Elevators, Death Traps, The Evil No One Knows About!

Have you ever noticed an elevator door open as you passed by, but no one was on it, no one getting off, nor was there anyone around who could have pressed the button? As far back as elevators have had automatic doors, this bizarre occurrence has been plaguing unsuspecting people all over the world. Alexander Miles invented the automatic elevator doors in 1887, this was a tremendous safety feature which he hoped would save lives; you see, before these automatic doors, people would accidently fall to their deaths in open elevator shafts due to doors being left open. What would you say if I told you the number of people who died in elevator accidents after the invention of the automatic doors remained about the same? The reason for this will be shocking and unbelievable, but the story needs to be told. People need to know the truth. You may never want to step foot on an elevator again, but you still need to pay attention, your life may depend on it.

New York Times 1922

Reports such as this have appeared in newspapers around the world since people have been constructing buildings higher and higher, requiring a means to quickly move between floors.

Many people ride in elevators on a daily basis not knowing the number of people that are horrifically killed in elevator accidents every year. One of the first to die in an elevator accident since the advent of the automatic doors, was 24year old Isabelle Townsend, of Buffalo, New York back in 1892. “A dreadful shame,” said the morning addition of the Buffalo Newspaper. Isabelle stepped on the elevator, but before she was all the way inside, the doors quickly closed on her small frame and held on tight. The elevator then accelerated upwards trapping half her body inside and the other half outside. She was split in half. Eyewitness reports say the elevator didn’t stop until it had reached the 10^th floor, spreading her body throughout the building on the way up. Within 5 months of this incident, there was another death, this time in a health club in London, United Kingdom. A middle-aged man, stepped into the elevator when suddenly, even before the doors could close it dropped like an asteroid to the ground floor; he was on the 30^th floor at the time.  As I’m sure you can imagine, there was not much was left of him to identify. What makes these two stories even more concerning was neither person needed to get on the elevator in the first place, and at the time were on their way somewhere which the elevator would have delayed them. So why did they get on the elevator? The answer lies in the unexpecting opening of the doors when there is no reason for them to open. The draw to enter has been said to be so strong, like a magnet sucking the individual in.

Alexander Miles, 1888

What makes this even more bizarre, is that the invention by Alexander Miles hasn’t saved any lives. There something deep down in the abyss of darkness, far below the elevator shaft which keeps coming back to cause destruction, death, and wreak havoc. Alexander knew this and couldn’t do anything to stop it. The picture below was taken after the very first elevator death, an elevator which had the new technology patented by Alexander. It was 1888, a young man stepped into the open elevator, to his disbelief the elevator wasn’t there, only an open shaft. Alexander knew what went wrong, look at his eyes, they say it all. Hs eyes show the torment and sadness he lived with, as he knew there was something more sinister at play in his invention. He spent the rest of his life trying to make elevators safer, but no matter what he did, some unwary individual still died when the elevator chose to take a soul. 

My name is Warren Asher and I hope with these entries I can inform people of the hazards which prowl in elevators. I investigate elevator accidents around the globe trying to track the very evil which lurks within. I do as my predecessor did before me, as was instructed by Alexander Miles himself.  Alexander, on his death bed, knew something needed to be done; he entrusted a young man who was attending to him, giving him strict instructions on how to proceed and what needed to be done to stop this evil. 

As for myself, I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up. I have been doing this far too long, I will need to train someone to take over for me soon enough.

But now I’m getting carried away, let me start at the beginning so you may understand better. 

Warren Asher, 2016