Titus Volunteer Fire Department

Titus, Alabama is a small bedroom community located on Lake Jordan and is just north of Wetumpka and Montgomery, AL.  Filled with farms and pasture land, the Titus Volunteer Fire Department serves to protect nearly 900 homes in the area.  The annual "Maze of Terror," has become our largest fund raiser over the years, with all the money raised going to purchasing "New" equipment to us and maintaining our existing gear.  For more information on our department, click on the link below:

http://www.titusvfd.com/

The farmhouse that you will be entering dates back to the 1800's when Ed & Ruthie Hotes moved to the area and built on the land.  Their dream was to own a small farm, have some children who would live on the land with them, and prosper with a new beginning in the new town of Titus.

All went perfect at first, or so it seemed.  Ed and Ruthie had two wonderful boy's, who grew up to be strong and handsome.  After finishing school, they continued to stay and work on the farm, just like their parents envisioned, but after a few years, they both realized that working on a farm was not what they wanted to do for the rest of their lives.  With little notice to their parents, both boys packed up and moved to Atlanta to start their own lives.

This latest turn of events was devastating to Ed, but more so to Ruthie, as she felt she had lost part of herself.  Ed found himself working the farm all day, but also started taking extended trips to Birmingham to deal with farming contractors.  Ruthie, on the other hand, started replacing time spent with her two sons with time looking at the bottom of an empty liquor bottle.  With her boys gone, and Ed gone a lot of the time now, she soon found herself in the companion of Art Wallace, a traveling salesman.

It wasn't long before Ed returned home early from one of his trips to Birmingham, and found Ruthie and Art together.  It is impossible to say exactly what happened next, but a few days later, a neighbor dropped by to check on them and found a scene of absolute horror.  The best that the police could put together was that Art died from a single shotgun blast to the chest and fell in the living room.  The bed and all the bedroom walls were covered with blood, in large arc patterns, but Ruthie's body was never found.  The police concluded that Ed first killed Ruthie, then cut her body up with a hatchet and buried it in several places on the property.  This might explain the numerous mounds found in the Enchanted Forest area. Ed, unable to live with the knowledge of what he did, hung himself from the tree located in the front yard.

After this, the house with into disrepair and was foreclosed on by the bank, and has never been occupied since.  They say that on certain nights, you can still hear Ruthie's voice wailing as the hatchet comes down on her legs, arms and neck.  You can also feel the cold chill of her spirit as it drifts around the house looking for a final place to rest in peace.

Enjoy your stroll through the Maze of Terror