"Little House" fan fiction concept

[Michael Varn]

I watched LHOTP religiously at home with my parents when I was a kid in the 1970's and the early 1980's. Don't think I ever missed an episode. The only other TV content I watched on a regular basis back then was Saturday morning cartoons, and some SYFY series' in the late 1970's like "Battlestar Galactica" and "Buck Rogers". And of course some of my favorite 80's sitcoms
actually started in the late 70's as well. Now it was very interesting watching this series on disks in the present time, because of how I compared my adult perceptions of the series with my childhood perception of the series. It was one of the most conservative shows ever on television, in terms of the morality lessons that were taught in each of the episodes. But I was also intrigued by how frightening a few of the épisodes were. Not just the headless horseman, but the one where Laura thought she saw the shadow of Mrs. Olson chop off someone's head, when it was only a mannequin. Again, that formula where characters are convinced something is true, but it's not! Now this brings me to one two part episode in particular: "Silvia". Apparently the writers on LHOTP took their cues
from those horror movies that were popular in the 1970's and early 1980's. Now LHOTP was a G rated program, but this episode was not G rated. Don't remember if there was some kind of warning before the opening title credit sequence that this one is NOT for children. Any way, this was the episode that gave me an idea for a fan fiction concept. Instead of a rapist in Walnut Grove, there could have been a serial killer! Let me give you a breif summary of the story.


It will take place on Halloween!
A federal Marshall rides into town on a horse with a warning for all of the adult male characters that a serial killer has escaped from an asylum in Minneapolis or back east, and could be headed their way. Doctor Baker of course has a very prominant role in this story because there are reports of very unusual murders that have been reported in nearby towns like Sleepy Eye and Mancado. And yes, there is one victim in Walnut Grove! Relying on his knowledge of forensic psychiatry, which is not much at the time, Doctor Baker has to figure out how to catch the killer. So Doctor Baker is like a criminal profiler in the late 1800's. He boards a train to Minneapolis to meet with and to consult with his former medical school class mates at a hospital there who actually specialized in forensic psychiatry. Now I may be taking poetic license here because I am not sure this feild even existed in the late 1800's. Of course TV shows about criminal profiling are very popular today. And at the end the killer is cornered in a barn and is captured. Now let me be clear, none of the victims are characters that we know; principal, minor, or cameo. They are annonymous extras living in these towns. Their names have never been mentioned on the show. And there is no graphic violence either, but some of the victims are shown, but it's after the murder itself. This is a theoretical episode that could have aired during the run of the series. This story is rated PG, just like "Silvia". And there could have been a very interesting connection in this episode as it pertained to a minor character played by Kyle Richards. Yes, she was a minor character in "Halloween" and her character Alicia is in this concept! So, Lindsey Wallace would not only be from Haddonfeild, but Walnut Grove as well! But I think I will need permission to post this story. If not, I will just post it on another fan fiction site. I don't know if there is a thread or category on this site for LHOTP discussion in general? If there is, shoot me the link!

Thanks!