Lore season 2 episode, 3 recap: Hinterkaifeck: Ghosts in the Attic

This latest episode of Lore goes into the brutal Hinterkaifeck murders in the Spring of 1922 Germany.

On April 3, Andreas Gruber and his wife Cazilia were found dead alongside their widowed daughter Viktoria Gabriel, their grandchildren Cilly and Josef and their maid Maria Baumgartner in this episode of Lore.

Inspector Georg Reingruber of the Munich Police Department arrives to inspect the scene of the grizzly crime.  The local police tell them the murder weapon is most likely a mattock (a farming tool shaped like a pickax) though none was found on the scene.

They also tell him of reports that there had been mysterious footsteps heard in the attic for months leading up to the murders making many believe the house had been haunted by a ghost. The local cops theorize the killer had been hiding in the attic waiting for his time to strike.

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Flashback to four days earlier on the day of the murders.  The family is seemingly spending a quiet day at home when Cilly is heard screaming in her bedroom.  When Viktoria goes to investigate, Cilly claims “the ghost” is hiding in her closet. Viktoria looks inside but there’s nothing there.

Later in the day, Andreas starts on some chores around the family farm but finds the shed has been locked and his keys have gone missing.

Before much discussion can be made about where the keys disappeared to, their new maid Maria announces her arrival.  As Viktoria shows Maria around the property, Maria mentions Cilly talking about the ghost living with them but Viktoria says it’s just her imagination.

That night at dinner Cilly continues to insist there’s a ghost in the house, mentioning some footprints she saw outside  Andreas mentions seeing the footprints too but insists they belong to their neighbor Schlittenbauer, who has been carrying on a relationship with Viktoria.  Andreas shows himself to be very unhappy about this because he himself has been having an incestuous relationship with Viktoria and it’s heavily implied he’s the father of Josef.

As Viktoria prepares to tuck Cilly into bed, she notices that one of the cows has gotten out of the barn.  Viktoria goes out to bring the cow back in and Cilly insists on going with her. When they make it outside, Cilly claims the ghost is inside the barn and they go to take a look.  Once they get inside, they are both killed with a mattock.

Andreas notices that neither Viktoria or Cilly are in their beds and goes looking for them in the barn, only to get killed by the “ghost” with Cazilia also joining the casualties shortly afterward while looking for Andreas.

The killer then makes his into the house where he makes quick work of Maria and the sleeping Josef.

Back to the police investigation, the aforementioned neighbor Lorenz Schlitterbahn is seen disturbing the crime scene, saying he is looking for son Josef.

Robbery is quickly ruled out as a motive since it was determined that no money was missing. They also establish the killer made himself at home on the property for several days after the murders and even went so far as to chop himself some firewood, make several meals for himself and even wash the dishes afterward.

Reingruber begins to suspect the culprit could’ve been Viktoria’s husband Karl Gabriel even though Karl was reported to have died several years before in World War I.

Reingruber also notes the case bears some similarities to a series of murders in America, though an officer points out the killer in America didn’t choose to stick around the crime scene after doing the deed.

Unsurprisingly, Schlitterbahn also winds up becoming a suspect because of his rather complicated relationship with Viktoria and Josef and his odd behavior at the crime scene.

Despite many suspects, Reingruber laments they have little hard evidence to find the culprit and laments the chances of solving the case are slim.

The motive behind the murders and the killer’s identity remain a mystery.

I’ll admit I’ve had my issues with this new season of Lore but I legitimately found this episode to be effective in its creepiness and despite the nature of the murders, there was no reliance on gore.

What did you think of this latest episode?  Give us your thoughts in the comment section.