logo
5 Creepy, Dark, And Messed-Up Things I Learned This Week

5 Creepy, Dark, And Messed-Up Things I Learned This Week

Yahoo13 hours ago
Hello! I'm Crystal, and I write the That Got Dark newsletter, BuzzFeed's weekly roundup of all things creepy, macabre, and horrible AF. And if you looooove this kind of content, you should subscribe to get your weekly dopamine fix of the macabre delivered RIGHT to your inbox!
Here's what the newsletter is covering this week:
Related:
1.The 1987 sleepwalking murder case of Kenneth Parks in Toronto, Canada.
One night, ALL while sleepwalking, Parks got out of bed and drove almost 15 miles from his home, where he killed his mother-in-law, then attempted to kill his father-in-law.
Parks, who said he was unconscious through the whole ordeal, had entered his in-laws' home with a key he'd been given in the past. He bludgeoned his mother-in-law to death with a tire iron, then attempted to choke his father-in-law to death, who miraculously survived the attack.
In an extra surprising twist, Parks then drove straight to a police station (still covered in blood), and told the cops, 'I think I have just killed two people.' Parks would even go on to say he was fast asleep when he surrendered. A year later, he was acquitted of murder and attempted murder using a rare legal defense known as 'non-insane automatism,' supported by evidence of parasomnia (a sleep disorder).
Related:
2.The existence of Heritage USA, a massive Christian theme park and resort complex in Fort Mill, South Carolina, that was built in 1978 by televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker.
At its peak, Heritage USA drew 5–6 million visitors annually, billing itself as the third most-visited park in the US and being called a "Christian Disneyland." It closed in 1989 after a major financial scandal, the loss of its tax-exempt status, and damage from Hurricane Hugo. Today, some structures remain, with parts repurposed by a church ministry, but nearly everyone who's seen it since says its abandoned state and sketchy history make it very creepy.
Above is "Praise the Lord" board chairman Rev. Jerry Falwell sliding down the 52-foot water slide at Heritage USA.
And here's what one Buzzfeed Community member had to say about their IRL experience with the eerie theme park: 'In the mid-'80s, my brother returned to school as a journalism major at the University of South Carolina. One of his assignments was to write a story about the newly opened theme park. So, one weekend, off he went. He later told me that the whole time he was there, he felt like he had to keep looking over his shoulder because he felt like a couple of guys were going to come up behind him, grab him, and say, 'You don't belong here.' Wish he was still here to tell the story himself.'
—Anonymous
3.The horrible case of Genie, a 13-year-old feral child who was discovered in Arcadia, California, in 1970 after years of horrific abuse.
Related:
Genie (which was a pseudonym) was discovered after being brutally isolated and starved, strapped either to a potty chair or a crib, and forbidden to speak by her abusive father for almost her entire life. Her treatment had been so bad, it resulted in severe physical and linguistic deprivation.
She was subsequently placed under intensive study and gained some vocabulary and basic communication skills, but failed to acquire normal grammar.
Genie's case became known as one of the "worst cases of child abuse" in the US, and ultimately raised ethical concerns about the treatment of vulnerable subjects and their rights.
4.The tragic death of actor Angus Cloud, who died of an accidental drug overdose — a lethal mix of methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine, and benzodiazepines — on July 31, 2023, in his family's home in Oakland, California.
Cloud had reportedly been staying with his mother following the death of his father in May. In an interview with People, Cloud's mother, Lisa, said that she found her son in the morning slumped over his desk. She tried to resuscitate him, but by the time first responders arrived, it was too late, and they later determined Cloud had already been deceased by the time they'd even been dispatched.
Lisa explained to People, "He got tired from lack of oxygen. Everything just slowed down, and eventually his heart stopped and he went to sleep. But he didn't kill himself.'
5.Finally, the case of gruesome serial killer William Bonin, known as the 'Freeway Killer,' who raped and murdered at least 21 teenage boys and young men in Southern California between 1979 and 1980.
Related:
Bonin would lure victims into his van, often with help from accomplices, then assault and kill them, dumping their bodies along freeways. Caught in 1980, he was convicted of 14 murders and died by lethal injection in 1996 — California's first to be carried out by that method.
His last meal: Two large pepperoni and sausage pizzas, three pints of coffee ice cream, and three six-packs of Coca-Cola.
I think that's just about enough unsettling stuff for the week, don't you? In the next issue, we'll tackle the story of the 'Twitter Killer' and the infamous murder of Sharon Tate.
Love this kind of content? Subscribe to the That Got Dark newsletter to get a weekly post just like this delivered directly to your inbox. It's a scary good time you won't want to miss.
Do you have a weird, creepy, or shocking story you want to share? Perhaps there's a strange Wikipedia page you want to talk about? Tell me all about it at thatgotdark@buzzfeed.com, and who knows, maybe it'll be featured in a future edition of That Got Dark!
If you are concerned that a child is experiencing or may be in danger of abuse, you can call or text the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 (4.A.CHILD); service can be provided in over 140 languages.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, you can call SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) and find more resources here.
Also in BuzzFeed:
Also in BuzzFeed:
Also in BuzzFeed:
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Auto theft sees sharp drop in first half of 2025, industry association says
Auto theft sees sharp drop in first half of 2025, industry association says

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

Auto theft sees sharp drop in first half of 2025, industry association says

OTTAWA — The pace of auto theft is dropping in Canada thanks to collective efforts to crack down on thieves, says an industry group focused on insurance fraud and crime. Équité Association said in a report released Monday that the number of vehicles reported stolen nationally dropped 19.1 per cent in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. Just over 23,000 vehicles were reported stolen in the first six months of the year in Canada, the report said. The decline is particularly stark in Ontario and Quebec, which saw annual drops of 25.9 per cent and 22.2 per cent, respectively. The year-over-year drops are more modest in Atlantic Canada and Western Canada at roughly nine per cent. Alberta saw a decline of 12.5 per cent. Bryan Gast, national vice-president of investigative services at Équité Association, credits greater public awareness of the threat and efforts by various levels of government and law enforcement agencies to collectively tackle the problem. "It's really definitely a collaborative effort," he said. Gast said law enforcement agencies in Ontario and Quebec in particular have stepped up enforcement with police units dedicated to vehicle theft. So far this year, residents of Ontario and Quebec have reported 9,600 and 3,889 vehicle thefts respectively — high numbers that Gast attributed to the provinces' larger populations and proximity to the Port of Montreal. With 4,411 vehicles reported stolen over the first half of 2025, Gast said Alberta continues to lead the country in auto theft on a per-capita basis. Statistics Canada data released earlier this week confirms national progress on the file. The agency reported a 17 per cent annual drop in the rate of police-reported motor vehicle thefts, down to 239 incidents per 100,000 people last year. In 2023, the number of auto thefts had increased 40 per cent over the historic low recorded in 2020, StatCan said. That trend came to a head last year when the federal government convened a summit in February to address car thefts. Ottawa followed up by giving the Canada Border Services Agency millions of dollars in new funding to track vehicles leaving through the country's ports, after having given Ontario $121 million in January of that year to tackle gang crime and auto thefts. Gast said some of the progress can likely be attributed to Canadians' heightened awareness of the issue. "Now I think you can talk to anybody and, if their car hasn't been stolen, they know somebody's car that has been stolen," he said. "I think they are taking those precautions and some of those steps to make their vehicle less of a target." Vehicle recovery rates also rose 3.4 percentage points year over year to 56.5 per cent in the first half of 2025, Équité Association said. The organization said that was nearing the "pre-crisis" level of 57.2 per cent recorded in 2021. Despite progress on vehicle theft, the Insurance Bureau of Canada warned it's still a "significant concern" and "far from the only factor contributing to rising auto insurance costs." "A combination of inflation, tariffs, rising repair and vehicle replacement costs, legal pressures, and regulatory challenges are driving rates up across the country," the bureau said in a media statement. Tariffs on vehicle parts are driving up the costs of repairs and replacement cars, the bureau noted. Gast said that while it's not clear yet, tariffs might be playing a role in the increase Équité Association is seeing in domestic chop shops and vehicle parts being sent overseas. He said that whenever there's a disruption to supply chains — like the one that made semiconductor inputs a hot commodity during the COVID-19 pandemic — the criminal element tends to adapt to meet that demand. While he's encouraged by the progress Canada has posted to date in tamping down auto theft, he said now is not the time to let up. "Don't consider the problem solved," he said. "To keep it manageable and the numbers trending in the right direction, I think we still need to focus on it." This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 28, 2025. Craig Lord, The Canadian Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store