Little Slaughterhouse on the Prairie

By: Harold Schechter

Narrated by: Steven Weber

Length: 1 hr and 19 mins

Publisher's Summary

At a remote little inn not far from the Kansas homestead of Laura Ingalls Wilder lived the Bender family. These pioneers welcomed unwary visitors with jackrabbit stew and a sledgehammer to the skull.

In time, their apple orchard gave up its secrets - a burial ground for their mutilated victims, each stripped of their possessions. The devilish enterprise on “Hell’s Half-Acre” would earn the Bloody Benders an undying place in the annals of American infamy. But it was the mysterious fate of eldest daughter, Kate, that would make them the stuff of mythic campfire prairie tales.

Little Slaughterhouse on the Prairie is part of Bloodlands, a chilling collection of short addictive historical narratives from bestselling true-crime master Harold Schechter. Spanning a century in our nation’s murderous past, Schechter resurrects nearly forgotten tales of madmen and thrill-killers that dominated the most sensational headlines of their day.

©2018 Harold Schechter (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Detailed retelling of horrific events

The subject matter of this book interested me, but when I saw that Steven Weber had narrated it, I knew I had to listen. It was excellently done. The details of what was done by this psychopathic family are presently in full and with sensitivity, even though many years now separate us from the brutality of their acts. I only wish they had been caught so they could have been made to answer for their crimes.

I have been to the area where these events took place, however, and people there are certain the Benders did not escape justice. The common belief is that they were caught by vigilantes who took care of the matter themselves. I hope this is true.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Informative and entertaining

I remember my wife telling me about this story. she really likes Little House on the prairie. I found this story very informative and entertaining.

Very interesting history

Little Slaughterhouse in the Prairie discusses the crimes of the Benders that lived during the time of Laura Ingals Wilder. The Benders preyed upon single people stopping by and Laura said (outside of her books) that her dad had stopped to get water but didn't go inside, he might have died if he had! Great info in here about the crimes and investigation. It even mentions my little Missouri town of Shelbina!
Narration is spot on!

shotgun approach to storytelling

...that gratuitously tried to shock. sympathy to the teller for a gallant though lacking dramatic reading.

killings

a good book, very interesting and informative, but maybe a little short
I'll look for more like it

Interesting Listen

As a fan of Little House on the Prarie, I thought it would be interesting to hear some history from that time period. This was a good short listen.

Whoa!

Hearing this makes me want to read all things related to Little House On the Prairie. Just for curiosity sake. I really did find this story very captivating. It's another one that I would love to know more about. I love history as it is. Lately, I've been getting into crime stories. So this is right up my alley! I do fully recommend this book to anybody who enjoys a good crime story. Especially ones that take place in history. Hoping I find time to do a lot of research when all this is said and done!

A bloody good time

I’ve read the story of the “Bloody Benders” before and this telling of their story was very entertaining.

Fascinating history

Crazy historical account of serial killers on the plains. Segue with historical tidbits and references to the Laura Ingalls Wilder book, this is a fun short story. Perfect length

Interesting presentation of a familiar topic

I was aware of the legend of the Bender family but this was very enlightening