When Brian moved into his grandparent's old house, he was doing a routine check through the house to see if any repairs had to be made. It had been a few years since he'd last visited, and after they died, they'd left him the house to take care of. When he reached the attic, he'd anticipated lots of clutter, but what he wasn't prepared for was the shocking discovery he made...
A Secret Door
Brian wasn't sure how he'd never noticed this small strange door on the third floor of his grandparents' house, but now that he was here again, his curiosity was piqued. The door was in the back corner of the attic, so it was easy to miss if you weren't looking for it. He decided now was as good a time as any to see what was behind it...
A Small Hidden Room
The door led to a tight crawl space, not nearly tall enough for Brian to climb inside and stand up in. He pulled the door open and looked around. What he saw seemed pretty typical for a crawl space in an old house: discarded carpeting and random boxes that probably hadn't been used in years filled the room, but there was also something else...
A Second Door
What Brian hadn't expected to find was another door inside the space. Why was it there? Where did it lead? He was sure he'd never heard his family mention it while he was growing up, but he decided to explore further. He pushed himself inside on his hands and knees to get a closer look...
Of Course It Was Locked
Brian figured that whatever was behind this door must be important if whoever had done this had taken the time to put a heavy lock on it. His grandparents hadn't been secretive people, and any valuables they'd had were all noted in their will. Surely this wasn't something illegal or dangerous...
The Mystery Goes Deeper
When Brian returned with some wire cutters to break through the lock, the black door revealed a small safe. The room he'd entered was even smaller than the crawlspace, and he was beginning to feel claustrophobic. He wondered if his grandparents had anything to do with this, or if the myterious safe belonged to previous owners...
What Could Possibly Be Inside
Brian racked his brain for any memory of his grandparents talking about this strange room, or a secret safe. He wondered if his parents even knew this room existed. For a minute he wondered if he should even open it at all. The entire scene looked suspicious. But he'd already broken inside, and the house technically was his now, so the decision was ultimately up to him...
The Room Must Have Served a Strange Purpose
Upon further inspection, Brian noticed that the room was laid out almost like a small bedroom. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all covered in a soundproofing tarp. There were four outlets spread out along the walls, and there was enough space in the center of the room for a bed. He wondered if someone had been secretly staying in here...
An Unsettling Discovery
Brian also noticed a strange, weathered briefcase in the corner. The briefcase didn't appear to have a lock on it, so of course, he decided to open it. He determined someone definitely must have been staying in the room...
Decades-Old Relics
Brian wasn't sure what he was looking at when he opened the briefcase. Inside, he found an old wooden box, a jewelry box, dated envelopes with money from different years and countries, and four one-ounce ingots. He wasn't sure what all this meant, or where it came from...
He'd Never Seen These Items Before
The jewelry box held dated items like antique watches and rings. However, he was certain these items hadn't belonged to his grandparents. And even if they had, they wouldn't have had any reason to keep them locked up so securely. But of course, things got even weirder from there...
Ignoring the Warning
Inside the safe, Brian saw a collection of VHS tapes. Like in nearly every horror movie, they were dated with years, and a warning that said: "Do Not Watch." Of course, he wasn't going to pay attention to that. He kept digging through the tapes to see if he could uncover any titles...
Get Out While You Can
The most disturbing thing Brian found was a tape with worn writing on it that said "NO NO NO NO" over and over. That clearly meant don't watch this, but he was intensely curious and very freaked out at the same time. This was either an elaborate prank, or something really was seriously wrong...
Time To Watch
Brian decided to take all the tapes out of the attic and play them in an old VCR he found in the basement. It was the only way to get to the bottom of what this was, though he knew he didn't want to be alone for the viewing. He had decided to call his brother when he found something else...
A Final Warning
Inside one of the VHS tapes was a note, and when Brian unfolded it, it read "Save Yourself" in smeared ink. If this was a joke, it wasn't funny anymore. Now Brian really didn't want to watch those tapes. His brother, Jack, said he would be over later that night to figure out the mystery...
A Strange Past
When Brian and Jack finally played the tapes, they couldn't believe what they were seeing. They hadn't belonged to their grandparents, but to the home's previous owners. Brian had been right about that. He didn't recognize the family, but he couldn't look away from the events unfolding onscreen...
A Slain Family
Brian and Jack were frozen in fear as they watched what appeared to be a murder take place before them. Whoever had committed the crime filmed it and kept it locked in the home's attic for years. Brian was trying to remember if he'd ever heard about this happening, but he was at a loss. As one tape ended, he slowly put in another, afraid of what might come next...
It Only Got Worse
Brian wasn't playing the tapes in order, so he was flashing between holidays and birthdays and the murderer's crimes. He didn't know what to do with this information. Should he take it to the police? Was it worth it? The tapes were dated to nearly two decades ago. Whoever had done this might not even be alive...
No Killer Clues
Brian watched intently for some sign of the killer's identity, but he was coming up short. Even though he was sure he was safe from harm, considering nobody had even found these tapes for years, he still felt uneasy watching. But he knew he had to get to the bottom of this and try to figure out the killer's identity...
A Chilling Discovery
In one of the tapes, the person behind the camera accidentally panned over to who must have been their accomplice. Brian couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was his grandmother. That meant the person filming must have been his grandfather. He and Jack exchanged a horrified look...
Could It Be True?
Jack and Brian tried to recall their childhood visits with their grandparents. Everything always seemed relatively normal. They were always kind to the boys, and their home was always so warm and welcoming. There was no way this could be true...could it? Brian didn't know what to do next...
His Grandparents' Past
Jim and Nancy had met in the early 1950s, while they were in college. They used to tell their story as one of "love at first sight." Nobody had any reason not to believe them. They married when they were 23. Jim worked at a bank, and Nancy was a teacher. They seemed happy to outsiders...
No One Really Knew The Truth
Despite their happy appearance on the outside, nobody knew that Jim struggled with hallucinations and PTSD. He had a hard time dealing with his thoughts, and Nancy didn't know how to help him. He'd had a traumatic childhood, and the only person he'd ever confided his struggles in was his wife...
A Growing Family
Eventually, Jim and Nancy started to have kids. Jim was relatively distant during their childhood, though. He still was having trouble dealing with his PTSD, and strange things would trigger random outbursts. The children were often afraid to make him angry, and Nancy would write it off to them as "he felt unwell." If only she knew what the future had in store...
Jim's First Victims
Nancy didn't know it at the time, but during one of Jim's fits, he left the house for a whole night and didn't return until the next morning. He was covered in blood and his clothes were a wreck. He didn't explain to Nancy what he'd been doing, but she could have guessed. The next day, there was a news headline about two missing girls, and Nancy didn't need to look any further. She knew it was Jim...
A Recurring Pattern
Nancy continued to keep quiet, but she knew Jim was behind several missing person cases across town. Whenever he was set off, he would inexplicably prey on the innocent and the next morning, Nancy would see the headlines in the newspapers, afraid for her life. Nancy never asked what he did with the bodies, but none of them were ever found...
Another Killer On Trial
Jim had gotten away with it because another notorious killer, Ted Bundy, was on trial for similar crimes, so nobody suspected Jim at all. Bundy claimed he was being framed, though historians now know all of his murders were his own doing. However, Jim felt unable to stop, and he continued committing these horrible crimes without his family's knowledge...
A New Twist
Jim had taken to filming some of his later crimes, and he stored the VHS tapes in the crawlspace of his home. He knew Nancy and the children wouldn't think to check there, and he was smart about hiding the bodies of his victims. He'd managed to evade arrest for his entire life...
Forgotten Years
Brian's grandparents had passed away within the last six months, and his grandfather had suffered from a severe case of Alzheimer's disease. It was unlikely he'd even remembered what he'd done, but now the evidence was right in front of him. He had nobody to ask to confirm what he'd found, and it seemed unlikely that his parents would have any idea of what happened. His grandfather had unintentionally committed the perfect crime...
Unsure What To Do Next
Jack and Brian sat in silence for a moment after all the tapes ended. The evidence in front of them was pretty apparent. Their grandfather was a serial killer. They didn't know what to do or who to tell, but Jack thought the police should see the tapes...
Closing Cases
Brian took the tapes to the police in hopes that they could put to rest some of the missing person cases from decades before. He felt completely horrified with what he'd discovered but hoped some healing could come of him handing over the evidence. Needless to say, he quickly sold that house...