The only thing more terrifying than the most chilling story you may have heard, seen or read is knowing the story truly happened. Reality has a strange way of being far more petrifying than fiction can ever be. The horrors that plague the world that we live in have the ethereal quality of being able to shake us to our very core.
It is a curious thing to wonder about, perhaps the reasons behind it stem from the fact that even when we’re being scared out of our wits by a truly frightening tale, we still know somewhere inside of us—where it can bring us comfort—that it is not real. This horror is not possible. However, with tales inspired by true events of fear and horror, we lose that illusion and the comfort it brings. To my sheer and gleeful delight, I have the great honor of shattering that illusion for you this week by listing excellent tales of horror based on true events.
Reincarnation is an intriguing subject. Perhaps more immediately interesting or entertaining than actually scary, it is one that nevertheless has a foothold in the horror genre as well as real life beliefs. But imagine for an instant, that your child—actually start by imagining that you even have a child—began exhibiting behavior or traits that in no way he or she should have. Traits that, in no probable way, could be attributed to who you know your child to be. Unless, your child is not who you thought they were. A story such as this may gave you reason to pause at this instance, except if you were told that the story was real. I imagine the prospect wouldn’t be so entertaining anymore.
Frank De Felitta’s “Audrey Rose” is based on his own son who, at the age of six, began exhibiting sudden talents and abilities he had never been previously exposed to. Labelled as an “incarnation leak” by an occultist, the book recounts the events with the protagonist’s daughter manifesting innate memories from previous lives.
“To the extent that I can verify them, all the events in this book are true.” Jay Anson said this about his penning of one of the most iconic and widely publicized tales of horror of all time, “The Amityville Horror.” The house that was the scene of mass family slaughter, by that very family’s son, would for quite obvious reasons be haunted in one way or another, be it actual malicious spirits or just the remnants of such a heinous act.
However, the events experienced by the Lutz family in that home, which were later documented in Anson’s book and even adapted into a movie—albeit with a little fabrication—were nothing short of being actually stared in the face by supernatural evil. The extent to which this novel will scare you depends a lot on whether you choose to believe in its fctuality or not. But then again, where is the fun in not believing?
While there will always be cynics who doubt the validity of horror stories claiming to be based on true events—myself included and at the forefront of that list—when nine priests and 39 other witnesses claim someone is possessed, I will toss them a crumb or two.
William Peter Blatty’s “The Exorcist” is loosely based on what transpired in the life of Roland Doe (a pseudonym anointed by the Catholic Church) that led to his possession by the devil. Even setting aside for a minute that the book itself is a literary masterpiece and the movie that followed a true horror classic, knowing its events were inspired by the 30 exorcisms performed on Doe over the course of several weeks is an awe and fear-inspiring fact.
It makes the memory seeing the movie for the first time when I was eight through a hole in a blanket while I was supposed to be sleeping, then reading the book just a couple years later so much sweeter.
I held a late night viewing of “The Conjuring” in my dorm room last semester, much to the chagrin of my neighbors, that resulted in bouts of shrieks and screaming at almost three in the morning; none of them were from me, might I add. Had I known though at that point that the events in the movie were inspired from a book written about those true events, I might have acted a tad differently.
The story of the Perron family from 1970, who moved into a new home only to find themselves at the mercy of a vicious haunting and malevolent spirits, was recorded into a book by their eldest daughter of five, Andrea Perron, in “House of Darkness House of Light: The True Story.” With a multitude of spirits forever present in the house, it was a portal to the past and future.
But what truly shattered the relative normalcy of the presence of those spirits was the unleashing of a godforsaken soul during a seance gone wrong. What transpired then were the family’s greatest nightmares being played out in front of them.
Stephen King once said that we make up horrors just so we can cope with the real ones. Knowing that these renowned tales of terror were inspired by events that might have actually taken place at some point makes you want to give a second thought to every absent shadow and every silent whisper at night.
Have any horrifying experiences you think should be made into a book or movie? Send your stories to Maham at mhasan4@wisc.edu.
The only thing more terrifying than the most chilling story you may have heard, seen or read is knowing the story truly happened. Reality has a strange way of being far more petrifying than fiction can ever be. The horrors that can plague the world that we live in have the ethereal quality of being able to shake us to our very core.
It is a curious thing to wonder about, perhaps the reasons behind it stem from the fact that even when we’re being scared out of our wits by a truly frightening tale, we still know somewhere inside of us—where it can bring us comfort—that it is not real. This horror is not possible. However, with tales inspired by true events of fear and horror, we lose that illusion and the comfort it brings. To my sheer and gleeful delight, I have the great honor of shattering that illusion for you this week by listing excellent tales of horror based on true events.
Reincarnation is an intriguing subject. Perhaps more immediately interesting or entertaining than actually scary, it is one that nevertheless has a foothold in the horror genre as well as real life beliefs. But imagine for an instant, that your child—actually start by imagining that you even have a child—began exhibiting behavior or traits that in no way they should have. That in no probable way could they be attributed with who you know your child to be. Unless, your child is not who you thought they were. A story such as this may gave you reason to pause at this instance, except if you were told that the story was real. I imagine the prospect wouldn’t be so entertaining anymore.
Frank De Felitta’s “Audrey Rose” is based on his own son who, at the age of six, began exhibiting sudden talents and abilities he had never been previously exposed to. Labelled as an “incarnation leak” by an occultist, the book recounts the events with the protagonist’s daughter manifesting innate memories from previous lives.
“To the extent that I can verify them, all the events in this book are true.” Jay Anson said this about his penning of one of the most iconic and widely publicized tales of horror of all time, “The Amityville Horror.” The house that was the scene of mass family slaughter, by that very family’s son, would for quite obvious reasons be haunted in one way or another, be it actual malicious spirits or just the remnants of such a heinous act.
However, the events experienced by the Lutz family in that home, which were later documented in Anson’s book and even adapted into a movie—albeit with a little fabrication—were nothing short of being actually stared in the face by supernatural evil. The extent to which this novel will scare you depends a lot on whether you choose to believe in its fctuality or not. But then again, where is the fun in not believing?
While there will always be cynics who doubt the validity of horror stories claiming to be based on true events—myself included and at the forefront of that list—when nine priests and 39 other witnesses claim someone is possessed, I will toss them a crumb or two.
William Peter Blatty’s “The Exorcist” is loosely based on what transpired in the life of Roland Doe (a pseudonym anointed by the Catholic Church) that led to his possession by the devil. Even setting aside for a minute that the book itself is a literary masterpiece and the movie that followed a true horror classic, knowing its events were inspired by the 30 exorcisms performed on Doe over the course of several weeks is an awe and fear-inspiring fact.
It makes the memory seeing the movie for the first time when I was eight through a hole in a blanket while I was supposed to be sleeping, then reading the book just a couple years later so much sweeter.
I held a late night viewing of “The Conjuring” in my dorm room last semester, much to the chagrin of my neighbors, that resulted in bouts of shrieks and screaming at almost three in the morning; none of them were from me, might I add. Had I known though at that point that the events in the movie were inspired from a book written about those true events, I might have acted a tad differently.
The story of the Perron family from 1970, who moved into a new home only to find themselves at the mercy of a vicious haunting and malevolent spirits, was recorded into a book by their eldest daughter of five, Andrea Perron, in “House of Darkness House of Light: The True Story.” With a multitude of spirits forever present in the house, it was a portal to the past and future.
But what truly shattered the relative normalcy of the presence of those spirits was the unleashing of a godforsaken soul during a seance gone wrong. What transpired then were the family’s greatest nightmares being played out in front of them.
Stephen King once said that we make up horrors just so that we can cope with the real ones. Knowing that these renowned tales of terror were inspired by events that might have actually taken place at some point makes you want to give a second thought to every absent shadow and every silent whisper at night.
Have any horrifying experiences you think should be made into a book or movie? Send your stories to Maham at mhasan4@wisc.edu.
