Throughout history, there have been millions of horror stories that are told to scare other people, but some are worse than the rest. These terrifyingly true stories about killers, unsolved mysteries, and possessions prove that sometimes non-fiction can be scarier than fiction will ever be. Reading these stories will leave you speechless and will make you want to sleep with a light on.
1. The Murder Castle of H.H. Holmes
The hotel where innocent lives were taken.
Source: Chicago Tribune
As we all know, H.H. Holmes was the first documented serial killer in United States history and is one of the most horrific killers to exist. In 1893, he ran a hotel in Chicago during the World’s Fair, allowing guests to check in so they can continue visiting the fair. However, guests seem to never check back out of the hotel when it was time for them to leave. H.H. Holmes kidnapped the hotel residents and burned their bodies in furnaces and gas chambers that he had built inside of the hotel. At first people didn’t pay too much attention to the strange disappearances of the visitors, but then, with a total of around 200 people, police grew suspicious of H.H. Holmes and couldn’t ignore the fact that people went missing every time they checked in to his hotel. Because of his horrific crimes and the murdering of people, he was convicted and sentenced to be hung, and in 1896 he was hung.
2. The Crime of Ed Gein
Objects that were found in Ed Gein’s collection.
Source: Viral Nova
He isn’t said to be a serial killer because in his life he only killed two people; however, he is still deemed as one of the most terrifying killers to exist. Between the years 1947 and 1952, Gein made about 40 trips to the local cemetery where he would exhume the buried bodies, removing them from their caskets and making furniture out of them. He made utensils out of bones, lampshades and masks out of skin, bowls out of skulls, and a corset out of a female torso. He became even more terrifyingly creepy when he stated that he created a woman figure out of skin from the deceased bodies so he could crawl inside of her whenever he missed his mother. What made authorities put Gein on their radar was when Bernice Worden disappeared, leading authorities right to Gein’s door. When they started to search his property, they found Bernice’s body dressed like a deer in his shed and discovered his grisly collection of human bones and skins. When he was arrested and interrogated, he admitted that he also murdered the tavern owner, Mary Hogan. Because Gein and his story were so disturbing, it inspired various movies, including: Psycho, The Silence of the Lambs, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
3. Elizabeth Báthory
A portrait of Elizabeth.
Source: Wikipedia
Elizabeth, also nicknamed “The Blood Countess”, was a 16th century Hungarian countess and became known as a real-life vampire because her love and obsession for blood. She would kill people and soak in their blood- and drink it- so she can rename young and beautiful forever. During her murdering spree, she had killed over 100 young women, and because she was killing a copious amount of women, word spread during the 17th century about Elizabeth and what she was doing to remain so young. Police caught wind of Elizabeth and fully investigated her. In 1609, Elizabeth was imprisoned inside of her home and was forced to remain in solitary confinement until she died 5 years later. The Guiness Book of World Records wrote about her and deemed her the most prolific female serial killers in the history of man kind.
4. Robert the Doll
Robert the Doll sitting inside of his glass case.
Source: Slate
Robert was a doll, obviously, that used to be owned by Eugene “Gene” Otto and was loved by him greatly. Eugene would play with Robert every single day, until mischief started happening around the house and Eugene strongly believed that Robert was the reason for it. Eugene’s parents reported that they would frequently hear Eugene talking with the doll, almost like he was pleading with it. Eugene still loved the doll, though, making him keep it until he was fully in adulthood. But, that created a multitude of problems for Eugene and his marriage because his wife swore that Eugene was under some sort of spell the doll put on him when he was a child. Robert is known to be one of the most possessed dolls and objects in this world, and visitors can go visit him and his glass case in Key West, Florida. Don’t expect to get a good picture of Robert, though, because visitors claim that their electronic devices and other mobile devices completely stop working when they were face-to-face with Robert.
5. The Crospey Maniac
Inside of the abandoned mental institution.
Source: Sins of Cinema
If you live or visited Staten Island, then you definitely have heard of the Crospey urban legend. Crospey was supposedly a mental patient who had escaped from the hospital he was in, resided in the abandoned Willowbrook Mental Institution, and would only leave the ruins to kidnap children and bring them back to his eerie residence. In 1987, Jennifer Schweiger went missing and a frantic search party ignited. During the searching of her body, people stumbled upon a campsite that belonged to Andre Rand. Andre was a known suspected serial killer and kidnapper, making him the prime suspect for kidnapping Jennifer and killing her. Currently, he is serving 50 years in prison for kidnapping Jennifer as well as kidnapping Holly Ann Hughes in 1981.
6. The Missing 411
A map of the missing people.
Source: All News Pipeline
Each year, a whopping amount of reports flood in that people are missing from hiking through the U.S. national parks and unfortunately, these people are never to be seen again. No one knows what happens to them during their hikes; and former detective David Paulides has written a handful of books about the mysterious disappearances of these people. He calls this mysterious group The Missing 411 and has lead to several conspiracy theories about the national parks. People who research these cases and have analyzed all of the aspects of the cases often link the disappearances to the infamous and notorious Bigfoot, making them believe that this urban legend creature is behind the hikers going missing.
7. The Black Monk House
What the house looks like.
Source: Pinterest
Paranormal activity has been a prevalent thing for this house with reports of activity first being documented in 1966 when the Pritchard family moved into the house. The family bared witness to lights flickering on their own throughout the house, potted plants tumbling down the stairs, a foamy green substance pouring out of the faucets, and strange slashes through pictures. Because of all the activity, the family knew there was a demonic entity in the house and it was making sure the family knew it was there with them. After researching the house, it was discovered that during the 16th century, a Cluniac monk had been put to death across the street of where the house is because he murdered and raped a young girl. This house has been considered the English Amityville horror house because of all the strange and strong paranormal activity that occurs inside of it, and is known as the Black Monk House.
8. The Chicken Coop Murders
Gordon and images of his chicken coop and some bones they found.
Source: Tumblr
Canadian-born man Gordon Northcott moved to Wineville, California to start a chicken farm. To get this chicken farm operational, he knew that he needed help from other people and enlisted seven boys to help him, including his nephew Sanford Clark. Eager to help with the chicken farm, the boys worked long and hard, however, they were never heard from again. Northcott had the willing help from his mother and the unwilling help from his nephew to torture and molest the boys, work them like dogs, and murder them. Sanford felt sick for helping his uncle, so when his older sister came to visit him, he disclosed to her about what was really going on at the farm, and the dark secret Northcott was holding was finally released into the public. During the trial, Northcott’s mother defended him till the end and claimed that he had been sexually abused by the entire family, which is the reason why he committed the crimes that he did- and helped make this story even more terrifying and disgusting. Nonetheless, Northcott was convicted of the crimes and was sentenced to death. He was hung in 1930.
9. The Hinterkaifeck Murders
The house where the murders took place.
Source: Wikipedia
Outside of Kaifeck, Germany, in 1922, one of the most eeriest unsolved murder mysteries occurred on the Gruber family farm. Andreas Gruber noticed that there was a strange newspaper in his house one day as well as a pair of house keys that went missing and noises coming from the attic. Even though strange things were happening in the house, Andreas wasn’t alarmed enough to go to the police and inform them of what was happening. However, if he did go to the police, then his family would have been spared from being slaughtered by a blunt pickax. After being murdered, the six victims weren’t found until six days later because one of the teachers noticed that the Gruber’s granddaughter hadn’t been to school for a short while. What made this murder even more creepy was that the neighbors noticed smoke rising out of the chimney for a week after the Gruber family was murdered and their livestock was well taken care of and fed. This meant to the public that whomever murdered this family had remained living in their house after murdering them with six bodies scattered around the house.
10. The Possession of Remy Chua by Teresita Basa
Newspaper article about Remy Chua and Teresita Basa.
Source: Dnainfo
In Chicago, 1977, respiratory therapist Teresita Basa was brutally murdered one day in her apartment. While police were extensively investigating the case, they received a call from Jose Chua, who claimed that his wife, Remy, was channeling the spirit of Teresita and that she wanted to be in contact with the police. The reason why Remy was channeling Teresita’s spirit was because the two were coworkers and Teresita most likely trusted that Remy would help get the word out about her murder. During one of the channeling sessions, Remy exclaimed that one of the patients at the hospital she worked at, Allan Showery, was Teresita’s killer. Remy also provided information about jewelry that was taken from the apartment and told the police where it was hidden. A little while later, Allan Showery was investigated and upon the investigation, the police found the missing jewelry and convicted Allan of murdering Teresita in 1979.
These cases are some of the most bone chilling cases to ever exist. They will leave you wondering who had killed some innocent victims, but most importantly, why? Some are still listed as unsolved cases while others have admitted to murdering people and giving little to no explanation as to why they did it. Make sure you read these with the lights on- they’ll for sure send shivers down your spine!