by Diana Ruiz

Clowns are supposed to be comical performers who service in physical comedy acts to make the audience laugh. However, with the new film remake of Stephen King’s IT and the new season of American-Horror Story: Cult, these clowns appear chilling and menacing. These clowns have exaggerated features and they wear makeup that dehumanizes them. It all started with a man named John Wayne Gacy, a serial killer.

Gacy worked at children’s parties, dressing up as a character named Pogo the Clown. He was active from 1972 to 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. Gacy was convicted of killing 33 people in 1980; all of his victims appeared to be young men and teenage boys. He would lure his victims to his Norwood Park ranch house, and ask them if they wanted to smoke or do odd jobs. Once inside, he would rape, torture, and strangle the young men to death. Gacy had buried 26 of his victims in the crawlspace beneath his home. The media dubbed him the “Killer Clown” during his trial because he dressed up as a clown based on his character, Pogo, to kill his victims. Gacy was found guilty on March 12, 1980 and sentenced to death. He was executed on May 10, 1994 by lethal injection.

by Brianny Martinez

At the McKamey Manor in San Diego, people pay to be kidnapped, bound, masked, held under water, and slapped over a 4-8 hour tour. You must even sign a waiver as proof of your consent prior to entering the manor. This haunted house is nothing like the horror attractions at Universal Studio’s Halloween Horror Nights or Knott’s Scary Farm, here, the actors are allowed to become physical. Truly interactive, the experience has been described as a real-life horror movie because the visitors travel between four locations and the entire experience is filmed. The manor hosts a handful of guests each weekend challenging them to last the 8 hour tour; however, most people quit within the first 20 minutes.

The theme of the haunted house changes every year and it is generally inspired by horror movies such as the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Running year-round, the manor has even been described as the “world’s scariest”. You can watch the disturbing videos of people in the manor whimpering and begging for the terrorizing to stop on YouTube. These videos fuel the buzz surrounding the haunted house as there are apparently thousands of people on the waiting list. The half dozen actors of the McKamey Manor, who originally came as guests, decided to become the creators of your nightmare through sheer terror, force feeding you, shouting in your face, shutting you in small boxes and much more.

Most people who choose to experience the horrific manor, say they have sustained minor psychological damage. For example, some people say the manor gave them actual nightmares because they did not decide when to quit soon enough. Quitting at all can be a problem when you are bound, and forced to eat your own vomit. The manor generates fear, anxiety, and even revulsion. Though many people deem the manor sadistic and psychopathic, the owner of the establishment, Russ McKamey, claims it is merely a theatrical performance.

by Samantha Perez

Hanako-san, is the Japanese Boogyman. Hanako was a petite, innocent young girl who was killed at a very young age. Seeking revenge, her now corrupted soul lingers and haunts the bathrooms of many schools across Japan. Many people to this day still speculate and debate the cause of her death. Some believe that she was murdered by a close parent or family member while other believe she was killed during an air raid of World War II. Nonetheless, in order to summon Hanako one must be in a bathroom, similar to the Bloody Mary ritual in the western hemisphere. The person is then supposed to head to the third stall and knock exactly three times. A soft, sinister voice will then whisper “I’m here.” If the player decides to enter the bathroom stall, then standing before him/her will be a small girl in a white shirt and red skirt.

The legend of Daruma-san also involves another unearthly being. Her story begins in a Japanese household. One night, a middle-aged woman by the name Daruma decided to shower. In a misfortune of events, she accidentally fell, and gauging out her eye, instantly killing her. Commonly known as the “Bath Game”, there is a ritual in order to summon Daruma-san. The basic steps are to be in a bathtub and wash your hair as you repeat the words “Daruma-san fell down” over and over with your eyes fully shut. It is believed that when the player wakes up in the morning, the game will officially begin with a ghostly figure following the player throughout the day. The game ends when the player yells the safe word releasing the spirit of Daruma-san will be gone. Are you foolish enough to summon Hanako-san or Daruma-san at your next sleep over party?

by Sofia Martinez

Jim Morrison was the lead singer of the band The Doors who originated in Los Angeles, California. They attracted the mood of American youth with their songs such as their first ever single “Break on Through”. Morrison died in his bathtub in Paris on July 3, 1971, at the age of 27. The official story is that his girlfriend Pamela found his body in the bathtub of their Paris apartment. A doctor was called and it was said that his cause of death was due to a heart attack caused by drugs and alcohol. Many people were not satisfied with this story especially Sam Bernett a man who claims that there is another story behind Morrison’s death. Sam Bernett managed a night club by the name of Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus and he has reasons to believe that the club was Morrison’s true place of death.

This is Sam Bernett’s version of the story; Bernett states that Morrison was there to “score some heroin for Pamela”. He claims that the night of his death, Morrison came into the club seeming like he was there to meet someone. Two men walked in, suspected of being drug dealers, after Morrison conversed with them for a while he headed for the restroom to sample some of heroin by snorting it up his nose. Later, the body was discovered by Bernett with white foam around his mouth and blood around his nose. Bernett then goes on to say that the dealers wanted to make Morrison’s body disappear, but Bernett called the owner who made the decision to allow the dealers to take Morrison’s body back to his home. So the men rolled him in a blanket, carried him through the back stairs, took his body to the street, and put it into the backseat of the car. Then, two henchmen drove his body back to the apartment. They dumped his body in the bathtub, poured hot water to delay rigor mortis and disguise the time of death. Morrison’s death was, and still is, considered one of the greatest tragedies of rock ‘n’ roll. Could this story truly be the way Jim Morrison or did he truly die in the bath of a heart attack caused by drugs and alcohol?