Twisted Tales with Heidi Wong

In early 2001, a recreational caver named Ted documented his obsessive attempt to break through a sealed passage deep inside a cave... and what he found on the other side became one of the internet's earliest and most disturbing horror stories. Presented as a real personal account with photographs and journal entries, Ted the Caver predated modern creepypastas and convinced countless readers it was true. The story builds from physi...

Crime House’s Murder: True Crime Stories presents a special series for America’s 250th Birthday: The Crimes That Built America. Listen every Monday until July 6th on Murder: True Crime Stories. Join Crime House+ to get all 4 episodes right now ad-free. To subscribe, go to crimehouseplus.com or if you are listening on Apple Podcasts, tap “Try Free” at the top of this show’s page.

250 years ago, a brand-n...

In September 2010, a college student bought a used copy of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask at a garage sale, and discovered a save file named BEN belonging to a boy who had drowned years before. What started as glitchy gameplay quickly became something far more sinister: a presence that manipulated the game, invaded his computer, and refused to be deleted. Ben Drowned is the creepypasta that redefined internet horror... and it m...

In August 2017, New York-based cartoonist Adam Ellis began documenting a haunting on Twitter: a dead boy named David, a dented skull, and a rocking chair that moved on its own. What started as a unsettling dream spiraled into months of photos, videos, and unexplained events that millions followed in real time. Unlike anonymous creepypastas, Ellis put his real name and face on every post, blurring the line between performance and pa...

In the summer of 2012, a teenager's camping trip on remote Alabama woodland turns into something no one can explain. What begins with strange smells and figures standing motionless in the dark escalates when the group realizes there's an extra person in their group... without anyone noticing. The horror isn't a monster in the woods. It's a creature already inside the room.

Head over to our Twisted Tales YouTube channel to WATCH th...

In 2018, an anonymous user posted a photograph of an empty yellow room on 4chan — no caption, no story, no name. A year later, two paragraphs turned that image into one of the most elaborate horror mythologies the internet has ever produced. What followed was a global phenomenon: hundreds of levels, thousands of contributors, and a teenage filmmaker handed a feature film deal by A24.

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Three of the internet's most notorious lost media creepypastas take aim at SpongeBob SquarePants, The Simpsons, and classic Disney — spinning tales of hidden episodes so disturbing they were allegedly buried and erased forever. What makes these stories so unsettling isn't gore alone, but the way they corrupt the cartoons millions grew up trusting. This episode explores why lost media horror hits differently than any other kin...

What if something was following you…

…and it never stopped?

It doesn’t run.
It doesn’t rush.
It just keeps walking.

This episode explores the real-world fears behind one of the most unsettling horror concepts in modern film, from the AIDS epidemic to economic collapse to the psychological terror of invisible threats.

Because sometimes the scariest thing isn’t what you can see.

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Ed Gein.
Ted Bundy.
Gary Heidnik.
Jerry Brudos.

Each of these men committed crimes so disturbing they reshaped public understanding of serial killers.

Together, their stories helped inspire one of the most chilling characters in horror history, and changed how law enforcement tracks violent offenders.

Head over to our Twisted Tales YouTube channel to WATCH this episode: https://www.youtube.com/@crimehousestudios

I...

A boy king erased from history. A tomb filled with gold. And a wave of deaths blamed on ancient revenge. As the Mummy universe expands once again, Heidi Wong uncovers the truth behind the legend: the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, the fake curse inscription, the real Imhotep, and how Egypt’s sacred traditions became Hollywood spectacle.

Head over to our Twisted Tales YouTube channel to WATCH this episode: https://www....

An exclusive society hidden in the woods. Brides trapped inside powerful institutions. And a king who killed for an heir. As the next chapter of Ready or Not approaches, Heidi Wong explores the real-world forces that shaped the story: elite rituals, royal dynasties, Henry VIII’s doomed queens, and centuries-old demon lore tied to wealth and power.

Head over to our Twisted Tales YouTube channel to WATCH this episode: https://w...

A man who hunted the wealthy and the vulnerable. A serial predator who evaded justice for decades. And a public murder that ignited a feminist movement.

Heidi Wong explores the real history of violence in South Korea: examining the Raincoat Killer, the Hwaseong murders, the Gangnam Station attack, and how these crimes shaped a brutal meditation on revenge: I Saw the Devil.

Content Warning: This episode contains discussion o...

A cult that raised children to obey without question. A bloodline marked by mental illness. And a legacy of suicide that refused to end. Heidi Wong uncovers the real stories of generational trauma, spiritual manipulation, and inherited suffering that reveal how “family curses” are built, and how those horrors echo through Ari Aster’s Hereditary.

Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of cult abuse,...

It started as a story online.

A troubled teenager. A violent transformation. A character that felt just real enough to stick in your head long after you stopped reading.

Ticci Toby became one of the defining figures of early internet horror: part of a wave of creepypastas that spread through forums, YouTube, and late-night scrolling sessions.

But these stories weren’t just about fear.

They were about identity,...

What would happen if someone stayed awake for fifteen days?

In this episode of Twisted Tales, Heidi Wong explores three legendary Creepypastas about science experiments that spiral into nightmare territory.

From the infamous Russian Sleep Experiment to disturbing stories about sensory deprivation and immortality research, these internet horror legends blur the line between fiction and reality.

Listen… if you dare...

A daughter tortured in the name of faith. A school overtaken by mass possession. And an online “game” blamed for real deaths. Heidi Wong explores the real-world events behind Incantation: examining shared psychosis, cultural possession, the Blue Whale panic, and how belief can override logic, medicine, and reality itself.

Head over to our Twisted Tales YouTube channel to WATCH this episode: https://www.youtube.com/@crim...

Hidden tunnels beneath familiar streets. Stories of powerful men operating in secret. And a myth that refuses to disappear. Heidi Wong reveals the true origins of underground city legends, conspiracy theories, and the fear that civilization is built on something we’re not supposed to see.

Head over to our Twisted Tales YouTube channel to WATCH this episode: https://www.youtube.com/@crimehousestudios

If you’re new here, ...

A monster born in the Himalayas. A legend created on an internet forum. And violence sparked by belief alone. Heidi Wong uncovers the true stories behind The Empty Man: from ancient tulpa lore and occult thought-forms to Slender Man, online mythmaking, and the real-world stabbing that proved belief can turn fiction into reality.

Head over to our Twisted Tales YouTube channel to WATCH this episode: https://www.youtube.com/@crimehous...

A killer who watched from the windows. A town students were too afraid to walk through. And a franchise born from real terror. Heidi Wong tells the true origin of Scream’s Ghostface: from Danny Rolling’s brutal attacks to the confession that later ignited Kevin Williamson’s iconic screenplay.

Head over to our Twisted Tales YouTube channel to WATCH this episode: https://www.youtube.com/@crimehousestudios

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