The Spurlock Legend
In the 6th month of the 66th year of the last century, the family of Jebediah Spurlock moved to a 30 acre parcel of land in Sedgwick county Kansas. The land is in Maize, KS between Tyler and Maize road. The property lies on what is now Prairie Pines. No one knows for sure where exactly the family was from. There was talk that they were from the barren plains of far western Kansas, but some local historians believe eastern Colorado was more accurate. However if you ask those people who still remember the horrors of the vigilante murders, they’ll tell you that the Spurlock clan was vomited up from hell.
The Spurlocks were not your typical family. In fact the Spurlocks were considered as much of a cult as an actual family. Jeb was the leader of the group and most of the children were his. It is rumored that he preached polygamy and that he himself had multiple wives.
Soon after Jeb’s arrival, neighbors reported screams and wild laughter coming from the Spurlock farm in the early morning hours. People noticed the crops the family planted were wild looking and unkempt. It was as if the fields were sick. Some even recounted strange smells emanating from the place when the wind blew. To add to the suspicion, Wichita police were baffled by the disappearance of 3 people off the banks of the Arkansas River that summer. Supposedly the police even questioned the Spurlocks about the disappearance but couldn’t find any evidence linking them to the crime. Rumors started to circulate around the small town of Maize of witchcraft, cannibalism and devil worship. The rumors sparked fear in the hearts of the locals and even led one minister to preach to his congregation that “The devil is alive and well in Maize KS. He is walking amongst us now.” Parents even told their children to “beware of where the fields are sick.”
It wasn’t until the disappearance of a local boy by the name of Cyrus Smith that the town had had enough. Soon after his disappearance, his friends went to the police and told the authorities that they had dared Cyrus to sneak onto the Spurlock farm and steal something from Jeb’s front porch to prove he had been there. Once again the police questioned the suspicious family but couldn’t find anything to suggest foul play. When the town learned that no charges would be brought against the family, people were outraged. Most locals were convinced the Spurlock family was involved and demanded justice, one way or another.
The events that followed led to what is now known as the vigilante murders and secured Jebediah Spurlocks place in local folklore. One night in early October, a small group of vigilantes stormed Jebediah’s farm. When the men entered the corn fields they were immediately at a disadvantage. The field consisted of paths and tunnels that twisted and turned leaving the men confused and lost in the labyrinth of corn and weeds. Knowing of the invasion, Jeb and his kin stalked their prey until the time was right. The vigilantes were rushed and quickly overpowered. It was a massacre so horrible that it brought one of the investigating officers to tears, years later in the retelling. The men were butchered with a variety of crude instruments. Their heads had been removed with chainsaws. Their bodies stuffed with corn and other grasses. When police searched the premises they found several dead pigs with their heads removed and replaced with the heads of the men sewn on the bodies.
As mysterious as the Spurlock’s arrival that year was the Spurlock’s disappearance. When the police swept the farm, there were no traces of the family. The family truck was still there. There was no sign of quick departure. It was as if they simply vanished. A massive manhunt ensued for Jeb and his group but to no avail. There was no trace of them. Their vanishing added to the speculation of witchcraft and other dark doings. Most stories told now have Jeb making a pact with Satan. In exchange for their souls the Spurlocks would get to return to Earth every October to hunt the old killing fields again and again.
Twelve years later a parapsychologist and team of ghost hunters visited the field where the murders happened. They claim that they found a vortex in the field. The team believed it to be a portal between worlds; a passageway to hell or some other dimension that the Spurlocks disappeared into. Though no one else ever found the vortex, most still believe it to be the passageway the Spurlocks take every October to return. Even though the stories have quieted down recently there is an underlying sadness in that small corner of Sedgwick County. Though most people won’t talk about the vigilante murders anymore, they know that the past will not rest. To this day parents still tell their children to “beware of where the fields are sick….”
UPDATE: Recently the Spurlock field has been researched by paranormal investigators It became the subject of much debate among believers and scientists, yet no one can explain the “sick” fields and unusual events that take place each fall.
In the recent paranormal investigation of the Spurlock field, it was revealed that a medium made contact with a spirit called Horace Spurlock. He relayed to her that he is the ½ brother of Jebediah Spurlock, the leader of the family whose unspeakable acts have disturbed so many. It was revealed to the medium that Horace planned to reunite with Jeb and bring his twisted clan home to the family land.
Research showed that Horace and his kin, once rumored to run a murderous traveling carnival in the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles, were all executed in 1964 – just 2 years before the massacres in Kansas! In 2010, the mediums revelations became reality , and Horace and this twisted circus have haunted the legendary family land every Halloween since.
