I have never been the kind of person who enjoys being spooked or scared. I never watched scary movies as a kid, I never read a single Goosebumps book, and I definitely avoided all situations in which I’d be scared on purpose. That was until I got into true crime podcasts a couple of years ago. I was working early mornings putting away shipments at my retail job and music got boring very quickly, so eventually I stumbled across this podcast called Morbid. I listened to it daily for about a year and a half straight, and while I managed to get spooked plenty of times, the stories were also fairly entertaining and interesting. I compiled a list of some of the scariest true crime stories I heard, and I wanted to share them this week.

Coming in at number three is what people have dubbed “The Lululemon Murder.” The Washington Post reported on this one 12 years ago, and to make a very long story short, a woman named Brittany Norwood brutally murdered her coworker, Jayna Murray, at the Lululemon store that they worked at, shortly after it closed one night. This one spooked me the most, mainly because at the time I listened to it, I was working alone in the store with just one other person. Being the naturally anxious person that I am, I immediately started spiraling, worrying that the end of my life would take place in the men’s department of an Old Navy. It definitely was not my brightest choice to choose that episode to listen to, but it remains in my top three and I think about it way too often.

Coming in at number two is not a murder case, but a missing person case about a man named Bryce Laspisa. This one interested me so much that I’ve watched many videos and listened to a ton of podcasts about it and there is still sadly no trace of him. He showed signs of substance abuse and suicidal tendencies, but when his car was found wrecked in California, there was no trace of him left behind. Detectives have been searching for just over a decade, but there are no signs that he was anywhere near his car wreck. This one spooks me because it makes no sense to me how they have no evidence of him whatsoever. It is one of those cases where we may never find out what happened.

My number one true crime story  – the one that spooks me the most – is the murder of Joel and Lisa Guy, which happened in 2016. Their adult son had become so disgruntled by the fact that he was going to need to support himself that he planned to brutally murder them over Thanksgiving weekend. He assumed he would be collecting their $500,000 life insurance policy – but luckily he was caught and sentenced to life in prison. This one spooks me the most because the details of the murder are extremely disturbing and frightening images.

True crime is a very interesting topic to get into, and a lot of creators tell stories in a way that makes it entertaining and palatable for all audiences. I think about it a lot more often around Halloween and I’m glad I am able to share what scares me with all of you.