A summer scare rooted in urban legend and real-life horror. From the hook-handed tale that haunted teenage lovers, to the Texarkana Moonlight Murders, to the film I Know What You Did Last Summer—and the chilling true story of author Lois Duncan’s murdered daughter. What begins as a cautionary campfire story spirals into a web of true crime, pop culture, and devastating personal loss. The truth behind the fiction is darker than you think.

Episode Sources:

“The Texarkana Moonlight Murders” by Micheal Whelan, September 30, 2018, Unresolved Podcast

“Legend of The Hookman” by Delphini Riddle, June 14, 2020, The Business Standard

“Hook Man Legend” last edited on July 14, 2014, Supernatural Wiki

“Urban Legend Fact or Fiction: The Hook Hand Killer” by Amy Davis, May 30, 2023, NerdBot

“Texas Cold Case: Texarkana Moonlight Murders” by Dusty Ellis, October 5, 2022, Concho Valley

“Texarkana Moonlight Murders” by Nancy Hendricks, Arkansas State University, June 16, 2023, Encyclopedia of Arkansas

“Texarkana Murder Mystery” by Prudence Mackintosh, December 2014, TexasMonthly

 “The Hook” retold by S.E. Schlosser, excerpted from “Spooky Campfire Tales” by S.E. Schlosser

“Spooky Campfire Tales” by S.E. Schlosser

“Creepy Backstories and Versions of the Hook Man Legend” by Katherine Ripley, September 23, 2021, Ranker

“I Know What You Did Last Summer” on IMDb

“Kaitlyn Arquette” from Unsolved Mysteries

“‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ Author Was ‘Horrified’ by the Movie’s ‘Sensationalized Violence’ After Her Teenage Daughter’s Murder” by William Earl, July 16, 2025, Variety

“APD Releases Details of 3rd Cold Case Murder Tied to Same Suspect” from the City of Albuquerque, October 15, 2021

“Chief Medina reacts to 45-year sentence of serial killer in three cold case homicides” from the City of Albuquerque, January 26, 2024

“The Texarkana Moonlight Murders: The Unsolved Case of the 1946 Phantom Killer” by Michael Newton, Published by McFarland Incorporated Publishers, May 21, 2013. Google Books.

Join our Patreon!

https://www.patreon.com/horrorwoodpodcast

Follow us!

IG, FB, FB Group, Twitter, TikTok

Send us an email:

[email protected]

Creeptastic theme music by:

Nicholas Davio - nicholasdavio.com, @mr.nick.davio, @huron_coast

Privacy Policy