Dr. Zimmerly's House of Horrors: Hell on Earth in Rural Pennsylvania

In 1935, Gloria Lawson learned that she was pregnant for the third time. She left her home in Calvert County, Maryland for what she thought would be a brief visit to Dr. Harry C. Zimmerly's makeshift, back alley abortion clinic in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. When she didn't return home after a few days, her family began looking for her.

No one was prepared for what was discovered at Zimmerly's rundown farm. In the driveway were bits of human bone interspersed with ash. In the "clinic" were bloody mattresses and rusty surgical instruments. And caught in a wire bedframe were strands of blond hair - just like Gloria's.

This is the story of Dr. Zimmerly's house of horrors, an illegal hospital where more than one desperate woman lost her life. It's the first episode in a special six-part series running throughout the Halloween season.

For more information on this podcast, visit Stephanie Hoover Has That Story.

To read Stephanie's feature article, on which this episode is based, visit Hauntingly PENNSYLVANIA.