EPISODE · May 27, 2026 · 37 MIN
Boogeyman: The Hook-Handed Stranger
from Macabrium · host Pretty Wicked | Southern Gothic Media
What if the boogeyman you grew up hearing about wasn't just a story? On Staten Island, there was a figure parents whispered about to keep their kids close to home. Bedtime warnings, campfire dares, everyone thought it was just make-believe. But then children started to vanish. And suddenly, it wasn't just scary anymore. It was real. SHOW NOTES 🖤 FOLLOW PRETTY WICKED New episodes every Wednesday. Subscribe so you never miss one. Instagram: @prettywickedthepodcast If you loved this episode, leaving a review means the world and helps other listeners find the show. Pretty Wicked is hosted by Megan Alda. 🖤 SOURCES & FURTHER READING Here is everything used to research this episode. Quick corrections: Ethel Atwell disappeared October 1978, Rand legally changed his name in 1972, and Tiahease Jackson was sent to the supermarket by another motel resident while her mother was napping, not on an errand from home. Sources in the show notes 🔗 WEB SOURCES The Charley Project - Holly Ann Hughes The Charley Project - Alice Pereira The Doe Network - 136DFNY Holly Ann Hughes The Doe Network - 134DFNY Alice Pereira NCMEC - Have you seen this child? Alice Pereira UPI Archives - Jennifer mourned as loveable child who comforted all All That's Interesting - The Haunting Story of Andre Rand, the Real-Life Cropsey Killer Who Stalked Staten Island in the 1980s The Line-Up - Cropsey: The Terrifying Urban Legend Brought to Life Historic Mysteries - Cropsey: New York's Terrifying Urban Legend Disability Justice - The Closing of Willowbrook NYU Undercover Reporting - Willowbrook: The Last Disgrace - Geraldo Rivera, WABC-TV The New York Review of Books - The Horrors of Hepatitis Research Our Black Girls - Tiahease Jackson, 11: May Have Fallen Victim to Serial Killer in 1983 Whereabouts Still Unknown - Ethel Atwell Find a Grave - Holly Ann Hughes Memorial 🎬 DOCUMENTARY & FURTHER LISTENING Cropsey (2009), directed by Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio Willowbrook: The Last Great Disgrace (1972), Geraldo Rivera for WABC-TV Killer Psyche Daily episode on Staten Island's "Cropsey" Killer Production notes: Specific quotes from Andre Rand have been attributed broadly to prison staff and fellow inmates rather than named individuals where the named source could not be independently verified. Some details about the missing victims, particularly the adult cases, are circumstantial and Rand was never charged in connection with them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What this episode covers
What if the boogeyman you grew up hearing about wasn't just a story? On Staten Island, there was a figure parents whispered about to keep their kids close to home. Bedtime warnings, campfire dares, everyone thought it was just make-believe. But then children started to vanish. And suddenly, it wasn't just scary anymore. It was real. SHOW NOTES 🖤 FOLLOW PRETTY WICKED New episodes every Wednesday. Subscribe so you never miss one. Instagram: @prettywickedthepodcast If you loved this episode, leaving a review means the world and helps other listeners find the show. Pretty Wicked is hosted by Megan Alda. 🖤 SOURCES & FURTHER READING Here is everything used to research this episode. Quick corrections: Ethel Atwell disappeared October 1978, Rand legally changed his name in 1972, and Tiahease Jackson was sent to the supermarket by another motel resident while her mother was napping, not on an errand from home. Sources in the show notes 🔗 WEB SOURCES The Charley Project - Holly Ann Hughes The Charley Project - Alice Pereira The Doe Network - 136DFNY Holly Ann Hughes The Doe Network - 134DFNY Alice Pereira NCMEC - Have you seen this child? Alice Pereira UPI Archives - Jennifer mourned as loveable child who comforted all All That's Interesting - The Haunting Story of Andre Rand, the Real-Life Cropsey Killer Who Stalked Staten Island in the 1980s The Line-Up - Cropsey: The Terrifying Urban Legend Brought to Life Historic Mysteries - Cropsey: New York's Terrifying Urban Legend Disability Justice - The Closing of Willowbrook NYU Undercover Reporting - Willowbrook: The Last Disgrace - Geraldo Rivera, WABC-TV The New York Review of Books - The Horrors of Hepatitis Research Our Black Girls - Tiahease Jackson, 11: May Have Fallen Victim to Serial Killer in 1983 Whereabouts Still Unknown - Ethel Atwell Find a Grave - Holly Ann Hughes Memorial 🎬 DOCUMENTARY & FURTHER LISTENING Cropsey (2009), directed by Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio Willowbrook: The Last Great Disgrace (1972), Geraldo Rivera for WABC-TV Killer Psyche Daily episode on Staten Island's "Cropsey" Killer Production notes: Specific quotes from Andre Rand have been attributed broadly to prison staff and fellow inmates rather than named individuals where the named source could not be independently verified. Some details about the missing victims, particularly the adult cases, are circumstantial and Rand was never charged in connection with them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Boogeyman: The Hook-Handed Stranger
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