Buzz
Every Halloween, terrifying tales of cryptids, aliens, and urban myths are shared again and again. Campfire stories often exaggerate for dramatic effect, but the origins behind 10 of the most famous tropes reveal that truth can be stranger than fiction.
10. The Halloween Candy Poisoning Neighbor
Ronald O’Bryan spoiled the fun for everyone. Parents diligently inspect their children's Halloween loot, fearing some sinister prankster might be lurking. Their precaution often includes sampling the candy themselves. Though rare, there is one tragic case where a child died from poisoned candy – but it wasn’t an evil stranger; it was the child's own father.
In 1974, eight-year-old Timothy O’Bryan went door-to-door on Halloween with his friends. They approached a darkened house, and no one answered their doorbell. Instead, Ronald O’Bryan emerged from the shadows and handed out pixy stix filled with cyanide to each child. Struggling with financial ruin, Ronald murdered his son to collect on his life insurance. On June 3, 1975, a jury found Ronald guilty of capital murder and attempted murder charges.
After the unresolved Chicago Tylenol poisoning case, the very real danger of a child dying no longer seemed like just an odd holiday myth. The story of dangerous candy evolved into the much less sinister idea of needles in chocolates. It made sense that the same kind of person who would hand out razor blades to trick-or-treaters could also be the one to give out tainted apples.
9. Piranhas: The Flesh-Eating Monsters
Nature enthusiast Theodore Roosevelt inadvertently helped spread one of the most unfounded myths about piranhas. The reputation of these fish as tiny, meat-eating demons that devour flesh in moments is mostly a misconception. Piranhas are omnivorous, with some species being exclusively herbivores. They only attack larger prey when they're starving, like when Roosevelt encountered them.
In 1913, Brazilian officials sought to impress the visiting former President with a grand spectacle. They isolated a group of piranhas in a section of the Amazon River for days without food. To mark Roosevelt's visit, they tossed a live cow into the water, and the hungry piranhas tore it apart in a frenzy. What remained were only scraps of bone, floating to the surface. In his travelogue *Through the Brazilian Wilderness*, Roosevelt described the piranhas as the “epitome of evil ferocity.” Movies like *Piranha II: The Spawning* helped cement the false myth of the piranhas as monstrous killers.
8. The Myth of Celebrities Removing Their Ribs
On-stage performances are designed to shock, and Marilyn Manson’s legacy has often been overshadowed by the false rumor that he removed his ribs for self-fellatio. This widely circulated claim is baseless. It was untrue when first attributed to him, and Manson's real-life horrors are far more unsettling than anything suggested in 'The Beautiful People.'
The rumor about celebrities removing their ribs often targets women rumored to undergo extreme weight loss methods. This myth continues to circulate around stars like Cher, Elizabeth Taylor, Jane Fonda, Raquel Welch, and Britney Spears. The lurid idea that someone would undergo surgery for self-fellatio is attributed to Gabriele D’Annunzio. Known for his controversial gossip, D’Annunzio spread shocking stories to boost his fame, including claims of cooking baby flesh, sewing a robe to reveal his genitals, and even stealing the Mona Lisa. Despite his notorious tales, Italy still reveres him as one of its greatest poets, though the world knows him better for his fascist ideology.
The first modern fascist state was the city of Fiume, which was seized by D'Annunzio and his 2,000-strong militia. Italian forces attempted to regain control for 15 months, but eventually, the navy forced the militia to surrender. Benito Mussolini admired D’Annunzio’s resolve and, after rising to power, modeled his leadership after him. D’Annunzio, though skeptical of Mussolini’s legitimacy, did suggest a simple symbol to unite fascist followers. Initially called the 'Roman Salute,' this hand gesture would later be adopted by the Nazis as the Sieg Heil.
7. The Jersey Devil
The legend of the Jersey Devil has two origins. One suggests that Mother Leeds made a pact with Satan to conceive her thirteenth child, who was born deformed with wings, hooves, and a tail. The other, almost as incredible, involves Benjamin Franklin.
The Leeds family, though lacking the widespread recognition of their Founding Father contemporaries, still played a significant role in history. Daniel Leeds’ Almanac was the first printed almanac in the New Jersey colony and is among the earliest political attacks in American history due to its strong anti-Quaker views. In response, Quakers labeled Daniel Leeds as 'Satan’s Harbinger.'
Daniel Leeds passed on the almanac to his son, Titan. Benjamin Franklin, under the alias 'Poor Richard,' joked in his competing almanac that astrological predictions foretold Titan's impending death. When the prophecy didn’t come true in 1733, the still-living Titan called Franklin 'a liar.' Franklin countered, suggesting that Titan was simply a ghost. By the time Titan died in 1738, anti-British sentiment had turned the Leeds family into a subject of mockery. Their family crest became known as the Leeds Devil. In the 20th century, a businessman looking to boost his store's sales revived and exaggerated the Leeds Devil legend, giving rise to the cryptozoological creature that now haunts New Jersey's forests and, occasionally, the National Hockey League.
6. Nazi UFOs
Like a classic melodrama, Baron Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s life began with the infamous line, 'It was a dark and stormy night.' This phrase first appeared in his 1830 novel *Paul Clifford*. Bulwer-Lytton is also responsible for coining other well-known sayings, such as 'The almighty dollar' and 'The pen is mightier than the sword.' His personal life was as dramatic as his writing, especially when his wife, Rosina Doyle Wheeler, retaliated against him for having her falsely imprisoned in an insane asylum. She sabotaged his Parliamentary campaign by spreading rumors of an affair with Benjamin Disraeli. The most fitting story about his life, however, is the profound impact of his 1871 novel *The Coming Race*.
Bulwer-Lytton's *The Coming Race* was one of the pioneering science fiction works to feature a hidden, mythical world. The protagonist discovers a secret underground society of angelic beings known as the Vril-ya, who are powered by a mysterious substance called 'vril.' Bulwer-Lytton, an enthusiast of the occult, incorporated many pseudoscientific ideas into the novel. In 1947, researcher William Ley sparked real-world efforts to harness the power of Vril. One such group, the Vril Society, allegedly formed when psychic Maria Orsic used her telepathic hair to communicate with extraterrestrials. These intergalactic beings supposedly provided advanced technology to the Third Reich in the final days of World War II. However, historians remain unconvinced that the Vril Society ever truly existed.
The outlandish notion of aliens collaborating with Nazi leaders has become a pervasive part of popular culture. This conspiracy theory has inspired satirical video games like *Iron Sky: Invasion*, the *Wolfenstein* series, and the zombie-themed levels in *Call of Duty*. Despite being thoroughly debunked, some Neo-Nazi groups still insist that Vril exists, continuing to promote this absurd belief.
5. Chemirocha
Jimmie Rodgers became a legend during his life, but his death elevated him to the status of a deity. Often hailed as 'The Father of Country Music,' Rodgers' pioneering yodel influenced an entire generation of musicians, including Bob Dylan, Louis Armstrong, Hank Williams, Muddy Waters, and Howlin’ Wolf. His musical reach extended far beyond the American South, even influencing the Kipsigis people of Kenya’s Great Rift Valley.
British missionaries introduced the gospel and the unique yelps of Jimmie Rodgers to the Kipsigis tribe. In their efforts to spread Christianity, they played gramophone recordings of country music. The Kipsigis developed a particular fondness for Rodgers’ songs. Through a series of mistranslations, the country singer’s name became 'Chemirocha,' which entered their lexicon as a term for anything that was new or fascinating.
In the 1950s, ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey visited the Kipsigis village to record their local music. By this time, 'Chemirocha' had become more than just a name—it had taken on a mythical quality. Due to his unusually high-pitched voice, 'Chemirocha' was reimagined as a creature that was half-man and half-antelope, resembling a faun. Whether in myth or through his music, Jimmie Rodgers achieved a form of immortality.
4. The Loch Ness Monster
For centuries, tales of a strange creature hiding within Scotland’s Loch Ness have been told. The modern vision of this creature as an aquatic reptile stems from a single 1934 photograph that appeared in *The Daily Mail*. Known as the 'Surgeon’s Photo,' this grainy black-and-white image depicting a long neck and hump rising from the water became the defining image of the beast. Eventually, those involved admitted that it was a hoax.
The first recorded sighting of the Loch Ness Monster appeared in the *Inverness Courier* in 1933, sparking a media frenzy. *The Daily Mail* jumped on the bandwagon and sent Marmaduke Wetherall to collect evidence. In December of that year, he found strange footprints on the shoreline. However, when scientists at the Natural History Museum analyzed the plaster casts, they concluded the prints had been made by a dried hippopotamus foot from an umbrella stand. After being ridiculed, Wetherall hatched a plan for revenge.
In retaliation for the mockery, Wetherall enlisted his stepson, Christian Spurling, to help create a fake monster. They fashioned clay around a toy submarine and photographed it moving across the lake. To lend credibility to the hoax, they brought in Colonel Robert Wilson, a well-known surgeon, to hand the photos over to *The Daily Mail*. In the end, Wetherall turned the tables, embarrassing the British tabloid just as they had embarrassed him.
3. Elvis Faked His Death
Jimmy Ellis dreamt of stardom, but every album he released flopped. Critics often noted that his voice sounded too much like Elvis Presley. After 15 years of struggling, Ellis gave up on his music career and chose to live a quieter life. Then, Elvis died.
Shelby Singleton, Vice President of Mercury Records, was a master of deception in the music industry. His first major con was acquiring the back catalog of Sun Records, the Memphis studio that helped launch Elvis Presley’s career. In 1972, Singleton released an album of Ellis singing 1950s standards, suggesting these were the long-lost first recordings of Elvis.
By the time Elvis passed away in 1977, Singleton had developed a more outlandish scheme. Drawing inspiration from Elvis' own story, Gail Brewer-Giorgio’s unpublished novel *Orion: The Living Superstar of Song* tells the tale of a Southerner who becomes an international music sensation by chance. After destroying his own career with drugs and excess, Orion fakes his death to find peace.
Donning rhinestone-covered jumpsuits, a mask, and black hair, Singleton marketed Ellis as Orion. Local media, unconcerned with fact-checking, propagated rumors that Orion was in fact Elvis reincarnated. Singleton capitalized on these claims by releasing re-recorded Jerry Lee Lewis songs as duets with Orion. Between 1978 and 1982, 11 Orion albums were released, nine of which charted on country music charts.
Despite his growing success, Ellis despised the persona he was forced to adopt. He began to believe that he was the illegitimate son of Vernon Presley. The striking resemblance between him and Elvis only fueled this conviction. On New Year’s Eve 1983, Ellis removed the Orion mask, abandoning his false identity. He later became the owner of a pawn shop in Alabama. In 1998, he was tragically killed in a botched robbery, at the age of 53.
2. Grey Aliens and the Butt Probe
Two main theories exist. According to believers, on September 9, 1961, Barney and Betty Hill were abducted by a UFO while traveling through New Hampshire's White Mountains. During the encounter, Betty allegedly had a needle inserted into her navel, while Barney experienced the insertion of a metallic capsule into his rectum. Skeptics argue this story was fabricated, yet the widespread belief raises questions about the shared delusion.
From a logical standpoint, many of the supposed details can be explained. The Hills had been driving nonstop for five hours in the middle of the night and were likely sleep-deprived. In this foggy, exhausted state, a light from an observatory tower weaving along the road could have been misinterpreted as a UFO. The description of grey-skinned aliens with large foreheads closely matches the costume of a creature featured in an episode of *The Outer Limits* that aired just two weeks before Barney’s account. The invasive procedures described by Barney could be explained by his possible partial awareness during a tonsillectomy under anesthesia. Betty’s torn dress, Barney’s scuffed shoes, and the circular dents on the car remain harder to rationalize, unless this entire story was concocted by a dubious doctor.
Initially, the Hills were hesitant to share their experience. They only went public in 1964 after the suggestion of their psychiatrist, Dr. Benjamin Simon. Under hypnosis, the couple became vulnerable to having false memories planted by the opportunistic doctor. The Hills did not originally seek counseling over a vague recollection from three years prior. They were dealing with real issues. Barney’s doctor had warned him about stress-induced high blood pressure and ulcers. His first psychiatrist believed his anxiety stemmed from the racial challenges of being a Black man married to a white woman. The couple’s interracial marriage, especially in the context of their civil rights activism, caused significant mental strain. A few weeks before the alleged UFO sighting, a waitress at a diner they visited had shown disdain for their interracial relationship. Perhaps in a symbolic sense, black and white together created grey.
1. The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs
The 1979 thriller *When a Stranger Calls* starts with the spine-chilling revelation that the calls the babysitter has been receiving are actually coming from inside the house. The real-life murder that inspired the film carries an even darker irony: the phone cord she thought would save her, ultimately became the instrument of her death.
On the night of March 18, 1950, 13-year-old Janett Christman was babysitting 3-year-old Gregory Romack. Concerned about her safety, Gregory's father, Ed, had lent her a shotgun in case of trouble, though she never had to use it. At around 10:35 p.m., a frantic call came into the Sheriff’s Department. The dispatcher could barely understand Janett’s desperate plea for help before the phone line went silent. Within hours, Janett was found murdered—bludgeoned, raped, and strangled with the telephone and an electric iron cord. Thankfully, Gregory was unharmed.
The investigation into Janett Christman's death was hindered by jurisdictional issues, as the Romack home lay just beyond city limits, leading to conflicts between agencies. This allowed the primary suspect, Robert Mueller, to avoid justice. Mueller had a known reputation in the community for his inappropriate interest in young girls, particularly Janett. The unused shotgun suggested that Janett might have been familiar with her killer. On the night of the murder, Mueller claimed he was meeting a doctor, but the doctor denied this. Even more suspicious, Mueller called the Romacks the next day, offering help to clean up the blood—before the murder had been made public. After being interrogated, Mueller's statements were deemed inadmissible, and the case went cold. Mueller died in 2006 without ever facing charges. The case remains officially unsolved.
