Remember that scene in An American Werewolf in London where the surly inhabitants of a bar in rural England warn two American backpackers to “keep clear of the moors”? Well, the two Yankees ignored the warning, and we all know how that ended up.

The moors, elevated plateaus with rocky valleys and streams found scattered throughout the United Kingdom, have held a particularly unsettling place in the British consciousness since the 1960s. Ever since Saddleworth Moor, in northwest England, was the scene of a series of murders carried out by two demented lovers from July 1963 until their capture in October 1965.

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Ian Brady and Myra Hindley worked in Manchester at a chemical distribution company. Brady had a criminal background and had spent time in prison before he met Hindley. He considered himself an intellectual and was obsessed with the Nazis. Brady was also fascinated with new technology. He enjoyed taking photos, he owned his own audio recording equipment, and he even took the time to transfer Adolf Hitler’s speeches onto vinyl records.

Hindley grew up in a poor household dominated by a violent father. For many months, she admired Brady at work from afar, and, eventually, the two began spending time together. They were young (Brady was 23 and Hindley was 19) when they started dating in late 1961, and Hindley soon found herself obsessed with him.

The two became inseparable, and Hindley latched onto Brady’s bizarre interests. The two read aloud to each other on lunch breaks about Nazi atrocities, and Hindley even dyed her hair blonde to give herself a more Aryan look. The couple also enjoyed exploring the moors in Manchester and taking photos of each other with their dog, Puppet.

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Photo Credit: Bundyspooks

Brady and Hindley’s discussions ultimately shifted to the ways someone might commit the perfect murder. After much talk, the two outcasts decided to act on the sick, twisted fantasies they had been imagining.

Their first victim was 16-year-old Pauline Reade, a neighbor of Hindley’s. Reade was on her way to a dance in July 1963 when Hindley pulled up in a van and talked Reade into helping her look for a lost glove on Saddleworth Moor. Brady followed the van on his motorbike. When they arrived, Brady took the young girl to look for the glove while Hindley waited in the van. Brady returned alone – Pauline Reade was dead, her throat slashed, and her body buried on the moor.

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Brady and Hindley were now murderers, and Reade’s death was only the first in a series of violent killings the couple perpetrated on young children in Manchester. Their four additional victims ranged in age from 10-17. Brady and Hindley consistently took advantage of the kindness and naivety of the young strangers, in certain cases asking them for help with heavy packages in exchange for a ride home. These rides all ended up a one-way trip to a freshly dug grave on Saddleworth Moor.

The fifth and final murder took place on October 6, 1965 at Brady and Hindley’s house. The couple met 17-year-old Edward Evans at the train station in Manchester and invited him to their house. Once there, Brady attacked and killed Evans with an axe. Hindley’s brother-in-law, David Smith, was at the house that day. Though he witnessed the murder, he was allowed to live – after helping clean up the crime scene. Upon returning home, Smith told his wife, who convinced him he had to call the police.