Unspeakable Times

Many look back on their high school years fondly, remembering them as the best time of their life. For others, the thought of&nbsp;high school brings back <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/elementary-school-teachers-discuss-gross-students/alexfurlin" target="_blank">painful memories</a>&nbsp;of being bullied. No matter what type of school someone attended, they likely know all about bullies - whether through personal experience or stories.Some students <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/kids-standing-up-to-bullying/anabel-conner" target="_blank">stand up to bullies</a> and put a stop to the mistreatment. Others, meanwhile,&nbsp;suffer from the life-long effects of being beaten up, called names, or having their school days made a living hell. For&nbsp;those who dealt with bullying in high school, however, sharing stories of their harassment on Reddit&nbsp;can prove cathartic.

People Share Their Stories Of Sadistic High School Bullying

General

Real People Share Their Heartbreaking High School Bully Stories

Jessika M. Thomas 

Strange True Stories

Most people would agree that the Internet has improved daily life. But the web has a dark side, too - the rise of social media has led&nbsp;to a rise in creepy online stalkers. These real-life creepy stalker stories are absolutely chilling, and it’s telling that so many of them begin with a seemingly innocent online meeting.If you’re looking for an excuse to limit your Internet time, these Reddit stalking tales&nbsp;will give you plenty of reasons to log off. They contain some of the most skin-crawling&nbsp;descriptions of stalking that you'll ever read.&nbsp;From ex boyfriends who just can't take a hint to strangers who lovingly pen poems to the objects of their obsessions, this list has them all.

14 People Describe Their Terrifying Encounters With Creepy Stalkers

14 People Describe Their Scary Stories About Creepy Stalkers

Jacob Shelton

Organized Crime

Whether you love&nbsp;Mob Wives&nbsp;or&nbsp;The Godfather (and you no doubt enjoy at least one), the organization holds an allure for many on the outside. <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/mafia-nicknames/amylindorff" target="_blank">Mafia lore</a> and <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/how-lemons-led-to-criminal-organizations/beth-elias" target="_blank">mob history</a>&nbsp;have long inspired everything from entertainment to the creation of unions to legal policy framework.&nbsp;Though Rudy Giuliani allegedly took out the American mafia, the Five Families, and the Commission in the 1980s, many say <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/things-the-mafia-controls/philgibbons" target="_blank">the mob is still active</a> throughout the world. Certainly, different countries possess their own iterations of the mob, but even in the US the institution still holds power.&nbsp;These Redditors claim to have encountered it&nbsp;-&nbsp;and lived to tell their tales on the internet.&nbsp;

Disturbing Stories From People Who Have Actually Encountered The Mafia

13 Normal People Share Their True Stories About Mafia Encounters

Beth Elias

A look at the happenings and goings-on in and around America's wang.

Meanwhile, in Florida...

True Crime

Though Florida may seem warm and sunny, there&#39;s a dark side to the Sunshine State. The crimes on this list are sinister and mysterious, and they all have one thing in common - they remain unsolved. There are no easy answers when it comes to these unsolved murders, disappearances, and unidentified victims discovered in the state of Florida.

Creepy Unsolved Crimes And Mysteries From Florida

Creepy Florida Unsolved Mysteries

Jodi Smith

Lists about what's going on on Capitol Hill and in your own backyard.

US Government & Politics

Trending on Ranker

Laws named after victims remain a source of debate. While plenty of <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/crimes-by-rich-white-women/elle-tharp" target="_blank">brutal crimes</a> occur within any given year, only a very small percentage&nbsp;lead to changes to our legal system. When it comes to US laws created because of crimes, public outrage is key. Particularly <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/crimes-by-rich-white-women/elle-tharp" target="_blank">horrifying kidnappings</a>, murders, and suicides receive&nbsp;an unusual amount of press coverage, often resulting in&nbsp;the widespread backlash needed to pressure politicians into reforming the legal system.&nbsp;The crimes that resulted in new laws&nbsp;were already illegal when they were committed. The resulting legislation is usually seen&nbsp;as closing a loophole or addressing a unique aspect of the crime. However, there is much public debate on whether such laws are ethical or effective. People who have laws named after them are honored and memorialized, on the one hand, but critics argue such laws are often too reactionary to be truly effective.&nbsp;If you're unsure where you stand on the issue, browse this list. It will help you develop a more detailed understanding of how and why some crimes lead to new laws.&nbsp;

Every US Law Named After A Victim And What It Does

Lists about punishments, penalties, systemic harm, and execution methods used then, now, here, and all around the world.

Crime & Punishment

Torture

Capital punishment: the age-old way for humans to&nbsp;dispose of one another for crimes perceived to be the most egregious in a particular moment and place. As an ancient practice carried out countless times <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/state-sanctioned-execution-methods/shonna-wright" target="_blank">throughout history</a>,&nbsp;there have predictably been some horrifically failed&nbsp;attempts. These failed executions have resulted in sheer agony for the condemned, adding insult, injury, and intense suffering to their final moments.

This list serves as a lowlight reel for history&#39;s most brutally botched executions - some from as recent as 2015. What follows goes to show that the process of capital punishment still seems to be working out a few bugs, even after hundreds of years of testing. In fact, some of <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/horrible-executions-still-used/harrison-tenpas" target="_blank">these methods are still used</a>&nbsp;around the world.

Botched Execution Attempts That Went Horribly Wrong

Harrison Tenpas

Mysteries

Arizona is beautiful, with its picturesque mountains, desert landscape, and welcoming residents. However, beneath this tourist-friendly facade is&nbsp;a dark underbelly of&nbsp;depravity and murder. These true crimes from Arizona might make you think twice before heading on a family road trip to the desert. You may have heard of Arizona's most notorious killers, which include Jodi Arias&nbsp;and&nbsp;Pamela Phillips.But did you know about Cynthia Lynn Coffman and James Marlow, serial killers who targeted women? How about&nbsp;Winnie Ruth Judd, a married woman who killed her two best friends because they had slept with her boyfriend, then stuffed their bodies in trunks bound for Los Angeles, CA?&nbsp;There is much more than meets the eye in Arizona, and these shocking stories will show what terrifying things can happen&nbsp;after dark.&nbsp;

Heinous Crimes And Unsolved Mysteries From Arizona

Most Chilling Unsolved Crimes From Arizona

Stefanie Hammond

Lists of unsettling and grisly details about what happened to kidnapping victims who were held against their will. 

While They Were Held Hostage

On November 4, 1970, Los Angeles child services discovered an unprecedented case of child neglect. At 13, Susan Wiley had the demeanor and appearance of a 6 or 7-year-old girl. When the authorities began investigating parents Irene and Clark Wiley, they found that two of the four Wiley children passed within months of their births. A third child lived with Clark&rsquo;s mother until her unexpected passing, and the fourth was Susan, also known as &ldquo;Genie.&rdquo; Genie, despite her age, was unable to speak, feed herself, or use the toilet. At less than 60 pounds, the girl walked with an unusual gait, the result of years of confinement.&nbsp;

After child services rescued Genie, child psychologists devoted themselves to the girl&rsquo;s recovery. Known as a &ldquo;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/famous-feral-children/justin-andress" target="_blank">feral child</a>,&rdquo; Genie&rsquo;s isolation from society in her formative years caused her to have stunted cognitive and behavioral abilities. She never developed the ability to communicate with language, although her behavioral and social skills improved with years of positive reinforcement and therapy. Since Genie, other cases of feral children have come to light, such as <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/dani-girl-in-the-window-florida-feral-child/nathan-gibson" target="_blank">Danielle Crockett</a>, known as &ldquo;The Girl in the Window,&rdquo; and Ukraine&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/oxana-malaya-feral-child-facts/erin-wisti" target="_blank">Oxana Malaya</a>.

The courts arrested Genie&rsquo;s parents, but Clark took his own life&nbsp;before the trial. The judge subsequently dismissed the charges against Irene. In 1994, Nova - a PBS series - released an Emmy-winning documentary about Genie called Secret of the Wild Child. As of 2016, Genie lives in a Los Angeles facility as a permanent ward of the state.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

A Little Girl Was Locked In A Basement By Her Own Parents For More Than A Decade

Laura Allan

Brittanee Drexel told her parents she was staying with a friend for spring break before she went <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/lost-children-who-were-found/anabel-conner" target="_blank">missing</a> in 2009. Leading up to her disappearance, the 17-year-old high school senior from Rochester, NY,&nbsp;was under an immense amount of stress from&nbsp;her parents&#39; separation. While her vanishing&nbsp;may at first sound like the case of a runaway teen, Brittanee Drexel&#39;s disappearance quickly turned ominous.

The Brittanee Drexel case has remained unsolved since she was last seen on April 25, 2009, though the investigation fluctuated between hot and cold throughout the 2010s. While murder and human trafficking are the two leading theories in Brittanee&#39;s disappearance, the events of April 25&nbsp;remain just as perplexing now as they were in 2009.

Here are the facts of the case and a general timeline of events. We&#39;ll also explore plausible theories and suspects in Brittanee Drexel&#39;s confounding disappearance.

Brittanee Drexel Was On Spring Break When She Vanished In 2009, And Her Case Is Still Unsolved

Patrick Thornton

Weird

While it&#39;s now considered history to younger students, the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, are moments permanently etched in Americans&#39; minds. Most everyone can tell you exactly what they were doing when they heard about the events, and many&nbsp;who lost loved ones can recall the day in excruciating detail. 2,753 people lost their lives at the World Trade Center alone, and tens of thousands&nbsp;of survivors still live with physical and psychological health problems. The idea that someone would pretend to be involved in such a horrifying event is both shocking and distasteful - but one woman did exactly that.

Alicia Esteve Head - known primarily by her alias, Tania Head - was a graduate student in Barcelona during the events of 9/11. Despite not even being in New York City at the time, she joined the World Trade Center Survivors&#39; Network and told a dramatic story of being severely injured and losing her fianc&eacute;. Although this tale won her sympathy and friendship, those close to her - and reporters - started to sense something wasn&#39;t right. Her narrative wasn&#39;t always consistent, and after&nbsp;The New York Times&nbsp;opened up an investigation, people learned Tania Head&#39;s story was completely fabricated.

Her ruse was conveyed&nbsp;in the&nbsp;documentary&nbsp;<a href="http://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?TSID=5036&amp;GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FWoman-Who-Wasnt-There%2Fdp%2FB00AHGXIE2%2F&amp;amazon-ids-by-cc=US%3Drankercom2758741-20" target="_blank">The Woman Who Wasn&#39;t There</a>. Head&#39;s then-friend Angelo J. Guglielmo&nbsp;Jr.&nbsp;directed and produced the movie, and he originally intended to showcase the lives of survivors. He had to change tactics when Head&#39;s true story came out.

Like the documentary&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/worst-moments-from-mommy-dead-and-dearest-documentary/stefanie-hammond" target="_blank">Mommy Dead And Dearest</a>,&nbsp;the movie delves into a web of intricate lies and speculates about the motivation behind such harmful deceit. Trauma - especially collective grief - can make people act out in a strange manner, and Tania Head appears to be no exception.

'The Woman Who Wasn't There' Tells The Shocking Story Of A 9/11 Survivor Who Wasn't All She Seemed

The True Story Behind 'The Woman Who Wasn't There'

Anna Lindwasser

Lists about people who were tried, convicted, and even executed for crimes they didn't commit.

Wrongful Convictions

In 1991, a tragic fire burned down a house in&nbsp;Corsicana, Texas, and killed three children. Cameron Todd Willingham, the father of the kids, was quickly found guilty in the aftermath&nbsp;and was&nbsp;executed for the crime in 2004. His death was one of the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/controversial-us-death-penalty-executions-093015/mike-rothschild" target="_blank">most controversial US death penalty cases</a> in history.&nbsp;In the years leading up to his execution, and even after,&nbsp;evidence has been mounting that addresses a pressing question:&nbsp;was Cameron Todd Willingham&nbsp;really guilty?&nbsp;

There is plenty of evidence that points toward&nbsp;Willingham&nbsp;being innocent. From weird witness testimonies&nbsp;to a jailhouse snitch who got a secret deal, there are many factors that make Willingham&#39;s&nbsp;guilt questionable. In the minds of many, all of the unearthed&nbsp;evidence over the years&nbsp;shows&nbsp;that Texas killed an innocent man for what may very well have been an accident. Even Cameron Todd Willingham&#39;s last words proclaimed his innocence, and he&#39;s certainly not the first person to be potentially&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/california-innocence-project/jodi-smith" target="_blank">falsely accused</a>. Read on below to discover the disturbing&nbsp;facts that make&nbsp;Willingham&#39;s&nbsp;guilt questionable.&nbsp;

The Disturbing Capital Punishment Case Of Cameron Todd Willingham

Disturbing Evidence That Texas Executed An Innocent Man, Cameron Todd Willingham

Hugh Landman

Abracadabra

Magic

Many of the world&#39;s most famous magicians have made a name for themselves by perfecting the illusion of danger onstage. Before modern sensations&nbsp;like Criss Angel and David Blaine, illusionists such as&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/badass-harry-houdini-stories/jacob-shelton" target="_blank">Houdini</a> were performing stunts that shocked and mesmerized the public.&nbsp;But sometimes,&nbsp;these performances are not&nbsp;illusions at all - and some of these magic tricks have even proven&nbsp;to be deadly. These magicians - dating back to the 1800s&nbsp;- were often trying to <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/secret-rules-that-govern-the-magic-castle/jacob-shelton" target="_blank">outdo their predecessors</a> or defy the laws of nature when their stunts took a turn for the worse. Their dedication to the craft may have been overzealous, and <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/magicians-who-died-during-tricks/lily-rose" target="_blank">they met their demise</a>&nbsp;- and sometimes took others down with them - thanks to magic tricks gone awry.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

These Doomed Magic Acts That Ended In Tragedy

Person

These Doomed Magic Acts Ended In Accidental Manslaughter And Suicide

Elle Tharp

Prison

When a criminal is deemed to be the &quot;worst of the worst,&quot;&nbsp;they&#39;re sent to the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility in Florence, Colorado, otherwise known as ADX. This high-security prison in the middle of nowhere is meant to keep hardened offenders&nbsp;as far away from the general population&nbsp;as possible. It&#39;s unlikely anyone could escape, and for many of its residents, ADX will be the last place they ever see.&nbsp;

ADX has been operating since 1994 and it&#39;s the only prison in America that offers no real means of rehabilitation. Most of the people who end up there have either committed enough terrible acts that the system doesn&#39;t know what to do with them, or they&#39;ve committed crimes against&nbsp;the American Government.&nbsp;

The institution has come under fire for its lack of medical facilities and treatment of its patients, and in the mid-2010s, after a significant amount of legal pressure, ADX reevaluated its practices. Still, the day-to-day life for an inmate at&nbsp;ADX isn&rsquo;t a cakewalk, and most of them spend their time in solitary confinement.

Realities Of Daily Life In Florence ADX Supermax Prison

What Is Life In Florence ADX Supermax Prison Like?

In 1994, <a href="https://medium.com/@brenmar71/justice-for-nicholas-barclay-19ea332bd309" target="_blank">Nicholas Barclay</a> vanished from his neighborhood in&nbsp;San Antonio. Three years later, he was found in Spain, having allegedly escaped from a military child sex ring. When he returned home to Texas, he appeared physically different and spoke with a French accent. The family excused all of this and accepted him into their family.&nbsp;But of course, this very different person&nbsp;wasn&#39;t Nicholas Barclay at all.&nbsp;After several months of passing himself off as Nicholas,&nbsp;29-year-old French con artist Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Bourdin&nbsp;admitted he had stolen&nbsp;the identity of Nicholas, the family&#39;s long-lost son. But how could the family be so blind?

Bart Layton&#39;s unnerving <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1966604/?ref_=nm_knf_i2" target="_blank">documentary</a>&nbsp;explores the motives of a family who kept up the charade of knowing someone whom they really didn&#39;t. This is a strange and bizarre true story&nbsp;about the disappearance of Nicholas Barclay and the expos&eacute;&nbsp;of French&nbsp;con man Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Bourdin, AKA &quot;The Chameleon.&quot;

While many tragic&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/true-crime-documentaries/lisa-waugh" target="_blank">true crime stories</a>&nbsp;exist about <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/people-who-disappeared-mysteriously/alby-thompson" target="_blank">people who vanish mysteriously</a>, the intrigue of Nicholas Barclay&#39;s story is enhanced&nbsp;by the inclusion&nbsp;of a&nbsp;famed con artist&nbsp;and the Barclay family&#39;s acceptance of him.

The Strange Case Of French Con Man Frédéric Bourdin And Nicholas Barclay

The Bizarre Story of Con Man Nicholas Barclay

Matthew Lavelle

Lists about the many cruel and sadistic ways people have inflicted pain on other human beings around the world and throughout history.

Pure Torture

Immurement, or the complete enclosure of a human being into a small space with no escape, was historically a common form of punishment across cultures throughout history. Indeed, history is full of terrifying tales of people who were bricked up or buried alive. Enclosing a person into a tiny box&nbsp;was considered one of the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/slowest-methods-of-torture-in-history/machk" target="_blank">slowest forms of torture</a>.&nbsp;However, some immurements were a deliberate personal choice, particularly among the devout of several religions, such as priests, monks, and nuns.

Trapping someone in a tight space&nbsp;was also one of the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/torture-used-on-women-in-history/katia-kleyman" target="_blank">forms of&nbsp;torture&nbsp;used on women</a>&nbsp;in particular. These immurements might last weeks, months, years, or until death.&nbsp;Some among the immured&nbsp;were sacrificial; some were unwitting victims. Certainly, in horrific stories of historical immurement,&nbsp;anyone even slightly claustrophobic would have struggled immensely and, as time passed&nbsp;and food and energy diminished, immurement must have seemed like a particularly harsh hell. If you want to know what it was like to suffocate&nbsp;slowly in an enclosed space, read on to get a taste of what it was like to be immured&nbsp;and left for dead.&nbsp;

Historical Immurement: People Who Were Bricked Up Or Buried Alive

Cheryl Adams Richkoff

In 2019,&nbsp;podcaster Chris Lambert created an eight-part series entitled&nbsp;<a href="https://www.yourownbackyardpodcast.com" target="_blank">Your Own Backyard</a>&nbsp;to investigate the 1996 disappearance of college student Kristin Smart.&nbsp;The&nbsp;case had fascinated him&nbsp;since he was a boy, as he had passed a billboard about Smart&#39;s disappearance almost daily for 20 years.&nbsp;

He&#39;s not the only one intrigued by the story - the Kristin Smart case has captured the attention of countless people across the US, and over two decades later, investigators may have finally found a lead:&nbsp;On April 13, 2021, Paul Flores and his father, Ruben, were arrested in connection with Smart&#39;s disappearance.

After 20-Plus Years, We May Finally Get Some Answers In Kristin Smart’s Mysterious Disappearance

Here's What We Know About Kristin Smart's Mysterious Disappearance

Michelle Nati

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