long as they can’t find the weapon, it’s one less way they can tie you to the crime.

3. Clean The Scene - While they’ll still be able uncover some evidence, bleach might help take out some of forensic evidence, like blood for example. Plus, if you’re trying to make a scene not look like a murder took place, you’re gonna have to clean the place anyway.

#3: Have A Change Of Clothes

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While the officers investigating wait on any possibly forensic evidence that was found, they go to work on their end. And they start by checking any nearby security cameras, and questioning possible witnesses.

When questioning witnesses, they’ll ask them if they can describe the culprit(s). They’ll look for anything that stood out about this person (hair, ethnicity, clothes, tattoos, etc.) This will help narrow down the search for their suspect since they’ll have something to work off of so they then aren’t questioning everyone they come into contact with.

To avoid being found early, it might be a good idea to wear some sort of disguise, more than just a ski mask and plain black clothes. Though that would also work since it would help cover up tattoos, most of your face, and even your hair if you put it up and hide it. But even a full on disguise could work too. Put on a wig, some sunglasses and clothes you wouldn’t usually wear will also help to hide your identity for as long as possible.

Just make sure not to keep it afterwards, and to get rid of it as soon as possible. This way, if they end up searching your house, your car, or anywhere else you might hide something, they won’t find it and therefore, won’t be able to use it as evidence to tie you to the scene of the crime.

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Kaitlyn is a 19 year old college student from the small city of Brockville, Ontario. Kaitlyn is attending Algonquin College, and currently in the Professional Writing program, and she aspires to be a writer for TV & Film. All of her life, Kaitlyn has been a huge nerd for fictional books, shows and movies of all genres. She’s especially grown up watching anything & everything related to crime, and it was only a few years ago that she became a fan of horror.

If you’ve like to see more of her content, check out her YouTube channel, Maze Craze, as well as her Quotev account of the same name.

Hope you have a good day. And remember: Always watch your back…

The Invitation: Is It Worth Watching?

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This 2022 horror film follows Evie (Nathalie Emmanuel), a young woman who recently lost the last of the only family she knew. So, she decides to take a DNA test to find more family and to learn where she comes from. Through that, she meets a cousin that invites her to England where she’s introduced to the charming, Walter De Ville (Thomas Doherty), and sparks start flying between the two. But while here, she realizes that her new found family isn’t as they seem, and discovers things that will change her life forever.

So if you’re looking for a movie to watch tonight that’ll give you a good scare, why not watch this?

The Characters

In most, if not all horror films, you know something is off right from the beginning. So, naturally you might start to theorize what’s going to happen, and as you’re introduced to more characters, you might start to guess who’s good, who’s bad or maybe you just don’t know. Then as the movie continues, and you start to gain more information, your opinion on a character, or prediction of where the story will go, might shift.

One example of this could be Evie’s cousin, Oliver (Hugh Skinner). Evie and him find each other through the DNA test that Evie takes. Once they start talking, they decide to meet in person for lunch. During that time, he invites her to a wedding that’s coming up. She’s hesitant, but he’s persistent and keeps pushing it until she finally agrees. This action can be seen as sketchy considering they just met, and even though they are technically family, they don’t know each other. But this could also be brushed off as simple as a guy who’s really excited to find out about a long lost relative, and just wants to introduce her to everyone else.

Post Production Added The Final Elements

The crew that work on post-production come in after filming is finished, and put it all together. They oversee editing, music and special effects. That might include changing lighting, adding rain or fire, or creating and adding a monster of some kind. In this movie, they did a great job of putting everything together in a way that can make your heart jump into your throat at times.

Take the first three minutes of the movie. They had a blue grey colour for night and had the camera focus on a pair of shoes and then heightened the sound of the shoes as well. There wasn’t much dialogue in this scene, but when someone did speak, you might have heard a slight echo. Then they abruptly add this very intense and suspenseful music that when put together with everything else, will make you jump back in your seat.

Link to this scene is here if you want to watch it

They Made References to Original Novel

The original story of Dracula was written by Abraham Stoker in 1897. Overtime though, the story has changed many, many times. However, throughout the movie, they make loads of references to the original story. Which if you’ve had the opportunity to read the story of Dracula, or a big fan of movies about Dracula, I’m sure this is something that might interest you, or something you might even appreciate.

One instance is when Evie runs away after the “Wedding Rehearsal“, and she meets an elderly couple named Mina & Jonathan. They let her come into their home, and give her some tea. But they end up drugging her to bring her back to Walt. In the original story though, there was also a couple named Mina & Jonathan. But in the story, Dracula turned Mina, and the couple kills him so Mina will become a human again, and they can live out the rest of their lives together.

Then also in the original story, with the help of Jonathan, Dracula buys an estate called Carfax Abbey. In The Invitation, De Ville’s mansion is called New Carfax.

But these are just two examples of how the film paid homage to the original tale. There are more. CBR has a list of other references and IMDB also has some in their trivia section for the film if you’d like to check those out.

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Kaitlyn is a 19 year old college student from the small city of Brockville, Ontario. Kaitlyn is attending Algonquin College, and currently in the Professional Writing program, and she aspires to be a writer for TV & Film. All of her life, Kaitlyn has been a huge nerd for fictional books, shows and movies of all genres. She’s especially grown up watching anything & everything related to crime, and it was only a few years ago that she became a fan of horror.

If you’ve like to see more of her content, check out her YouTube channel, Maze Craze, as well as her Quotev account of the same name.

Hope you have a good day. And remember: Always watch your back…