What It Was Like

My Childhood Bully Killed My Friend

In 1990, 14-year-old Tyler Pelke was home alone in Altona, Canada, watching a movie with a friend. Then the local bully, Earl Giesbrecht, showed up at the door. Hours lat

He Slept on His Daughter’s Dorm Room Couch and Built a Cult

In 2010, fraudster Larry Ray got out of prison and started sleeping on a couch in his daughter’s college dorm. Within weeks, he was mentoring her friends. A year later, h

I Joined a Cult That Demanded Human Ears

"Bring me their ears." That was the order from cult leader Yahweh ben Yahweh, who admitted new members of the Nation of Yahweh into his inner circle only after they'd kil

I Traced a Mystery Stalker Back to eBay’s Corporate Headquarters

In 2019, David and Ina Steiner began receiving mysterious packages at their Massachusetts home. Local police sergeant Jason Sutherland was called in to investigate, and e

How a Bunch of Australian Teens Invented 'Urban Exploration'

Today, "urbex" (urban exploration) is a global phenomenon with millions of videos online. But few people know it all traces back to a group of teenagers in Melbourne. In

The Day My Daughter Got Abducted (and How I Got Her Back)

In 2018, Brittany Todd was a mother of five living in South Carolina. Then one day she came home to find a stranger inside her house who beat her unconscious and abducted

I Pulled the Largest Prison Break in UK History

In 1983, 38 IRA prisoners escaped Northern Ireland's Maze Prison by hijacking a truck and driving through multiple security gates to freedom. Ringleader Gerry Kelly expla

I Somehow Survived the Darkest Years of AIDS

AIDS devastated America's gay communities through the 1980s. In major cities, up to 50% of gay men were living with the virus, with the median survival rate after diagnos

The Discovery of the Ebola Virus

In 1976, a mysterious illness started killing people in Central Africa. Virus expert Joseph McCormick was flown in to work out what it was and how it spread. This is how

How I Lost Everything to Leonardo DiCaprio

In 1995, Dale Wheatley had just written and produced Don's Plum starring his friends Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire. The film was quickly snapped up for a 3-picture

I Escaped an Abusive Polygamist Cult… and Became a Millionaire

Pamela Jones was born into a fringe splinter group of Mormonism. By her early 30s she had nine children, while her husband had five other wives. But one day something ins

A Fatal Search for a Lost City of Gold in the Amazon

In 1981, an Israeli backpacker named Yossi Ghinsberg met a man in Bolivia who told him about a lost city of riches buried in the jungle. Four of them went into the Amazon

My Terrifying (and Oddly Funny) 25 Hours Kidnapped in New York

On the eve of his 38th birthday in 1998, a lawyer named Stanley Alpert was plucked off the street by three armed men. For the next 25 hours he sat blindfolded in a corner

I Discovered Snowtown's Bodies in Barrels (Classic)

In May 1999, police found eight bodies decaying in barrels in a disused bank vault in Snowtown. Four men were eventually jailed for 12 murders. Former senior constable Go

I Was an Undercover Cop With a Death Wish

Todd Maguire was happy-go-lucky Australian policeman until his girlfriend died by suicide and everything changed. From there, Todd became a heavy drinking undercover cop

How Do You Survive a Cyber-Stalking Cult?

In 2018, sci-fi writer Patrick Tomlinson posted a Tweet that attracted the attention of a group of far-right internet trolls. As their harassment escalated, Patrick calle

How I Became a Cult Recruiter

In 2019, Matthew Thomas thought he was joining a Bible study group. Instead, he was sucked into Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a secretive Korean cult known for coercive co

I Committed a School Shooting

In 2004, Jon Romano brought a shotgun to school intending to take his own life. One person was injured before he was tackled to the ground. Today, Jon reflects on the pat

I Got Caught Fabricating Stories for the New York Times

In 2003, Jayson Blair was a rising star in journalism, until he got caught plagiarising stories and inventing details. What followed was one of the most high-profile down

I Woke From a Coma to a Man Claiming to Be My Boyfriend

After Brooke Knisley fell from a tree, she couldn’t walk, talk, or remember anything—or anyone. So when a man appeared claiming to be her boyfriend, she believed him. Wha