Belle Gunness: The Black Widow of the American Midwest

There is a type of female killer that has become so infamous that they have their own nickname - the black widow. This name comes from the Black Widow spider that are found all over the world. They are considered to be the most venomous type of spiders found in the United States, so people are naturally not big fans of them even though people rarely die from their bites.But it wasn’t due to their venom that these spiders are compared to deadly female killers. It is actually because of a a widely circulated myth that the females of the species eat their mates after sexual contact. While this actually does happen sometimes; this isn’t regular behaviour. This didn’t stop this falsehood persisting today, and now being attached to women who decide to murder their lovers.These women are a lot more dangerous than their spider counterparts, and are known to act out their anger, sociopathic tendencies, or desire for financial gains by killing their husbands, boyfriends, or both. One of the most famous was a woman who immigrated to the United States in 1881. It is said she killed over forty people, but the murderess herself disappeared without a trace.So get comfortable my spooky friends…you are about to hear the tale Belle Gunness, the black widow of the American midwest. But before we get started, I do need to give you all a heads up. Today we will be speaking about the murders of both adults and children, along with graphic crime scenes. Listener discretion is advised.We got merch! Shop now: HorrifyingHist1.redbubble.com Join our fan club at: https://www.patreon.com/horrifyinghistory Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/horrifyinghistoryInstagram & Threads: https://instagram.com/horrifying_historyTwitter: https://twitter.com/horrifyinghist1 Horrifying History is part of the Darkcast Network. Check out their other amazing podcasts at https://www.darkcastnetwork.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/horrifying-history--4180070/support.