Book Review: The Horrors of Fox Hollow Farm by Richard Estep

In 2008, Rob and Vicki Graves and their two sons purchased Fox Hollow Farm a sprawling eighteen-and-a-half-acre horse farm located outside of Indianapolis, Indiana.  The farm seemed the perfect place to raise a family.  The house was built in 1977 and even had an indoor pool.  There was one drawback though--the house and property were stigmatized by the deeds of the previous owner Herb Baumeister. 

To members of the community, Herb Baumeister appeared to be a successful business man and devoted family man.  Under the mild-mannered facade lurked one of the most prolific serial killers in American history.  The discovery of over 5,500 human bones in 1996 on the property of Fox Hollow Farm exposed Herb Baumeister secret life.  Baumeister reign of terror likely started before moving to Fox Hollow Farm.  In the 1980s bodies of young men were discovered on I-70 and many suspect that Baumeister was the I-70 Killer.  After moving to Fox Hollow Farm, Baumeister trolled Indianapolis gay bars luring his victims back to his home where he would strangle them in the indoor pool.  Baumeister then discarded his victims bodies on the farm.  The true number of Baumeister's victims have never been determined and human bone fragments are still occasionally found on the farm.  Baumeister escaped justice by committing suicide in Canada in 1996.

Despite this dark history, the Graves purchased the property and moved in.  The family were skeptical of the paranormal and expected to live a quite life on the farm.  Their peace was quickly shattered by paranormal activity.  Vicki Graves started to see a young man in a red t-shirt walking into the woods that surrounded the home.  This was not a typically trespasser, as the young man had no legs.  Paranormal activity became more intense after a family friend moved into the in-law apartment.

 

Word of the paranormal activity at the house became public when an episode of Ghost Adventures was filmed at Fox Hollow Farm.  Intrigued by the reports, paranormal investigator Richard Estep visited the house in 2016 and 2018 to see if he could capture any activity.  Richard Estep documents his two investigations in his new book The Horrors of Fox Hollow Farm published by Llewellyn.  The book is co-authored by Robert Graves and provides a fascinating look into life in a stigmatized house.  This is not The Amityville Horror, another infamous murder house where the alleged paranormal activity was so intense that the family had to flee in terror.  Rather, the Graves family continue to own and live on the farm.  After a period of rather intense paranormal activity, the spirits of Fox Hollow have calmed down and the family has learned to coexist with their spectral housemates.

Richard Estep is a thorough and dedicated paranormal investigator and left no stone unturned in his quest for the truth behind the paranormal activity.  The book chronicles Estep's investigation in 2016 and 2018.  Determined to understand the activity at the farm, Estep interviewed witnesses, physics, and even one of Baumeister's intended victims that escaped from the farm with his life.  The investigation uncovered evidence that not all the spirits were human and raised the provocative question if a spirit can achieve redemption.  At times spine-chilling, The Horrors of Fox Hollow Farm is a must read and one of the best paranormal books of 2019.

The Horrors of Fox Hollow Farm is available on Amazon.     

For more on Richard Estep visit his website.