Horrorwood: True Crime in Tinseltown

The Murderer That Inspired Tobe Hooper’s ’Eaten Alive’

The Butcher of Elmendorf, The Bluebeard of South Texas, The Alligator Man...these are all nicknames for Joe Ball, a murderous man from a wealthy family who may or may not have fed his victims to his pet alligators. He also inspired the 1976 film "Eaten Alive" directed by Tobe Hooper of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" fame. As far as horror movies based on true stories go, this is perhaps one of the wildest.
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Episode Sources:
Hall, Michael (July 1, 2002). "Two Barmaids, Five Alligators, and the Butcher of Elmendorf". Texas Monthly. Texas.
“Joe Ball: The Butcher of Elmendorf” by David Lohr - Crime Library
“Chilling story about the man known as ‘The Butcher of Elmendorf’” by Erica Hernandez and Roslyn Jimenez
“THE HISTORY OF ELMENDORF” by Sandra L. Christian and Elsa Hernandez; Palo Alto College
Joe Ball The Butcher Of Elmendorf Documentary - YouTube
 
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Haunted Theatres: The Savannah Theatre in Savannah, GA

Ghosts? Check. Fires that start and stop on their own? Check. A presidential assassin? Check...and yikes. The Savannah Theatre really takes the whole "all theatres are haunted" belief to a whole new level, which isn't surprising considering it's more than 200 years old and located in a city that is literally built on the dead.
Standing in Chippewa Square - the backdrop for some of Forrest Gump's most iconic scenes - the Savannah Theatre has played host to some of the world's most famous - and not-so-famous - performers, and some of them refuse to leave...
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Episode Sources:
Historic Savannah Theatre Paranormal Investigations
“Portals to Hell” - Season 3 Episode 7, available on Max
Overstreet, Robert Lane, "The History of the Savannah Theater, 1865-1906." (1970). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 1799 - lots of Savannah Morning News articles in this one
“The Colonial Park Cemetery (and the traces of the original cemeteries within)”
Colonial Park Cemetery
“Ghosts of Christmas Past” by Jessica Lynn Curtis
Truth In Evidence Haunted Tours
Chippewa Square
“The Savannah Theater: A Rich Heritage and Colorful History of Hauntings” by Chris Allen
“Yellow Fever at 200” by Jonathan M. Bryant
“Boo Business: The Savannah Theatre offers Christmas shows and a few paranormal performances” by Enocha Edenfield
“29 Things Nobody Tells You About Savannah, Georgia” by Lia Garcia
 
For further reading: https://savannahterrors.com/the-historic-savannah-theatre/
 
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Tragedy on Set of ’Twilight Zone: The Movie’

“You are about to enter another dimension." No, but it feels like that when it comes to safety in the film industry in the 1980's. The Twilight Zone was such a HUGE hit in popular culture, an anthology movie aptly titled Twilight Zone: The Movie started filming in 1982 and was released on June 24, 1983. “Time Out,” the first segment in the movie, was the subject of much controversy in Hollywood at the time, and for good reason: the production led to the deaths of three people during filming…and it was all caught on camera.
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Episode Sources:
“Deaths on Location: How the ‘Twilight Zone’ and ‘Midnight Rider’ Tragedies May Influence ‘Rust’ Prosecution” by Pat Saperstein, June 21, 2023, Variety
“Father of 6-Year-Old Testifies in Film Deaths Trial” by AP, October 1, 1986, The New York Times
“‘Twilight Zone: The Movie’ and the Deadly Accident That Plagued It by Jason Bailey, June 25, 2023, The New York Times
“Safety of Actors Cited by Witness” by Special to the New York Times, December 4, 1986, The New York Times
“Director Standing Trial for Deaths on Film Set” by Judith Cummings, July 23, 1986, The New York Times
“All 5 Acquited in 3 Deaths on Film Set” by Judith Cummings, May 30, 1987, The New York Times
“Around the Nation; ‘Twilight Zone’ Studio and 3 Others Pay Fines” by AP, June 28, 1983, The New York Times
“‘Twilight Zone’ Trial Ends in Acquittals” by Lloyd Grove, May 30, 1987, The Washington Post
“Settlements Reported in Two Families’ Civil Suits Over ‘Twilight Zone’ Deaths” by Paul Feldman, Jun 3, 1987, Los Angeles Times
“John Landis (I),” IMDb.com
“Vic Morrow Biography - Mini Bio” by Tony Fontana, IMDb.com
“Actor Vic Morrow had chilling last words before dying in a helicopter accident on set of Twilight Zone” by Gregory Robinson, August 8, 2023, Unilad
“Twilight Zone: The Movie” IMDb.com
 
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Murder at Marlon Brando’s House - Part 2

We're back with Part 2 and these Brandos be Brandoing. We ended Part 1 with the shooting death of Dag Drollet at the hands of Christian Brando. Now we get into the he-said-she-said of it all. We're talking about Christian's arrest, his sentencing and the lives of those affected by that fateful night. Things get horrible and then they get horrible-er, and THEN...things get worse.
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SAMHSA: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
SAMHSA’s National Helpline is a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service (in English and Spanish) for individuals and families facing mental and/or substance use disorders.
Call 1-800-662-HELP (4357)
 
Episode Sources:
“Christian Brando - A Hollywood Family Tragedy” by Mark Gribben
“Drollet Was Trying to Break From Brando Clan, Relatives Say” by Patt Morrison
“Inside the Most Publicly Tragic Chapter of Marlon Brando's Scandalous Family History” by Natalie Finn
“The turbulent life of Marlon Brando's children” by Peter Manso
“The boy Brando lost” by Christopher Goodwin
“My Surprising Bond With the Troubled, Tragic Christian Brando (Guest Column)” by Champ Clark
“CHRISTIAN BRANDO GETS 10-YEAR SENTENCE”
“L.A. coroner probes Christian Brando's death” by Steve Gorman
“Bravo for Champ Clark's Play, Wild Son: The Testimony of Christian Brando” by Chaz Ebert
“Christian Brando Tells of Remorse and Hopes” by Lois Timnick
“Daughter of Brando Kills Herself in Tahiti” by Eric Malnic
“Marlon Brando's Personal Apocalypse” by Peter Manso
“Christian Brando Refuses to Testify” by Andrew Blankstein
 
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Murder at Marlon Brando’s House - Part 1

"Your life together smells of tragedy, it smells of death.” Ummm, not exactly words you want your dad saying about you and your girlfriend. The Brandos were a troubled brood, there's no doubt about it. Drugs, violence, extramarital affairs...the list goes on. While many might think having a Hollywood legend for a father is all glitz and glamour, some people might say the Brando kids never stood a chance (us - we're some people). On a chilly evening in May of 1990, Marlon Brando's sprawling estate became the scene of a horrific tragedy that set off a chain of devastating events.
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SAMHSA: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
SAMHSA’s National Helpline is a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service (in English and Spanish) for individuals and families facing mental and/or substance use disorders.
Call 1-800-662-HELP (4357)
 
Episode Sources:
“Christian Brando - A Hollywood Family Tragedy” by Mark Gribben
“Drollet Was Trying to Break From Brando Clan, Relatives Say” by Patt Morrison
“Inside the Most Publicly Tragic Chapter of Marlon Brando's Scandalous Family History” by Natalie Finn
“The turbulent life of Marlon Brando's children” by Peter Manso
“The boy Brando lost” by Christopher Goodwin
 
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The Sordid Past of the Cecil Hotel

The Cecil Hotel in downtown LA boasted 700 rooms and was originally meant for business travelers and tourists...but then came the Great Depression and things went awry. Over the years it's seen its share of murders, suicides and alleged paranormal events, not to mention it has been home to multiple (yes, MULTIPLE) serial killers. Eek.
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Episode Sources:
“History of Skid Row and the Trust,” Skid Row Housing Trust
“What Happened to Elisa Lam, Dorothy Jean Purcell, And Why You Should Never Play The Elevator Game” by Zachary Palmer, Signal Horizon
“The Twisted Story of Austrian Serial Killer Jack Unterweger” by Mark Oliver, Edited by John Kuroski, January 3, 2022, updated March 2, 2022, All That’s Interesting
“The Horrifying History of The Infamous Cecil Hotel” by Beth Braden, July 13, 2021, Travel Channel
“Elisa Lam Video” uploaded by Dennis Romero, YouTube
“The Elevator Game: Entrance to the Otherworld,” September 21, 2017, silence of the night, Sites at Penn State
“How Did Elisa Lam Die at the Cecil Hotel? All the Theories, Explained” by Korin Miller, published February 12, 2021, Women’s Health
“Notorious Serial Killers Who Stayed at the Cecil Hotel” by Hotel Chantelle Stuff, May 15, 2023, Hotel Chantelle
“How Downtown L.A.’s Cecil Hotel Went From Lively Destination to ‘Hell on Earth’” by Emma Dibdin, February 20, 2021, Town & Country Magazine
“Mysterious Deaths and Serial Killer Residents: What to Know About the Cecil Hotel’s Creepy History” by People Staff, February 16, 2021, People Magazine
“Inside the Cecil Hotel and its Eerie History of Death and Murder” by Katie Serena, edited by John Kuroski, Published May 23, 2023, updated June 7, 2023, All That’s Interesting
“Accident or Something More Sinister? Inside The Death of Elisa Lam at L.A.’s Cecil Hotel” by Aaron Rasmussen, March 31, 2023, Investigation Discovery
“LA Times Today: A year after opening 600 rooms to L.A.’s unhoused, the Cecil Hotel is still mostly empty,” January 11, 2023, 4:49 PM PT, Los Angeles Times
The Cecil Hotel Has Been Dubbed ‘A Hotbed For Death’ - Here are 16 Scary Facts About The Establishment” by Ehis Osifo, BuzzFeed Staff, July 7, 2021, BuzzFeed
“Vaughn Orrin Greenwood; A.K.A. ‘The Skid Row Slasher’” by Michael Newton, An Encyclopedia of Modern Serial Killers
 
For further reading: https://laghosttour.com/infamous-cecil-hotel/
 
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The Shooting of Stuntman Garrett Warren

Garrett Warren was at the top of his game when he was gunned down in the doorway of his home - and in front of his mother, no less. But why would anyone want to murder a man described as a kind, generous friend and focused professional? This case has some wild twists and turns involving a pizza parlor, a picture taken at a party and...Home Alone's Joe Pesci???? And how did one misspelled word put the nail in the coffin, so to speak? Alright, Misfits, let's do this.
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Episode Sources:
Dateline: The Plot Thickens, S21 E1
“When It Mattered: Garrett Warren” hosted by Chitra Ragavan
“Private eye drops suit against Pesci” by the Associated Press
Interview with Garrett Warren by Brad Curran
“Husband Tells Story of Hitman Attack” - transcript, Nancy Grace
“Did Joe Pesci’s Ex Hire a Hitman?” By Christine Pelisek
"Primed for Pain" by Chitra Ragavan
 
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The Amityville Horror House

A Dutch Colonial house sits on the foundation at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, Long Island, New York, about 30 miles outside of New York City. It’s a house with a gruesome past and a penchant for collecting the souls of its inhabitants. This personification of evil is known as The Amityville Horror House, and this is the story of Ronald DeFeo Jr., the mass murder of the DeFeo family, and the subsequent haunting that launched a movie franchise. Is the house ACTUALLY haunted, and are the ghosts (or demons!) still tormenting the residents there? Kate and Kevin speculate wildly on all things Amityville!
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Episode Sources:
“Six in Family Found Slain in Bedrooms in L.I. Home” by Pranay Gupte Special to the New York Times, November 14, 1974, The New York Times
“Surviving Son Held in Slayings of 6 in His Family at L.I. Home” by Pranay Gupte Special to the New York Times, November 15, 1974, The New York Times 
“L.I. Slayings Suspect Had Used Drugs” by George Vecsey Special to The New York Times, November 16, 1974, The New York Times
“Slain Family Drugged, Police on L.I. Report” by Pranay Gupte to The New York Times, November 18, 1974, The New York Times
“Son, 24, is Guilty in Murder of Six,” November 22, 1975, The New York Times
“The Horrific True Story of Ronald DeFeo Jr. and The Amityville Murders” by Erin Kelly, Edited by John Kuroski, Published August 7, 2022, updated October 26, 2022, All That’s Interesting
“Neighbors Recall DeFeos as ‘Nice, Normal Family” by George Vecsey Special to The New York Times, November 15, 1974, The New York Times
“Amityville Horror: Inside the DeFeo Family’s Brutal Murders” by Aaron Rasmussen for Investigation Discovery
“‘Amityville’ Prisoner Says Movie Money Tainted Defense” by Diana Jean Schemo, June 25, 1992, The New York Times
“Ronald DeFeo, Whose Murder Spree Inspired ‘The Amityville Horror,’ Dies at 69” by Jacey Fortin, March 15, 2021, The New York Times
“Was ‘The Amityville Horror’ a Hoax? The True Crime Story Behind the Famous Haunted House” by Eric Shorey, October 2, 2018, Oxygen
“The True Story Behind ‘The Amityville Horror’” by Shawn Van Horn, December 16, 2022, Collider
“The Real ‘Amityville Horror’: Chilling Facts About the Crime and Haunted House,” by Biography.Com Editors, October 14, 2020, Biography.com
“9 Creepy Facts About The Amityville Horror Case” by Lucia Peters, Originally published June 28, 2017, updated on March 15, 2021, Bustle
“Crazy Facts About the Amityville Horror House” by LS Cohen, January 15, 2020, LongIsland.com
“The Crimes of Ronald DeFeo Jr, The ‘Possessed’ Man Who Killed His Family and Inspired ‘The Amityville Horror’” by Austin Harvey, Edited by Jaclyn Anglis, published May 11, 2023 and updated May 12, 2023, All That’s Interesting
“New Evidence Raises Questions in Decades-Old Amityville Horror Murders,” February 27, 2012, CBS New York
“Amityville: Inside the Case that Rattled a Seasoned Paranormal Investigator” by Beth Braden, Travel Channel
“Amityville Horror: Horror or Hoax?” by ABC News, October 31, 2002, ABC News
“William Weber: Attorney In it for Profit” by Makenzie Santana, April 17, 2019, StMU Research Scholars
“Revealing the Facts,” The Amityville Murders, AmityvilleMurders.com
 
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