Decemystery (2022.3) 17: The Brooklyn Subway Vampire Girl

Growing up, I was never a big fan of vampires. I always preferred werewolves. Indeed, for whatever reason, I never found vampires particularly interesting or terrifying. Despite that, I vividly recall having one God-awful nightmare when I was younger about a vampire outside my living room window trying to get in. It had the most inhuman look on its face, and it scares me to this day. If I had the ability to draw, I would have no trouble recreating the look on that thing’s face. With that said, that nightmare is an exception; beyond that, I just don’t find vampires to be frightening.

Nevertheless, like plenty of other things, I still enjoy reading about them. So, when I came across the story of The Brooklyn Subway Vampire Girl, my interest was immediately piqued. It’s a story from a major metropolitan area that I’ve visited quite often, and it involves a vampire. That’s definitely something that I definitely would not expect to hear about in a place like New York City. So, come along, dear reader; it’s time for us to go vampire hunting!

Decemystery (2023) 14: The Shrieking Hulk

 

A quick note before we begin: this image has nothing to do with the story, but I thought it was too funny not to use; if anyone knows where it’s from, let me know!

One of my greatest dreams—as of the time of writing—is to go hunting for Bigfoot with a few of my friends. Although I hate the idea of going camping, my love for the legend of Bigfoot outweighs that dislike. As such, I often tell my closest friends how awesome it’d be if we got together and went hunting for the infamous ape-man in what I envision as a fun time out in the wilderness. That, or we go ghost hunting at a place like Waverly Hills Sanitorium. Boy, there’s a place I desperately need to do a write-up on!

Of course, there are a lot of logistical hurdles that would need to be overcome for this dream to be achieved. As it stands, I cannot overcome a single one, so it remains nothing more than a dream that I shall think about until it comes true or I give up on it. Lucky for me, dreams drive me to at least continue pursuing the things that I love—in the case of today’s Decemystery entry, a case about a creature that reminded me a great deal of the aforementioned Bigfoot.

While browsing through the ever-so-amazing About archives, a story caught my eye. At first, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to cover it since I didn’t want to poach an ungodly number of cases from the site, especially since I feel that a fair number of them tend to end with me feeling a bit uncertain about what it was. However, the more I thought about this case, the more I was quite confident that I could draw a concrete conclusion. So come along, dear reader; this is the tale of The Shrieking Hulk!

Decemystery (2023) 11: The Creature at the Cabin Door

 

Oh, hey there. Welcome back to my blog; please make yourself comfortable near the campfire. Help yourself to some marshmallows, too. I don’t like them, to be quite honest; I never have. But I bought them because that’s what people do when camping, I think. Truthfully, I have never gone camping.

Anyway, enough with the silly roleplaying. I needed something to kickstart this write-up since, even though this is the thirty-ninth Decemystery I’m doing, introductions have gotten no easier. In fact, ever since I returned to writing at the start of the year, I’d dare say they’ve only gotten harder.

My bemoaning aside, I want to return to a website we visited the other day: “About,” the one that hosted the story of the Mexican Tongue Monster. I mentioned that it appeared to be a treasure trove that I would need to pilfer. Well, a few months after covering that story, I decided to return and snoop around. I was right; it’s a host to a lot of wild, jaw-dropping stories. So, in the coming days, we’ll be returning to it a lot.

The first I want to take a look at is entitled The Creature at the Cabin Door. This sounds like something akin to a generic creepypasta, but it’s a truly unsettling and bizarre story from the forests of New York. So come along; it’s time to go camping in the Adirondack Mountains!

Decemystery (2022.3) 10: The 1965 Brooklyn Cylindrical UFO Sighting

 

When you think of New York, what comes to your mind first? Some may think of how expensive it is, while others may think of New York City. Both are acceptable answers; in my case, I think of one word: home. It’s where I was born and raised and lived for almost all of my life; I moved out of the state last November, and to be honest, I miss it greatly. Sure, life where I reside now is great, for the most part, but I’ll always consider New York to be my home.

There’s one other thing I think about when I think of New York, though, and that’s that it’s home to a surprisingly large number of UFO sightings. Heck, my mother saw one; I, sadly, was not awake to experience it, and I’m still jealous of her. Seriously, my friends and family have experienced a bunch of the things that I write about; why am I never around when the creepy stuff happens!? Bah, one of these days, I will get to see a UFO for myself.

Anyway, given that New York is host to so many UFO reports, I figured that today, I would go over one. So come along, dear reader, it’s time for us to head on over to the City That Never Sleeps. This is the story of The 1965 Brooklyn Cylindrical UFO Sighting!

Decemystery (2020) 24: The Subway Man

Ah, let’s take a trip to “excuse me, but what is this?” land. Yes, we’re going on a happy, magical, wonderful journey to the land where the likes of “Is Lord of the Rings Based on a True Story?” resides in its castle made of sticks, stones, and Pauly Shore movies. Why? Well, today, we’re talking about a story about something called the Subway Man. This barely qualifies as a mystery, but it’s something so inexplicably nonsensical that I want to cover it. Also, I need a break because this month is beginning to make my mental health deteriorate. God, I love Decemystery.

Decemystery (2020) 12: Mount Vernon Jane Doe (1988)

 

There’s something about unidentified murder victims that makes my skin crawl. Never mind how they have no name and their story is as mysterious as can be, but staring at the digital reconstructions sends shivers down my spine. To not know what they may have looked like is something that’s equal parts saddening and unnerving. It’s like you’re staring at someone who has no face.

In the case of today’s story—that of the Mount Vernon Jane Doe—I can’t help but find the story exceptionally saddening. A young woman who was around my age, was tied up, beaten, strangled, and then dumped like trash on the side of a road. Worst of all? This took place not too far from where I live—a little over an hour. While that may seem far to some, I’m someone who’s historically found an hour-long  drive to be nothing. I digress though, let us dive into this sordid tale and see who this young lady was, and who may have taken her life.

Mystery: The Old Tape

Howdy, dear reader. Tell me: do you listen to the radio? Of course you don’t, we only listen to our own playlists because streaming killed the radiostar. Lucky for us, some people inexplicably still listen to the radio instead of blasting the same song on loop for 3 hours during their daily commute; stuck in traffic again, wagie? Don’t worry, Spotify Premium only costs you half of what gasoline will when you’re home by 6:30 in the evening.

Well, that’s not on topic, now is it? I dare say it is, bros. You see, today, we’re headed to my home state: New York—also known as the Big Apple and the Empire State. When I think New York, I think of using up gas because of traffic. Funny joke, but let’s talk about New York for a moment. It’s home to Wall Street, Manhattan, and the most Presidents in United States history as of the time of this writing (Martin van Buren, Millard Fillmore, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the current President: Donald J. Trump). Really interesting when you think about it; also, be sure to vote come November if you’re an American citizen so you can pretend that your vote matters if you don’t live in a swing state.

Ah, but where was I? Oh right, New York. This state is a cesspool, but that’s besides the point. When it comes to mysteries however, it’s got some interesting stuff under its belt. The 3X Killer, the 2008 Time Square Bombing, and the cost of living being feasible to anyone without the surname of Rockefeller are but three of the dozens of stories I could tell from the Corona Capital of the Planet (or CCP as I call it). We aren’t going to be covering any of those stories—though the bombing is one my immediate to-do list. Nay, we’re here to talk, well, radio! I said that two paragraphs ago, no?

Radio, although it may seem archaic to anyone who isn’t at least 20, was the way I listened to music before I had those new fangled smartphones. It was also how some folks would screw around; calling into radio stations to say stupid things before hanging up and leaving the host wondering why they didn’t take up a job on CNN. Today’s story is sort of like that, except it takes place in relationship to a college—or those places that leave you in debt until you’re letting your parents down one last time since you didn’t get a six-figure job.

Let’s finally get this introduction on track though. My insane, giddy rambling aside, today’s story brings us to New York; a radio station named WKCR. Those familiar with what I would call “creepy media” will likely recognize that name. It’s a station licensed by Columbia University. Back in 1995, a weird interruption took place. Nowadays, it’s known as the Old Tape or the WKCR Radio Interruption. I’ve been meaning to cover it for a few months now, but have had quite a bit of trouble making the story work. Though today, I will make it work.

With that said: I would just like to note that if this tape is old, then I’m very scared because I wonder how soon I’ll be thrown into the old folks home; also, someone please call the Military, I think my parents are zombies and World War Z is about to become a documentary.

Ah, this is going to be an energetic write-up. How I’ve missed this type of happiness in my life!

Mystery: Nyagwaiheogwa

A picture of a bear from Wikipedia.

Due to that lovely thing called real life problems, I’ve been seriously forced to forego the plans for the end of the month stories. However, I’m too stubborn to give up now. So stories like Runescape.nyc (which I promised when I wrote about Meat Stations) won’t be covered. However, I still have some fun, peculiar little tales to share with you all. However, they’re likely to be extremely short. I digress though; today’s story is the Nyagwaiheogwa.

Decemystery (2019) 24: Gary Sudbrink's Phone Calls

I can't find a photo of Gary Sudbrink. So here's a Man in Black.

Information on this case is as scarce as can be. Despite it being something that one would think UFO researchers would latch onto like there’s no tomorrow, there aren’t many videos available on YouTube related to this story. As such, most of what I’ve grabbed is from a few Reddit posts. So without further ado: this is the story of Gary Sudbrink’s Phone Calls.

Decemystery (2019) 14: The Montauk Monster

One of the only known photographs of the monster.

After the morbid, bleak story from yesterday, I think it’s time we cover something much more fun in nature. As such, today’s story is one that I recall having made the local news when it was first reported on. The Montauk Monster is a creature that’s less a mystery nowadays and more of a phenomenon that was a brief  flash in the dark. Nonetheless, there are still some aspects to it that are quite vague in nature. So without ado: let’s dig in.

Decemystery (2019) 3: Ulster County John Doe (1988)

The man in question.

This story is one that I only recently discovered. On the surface, there’s nothing too special about it. After all, there are thousands of John and Jane Doe’s waiting to be identified. What makes this story special—in my eyes at least—is the photo that was found in this particular individuals possession. A seemingly happy man holding a young child. Ever since I saw the photo, I’ve been wondering to myself: who is the Ulster County John Doe?

Mystery: The 3X Killer

When I began planning A World of Terror, I knew I wanted a roughly 25-75 split of unsolved and known serial killers respectively. This split was so I had a larger focus on the minds of those we know—whether they be those the public knows or a more obscure name—and a smaller focus on the names that chill the everyman, torment detectives, and captivate the amateur sleuths of the world. With this mindset, I got to work finding names that truly defined those three categories.

Two that instantly sprang to my mind were the Zodiac and the Monster of Florence. The former is known around the world as one of the most infamous unsolved crimes—and mysteries as a whole—in history, rivaling the likes of Jack the Ripper in popularity. The latter meanwhile is the European counterpart to the Zodiac, but a significantly more sexually motivated killer. He's also believed by some to also be the Zodiac; the idea being that he fled the United States and went to Italy to continue his rampage.

As I went through numerous stories, lists, and files on unidentified serial killers, I realized something. Many of these individuals echoed any other madman with a gun or knife. There was little to separate them from the sea of other unidentified person who terrorized a neighborhood or city. This forced me to make a decision: either I changed my 25-75 split or I had to dig deeper into the pool of serial killers I'd amassed for stranger stories that I'd otherwise save for a lazy, rainy day to write about.

I contemplated this a bit before deciding that the idea of reducing the split would hinder my ultimate point, which is that while law enforcement can end the terrible reigns of truly evil people, not all will be caught. There are instances in which local police are ill equipped to handle a situation like a serial killer, the killer themselves is one step ahead (the Zodiac falls into this category as an example), or the killer may in fact have law enforcement training and knows how to leave behind little to no evidence.

With that in mind, I got to work digging through what I call my bag of strange. The mysteries and crimes that are more enigmatic than they are chilling or creepy. Stories like the Prophecy of the Popes fall into this category. Their nature is something that I try my best to save for once in a blue moon as they I believe minimize the subjects that I wish to present when discussing a mystery.

Today's mystery is one that fell into that category, but has slowly moved out of it. Known as the 3X Killer (known from here on out as 3X), this mystery is one that I've very rarely seen talked about. The YouTube channel Criminally Listed has covered it, which pleased me and there is a Reddit post on these murders. On the flip side, this story lacks a Wikipedia page. This actually led Tyler—this blogs coauthor—to outright ask me if this mystery was even real, though the details to the mystery itself didn't help matters. It wasn't until he found a New York Times article from back in the 1930s that he realized I wasn't joking about any of this and everything regarding 3X wasn't a joke or exaggeration.

I don't blame him for that skepticism either. Most serial killers are people who murder for the thrill—be that sexual or not—they get from taking another person's life or for extreme hatred towards another gender or race. In the case of 3x, neither of those are applicable. His actions and motivations are much closer to those of a hitman that was hired by an organized crime syndicate.

This isn't terribly uncommon given the time period. The 3X murders happened back in 1930 and as we'll learn, America back then, especially in New York City, had a very real and serious problem with the Mafia. Someone like 3X wasn't necessarily abnormal to everyday life. What him stand out however was how he treated what he did. You see, most hitmen do their job and collect their pay. Should a cop or federal agent have come their way, they'd what they could to make sure they looked the other way. The Shotgun Man is someone who fit this description should you believe the stories of him. Hush money was powerful back then and as we've seen in cases like Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein, it's still powerful.

No, what made 3X stand out was his vocal nature. He sent many letters to the press explaining what he did, why he did it, and what could be done to end his reign of terror before he claimed more lives. This action is something I've rarely, if ever, seen done. 3X seemed to hold the entirety of New York City for ransom and his demands were centered on one man and one many only. This paints a very peculiar picture for the psyche and profile of the man, which we'll discuss after we've covered the story itself. All I'll say for now is that I don't believe that 3X was a man who didn't know what he was doing.

All of this and more is why for this Halloween, we'll take a look at what I consider to be one of the most bizarre serial killers in the world; a crime spree that reads more like a hybrid of a Mission: Impossible film and David Fincher's Zodiac. The final thing I'll note is that, as stated at the very beginning this story will be expanded upon when I get to the World of Terror entry for 3X. That entry will expand upon the journalistic, psychological, and other criminological elements of the case—to the best of my amateurish ability anyways. For the time being, let's go over the case.