Every town has a dark side.

Oil City, Pennsylvania, a working class town where everyone knows everyone,

and where Halloween was for a time fairly routine. Costumes, candy, kids running through the streets

after darn. But in 1992, something happened here that changed the town forever. An event so

disturbing and real, that for the next 16 years, Halloween itself was erased.

The memories it brought were too intense and terrifying to keep the tradition going,

and at the center of it all, an 11-year-old girl who never made it home.

And what happened to her is just about as senseless as any crime can get.

Hey, Guy. happened to her is just about as senseless as any crime can get. Hey guys, it's Andrew, and welcome back to another episode of Everytown War today.

We're headed over to PA, diving into the story of Shauna Howe, the little girl whose murder killed Halloween.

Now, to understand the impact of what exactly happened in this case,

you first have to understand where it happened. Oil City.

As the name suggests, Oil City was born straight out of black gold. In the mid-19th century,

the discovery of petroleum in nearby Oil Creek set off one of the first true oil booms in American history.

It was beyond a stroke of luck. It was a revolution,

and almost overnight, this sleepy patch of Pennsylvania wilderness was transformed into a roaring boomtown.

Oil derricks dotted the hillsides, and the smell of crude hung in the air, and fortunes were made

just as quickly as they were lost.

With the oil came infrastructure, railroads, refineries, and eventually steel.

The city's economy diversified, jobs multiplied, and a new middle class took root.

By the early 20th century, oil city was thriving, homed over 22,000 residents.

Neighborhood sprang up to house oil barons and factory workers alike.

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