Those who watch true or fictional crime shows on TV will have the opportunity to experience two Butler County-based murders up close in the spooky setting of an 1828 house.

Hair-Raising History will be held at 6 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, at the Sen. Walter Lowrie House on West Diamond Street behind the county courthouse.

The event is a fundraiser for the county historical society, which has its main office inside the house built by Butler County’s only U.S. senator.

Jennifer Ford, executive director of the historical society, said Hair-Raising History should not be mistaken for a jump-scare event, with monsters leaping out to frighten visitors.

But she feels just as many goose bumps will be experienced by those who attend, as four rooms in the historic Lowrie House have been set up to tell four, spine-tingling stories.

To plan the event, Ford said she researched murders that have occurred in Butler County over its two-and-one-quarter-century existence.

Once she finds a particularly heinous or interesting tale, she secures actors to portray the murderer, victim or others involved in the story.

Ford also writes the script for the scenarios, for which the actors dress in period costumes.

This year, the fourth for the event, Ford has selected the murder of five members of a Harmony family in the early 1900s.

The story will be narrated by Sharon Chernick, whose character found the family after their murders.

Chernick’s character is an elderly woman telling the story many years after the grisly event.

“It gives people a glimpse into the darker side of Butler’s history,” said Chernick, who acted in a previous Hair-Raising History.

In her prior performance at the event, she played Philomena Shugart.

“She was a lady who lived on Washington Street in Butler who ended up poisoning her husband with some cream soup,” Chernick said.

She said Shugart was placed in a mental institution after her husband’s murder, and later was released to live out her life with her daughter.

She said anyone interested in crime stories should attend the event.

“I think it’s a way to show the people who live here exactly how the town developed and the type of interesting people who were involved in that,” Chernick said. “In this day and age, you don’t think about that type of thing.”

She said the event is well-done, with great scripts, decorations and special effects.

“It’s a quality production,” Chernick said. “The scripts for the characters are written by Jen Ford, and she does an excellent job. Secondly, there’s a lot of work that goes into putting on this production.”

Another room at the Lowrie House will be set up to tell the story of the 1879 murder of a woman in Winfield Township.

“Her husband tried to convince everyone she fell down the stairs and broke her neck,” Ford said.

The victim will be played by local actor Danyle Solomon-Verzinskie.

Ford said the other two rooms outfitted for the event will offer presentations on the macabre customs of the distant past.

The parlor at the Lowrie House has been transformed into the scene of a Victorian funeral, which did not include the use of a funeral home in those days.

“Funerals all took place right inside the home,” Ford said. “The deceased were washed, dressed and laid out right in the home.”

Deb Kruger, a historical society board member, will give a presentation on parlor funerals of the past, complete with a coffin and all mirrors and portraits draped in black lace to signify the temporary suspension of current life and complete immersion in mourning practiced during Victorian times.

The fourth room will demonstrate another Victorian craze, the séance.

“It will be the portrayal of a séance and how they were done in that era,” Ford said. “It’s tongue-in-cheek informative, I would say.”

She said space is limited for the tours, so those who want to check out Hair-Raising History should get their tickets soon.

“We really are just fascinated by death and crime,” Ford said of humanity in 2024. “We love to be scared, as long as it stops just outside of our front doors.”

Tickets, which are $10 for historical society members and $12 for nonmembers, are available by visiting butlerhistory.com and clicking on “events,” then “Hair-Raising History.”