The Legend of ’Candyman’ | Horrorwood: True Crime in Tinseltown

At 8:45pm on April 22, 1987, Chicago police received a call from Ruthie Mae McCoy, a 52-year-old black woman living on Chicago's South Side in the Grace Abbott Homes, part of the ABLA Housing Project. Ruthie cried for help saying, “They want to come through the bathroom.” Due to police negligence, racism, and a complete failure on the part of the Chicago Housing Authority at the time, Ruthie's cries for help were not given proper attention. Two days later she was found dead in her apartment. This story would later be referenced in the movie Candyman (1992 and 2021) about a hook-handed man that appears and kills you if you say his name five times into a mirror. This episode explores Ruthie Mae McCoy, her murder, the history of Chicago Public Housing, and how Candyman explores themes of racism, classism, and violence in the projects.

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Episode Sources:

“They Came in Through the Bathroom Mirror: A Murder in the Projects” by Steve Bogira, September 3, 1987, Chicago Reader

“How a tragic unsolved murder and a public housing crisis led to Candyman” by Aja Romano, August 27, 2021, Vox

“The True Story Of Candyman That Inspired The Horror Classic” by Morgan Dunn, Edited by John Kuroski, August 11, 2022, updated August 7, 2023, All That’s Interesting

“How a Real-Life Housing Project Inspired ‘Candyman’” by Shreejit Nair, October 16, 2022, Collider

“How Candyman Reclaims the History of Cabrini-Green” by Andrew R. Chow, August 27, 2021, Time

“Cabrini-Green” by The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, last revised and updated September 29, 2023 by J.E. Luebering, Encyclopedia Britannica

“About” section of the Chicago Housing Authority website

“Candyman (2021)” from iMDB.com

“Candyman (1992)” from iMDB.com

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