Wikimedia Commons The cover art for sheet music written in responses to the killings committed by the Axeman of New Orleans. In American Horror Story: Coven, starting with episode "The Axeman Cometh", the Axeman is portrayed by Danny Huston. The 2022 YA horror novel Don’t Go to Sleep by librarian Bryce Moore blends a fictionalized account with real facts, such as victim names, crime scene locations, and the real letter from the Axeman to the press. The notorious axe-wielding murderer would often target Italian immigrants and couples in their homes, a rather risky choice of modus operandi given that he would have two people struggling against him and it increased the chances of having additional witnesses.

Gauthreaux, Alan G.; Hippensteel, D. G. (November 16, 2015). Dark Bayou: Infamous Louisiana Homicides. McFarland. ISBN 9781476662954. Gibson, Cameron (2006). Serial Murder and Media Circuses. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing. ISBN 0275990648. My suspicion is that there's some kind of racial or ethnic anxiety, that he perhaps has this resentment of these not-quite-white foreigners who are doing better than he thinks they ought to be doing," says Davis. My Favorite Murder, a true crime podcast, covered the story of the Axeman on their 60th episode entitled "Jazz It". [27]The Axeman found a second potential victim keeping Besumer company, Harriet Lowe. Lowe was Besumer’s mistress and she is the one the Axeman actually managed to kill. While we may never know, we do know what calmed his murderous urges. A letter, purporting to be from the Axeman, published in various newspapers, read that “every person shall be spared” where “a jazz band” is playing, causing residents to crowd jazz halls and play jazz records late into the night of March 19, 1919. No murders were recorded that evening. Writer Julie Smith used a fictionalized version of the Axeman events in her 1991 novel The Axeman's Jazz. The author has included newspaper reports, police reports, correspondence and other paperwork in the book. What did these add to the story and the book?

BuzzFeed Multiplayer (July 28, 2017), The Terrifying Axeman of New Orleans, archived from the original on December 12, 2021 , retrieved April 23, 2019

Undoubtedly, you Orleanians think of me as a most horrible murderer, which I am, but I could be much worse if I wanted to. If I wished, I could pay a visit to your city every night. At will I could slay thousands of your best citizens, for I am in close relationship with the Angel of Death. In some ways, it seems like the Axeman's letter could have only worked in New Orleans. Post-Civil War, the city's demographics completely changed, says Bruce Raeburn, curator emeritus of the Hogan Jazz Archive at Tulane University. New Orleans, 1919. As a dark serial killer – the Axeman – stalks the city, three individuals set out to unmask him . . .

Sunset Swing brings Ray Celestin’s brilliant City Blues Quartet to an end in quite some style… The best book in a quite remarkable series.” Is the Axe-Man Type of Jekyl-Hyde Concept?". Times-Picayune. August 13, 1918 . Retrieved May 2, 2012. And then nearly 100 years later, the letter in question pops up on one of the biggest subreddits, r/todayilearned: As Michael, Luca and Ida each draw closer to discovering the killer’s identity, the Axeman himself will issue a challenge to the people of New Orleans: play jazz or risk becoming the next victim. And as the case builds to its crescendo, the sky will darken and a great storm will loom over the city . . . The main theme of the book is truth and prejudice – how what we consider to be the truth may just be our own, personal interpretation of the world around us, and how that interpretation can be influenced by our prejudices. How are the Axeman and his crimes used to show the way people’s prejudices affect how they view the world?a b c "Another Hatchet Mystery; Man and Wife Near Death". Times-Picayune. July 6, 1918 . Retrieved May 2, 2012. Newton, Michael (August 2004). The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes (Facts on File Crime Library). Facts on File. ISBN 0816049807. If you wish you may tell the police to be careful not to rile me. Of course, I am a reasonable spirit. I take no offense at the way they have conducted their investigations in the past. In fact, they have been so utterly stupid as to not only amuse me, but His Satanic Majesty, Francis Josef, etc. But tell them to beware. Let them not try to discover what I am, for it were better that they were never born than to incur the wrath of the Axeman. I don't think there is any need of such a warning, for I feel sure the police will always dodge me, as they have in the past. They are wise and know how to keep away from all harm. He even admitted to hearing strange groaning sounds through the wall of his home but told police that he had just gotten home from a party and was too drunk to realize that his brother was getting murdered next door. Well, as I am cold and crave the warmth of my native Tartarus, and it is about time I leave your earthly home, I will cease my discourse. Hoping that thou wilt publish this, that it may go well with thee, I have been, am and will be the worst spirit that ever existed either in fact or realm of fancy.