The Lineup’s Creepiest Stories of 2015

July, 2015 – Forget runny noses or messy diapers—the real nightmare to parenting is a spine-chilling encounter with your child’s imaginary friend. A mom asked Reddit users to share the scariest thing their children have ever said about their ghostly companions. Be prepared to keep the night light on after reading these creepy accounts. READ MORE

August, 2015 – Death can be strangely beautiful. Yet there are some who refuse to leave the physical world. From frozen Arctic explorers to incorrupt saints, the preserved corpses of these long-lost souls have remained eerily intact for hundreds—sometimes thousands—of years. READ MORE

March, 2015 – John Wayne Gacy, Jr. seemed to lead the ideal suburban life in Des Plaines, Illinois—until he was convicted of slaughtering 33 young men. Venture down into the basement of America’s killer clown in this killer excerpt from Tim Cahill’s true crime exposé, Buried Dreams. READ MORE

November, 2015 – Sometimes all it took was an unlocked door … Secure your home before discovering how these vicious killers selected their victims. READ MORE

July, 2015 – While true crime writer Fred Rosen was investigating the murder of Grady Stiles—a.k.a. Lobster Boy—he received a video tape that changed the course of the trial forever. But not without a threat to his own life. READ MORE

April, 2015 – Decaying flesh couldn’t keep this obsessed suitor from his one true love. Meet Carl Tanzler, a German émigré  who preserved his sweetheart in plaster after her untimely death. READ MORE

February, 2015 – In the 1870s, Kansas was home to wholesome homesteaders—and a family of serial killers, known as The Bloody Benders. READ MORE

April, 2015 – Identical twins and doctors Stewart and Cyril Marcus did everything together … including dying in a most mysterious fashion. READ MORE

October, 2015 – From possessed plantations to the home of a grisly axe murder, take a spine-chilling tour of these real haunted houses across the country. READ MORE

February, 2015 – Off the coast of the Bronx lies the last unknown place in New York City. Set sail for North Brother, a deserted island of ruins in the midst of the Big Apple. READ MORE

March, 2015 – In 1897, Mary Jane Heaster was devastated by the mysterious death of her daughter Zona—that is, until Zona’s spirit appeared in the night to tell her she’d been strangled by her husband. Unearth the eerie tale of the Greenbrier Ghost, in which one woman’s murder is solved by messages from beyond the grave. READ MORE

December, 2015 – In 1946, a sadistic killer dressed in a white gunny sack mask terrorized the small town of Texarkana at twilight. His brutal attacks are known as the Texarkana Moonlight Murders and they remain unsolved to this day. READ MORE

September, 2015 – In the winter of 1970, Roger and Carolyn Perron and their children moved into a quaint Rhode Island farmhouse. Little did they know, their dream home in the country was a cursed house of horrors. READ MORE

Photos (in order): Lillie Kate / Flickr; rv1865 / Flickr; Murderpedia; Murderpedia; The State Attorney's Office of Florida; Wikimedia Commons; THE TOPEKA-CAPITAL JOURNAL; The Airship; Shannon O'Toole / Flickr; Christopher Payne; Wikimedia Commons; Wikimedia Commons; Horror Galore