Cheryl Eddy

Thirty Years Ago, the Night Stalker Was Captured By An Angry Mob

His name was Richard Ramirez, but at the time of his August 1985 capture, most knew him only as the “Night Stalker,” the rapist and murderer who’d been terrorizing California for two years. When a fingerprint outed his identity, his photograph was widely circulated—and his days of killing became perilously numbered. He was caught on…

Farewell, Wes Craven, and Thank You For All the Nightmares

Legendary director Wes Craven died yesterday at the age of 76. His name became synonymous with horror, thanks to films like A Nightmare on Elm Street, Last House on the Left, and the Scream series—a most unexpected career for a man who didn’t even see his first movie until he was in college. In an…

Hannibal Bids a Gorgeously Gory Farewell That Offers Few Surprises, But Plenty of Satisfaction

The dreaded moment has arrived: Hannibal as we know it is no more. At its heart, the show’s always been about the complex (to put it mildly) relationship between Will and Hannibal; necessarily, the finale digs deep into TV’s most fraught twosome … along with serving up buckets of stomach-roiling gore. Spoilers! “The Wrath of…

Nightmare material: NY Mag’s in-depth exploration of the crime in which two 12-year-old girls stabbed a playmate to appease “Slender Man” is essential true-crime reading; though their victim survived, the case evokes the fantasy-driven killing that inspired Heavenly Creatures, but with a distressingly modern twist. Image by mdl70

What’s the Most Enjoyably Terrifying Animal-Attack Movie Ever Made?

Last week, Zoo was the second-most watched show in America. Yep, the silliest show on TV is a huge hit. Clearly, the people have spoken, and what they’re saying is: We can’t get enough of ANIMALS ATTACKING! But this genre is hardly new, with some of its finest examples hitting (drive-in) theaters decades ago. So…

3 Things Movies and TV Shows Get Wrong About Serial Killers (and 3 Things They Get Right)

Hannibal may be ending its NBC run on Saturday, but serial killers as entertainment will, no doubt, live on forever. But how accurate are the most popular examples of narrative, non-docudrama works that depict their gruesome habits? We make like Will Graham and investigate. According to the FBI, serial murderer is defined as “the unlawful…

In 1979, An Entire Science Class Went ‘Berserk’ After Being Hypnotized

The bizarre case has gotten new attention thanks to a new Discovery+ documentary, The Devil's Academy .

Birds Are Way More Lethal Than Bullets on This Week’s Zoo

After last week’s rat-pocalypse, the team gets back to facing enemies of a more human sort: the villainous puppet masters at Reiden Global and the vengeful FBI. But this wouldn’t be Zoo without some animal insanity, and the episode’s title, “Murmuration,” offers a big ol’ hint to keep watching the skies. Spoilerzzzz… As you’ll recall…

Minnesota-based We Are All Criminals shares the anonymous stories of people who’ve committed crimes (vandalism, robbery, drugs, etc.) but were never caught, and contrasts them with similar stories of those who were. In doing so, the project “seeks to challenge society’s perception of what it means to be a criminal.” If you’re not able to…

Man Charged In Cold-Case Killing After Body of Wife Found Buried in Backyard

In 1993, a 23-year-old woman went missing, leaving her young son behind. The only clues to Jacksonville, Fla. resident Bonnie Haim’s disappearance were her purse, found tossed in a dumpster, and her car, which was abandoned at the Jacksonville airport. For two decades, the mystery persisted. This week, the cold case notched a grim if…

This Triple Slaying Rocked a Peaceful State Park—And Sent a Man to Prison for Over 50 Years

Starved Rock State Park, located about 100 miles from Chicago, is the “#1 attraction in Illinois,” according to its website. The history section on that same site delves into the tragic legend behind the park’s unusual name, but doesn’t mention a more recent event that brought it far more notoriety: a 1960 triple slaying. Can’t…

Thanks to advances in marine technology, police are better-equipped than ever to discover submerged evidence, according to dive-safety periodical Alert Diver. Among the evocative examples: the sticky search for a murder weapon within Los Angeles’ La Brea Tar Pits, and a cannibal’s river-tossed trove of hacksaws. Top image by Betsy Weber

Hannibal Deploys Fire and Blood in its Build-Up to Next Week’s Series Finale

Sob. We’re down to Hannibal’s final episodes, and the latest William Blake-titled ep, “The Number of the Beast is 666…”, only hammers in the cold, hard truth that TV is sure gonna be a lot more boring when this creepy, juicy show exits the airwaves. Spoilers! We open as Will Graham is having a therapy…

What’s Your Favorite Over-the-Top Acting Performance in a Science Fiction or Fantasy Film?

More than one science fiction or fantasy movie has been distinguished by a particular performer who decides there’s no room for subtlety and just GOES FOR IT, spawning critical disdain and cult appreciation galore. Which thespian committed the most memorable scenery-chomping ever committed to film? Please leave your answers (inevitably, yes, there are many Nicolas…

The Mysterious Murder of a Heroic Chemist Who Was (Probably) Also a Spy

In 1952, a vacationing British family of three was brutally shot and clubbed to death while camping roadside near the village of Lurs, on the banks of the Durance. The murders, for which a local farmer was convicted (but spared the guillotine), became known as “France’s crime of the century.” And its mysteries still intrigue.…

The Haunted Killer Who Believed His Crime Would Free Him From an Evil Spell

It had been eight years since Susan Mummey, “the witch of Ringtown Valley,” had put a spell on Albert Shinsky, or so he’d come to believe. The “hex,” to use the vernacular of their Pennsylvania Dutch community, made him haunted and depressed, and eventually drove him to murder. It was a brutally precise single shot…

On This Week’s Zoo, the Team Faces Down a Mob of Rampaging Rats Hungry For Human Flesh

Rats rats rats raaaats! Furry ones … and human ones too! There was all kinds of squealing on this week’s excellently creepy-crawly episode of Zoo, the network television show that’s actually a B-movie from the 1970s in disguise. Spoilers ahoy… Since we missed last week’s recap, here’s a summary of episode seven, “Sleuths,” in photo…

The Terrible Rise (and Subsequent Spectacular Fall) of the Barker/Karpis Gang

They robbed banks, committed kidnappings, and killed cops. Their ranks included a Public Enemy #1 who taught Charles Manson how to play guitar. Though the legend that a matriarch led them into battle is largely untrue, the Barker/Karpis Gang lived up to the most fearsome aspects of its reputation. Next month marks the 82nd anniversary…

Who (or What) Is the Scariest Horror-Movie Villain Ever?

A really good horror movie will scare the crap out of you while you’re watching it. But a really great horror movie will haunt you for days, weeks, even years after … especially if it has a particularly potent villain whose terrible actions and leering face you just can’t shake. And really, the movie itself…

The Real Story of Alfred Packer, the Wild West Cannibal Who Became An Unlikely Folk Hero

Alfred G. Packer first made headlines in 1873, when he returned from a harrowing journey through the Colorado Rockies … alone. What happened to his five traveling companions became the stuff of legend, as author Harold Schechter explores in the new Man-Eater: The Life and Legend of an American Cannibal. Detailed and carefully researched, Man-Eater…