I feel like most likely the majority of the sources for the stories are random newspaper or tabloid articles that may be impossible to find online, or maybe can only be found in a random spooky true story compilation book. Also the fact that details are often changed complicates things:
“Eric Mitchell, chief researcher for the TV show, admits writers have changed names, places and even the time period in which some stories occur, for maximum TV impact.”
But I’m gonna try finding them and update this whenever I find anything new that segments may have been inspired by.
The Apparition:
Number One With a Bullet:
Based on the story of Henry Ziegland that is most likely a hoax.
Stranger Than Fiction. Bullet Avenged Girl Twenty Years After Her Death
From The Pineville Democrat of Pineville, Missouri on 19 May 1905
Dream House:
Based on the article La Maison by André Maurois though there seems to be a few different versions of it.
The Viewing:
The Subway:
Seems similar to the story Pipe Smoke from Phone Call from a Ghost: Strange Tales from Modern America by Daniel Cohen. The basics are similar to the Beyond Belief story: A woman in danger is saved by her neighbor after the ghost of her dead husband appears. The allegedly true story has also been written about in other places.
From Phone Call from a Stranger: Strange Tales from Modern America
Kid in the Closet:
Only source I can find is this IMDb post of someone who contacted Robert Tralins (who found stories for the show):
“I personally contacted the man who collected true accounts for the show. I asked him where he got his proof for this. He responded to me with this:
The Beyond Belief: fact or fiction story about the monster in the kid’s closet was based on an actual event that I personally investigated in Florida many years ago. At the time it happened there was no explanation for the boy’s disappearance — until two weeks later when it was learned that he had climbed out of the closet through a ceiling panel and ran away from home. He stayed at a friend’s house surreptitiously until the friend’s mother discovered him hiding in the attic of their home and exposed the ruse. Unfortunately, the show producer responsible for checking out the truthfulness of each story was not informed until too late that the little boy had turned up at a friend’s house several blocks away.
Investigators who had tapped the ceiling and walls in the closet did not find the panel because the boy (age 11) had wedged two pieces of wood into place over it when he was in the crawl space above the closet.
Love Over the Counter:
Imaginary Friend:
Last Man on Earth:
E-Mail:
Cup of Joe:
Based on the story The Billboard That Wasn’t There from the book Strange Events Beyond Human Understanding by S. Robert Tralins.
Secret of the Family Tomb:
Based on the Chase vault.
The Chase Vault is a burial vault in the cemetery of the Christ Church Parish Church in Oistins, Christ Church, Barbados, best known for a widespread urban legend of “mysterious moving coffins”. According to the story, each time the heavily sealed marble vault had been opened for the burial of a family member including 1808, twice in 1812 and in 1816 and 1819, all of the lead coffins had changed position. The facts of the story are unverified, investigations concluding there may not be actual events at the base of the legend.
The Unknown Patient:
Based on the story The Premature Obituary from the book Strange Events Beyond Human Understanding by S. Robert Tralins.
Toy to the Rescue:
Mystery Lock:
The Train:
Based on how Abraham Lincoln’s son Robert Lincoln was saved by Edwin Booth, John Wilkes Booth’s brother.
From a 1909 letter to the editor in The Century Magazine:
The incident occurred while a group of passengers were late at night purchasing their sleeping car places from the conductor who stood on the station platform at the entrance of the car. The platform was about the height of the car floor, and there was of course a narrow space between the platform and the car body. There was some crowding, and I happened to be pressed by it against the car body while waiting my turn. In this situation the train began to move, and by the motion I was twisted off my feet, and had dropped somewhat, with feet downward, into the open space, and was personally helpless, when my coat collar was vigorously seized and I was quickly pulled up and out to a secure footing on the platform. Upon turning to thank my rescuer I saw it was Edwin Booth, whose face was of course well known to me, and I expressed my gratitude to him, and in doing so, called him by name.
From the Agency:
The Magic Rose Garden:
The Jeep:
The Plane:
May have been based on this:
PILOTLESS PLANE TAKES OFF, FALLS 90 MILES AWAY
By From Tribune News Services
Chicago Tribune
Nov 24, 1997 at 12:00 am
URBANA, OHIO
A small airplane took off without its pilot Sunday and flew for nearly two hours before crashing in a field.
Paul A. Sirks of Dayton had landed the single-engine plane at Urbana’s Grimes Field because of mechanical problems, police Officer Mike Hughes said.
The plane’s engine stalled on a taxiway, and Sirks got out to restart it by turning the propeller by hand. Once the engine fired up, the empty plane taxied away, leaving Sirks behind.
The aircraft nearly hit another plane and a hangar before becoming airborne.
The plane circled the area for about five minutes and then headed northeast. It was tracked by another private pilot and State Highway Patrol aircraft.
It finally went down 90 miles away in central Ohio, some 50 miles northeast of Columbus, said Patrol Lt. John Born. Authorities said it might have run out of fuel.
The Federal Aviation Administration, the Highway Patrol and Urbana police were investigating. No charges had been filed against Sirks.
The Gun:
The Portrait:
From Strange but True Stories by Janice Greene:
THE DEADLY PORTRAITS
In 1907, Andre Marcellin was a well-known artist in Paris, France. He painted beautiful landscapes-but never portraits. Whenever he was asked, he always refused. “I do not know why,” he would say, “but for some reason I have a bad feeling about painting portraits.”
One Paris banker, however, was determined to have Marcellin paint his portrait. He wouldn’t give in until the reluctant artist finally agreed. Sitting proudly, the banker posed for several days until the portrait was finally finished. Two days later, the banker died.
Marcellin was horrified. For six months, he painted only landscapes. Then, for some unexplained reason, he had the urge to do another portrait. This time, the subject was a young woman.
Again, two days after the portrait was completed, the young woman died.
Marcellin’s friends insisted that the deaths were only a coincidence. To prove it, they encouraged him to paint another portrait. This time, the subject was one of his close friends.
When the picture was finished, Marcellin’s friend was delighted. He paid for the portrait and took it home.
Two days later, when nothing had happened, Marcellin was greatly relieved. But on the third day, he heard the tragic news: His friend had died that morning. The man’s death had been sudden, and unexpected.
Marcellin decided his portraits were cursed. He vowed never to paint another.
Then, in 1913, Andre Marcellin met a lovely woman. Her name was Francois Noel. Before long Andre and Francois were engaged to be married.
Francois was vain. Wanting a lasting image of her youthful beauty, she begged her fiancé to paint her portrait. Marcellin refused. He didn’t dare tempt fate again, so he told her about the curse. But she laughed at him, insisting that his fears were foolish.
Still, he refused to paint her portrait. Finally, she told Marcellin that he must paint her portraitor she wouldn’t marry him.
At that point, Andre Marcellin gave in. He painted a beautiful portrait of his fiancée. A week later, the lovely Francois Noel was dead.
For several weeks, Marcellin sat alone, overwhelmed with guilt and despair. He hid in his studio, doing nothing. Then, at last, he began to paint again.
His new work was a self-portrait.
A few days after the painting was finished, Andre Marcellin died.
Also found another telling on The Athens News.
Firestation 32:
Based on the story The Boy In The Firehouse from the book Strange Events Beyond Human Understanding by S. Robert Tralins.
The Wallet:
The Woods:
The Wall:
Inspired by the story of Alexander Campbell -
Alexander Campbell was a tavern owner, who, with three other convicted Molly Maguires, was hanged for the murders of two mine operatives.
Campbell proclaimed his innocence to the end, and in doing so, slapped a muddy handprint on the wall of his prison cell, declaring the mark would remain forever as a sign of his innocence. Legend has it that despite many attempts to remove it, including building a new wall, the mark still remains today.
The Chalkboard:
The Prescription:
Summer Camp:
A similar story is told by Robert Tralins on an episode of Miracles and Other Wonders:
The Escape:
Dead Friday:
The Lady in the Black Dress:
Titan:
Based on how the book The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility by Morgan Robertson features a lot of similarities to the sinking of the Titanic 14 years before it happened:
Although the novel was written before the RMS Titanic was even conceptualized, there are some uncanny similarities between the fictional and real-life versions. Like the Titanic, the fictional ship sank after wrecking on an iceberg in April in the North Atlantic, and there were not enough lifeboats for all the passengers. The Titan would have survived a head-on collision with the iceberg, but a glancing encounter did more extensive damage. There are also similarities in size (800 ft [244 m] long for the Titan versus 882 ft 9 in [269 m] long for the Titanic), speed, and life-saving equipment. After the Titanic’s sinking, some people credited Robertson with precognition and clairvoyance, which he denied. Scholars attribute the similarities to Robertson’s extensive knowledge of shipbuilding and maritime trends.
The Diary:
The House on Barry Avenue:
Might have been inspired by the mysterious fires that happened to the Hackler family in the 40s:
A 1940s Indiana Home Once Had 28 Fires Set In One Day By An Unseen Force And It Was Never Explained
Magic Mightyman:
Maybe inspired by Captain Sticky? There’s been a lot of real life superheroes but I can find none that match this episode’s story well. Captain Sticky is one of the earliest and most well known.
Scribbles:
This story was shown on an episode of the 1992 show Miracles and Other Wonders.
I also found another telling of it on a Halloween spooky story CD.
Count Mystery:
Based on the horse Lady Wonder:
Lady was said to have predicted the outcome of boxing fights and political elections, and was consulted by the police in criminal investigations. The parapsychologist researcher J. B. Rhine investigated Lady’s alleged abilities and concluded that there was evidence for extrasensory perception between human and horse. The magicians and skeptical investigators Milbourne Christopher and John Scarne showed that Lady’s prediction abilities resulted from Mrs. Fonda employing mentalism tricks and signaling the answers to Lady.
The Mummy:
The closest story I can find is this story about a mummy that “proved to be an archaeological forgery and possibly a murder victim.” Though I think the year this occurred doesn’t line up well with the show, so maybe there was another similar incident that inspired the segment.
The Perfect Record:
Murder on the Second Floor:
Based on Acrobats of Death about the murder of Ugo Paversi from The World’s Greatest Unsolved Crimes by Nigel Blundell and Roger Boar.
Malibu Cop:
Inspired by Robert Ledru:
Robert Ledru, a prominent detective, was vacationing at Le Havre in the north of France when local authorities asked him to aid in the investigation of a businessman who had been killed while bathing on a local beach.
Ledru discovered footprints made by a person wearing socks and missing a toe from the right foot. Ledru, who had awakened one morning to find wet socks in his hotel room — and was missing a toe on the same foot as the killer — became alarmed. Ballistics proved that Ledru’s pistol was the same weapon used in the murder.
A Joyful Noise:
Based on the West Side Baptist Church explosion:
When Rowena Vandegrift thinks about the West Side Baptist Church explosion that took place 60 years ago today, she doesn’t think about the horror of that evening.
Instead, she remembers the wonderful feeling she had upon learning that no one was injured.
Rowena, who now lives in Wichita, Kan., is one of 15 members of the church’s choir who showed up to choir practice late that night, avoiding a natural gas explosion.
“It was an absolute miracle,” Rowena said. “It’s a reminder that God watches over all of us.”
The Hooded Chair:
Inspired by Busby’s stoop chair:
The Busby’s stoop chair or the Dead Man’s Chair is an allegedly haunted oak chair that was cursed by the murderer Thomas Busby before his execution by hanging in 1702 in North Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom. Due to the many deaths later attributed to people sitting in the chair, the landlord donated it to the Thirsk Museum.
The Bucket:
The Bridesmaid:
Could be inspired by this real life story about a husband with amnesia disappearing and later reuniting with his wife.
From the Los Angeles Times, December 28, 1985:
A man declared legally dead after he suffered amnesia and vanished 15 years ago hits his head, recovers his memory, returns home and embraces his faithful wife on Christmas Day.
How corny can you get? Ask James and Anne McDonnell, who played that script in real life this week.
“It’s like a fairy tale,” Mrs. McDonnell said Friday in the thick brogue of her native County Cork, Ireland. “I’m still realizing it.”
Palladium-Item, December 28, 1985:
Voice From the Grave:
Based on the case of Teresita Basa:
Teresita Basa Killed Today in 1977 — Did She Solve Her Own Murder?
The Chess Game:
Might be based on this:
This fascinating story began when a Dr Wolfgang Eisenbeiss and an acquaintance came up with the idea of a chess match played between 2 masters: one alive and the other no longer in this world. Dr Eisenbeiss knew a medium, Robert Rollans, who was trustworthy and knew nothing about chess, so wouldn’t be able to influence the results.
It was reported in the tabloid the Weekly World News in 1992.
Or it could have also been based on this:
Maurice Tillet was a wrestler in the early 1940s.
He also was a passionate chess player who played with a man named Patrick Kelly. They were such good friends, that when Tillet died, Kelly was given his death mask, which he set up across from an electronic chessboard he purchased when his chess partner died.
Tried looking for the original newspaper story for Tillet because I like having the original/earliest sources for all of these but I couldn’t find it, though a clipping is linked in the Reddit post.
Blind Man’s Dog:
Possibly based on this:
Metro Datelines; Truck Hits and Kills Blind Man and Dog
Nov. 10, 1988
A blind man and his guide dog were struck and killed by a dump truck as they crossed a street in this Syracuse suburb.
The victim, Kenneth Calkins, 41 years old, of Syracuse, was heading to a bus stop after work when he and his dog were hit at about 5:20 P.M. yesterday, the police said.
The driver, Roger Torrence Jr., 33, of Syracuse, told the police he had braked when he saw the dog leading Mr. Calkins across the four-lane street but could not stop in time. No charges have been filed, said a spokesman for the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department, Robert Burns.
Mr. Calkins had just left the Precision Sales Company of Liverpool, where he worked as an assembler, said his brother, Arthur French.
Mr. Torrence, driving the truck for a contractor, was towing a three-ton roller, making it harder to stop, the Sheriff’s spokesman said.
There’s also been many accounts of dogs sensing illness or that someone has or is about to die.
The Card Game:
Based on Judge Roy Bean.
The Scoop:
Found a telling of this in the 1956 book Strangest of All by Frank Edwards:
Also was written about in issue 966 of Look and Learn from 1980:
They Saw Tomorrow: The Greatest Explosion on Earth. When Samson admitted that his scoop story was based on a dream he was sacked. Original artwork from Look and Learn no. 966 (13 September 1980).
It was also shown in a 1961 episode of One Step Beyond.
Angel on Board:
Based on Shari Peterson’s experience on United Airlines Flight 811. The reenactment in an 1998 episode of It’s a Miracle is very similar to the Beyond Belief segment. Her story was also later written about in Real Life, Real Miracles and she also later wrote her own book.
Season 2, Episode 12:
Red Eyed Creature:
A story about a red eye creature also appears in the book Strange But True : A Collection of True Stories from the Files of Fate Magazine:
Surveillance Camera:
Graffiti:
Earliest telling of this incident I could find is in the June 30, 1957 Bridgeport Post newspaper:
A Famous Prediction:
Early in 1939 before World War II broke out, the town of Owensville, Indiana awoke one morning to find the cryptic “Remember Pearl Harbor written on the sidewalk in front of the Public School. This was spoken about, but no one could come up with an answer. No one could find the guilty band who wrote the scrawling “Remember Pearl Harbor” Two years later, the three words meant so much to the world! Did a ghostly hand scribble this devastating prediction of the future? On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, it was most apparent what was meant, for Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor, making us the unwilling partners in a global war! Did some mystic have an insight into the future, or was it a hand from beyond the Golden Shore which warned Owensville?
The Cure:
A similar story appears on an episode of the 1992 show Miracles and Other Wonders:
The Guardian:
A guardian angel suddenly appearing to save someone also happens in this segment of the 1992 show Miracles and Other Wonders:
The Gift:
The Curse of Hampton Manor:
Based on Dunnellen Hall:
A 28-room mansion built as a wedding gift has gained a reputation of bringing bad luck to those who live there: Three of its residents have faced criminal charges, two have lost their fortunes and one killed himself.
The latest owners of Dunnellen Hall are real estate tycoons Harry and Leona Helmsley, who were indicted last week on New York state and federal tax charges.
Wax Executioner:
The episode shows a wax museum with a display of Marie Antoinette’s execution that uses a replica of the actual blade used to decapitate her. The wax executioner seems haunted or possessed by the executioner’s spirit. The Madame Tussaud’s in London claims to have the real blade used in Marie Antoinette’s execution and a replica of it is used in an exhibition. I haven’t found any stories of hauntings at that location but the Madame Tussaud’s in Hollywood has stories of wax figures moving. I’ve found stories of other wax museums that claim to be haunted too. I’m not sure if there’s a specific museum where something close to the show’s story is said to have occurred or if the writers just used an amalgamation of different incidents. On the show it said it happened in Canada though, but I haven’t found anything close to what’s shown in the episode happening there.
Reign of Terror Guillotine Blade
Blood Bank:
The Music Box:
Two to One:
Damsel:
The Find:
Possibly based on the legend of the Elmore Rider, a ghost seen riding a motorcycle in northwest Ohio.
The Gravedigger’s Nemesis:
Last Rites:
According to Snopes the earliest telling is from 1988. It was also reported in the Associated Press in 1996:
HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — A Spanish businessman and devout Roman Catholic who stopped to pray at a church during a trip to Stockholm ended up a millionaire, the Bild newspaper said Wednesday.
The church was empty except for a coffin containing the remains of a man, so Eduardo Sierra knelt down and prayed for the deceased for 20 minutes, the Hamburg-based daily said.
Sierra, 35, signed a condolence book after he saw a note saying those who prayed for the dead man should enter their name and address. He noticed he was the first to sign.
Several weeks later he got a call from the Swedish capital informing him he was a millionaire, Bild said.
Jens Svenson, the man he had prayed for, was a 73-year-old real estate dealer with no close relatives. He had specified in his will that “whoever prays for my soul gets all my belongings,” Bild said.
Stitches in Time:
Soldier:
The Stalker:
The Burial:
Seems like a myth without any legitimate sources, may have originally been written about in an old newspaper article somewhere:
Red Line:
Two Sisters:
A telling from 1942 from Snopes:
[Indianapolis, 1942]
Recently there was a certain story spreading over the entire Midwest which took everyone by storm. It seems there was a banquet at a prominent hotel in a certain city. One particular girl who was going decided it was important enough to have a new dress. She bought one at a local department store, a simple but exquisite gown. At the dance after the dinner, her escort noticed a peculiar odor while they were dancing. She had been feeling faint, and she believed it was the odor. She thought the dye in the dress had faded, so she went to the washroom and took off the dress. There was nothing wrong, so she went back to the dance again. However, she felt more faint, and the odor still remained. She thought she had better sit down, and on the way back to their table, she fainted. Her escort took her home and called a doctor. She died before he got there. The boy explained about the odor, and the doctor investigated the dress and found that the dress had a familiar odor. He ordered an autopsy, and they discovered that the girl had formaldehyde in her veins. The drug had coagulated her blood and had stopped the flow.
They investigated the department store where she had bought the dress and learned that the dress had been sold for a corpse and had been returned and sold to the girl. When she perspired and her pores opened, she took in the formaldehyde which killed her.
The Gathering:
Positive I.D.:
There’s been cases of twins getting accused of their sibling’s crime, though I haven’t found a case also involving them getting separated at birth.
Cook Out:
The New House:
Maybe loosely inspired by the Crying Boy painting? Both involve spooky paintings and fires:
On 5 September 1985, the British tabloid newspaper The Sun reported that an Essex firefighter claimed that undamaged copies of the painting were frequently found amidst the ruins of burned houses.
Creepy Comics:
Louie the Dip:
Inspired by Louis (“Louie the Dip”) Finkelstein.
From the Friday, Jan. 10, 1964 issue of Time Magazine:
Died. Louis (“Louie the Dip”) Finkelstein, 73, king of the nation’s pickpockets, a dapper, Russian-born master of petty larceny who gleefully boasted of paying $8,000 a year in fines, court costs and lawyers’ fees, was arrested a record 121 times in Cleveland alone, once being nabbed with his fingers in the pockets of a police chief, another time with the wallet of a reporter covering his trial, but alas, spent his last years in retirement and on relief after arthritis robbed him of his touch; of a heart attack; in Cleveland.
The Wailing:
Curse:
For the Record:
Probably based on this story:
Margaret and James Mitchell were born a day apart in the maternity unit at Lennox Castle Hospital in Lennoxtown but in a maternity mix-up, nurses handed them to the wrong mums.
Precious:
Based on Rene Leret. I’m hoping I can eventually find a newspaper or other printed source of this story.
“The parents were astonished,” Dr. Lefeve recalls. Whan the photo was taken, there was no kitten or anything else in the child’s arms. I examined the photograph and there was no doubt that the object was a kitten.
“I asked the parents every question I could think of and they answered willingly and honestly, but they could not throw any light on the mystery.”
And no one ever has. For the picture of Rene Leret had been taken three weeks after Jacques the kitten had died.
Get Your Kicks at Motel 66:
Might be inspired by the St. James Hotel that, like the motel in the episode, is in New Mexico and is said to be haunted by old west cowboys. Billy the Kid once stayed there along with other notable historic figures like Doc Holliday, Jesse James and Wyatt Earp. Here’s the hotel featured on the October 30, 1991 episode of Unsolved Mysteries.
Phantom Drifter:
May be inspired by this story of a hitchhiker from the 70s.
“A couple driving along the New York Thruway picked up a beautiful young hippie clad in shining white. He sat in the back seat and buckled his seat belt. He began to talk about religion and asked them if they believed in the Second Coming.
“When they turned to answer him, he had vanished, leaving his seat belt fastened. When they left the Thruway, they told the toll collector that they had lost a hitchhiker, He told them not to worry — at least a dozen had come through the gate that day with the same story.”
The Bloody Hand:
Where Have All the Heroes Gone:
Inspired by George Reeves.
Los Angeles Times, October 29, 1995:
One of the most poignantly creepy Hollywood stories involves George Reeves and his former home in Benedict Canyon. Reeves reportedly committed suicide there in 1959, but that fact is in dispute — many of his fans believe he was murdered.
“That house is haunted to the rafters by George Reeves,” declares Laurie Jacobson, Tinseltown historian and co-author of the book “Hollywood Haunted.” “He keeps showing up — some say in his Superman outfit, some say in normal clothing. He was supposed to be generous to a fault, but he was murdered and every newspaper around the world carried the story, ‘Superman Commits Suicide,’ and his legion of child fans were devastated and I imagine that pisses him off. So there may be an agitated air to his spirit as it seeks truth, justice and the American way.”
War Surplus:
Dead Beat Daddy:
The Sleepwalker:
Money Laundry:
Anatole:
Charlie:
The Cake:
Searching for anything involving bakeries and gangsters, the only thing that came up for me was Joe Aiello, who was a crime leader and ran businesses like the Aiello Brothers Bakery. He and the bakery were often targeted by Al Capone and Aiello was eventually killed by Capone’s men.
Chicago Tribune, Sunday, May 29, 1927:
Chicago Tribune, Thursday, January 5, 1928:
The Mirror of Truth:
The Devil’s Autograph:
Searching for a similar incident in real life, this was the closest I could find:
An elderly prisoner awaiting trial on murder charges stabbed himself in the heart with a ball-point pen and doctors who removed the pen said he came within a half-centimeter of taking his own life.
The surgeon noted that the pen still worked, although ‘it took a few scratches to make it write’ after the surgery.
Though both the episode’s story and the news story involve accused murderers and stabbings through the heart by pens, the real life incident was on purpose and not after a trial. Possibly there’s a story closer to the episode out there, either an urban legend or a news story that I haven’t found online.
Mail Order Degree:
The Murder of Roy Hennessey:
Mysterious Strangers:
Based on this:
A Knight with the Widow Benton
Did the Robin Hood-bandit save a widow’s home?
Many have claimed that Jesse James, America’s most notorious bandit, was a Robin Hood who took from the rich and gave to the poor. Others have refuted the claim. But how did this debate begin, and is there any proof that Jesse was a Robin Hood?
Perhaps the greatest influence on the Jesse James — Robin Hood link was the newspaper editor John N. Edwards, the so-called “Father of the James legend.”
The Doll:
Based on the story The Little Rag Doll from the book The Telltale Lilac Bush and Other West Virginia Ghost Tales by Ruth Ann Musick.
Hubert’s Curse:
When I Was Big:
Might be inspired by this 1932 article about the author Anne Parrish.
Seven Hours of Bad Luck:
Don’t know if there’s a specific incident or story this was based on but it’s a common legend.
If a person who breaks a mirror is too lazy or too busy, to avoid the curse, it just leave the broken pieces the way it was for seven hours (one for each year of bad luck) and then pick it up immediately after the hours are up
The Secret of the Coins:
Second Sight:
The Fine Line:
Based on LaVona and LaVelda Rowe-Richmond who were featured on a 1990 episode of Unsolved Mysteries:
The Wrong Turn:
Seems based on Joseph Figlock.
From the October 17, 1938 issue of Time Magazine:
Coincidence In Detroit, year ago, Street Sweeper Joseph Figlock was furbishing up an alley when a baby plopped down from a fourth-story window, struck him on the head and shoulders, injured Joseph Figlock and itself but was not killed. Last fortnight, as Joseph Figlock was sweeping out another alley, two-year-old David Thomas fell from a fourth-story window, landed on ubiquitous Mr. Figlock with the same results.
Detroit Free Press, September 28, 1938:
House of Shadows:
One Hand in the Till:
The Child Artist:
Room 245:
Earliest telling of this story is in the November 14, 1897 issue of The Philadelphia Inquirer. It’s also told in Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill your Bones in Maybe You Will Remember. There’s many other variations and retellings of this in newspapers, books, radio plays, movies and on tv.
The Wreath:
Terror Night:
Tants:
May be inspired by this story of family members who separately survived concentration camps and later found each other.
Caitlin’s Candle:
The Flower Jury:
Inspired by CIA interrogation specialist Cleve Backster.
The most memorable passages described the experiments of a former C.I.A. polygraph expert named Cleve Backster, who, in 1966, on a whim, hooked up a galvanometer to the leaf of a dracaena, a houseplant that he kept in his office. To his astonishment, Backster found that simply by imagining the dracaena being set on fire he could make it rouse the needle of the polygraph machine, registering a surge of electrical activity suggesting that the plant felt stress. “Could the plant have been reading his mind?” the authors ask. “Backster felt like running into the street and shouting to the world, ‘Plants can think!’ ”
Backster and his collaborators went on to hook up polygraph machines to dozens of plants, including lettuces, onions, oranges, and bananas. He claimed that plants reacted to the thoughts (good or ill) of humans in close proximity and, in the case of humans familiar to them, over a great distance. In one experiment designed to test plant memory, Backster found that a plant that had witnessed the murder (by stomping) of another plant could pick out the killer from a lineup of six suspects, registering a surge of electrical activity when the murderer was brought before it. Backster’s plants also displayed a strong aversion to interspecies violence. Some had a stressful response when an egg was cracked in their presence, or when live shrimp were dropped into boiling water, an experiment that Backster wrote up for the International Journal of Parapsychology, in 1968.
The Old Bike:
The Witness:
Probably inspired by Elva Zona Heaster Shue.
From the Baltimore American, July 5, 1897:
Mother-In-law’s Vision as Evidence.
Ronceverte, W. Va., July 3.-Some time ago the wife of E.S. Shue was found dead in her home. A coroner’s jury rendered a verdict, “death by heart disease.” Neighbors were not satisfied, the woman’s body was exhumed, and her neck was found broken. Shue was indicted, convicted and sentenced to the penitentiary for life. The principal evidence was Shue’s mother-in-law, who testified that her daughter’s spirit had come to her and said Shue had killed her by breaking her neck. All other evidence was purely circumstantial.
The Accident:
Inspired by Allan Falby and Alfred Smith.
From the El Paso Times, March 16, 1967:
In 1948, he was saluted by Bob Ripley, on his radio “Believe It or Not” program. Alfred Smith, witness to an accident suffered by Mr. Falby, in 1934, saved his life by taking Mr. Falby’s necktie and making a tourniquet, holding it until help arrived. Four years later Mr. Falby was called to a bad accident near Ysleta and Smith was one of the injured. He returned the favor by applying a tourniquet to a cut right artery in Smith’s leg.
Mental:
Healing Hands:
Aspen Sunny Side:
Hot Car:
The Mystery Of Douglas Hibbard:
Based on Thomas P. Meehan.
From the Oakland Tribune, 3 February 1963:
Bay Area Man Vanishes Mysteriously
Garberville-A Concord man, a State Department of Employment Appeals referee, vanished under mysterious circumstances at the height of the storm here Saturday.
An auto belonging to Thomas P. Meehan, whose address was listed by deputies as 3789 Juniper Drive, Concord, was found submerged in the flood-swollen Eel River at the bottom of a 300-foot cliff off Highway 101 five miles north of here.
A set of bloody footprints emerging from the water near the wreck led 30 feet up the skid marks as if a man had slid back into the river. There was no trace of Meehan.
The lights of the auto were still burning when power company workmen discovered the car at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
Deputies said Meehan had left Eureka for San Francisco Friday. At 9 p.m. he checked into a motel here and told attendant Chip Nunnemaker, “I have the funniest feeling I’m dead.”
From the Eureka Humboldt Standard, Wednesday, February 6, 1963:
From the Eureka Humboldt Standard, Saturday, December 28, 1963:
Wheelchair Man:
The Vigil:
Witness to Murder:
The Phrenologist’s Head:
The Bridge:
The Cigar Box:
The Battered Doll:
Poker Justice:
Based on the story of Robert Fallon.
From Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Book of Chance:
Season 5, Episode 1:
Kerze im Wald (Candle in the Woods):
Season 5, Episode 2:
Kopfloser Reiter (Headless Horseman):
Lucky Loser:
Knutschfleck (Hickey):
Season 5, Episode 3:
Die Nonne (The Nun):
Teuflische Verbindung (Satanic Connection):
Verloren im Wald (Lost in the Woods):
Season 5, Episode 4:
Season 5, Episode 5:
Season 5, Episode 6:
Season 5, Episode 7:
Season 5, Episode 8:
Season 6, Episode 1:
Season 6, Episode 2:
Season 6, Episode 3:
Season 6, Episode 4:
Season 6, Episode 5:
Season 6, Episode 6:
Season 6, Episode 7:
Season 6, Episode 8:
