Nightmare on the 13th Floor Online >>> The Avery Block Murders

"A lunatic named Avery Block went up to the 13th floor of the Wessex Hotel with a bunch of his friends. He took a fire axe off the wall and started swinging at everybody in sight! By the time the police got there he had already slaughtered 16 people."
-Elaine Kalisher
Explaining the story to Detective Sargeant Madden

DEATH #1-16

Counting Corpses:

While the "Hotel Body Count" section list only reflects murders that have occured while Elaine has been staying at the hotel, the Avery Block murders accounted for the original 16 murders. This gives a total count of murdered patrons at at least 33. Assuming Abraham, Mr. Rogas and Dr. Lanier perished in the blaze, the hotel death count reaches a staggering 36.

AXE MURDERER

Played by: ?
Job: Satan-contacting Axe Murderer [Now Immortal?]
Age: 40 (in 1900); 130 (in 1990)
Height: ?
Birthdate: ?
Birthplace: ?
Blood Type: ?

A psychologically impaired man who believes immortality can be achieved through slaughtering people, Avery Block had a cult following that believed in the power of evil. The Wessex Hotel was the tallest building in Los Angeles in 1898-1901, and it has a 13th floor. Avery Block believed that the 13th floor was a portal - a gateway to hell. He believes that by slaughtering people, contact with Satan could be achieved, and after the death of 16 individuals, he would become immortal. Investigating Detective Sargeant Daniel Bergin searched for Block all the way up until the day that he died. He never found Block, and believed fully, that Avery Block had indeed, achieved immortality...

The Daily Tribune:

This only lists the feature on Avery Block. For information about headlines from this and other issues, please refer to the Walkthrough/Analysis.

Friday, September 14, 1900

Mass Murderer Hacks 16 People to Death at Wessex Hotel

Avery Block, member of a satanic cult, walked calmly into the Wessex Hotel this morning took a fire axe from the wall and proceeded to hack to death 16 people seemingly at random. The investigating detective Daniel Bergin said "it was the worst and bloodiest carnage he had ever witnessed." There were headless bodies and mutilated corpses all thru the hotel. Avery Block is still at large.

An immediate investigation...

The first paragraph resides to the right of Avery Block's picture, at the very top of the page. The second paragraph is the start of the first-most column. It is for the most part illegible, but more than likely contains a rather detailed an vivid account of the incident. If anybody knows where I may acquire a prop copy of this newspaper, please let me know, as I would gladly pay for a copy.