Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Fire Eyes Media.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
It's the second week of October, and I don't know
about the rest of you, but I feel I have
finally achieved my true form. It feels so good to
be back in our little creepy corner of chaos, and
even better that the best holiday of the year is
steadily approaching.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Halloween. It is Halloween, right, Yeah. No, Yeah, that's a
tough one to figure out when it comes to deer Amber,
But yes, it feels almost as glorious as the somewhat
cooler weather here in the great state of Texas. Wicked
Wednesdays have always been a little bit of a change
(00:45):
of pace for us in our content, so this year
we are keeping the true crime elements as much as possible,
but still bringing the spooky.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Last week was a little bit of a refresher on
a local Texas case that surprisingly has some roots into
today's topic. We are taking you back to one of
the creepiest, most classic urban legends out there.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
You know it.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
You've probably heard it whispered around a campfire or during
a sleepover at some point in your life. It's the
hook man.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Oh yes, the infamous bloody hook dangling from the car
door story let's be honest here, it's basically folklore royalty
at this point. What gets me about this one especially
is that it isn't just a story parents made up
to keep their friends from making out in parked cars,
(01:53):
as we hinted last week, this one has roots in
real crimes.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
It was a warm summer night. A boy and a
girl drove out to Lover's Lane, that lonely stretch at
the edge of town where street lights don't quite reach.
The car engine clicked as it cooled. The night was
thick with crickets and shadows. They laughed, whispered, kissed, doing
(02:22):
what teenagers do when they think they're invincible. Then the
radio crackled, interrupting the serene atmosphere.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
This just end. Authority is born that a man has
escaped from the feet a silo.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
He has armed, extremely dangerous and.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Missing his right hand.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
In its place, a deal poke. The girl froze.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Did you hear that?
Speaker 2 (02:56):
She asked, clutching the boy's arm.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
The boy chuckle, Oh, that that's nothing. They just put
this on the radio to scare people, don't worry.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
But the girl wasn't convinced. She begged him to take
her home. He sighed, rolled his eyes and turned the ignition.
That's when they heard it, a slow dragging sound against
the side of the car. The girl stiffened.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
What was that?
Speaker 2 (03:27):
The boy tried to laugh it off.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
I don't know, a tree branch, maybe the wind, who cares?
Speaker 2 (03:34):
But then it came again, louder, her hands shook.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Please take me home, so.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
He did, tires squealing as the car shot forward, leaving
Lover's lane behind. When they reached her house, she flung
the door open and bolted inside and breathless with relief.
But the boy, curious maybe a little smug, walked around
(04:07):
to the passenger side, and there, swinging from the door
handle was a hook. A steel hook, freshly smeared with blood.
Good God, goodbye? Are you? Are you okay? You're sitting there.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Like, yeah, yeah, I like it.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Oh no, not the bloody hook, right okay, But like, honestly,
that image has haunted generations.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Forget ghost stories, this one gets straight under your skin.
I mean, I know we've talked about this stuff like
this before, that, like the truly eerie things that could
totally happen in every day life, they just hit a
little bit different.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Honestly, though, how clumsy. Is this guy like, sir, if
your one murder tool is a hook, maybe don't leave
it behind like a lost umbrella.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Exactly. It's like a Slasher version of have you seen
My left shoe? He's probably wandering around like ah, man,
not again.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
My murder plot. It's foiled. But like, also, can we
talk about the boyfriend. His girlfriend is like, hey, maybe
let's not be brutally murdered tonight, and he's like relaxed, babe,
you're overreacting. Classic horror trope. The girl knows what's up,
the guy ignores it, and then bam, hook as car accessory.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
So here's the thing, though, urban legends like this usually
serve a purpose. I mean, this one is basically parental propaganda,
with the blaring message of don't sneak off to lover's lane,
don't fool around, or you'll end up on the evening
news as hook man's latest victims.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
It's the horror version of just say no, forget birth control,
just dangle the threat of a hook handed lunatic outside
the car window, and poof teenagers are celibate.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Exactly. It's like abstinence only education, but with blood. We've
hinted at this, but the creepiest part of this particular
tale is that the legend grew out of real events.
If you listen to our replay episode last week, you're
all too familiar with the Texarcana moonlight murders.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Yep, the dude that attacked couples in cars back in
the nineteen forties and caused havoc across Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Between February and May of nineteen forty six. He attacked
eight people, killing five. His first attacks were on young
couples parked on secluded roads basically lover's lane. He wore
a white sack over his head with holes cut for eyes.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Basically imagine Jason Vorhees. Before he got his hockey mask
creeping up on parked teenagers.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
The whole town went into lockdown, curfews, armed patrols, people
terrified to even go outside after dark. For months, lovers
Lanes were deserted.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
So parents already had a boogeyman to point to, and
once the killing stopped, the legend of the hook Man
gave the fear a permanent face.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Folklorists have studied this one for years. I mean it
first started circulating in the nineteen fifties, right when teen
car culture was exploding. Cars gave kids freedom, drive ins,
back seats, late night parking. Who did the parents hate it?
Speaker 3 (08:02):
So along comes the perfect story. Sure, honey, go ahead
and park with your boyfriend. Just know, there's a homicidal
amputee with a rusty hook waiting in the bushes.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Exactly. It's scared kids into coming home before curfew and
kept them from well, you know.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Yeah, nothing kills the mood faster than picturing a blood
soaked hook scratching at the window.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Over the years, the hookman legend has changed. Sometimes the
couple never leaves the car and the girl ends up bed.
Sometimes the guy gets out to investigate and never comes back.
Sometimes they only find blood smeared on the door.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
And sometimes the hook is left dangling as a calling card, which, again,
bad career move for a killer, right.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
I mean he's basically advertising, Hi, yes, I was here murdering.
Please return my hook to asylum number five. Thanks bye.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
But that's what makes it stick. It's short, it's shocking,
and it leaves you with one really gross image you
can't get out of your head.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
This story has lasted over seventy years. It hits every
fear button, being isolated, being stalked, ignoring warnings, and then
finding undeniable proof that you were inches away from death.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Plus it's easy to retell around a campfire on a
dark road or to your kids when they're about to
sneak out. You only need the words bloody hook to
get the point across.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
And while no hook handed asylum escapee has ever been
proven real, the phantom killer was, the panic was, and
the fear.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Was, and he was never caught, which is something that
makes this urban legend way too real for comfort.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
So next time you're parked on a dark road at
night and you hear something scratching against your car door,
maybe don't look.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Or do just make sure you've got good car insurance.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Well that's the hook Man, part folklore, part real crime,
and still one of the most cautionary tales out there.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
Moral of the story, don't make out in cars with
guys who don't listen to you.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Moral of that story. Always listen to women. It might
just save your life.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Always. Yeah, this reminds me so much of I Know
what you did last time, Yeah, which I still haven't
seen the new one. I haven't either, no, I'm very
curious to know, like how similar it is to the
original and Urban Legend, which you haven't seen.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
I have not seen Urban Legend. I know. That's kind
of like I go, what Amber are you okay? Who
hurt you? Kind of thing. I don't know, It's just
it's one of those movies that like fell through the
cracks for me that I just I never saw.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
I mean, I can't say much because there are so
many movies that are like must see movies that I've
never seen either. And I've seen Urban Legend, but it's
been so long that I honestly could not tell you
any Oh yeah, no, So maybe we'll have to watch
it together.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Sometimes I'm down, you know, I'm always down for that
kind of shit.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Yeah, we'll we'll have to do that for sure. This
is this is fun.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
It was fun, and you know the whole like the
retelling of the story at the very beginning, like it
has been told so many different ways. Like I guarantee
you there's people that's gonna listen and be like, nah,
that's not what I heard, but you know, fair like
it's basis of it. That's just the to get the
(11:52):
point across, Like you know, Hey, if you have heard
a different version of this and want to share it
with us, please do I'd love I'd love to hear
other other retellings of it.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Yeah, absolutely, it would be interesting to know if it's
kind of a regional reason depending on where you're from
in the States, Like you heard a different version of
this story, But it's just funny. It's funny to me.
The whole like, the whole thing behind it was you
don't want your kids going off and parking, Like I'm sorry.
Kids are gonna do what they're going to do, whether
(12:23):
it's in a car or not. So you might be
keeping them from like parking in the middle of nowhere
in their car, doesn't mean they're not going to find
somewhere else to go.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Yeah, basically, I mean, there you remove one temptation, they're
gonna find five other ways to do something else.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Exactly, exactly.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Not that we're sitting here condoning, Hey, let your kids
do whatever the fuck they want. No, no, no, no, no,
by no stretch of the imagination. But just you know,
I was I was once a teenager, and I know
I also did things.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Also same We were friends during that time period, very
much know what the other person was getting into. And
I don't think a fake hook on a scary man
would have stopped us.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
I would have been like, man, I want that hook
for my wall.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
You totally would like that. Sounds like a.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Challenge, challenge excepted.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Well. Thank you listeners for joining us on our first
dive into urban legends. For this year's Wicked Wednesday, be
sure to follow us on Instagram at Weird True Crime.
We'll supply you with memes filled with sarcasm and all
things spooky related this month.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
It really does feel so good to be back, and
if you enjoy what you heard today, please be sure
to leave us a five star rating and review wherever
we're invading your ear holes from. It really does help
us a lot and it makes us happy. So win win, yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
And you guys want us to be happy, right right? Okay,
join us for next week's Wicked Win Day, where we're
going to cover another urban legend. Maybe it'll be one
you're familiar with, or maybe it'll be one you've never
heard before. Until next time, stay safe.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
And make good choices.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Bye bye, wsh
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Your fucking sort of Jesus