10 Horror Movies That Are Based On Supposedly True Stories

Horror movies with psychotic killers and spirits that possess you are already scary enough. But what adds fuel to the fire is the tag line “Based on a true story” at the starting of the film. And then it’s time to wrap yourself in your blanket and tell yourself that it was just the wind that creaked open the window.

Here are a list of movies that are based on true stories:

1. Amityville Horror

HorrorTrueStories1
Image source

This movie is based on the events experienced by George and Kathy Lutz who moved into the three-story colonial in Amityville on New York’s Long Island in December 1975. The house had been the scene of a horrible multiple murder a little over a year before, when 23-year-old Ronnie DeFeo went from room to room methodically shooting his parents and his four brothers and sisters in their beds. There were cold spots in rooms and hallways, the odd smells of perfume or excrement and the jolting sounds at night. George became increasingly volatile and would wake at the same time- 3.15am- the time of the murders. He blamed the evil presence on his stepfather George, a man whose occult dabblings opened the gateway to dark forces he couldn’t control. Then there were objects that flew across the room, walls oozing green slime, the crucifix that turned upside down on the wall, the hidden red room in the basement and — who can forget -the glowing eyes at night of some demonic, pig-like creature. Though there were a lot of cynics who did not believe in their story, George and Kathy both passed a lie detector test, which makes this story creepy even if its a hoax.

 

2. The Haunting in Connecticut

HorrorTrueStories2
Image source

This movie is based on the story of Philip Snedeker, who was diagnosed with cancer when he and his family moved into this house, so that they could be nearer to the hospital where he was being treated. Previously, the house had served as a Funeral Home for multiple decades. The lights would turn on and off even though there were no bulbs in it, dishes putting themselves away… and they regularly experienced a malevolent force that took different forms and would on occasion slap, grope, or threaten them. The Snedeker family brought in paranormal researchers; The researchers believed that former funeral workers were guilty of necrophilia, which led to the evil presence.

A third priest was able to rid the house of the presence after two priests left, frightened.

 

3. Dahmer

HorrorTrueStories3
Image source

This movie is based on the life of Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer, who was an American serial killer, rapist, cannibal- some cases which also included necrophilia. When police officers spotted Tracy Edwards running down the street in handcuffs, they investigated and found a few Polaroid photos of dismembered bodies in Dahmer’s apartment, and he was arrested. The officers found a very grisly scene- In addition to photo albums full of pictures of body parts, the apartment was littered with human remains: Several heads were in the refrigerator and freezer; two skulls were on top of the computer; and a 57-gallon drum containing several bodies decomposing in chemicals was found in a corner of the bedroom. There was also evidence to suggest that Dahmer had been eating some of his victims.  He was sentenced to 15 life terms, but was killed by another inmate on November 28, 1994.

 

4. The Exorcism of Emily Rose

HorrorTrueStories4
Image source

This movie is based on the exorcism of Anneliese Michel. In 1968,at the age of 17, she began to suffer from convulsions and had her first epileptic attack in 1969. Soon, Anneliese started experiencing devilish hallucinations while praying. She also began to hear voices, which told her that she was damned. Anneliese was convinced that she had been possessed by several demons, including Lucifer, Judas Iscariot, Nero, Cain, Hitler, and Fleischmann, a disgraced Frankish Priest from the 16th century. She began behaving very bizarrely -licking her own urine off the floor, eating flies, spiders, and coal, biting off the head of a dead bird. In one instance, she crawled under a table and barked like a dog for two days. She could often be heard screaming through the walls for hours. Tearing off her clothes and urinating on the floor became a regular occurrence.

Anneliese endured 67 rites of exorcism over a period of 10 months. Over time, the ligaments in her knees ruptured due to the 600 genuflections that she performed obsessively during each exorcism session. On 1 July 1976, Michel died in her home. The autopsy report stated the cause was malnutrition and dehydration because of being in a semi-starvation state for almost a year while the rites of exorcism were performed. After an investigation, the state prosecutor maintained that Michel’s death could have been prevented even one week before she died. In 1976, the state charged Michel’s parents and the priests who performed the exorcism with negligent homicide.

 

5. The Hills Have Eyes

HorrorTrueStories5
Image source

Alexander Bean, in 15th- or 16th-century Scotland, was reportedly executed for the mass murder and cannibalization of over 1,000 people. He and his wife produced eight sons, six daughters, eighteen grandsons and fourteen granddaughters. Various grandchildren were products of incest. Lacking the inclination for regular labour, the clan thrived by laying careful ambushes at night to rob and murder individuals or small groups. The bodies were brought back to the cave where they were dismembered and eaten. Leftovers were pickled, and discarded body parts would sometimes wash up on nearby beaches. One night, the group tried to ambush a man who was skilled in combat, and was riding from a fair. They were caught when a party of fairgoers appeared on the trail.

The Beans’ previously overlooked cave in Bennane Head, scattered with human remains, was found. They were captured and executed without a trial. However, some people say that Alexander Bean was a mythical figure and never existed.

 

6. The Town That Dreaded Sundown

HorrorTrueStories6
Image source

The Texarkana Moonlight Murders, a term coined by the news media, are the unsolved, violent crimes committed in and around Texarkana in the spring of 1946 by an unidentified serial killer known as the “Phantom Killer” or “Phantom Slayer”. The killer is credited with attacking eight people within ten weeks, five of whom were killed, usually three weeks apart. The attacks happened on weekends between February 22, 1946 and May 3, 1946. The last victim of the killer was Earl Cliff McSpadden, who was found lying face-down beside the tracks with his head facing north. The man’s left arm and leg were on the inside of the tracks and had been cut off by a freight train. Since the murder is unsolved, locals have speculated that McSpadden was the Phantom’s sixth victim. A prominent rumor exists claiming that McSpadden was the Phantom who had committed suicide by jumping in front of a train, taking his secrets with him in death.

 

7. The Conjuring

HorrorTrueStories7
Image source

The most haunting spirit in the movie is that of suspected witch Bathsheba Sherman. The real Perron family lived in the farmhouse from 1970-1980. On their first day in the house, one of the daughters saw a man standing inside the dining room. Later, she also claimed that bats tormented the home, flying down the chimney and entering the home to terrorize the family. There were also flies that regularly appeared inside the home. She also said that the spirits would torture her mother with images of fire, and gathered around he parents’ bed. Ed and Lorraine Warren were the investigators called upon the scene. The family later left the house.

 

8. An American Haunting

HorrorFilms1
Image source

This movie is based on a poltergeist known as the Bell Witch, who haunted the family of John bell Sr. In 1817, his family came under attack by a witch, who was believed to be a lady called Kate Batts. Various accounts written afterward, tell stories similar to other poltergeist legends. It began with noises in the walls and grew to include unusual sounds, people being slapped and pinched, objects being thrown, and animals being spooked without visible cause. Other stories relate that the family was haunted by scratching noises outside their door after Bell found a half-dog, half-rabbit creature. Some stories end up with Bell being poisoned by the witch.

 

9. The Possession

HorrorFilms2
Image source

The term “Dibbuk Box” was first created and used by Kevin Mannis to describe a wine cabinet in the item information for an eBay auction and as the subject of his original story describing paranormal events which he related to the box. He bought the box at an estate sale in 2003. Upon opening the box, Mannis wrote that he found that it contained two 1920s pennies, a lock of blonde hair bound with cord, a lock of black/brown hair bound with cord, a small statue engraved with the Hebrew word “Shalom”, a small golden wine goblet, one dried rose bud, and a single candle holder with four octopus-shaped legs. Mannis wrote that he experienced a series of horrific nightmares shared with other people while they were in possession of the box or when they stayed at his home while he had it. His mother suffered a stroke on the same day he gave her the box as a birthday present. Every owner of the box has reported that smells of cat urine or jasmine flowers and nightmares involving an old hag accompany the box. Jason Haxton, the last person to own the box, took and hid it at a secret location, which he said he will not reveal.

 

10. The Shining

HorrorFilms3
Image source

Stephen King, writer of the horror genre, based his novel of the same name after he stayed at The Stanley Hotel. Haunted events have been recorded at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, since as far back as 1911, when Elizabeth Wilson, a housekeeper, was electrocuted during a lightening storm. Though she wasn’t killed, the room where it happened, Room 217, has become a hotbed of paranormal activity. Over the years, every single room in the hotel has experienced something strange, from clothes being mysteriously unpacked, to items moving on their own, and lights turning themselves on and off. The fourth floor is often filled with the spectral laughter of children giggling and running down the halls.

Like they say- hearing children laugh is a wonderful thing. Unless its at 3 in the night. And you are alone at home.

Wait, what was that sound I just heard? *packs bags, takes flight to a continent on the other side of the world*

📣 Storypick is now on Telegram! Click here to join our channel (@storypick) and never miss another great story.