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Stream and Scream
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'In a Violent Nature' Is the Unofficial 'Friday the 13th' Remake You've Been Waiting For
I love and respect the late Robert Stack, but the sound of that deep, dulcet voice of his is the most terrifying thing in the world. For 15 years, Stack scared the Dunk-a-roos out of an entire generation of ’90s kids as the host of the popular true-crime series Unsolved Mysteries. Even though the series premiered in the late ’80s and hasn’t produced a new episode since 2010, the true-crime trailblazer remains far more terrifying than any scary movie. Sure, Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers are horrifying in an abstract manner, but Unsolved Mysteries is frightening in a visceral, very concrete “oh wait, I could actually die” type of way.
Friday the 13th and the Halloween franchises are fictional. Unsolved Mysteries is as real as it gets.
Despite no longer being in production (for now), Unsolved Mysteries is experiencing a bit of a cultural renaissance. Not only are the first twelve seasons of the series available to stream on Prime Video, but Pluto TV recently added their very own 24/7 Unsolved Mysteries channel. The best part? These vintage episodes contain new updates on old mysteries.
We’ve already detailed the weirdest Unsolved Mysteries cases of all-time — shout out to my old pal the Skunk ape — now it’s time to look at the five most terrifying segments of this classic true-crime series.
'The Disappearance of Angela Hammond' (Season 4, Episode 16)
Unsolved Mysteries is filled with chilling ghost stories and cases involving UFOs. For the most part, I eschewed celestial mysteries for segments like the disappearance of Angela Hammond. Twenty-year-old Hammond was abducted while talking to her boyfriend Rob on a pay phone. What makes this case so disturbing is what happens next. Hammond was only seven blocks from Rob’s house, so when he heard her scream, he raced to try and save her. On his way to the pay phone, he passed a truck going in the opposite direction and heard his girlfriend scream his name from inside the vehicle.
Rob threw his car into reverse and began pursuing Angie and her assailant. Unfortunately, Rob’s transmission was damaged from the chase and he was forced to watch in horror as the truck, which had a fish decal on the back, sped away. It’s a truly agonizing story.
Another terrifying mystery is the peculiar case of Cindy James, which you can also watch on Prime Video.
'The Psychological Abuse of Bill & Dorothy Wacker' (Season 6, Episode 23)
Wanna talk abject terror? One of the most horrifying cases of the series deals with the decade-long psychological torment suffered by Dorothy and Bill Wacker at the hands of an unknown assailant. This heartbreaking story follows an unassuming elderly couple forced to endure constant mental, and at times physical, harassment from an unknown perpetrator.
What makes this case so perplexing is that Bill and Dorothy didn’t no why they were being targeted, which means that his could happen to anybody. The couple experienced years of attacks, menacing letters, threatening phone calls, and sick mind games until they eventually passed away.
This case is the personification of cruelty.
'The Tragic Murders of Pam and Eric Ellender' (Season 7, Episode 15)
The senseless murders of Pam and Eric Ellender will make your skin crawl. The married couple was murdered by members of a satanic cult, SKATERS aka Satan’s Kids Against the Establishment, while their infant daughter slept in the next room.
Thankfully, the baby survived, but the perpetrators allegedly hosted a party in the Ellender house that very night, with the bodies of Pam and Eric still in the residence.
'The Abduction of The Allagash Four' (Season 7, Episode 21)
It just wouldn’t be a proper Unsolved Mysteries article without an alien abduction story. In terms of pure fright, the infamous story of the “Allagash Four” is a terrifying tale for anyone petrified of the unknown. The mystery tells the tale of four men who were allegedly abducted by aliens during a camping trip in the Maine wilderness. Each of the four men were reportedly hypnotized independent of one another and shared almost the exact same story.
“Their chilling story may seem unbelievable,” Stack said in the episode, “but more and more people have become convinced that such accounts are based in fact, not fiction.” The story may have had a predictable coda in 2016, but even the most staunch skeptics had to consider its validity during the initial broadcast.
Two bonus mysteries if you’re not a fan of extra-terrestrial cases: “The Circleville Writer” (Season 7, Episode 6) and “The Rain Man” (Season 5, Episode 18)
'The Chair of Death' (Season 10, Episode 10)
We end on a lighter note: a haunted chair.
Back in 1702, convicted murderer Thomas Busby was allowed one last drink while sitting on his favorite chair in his favorite pub before heading to the gallows. Before his date with the hangman he yelled out, “May sudden death come to anyone who dares sit in my chair.” According to legend, the cursed chair has “killed” every person who has sat on it.
The segment cycles through a number of stories that seem to defy rational explanation. Thankfully, the chair was moved to a museum, and in order to prevent anyone from sitting in the supposedly cursed chair, they hung it five feet from the ground. Even if you don’t believe in curses, you’d probably refrain from sitting on this chair.
