There was a curse in Bodie, Mono County. But it was never called a “curse”; the few families that lived there considered it a “useless rumor”.

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Bodie, located at the east of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range and southeast of Lake Tahoe, had been a prosperous mining town during the gold rush in the West. The population had increased dramatically at that time, to a point where it had been considered the second largest city in California with 5,000 to 7,000 people in the year 1880. However, the people left the town when more gold was found in Montana, Arizona, and Utah. The population decreased to 698 by the year 1910, 120 by the year 1920, and finally, to only three people- Mr.Gianettoni, Mr. Jones, and Mrs. Jones- in 1943.

With only three people residing in it, the town was considered a ghost town (this may be the reason for the existence of the “curse”). However, this was not for long. The population increased once more, (not as much as before but still as much to be called a “town” again) with the start being when the Collins family moved in, on August of the year 1950. The Collins family added four to the population of three and made it seven. In 1952, the population of seven grew to 17 when the Peterson family moved in, 19 when Mr. and Mrs. Lewis moved in, and 22 when the Clarks moved in. Mr. Gianettoni moved out of the town in the year 1953, decreasing the population by one. The following January of 1954, Mr. Jones died, leaving Mrs. Jones behind and decreasing the population by one more. The population grew back to 22 when Mr. Williams and his son, Robert Williams, moved in to Mr. Gianettoni’s former house. And finally, in the year 1956, a young woman named Aisa entered the town and made the population 23. And 23 it stayed until the horrific and infamous week of October, 1957.

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The following are excerpts from Ms. Aisa’s diary (from October 7 to October 13 of the year 1957).

October 7, 1957

This morning I woke up to loud shrieks. Before I got out of my bed, Mrs. Jones knocked on my door.

“Aisa! Aisa! Wake up for goodness sakes!” yelled Mrs. Jones with her trembling voice.

“What’s all the shouting outside, Mrs. Jones?” I asked as soon as I opened the door.

“Fire! Oh God, Aisa. The Collins…The Collins family…All four of them...”

Mrs. Jones was unable to finish her sentence. After guiding her to sit on the sofa, I scurried out the front door to see what was happening.

I could not believe my eyes. The Collins’ two-story house was on fire. The sight sent shivers down my spine. It was not just because of the blazing fire nor because I knew that the Collins family died. I knew how they died. Like a fast forwarding film, images of the family members dying went through my mind. I had seen them dying. In my dream.

The four were sleeping-Mr. and Mrs. Collins in the master bedroom on the second floor and Matthew and Megan in their bedrooms on the first floor. A black shadow came across the wooden floor. Footsteps. Yes, I recall the “thump, thump, thump” that approached Megan’s room. She woke up to the sound of her bedroom door creaking and her bright blue eyes sparkled in the darkness. Her eyes widened when she saw the black shadow approaching her. Yes, I recall the “thump, thump, thump” of Megan’s heartbeat. The young girl screamed to call her parents and brother when the footsteps got closer. The three came running to her room and before anyone dismissed the darkness by putting the lights on, a spark appeared on the wooden floor. The shadow swiftly left the scene while the spark turned to flames and spread across the floor rapidly. The flames took over before any member of the Collins family could leave the room. Loud shrieks filled up the house as the four burned alive. The fire filled up the house as their shrieks died out. And then I woke up from my dream.

October 8, 1957

Just yesterday, the Collins died. And today Mr. and Mrs. Lewis are dead too. This cannot be true. It happened again. More died and I dreamt about a murder again before it happened.

I saw a placid lake. It was as calm as a baby sleeping in the arms of a mother. And then, I saw the same black shadow from the night before. “Plop,” a crystal clear fishing line went in the water. Time passed as the shadow waited for fish to be lured by the bait on the fishing hook. Then the fishing line was drawn back out of the water with a large fish caught on the hook. The fish was left on the ground beside the dark shadow. The fish flipped and moved as if fighting to stay alive. While the movement of the fish slowed down, another fish was thrown next to it. Similarly, the fish flipped and moved as if resisting its death. I woke up by the time the two fish on the ground were still as the placid lake they came from.

When I woke up, Mrs. Jones was once again knocking on my door. I opened the door and saw Mrs. Jones, in her light green cashmere sweater, trembling in fear.

“Oh Aisa! Aisa! This cannot be true! “ she cried.

“What happened, Mrs. Jones?” I asked since I had not imagined that the dream about the fish would have been about a murder.

“The Lewis couple…the lovely two…they were found dead!” Mrs. Jones had tears on her rosy cheeks.

‘Oh no, no, no… not again!’ I thought as I rushed out my door and to the Lewis’ home. While on my way to the place where Mr. and Mrs. Lewis had once lived, I thought about my dream. ‘Am I foretelling the future? Has Morpheus, the god of dreams, decided to tell me what will happen to the neighbors I love so I can stop them from dying?’ I asked myself.
The neighbors were all gathered outside Mr. and Mrs. Lewis’ bedroom. When I peeked through the crowd, I saw the two young individuals lying on the floor. Dead. And I saw the crystal clear fishing line I saw in my dream. But this time, it was around the necks of the couple.

October 9, 1957

I’m sure Morpheus is playing tricks on me now. It happened again. This time it was the Clark family that was killed.

In my dream, I saw the hand of the dark shadow holding a paintbrush. The paintbrush was dipped in red paint and then flicked to make a splotch of red paint on the surface of the white wall. The paint brush was dipped again and another splotch of red paint was made beside the dripping splotch. And this was repeated once more, leaving three splotches of dark red paint dripping on the wall.

This time I woke up before Mrs. Jones knocked on the door. I rushed to the door with the thoughts of further murders making my skin crawl. When I opened the door, Mrs. Jones burst into tears.
“Aisa! Aisa! Oh Lord! Aisa!”

“No, no, no… please don’t tell me it happened again,” I cried out as I hugged Mrs. Jones.

The three splotches of dark red blood on the white wall caught my eye as I entered the Clarks’ house. And when I lowered my eyes to the floor, I saw Mr. Clark, Mrs. Clark, and their son. With blood gushing out of their heads.

Now it’s only Mrs. Jones, the Peterson family, Mr. Williams, Robert Williams, and I.

October 10, 1957

I saw skin being peeled off. One by one, removed skin covered with blood stacked on the floor. One… Two… Three… Four… Five... Six… Seven… Eight… Nine…Ten… The Peterson family was dead.

“AAAAHHHH!” I screamed as I woke up from my nightmare.

“Aisa? Dear, are you ok? Aisa? Aisa! Please open the door!” Mrs. Jones yelled from outside.

“Please don’t say the Petersons died! Please!” I murmured as I rapidly reached for the door.

“Oh Aisa! What are we going to do? The curse is real! This town is hunted!”

“Bloody Hell! Curse Morpheus and all the gods! Not again! Not again!”

I could not bear to go to the Petersons’ house.
Mr. Williams and his son came to us a few minutes after Mrs. Jones and I sat down on my small sofa. They told us about the mangled corpses. Grandpa Peterson, Grandma Peterson, Mr. Peterson, Mrs. Peterson, Ryan Peterson, Lisa Peterson, Andrew Peterson, Auntie Peterson, Uncle Peterson, and Elizabeth Peterson- all ten of the Petersons were dead. Mr. Williams announced that he would be moving out of the town tomorrow early in the morning and told us to do the same. Mrs. Jones and I agreed that we would leave the town before the end of the week.

October 11, 1957

A hand. A foot. An arm. A leg. A head. Mr. Williams’ head. Another hand. Another foot. Another arm. Another leg. Another head. Robert Williams’ head. Body pieces dropped on the cold tile floor.

I woke up screaming in agony and with beads of sweat dripping down my forehead.  Mrs. Jones (I told her to stay at my house until we moved out of this bloody town) rushed to my room. As soon as she saw me she hugged me tightly.

“Aisa, what’s wrong my dear?”

“Mrs.Jones…Something happened to Mr. Williams and Robert. I’m sure.”

“Heavens no! They sure must have left this town this morning!

Mrs. Jones had to help me get up from my bed. Fighting my trembling legs, I walked across the room and out to the living room. I looked out the window. The Williams’ truck was still there.

“Aisa, dear… what…” said Mrs. Jones with her soft voice as she approached me. When she saw the truck on the other side of the street she stumbled down to the floor. I stumbled down next to her and we cried for hours and hours.

October 12, 1957

Mrs. Jones was looking at me with her teardrop-like eyes. She smiled and softly called my name. “Aisa… Aisa… Aisa…” She reached out her wrinkled hand to me. Then the dark shadow appeared and grabbed Mrs. Jones neck. I remember seeing Mrs. Jones’ light brown eyes. But they were not filled with fear. They were not filled with hatred. They were just filled with sadness. They slowly closed and I woke up in tears.

For the sixth time, a heinous murder had occurred. For the sixth time, I had a nightmare foretelling the death. For the sixth time, I was unable to stop the death of a neighbor I loved.

October 13, 1957

I see myself. It seems as if I am under water. In the deep blue ocean. I swim up and up and up but never reach the surface. I slowly close my eyes and go down and down and down until I reach the ocean floor.

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A Whole Town Found Dead

California State News, October 23, 1957- All of the 23 citizens of Bodie, Mono County were found dead yesterday afternoon, by friends of Louis Clark, who is one of the citizens that was found dead. As of right now, the police states that they have no suspect(s) since they have not found a single clue that could lead to the murderer(s). A funeral ceremony for the dead (Collins family, Lewis family, Peterson family, Clark family, Williams family, Sarah Jones, and Aisa Morta) will be held on Friday, at the Mono County mortuary.

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Aisa Morta Responsible of Bodie Murders

California State News, January 28, 1958- After 3 months of investigation, the police have concluded that Aisa Morta (Interestingly, Aisa/Atropos is the name of the goddess of death in Greek mythology and Morta is her Roman equivalent), one of the 23 citizens, killed her 22 neighbors alone and finally committed suicide by drowning herself. Her diaries, with entries about the murders and how she “dreamed” about them, were found during the investigation. There are two possible explanations: she was suffering from somnambulism and had committed the murders while sleeping or she was a psychopathic serial killer that made up the diary entries as a disguise. No one knows the truth.