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Hell's Half-Acre: The Untold Story of the Benders, a Serial Killer Family on the American Frontier
One of NPR's "Books We Love"
New York Times Book Review's "The Best True Crime of 2022"
"Rich in historical perspective and graced by novelistic touches, grips the reader from first to last.”—Wall Street Journal
A suspense filled tale of murder on the American frontier—shedding new light on a family of serial killers in Kansas, whose horrifying crimes gripped the attention of a nation still reeling from war.
In 1873 the people of Labette County, Kansas made a grisly discovery. Buried by a trailside cabin beneath an orchard of young apple trees were the remains of countless bodies. Below the cabin itself was a cellar stained with blood. The Benders, the family of four who once resided on the property were nowhere to be found. The discovery sent the local community and national newspapers into a frenzy that continued for decades, sparking an epic manhunt for the Benders.
The idea that a family of seemingly respectable homesteaders—one among the thousands relocating farther west in search of land and opportunity after the Civil War—were capable of operating "a human slaughter pen" appalled and fascinated the nation. But who the Benders really were, why they committed such a vicious killing spree and whether justice ever caught up to them is a mystery that remains unsolved to this day. Set against the backdrop of postbellum America, Hell’s Half-Acre explores the environment capable of allowing such horrors to take place. Drawing on extensive original archival material, Susan Jonusas introduces us to a fascinating cast of characters, many of whom have been previously missing from the story. Among them are the families of the victims, the hapless detectives who lost the trail, and the fugitives that helped the murderers escape.
Hell’s Half-Acre is a journey into the turbulent heart of nineteenth century America, a place where modernity stalks across the landscape, violently displacing existing populations and building new ones. It is a world where folklore can quickly become fact and an entire family of criminals can slip through a community’s fingers, only to reappear in the most unexpected of places.
New York Times Book Review's "The Best True Crime of 2022"
"Rich in historical perspective and graced by novelistic touches, grips the reader from first to last.”—Wall Street Journal
A suspense filled tale of murder on the American frontier—shedding new light on a family of serial killers in Kansas, whose horrifying crimes gripped the attention of a nation still reeling from war.
In 1873 the people of Labette County, Kansas made a grisly discovery. Buried by a trailside cabin beneath an orchard of young apple trees were the remains of countless bodies. Below the cabin itself was a cellar stained with blood. The Benders, the family of four who once resided on the property were nowhere to be found. The discovery sent the local community and national newspapers into a frenzy that continued for decades, sparking an epic manhunt for the Benders.
The idea that a family of seemingly respectable homesteaders—one among the thousands relocating farther west in search of land and opportunity after the Civil War—were capable of operating "a human slaughter pen" appalled and fascinated the nation. But who the Benders really were, why they committed such a vicious killing spree and whether justice ever caught up to them is a mystery that remains unsolved to this day. Set against the backdrop of postbellum America, Hell’s Half-Acre explores the environment capable of allowing such horrors to take place. Drawing on extensive original archival material, Susan Jonusas introduces us to a fascinating cast of characters, many of whom have been previously missing from the story. Among them are the families of the victims, the hapless detectives who lost the trail, and the fugitives that helped the murderers escape.
Hell’s Half-Acre is a journey into the turbulent heart of nineteenth century America, a place where modernity stalks across the landscape, violently displacing existing populations and building new ones. It is a world where folklore can quickly become fact and an entire family of criminals can slip through a community’s fingers, only to reappear in the most unexpected of places.
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Community Reviews
Having never heard of the Benders I think was helpful in enjoying the book for what it was, a mixture of non fiction and storytelling. I found the descriptions of the time period and lifestyle really interesting and so this was an enjoyable read for me.
I almost DNF’d this book. For subject matter that is fascinating, it was just so poorly written. The author introduces it as nonfiction but then adds emotions, anecdotes, and stories that are made up because there’s no way of knowing any of those details. It’s common knowledge that the Bender’s were never caught and no one ever interviewed them. You can’t present nonfiction then write in fictional details to make it sound better. This could’ve been as a great historical fiction from the perspective of one or more characters OR a journalistic timeline of events as they were recorded. Not both mixed together. Book#89 in 2024
This was a VERY interesting read, following a story I had never heard of, focusing on a subject matter that is extremely interesting. I love reading about the west, so I knew this was going to be the book for me. As I read it, however, I was taken out of the fantasy a bit by how much seemed to be made up. At the end of the day, we aren’t sure what happened to the Bender family, and reading this, almost living alongside them, felt a bit odd. There are small details that add dramatic flair to the story, but aren’t necessarily based on the facts. I’m not entirely sure how trustworthy this particular narrative is, but I understand why creative liberties were taken place. This is a dark story, one that doesn’t have a ton of concrete information, so things were played up for dramatic effect to make for a compelling read, which it certainly ended up being. I wouldn’t necessarily take this book as the 100% truth, simply because it’s not. I’m glad to have been informed on this subject, and would love to do more research on it, but this book didn’t quite paint this story in the truthful way I was hoping it would.
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