Keeping aside romantic, action, comedy, drama, or any other genre, horror films have always been popular in chilling the spine of audiences with the gruesome portrayals of murder and other spine-chilling scenes. There is a huge list of horror films to name in this category. Some of the popular ones include The Conjuring, The Evil Dead, Tokyo Gore Police, Cannibal Holocaust, Antichrist, Chopping Mall, Hostel, Asylum Blackout, Wrong Turn series, IT, Seed of Chucky, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and so on.
Hookman: A spooky name of death
Well, today we are going to let you know more about the sinister hook man today in this article. The story starts when a couple of their young man goes for a romantic drive, with their radio turned on. While listening to the radio, they come to know about a runaway hook man. When the couple returns to their respective house, they discover a hook hanging on the back of their vehicle.
The story of hook man is a popular urban tale that cannot be unheard of. It unfolds the eerie story of a lunatic man carrying a hook in his hand. He is known to have run away from an American local institution in Pennsylvania and become the main gruesome villain – The Hook Man. The eerie tale of Hookman takes place during the 1950s era. Well, there have been different versions of this gothic tale, but the original sticks to the same.
Unfolding the story of Hookman
The spooky story of a Hookman is a legend. It unfolds the story of a lunatic man who murders innocent people in a gruesome manner. He used to target mostly the young couple who roams around at night to spend their leisure time. But little did they imagine that their moments of joy are short-lived because sooner they would get murdered by Hookman.
If we go by the theory of historians, then they have to dig out the truth about the origin tale of Hookman. As mentioned above, the story has been famous in America since 1959. You will hardly find any teenager in America, who is not aware of Hookman killings. The gruesome tale continued to its popularity in the 1960s era also.
According to some writers and investigative journalists, unlike any other shard-edged weapon like a knife, the killer used a hook in committing murders of the innocent couple. One big example is Texarkana Moonlight Murders in 1946. Going by folklore, the story of Hookman has been presented in many different ways. In the 1960s, came an American advice column, ‘Dear Abby’ which was printed again, and was even referred to in several horror-genre films.
There is a very famous line from Dear Abby that reads ‘A fellow and his date pulled into their favorite ‘lovers’ lane, to listen to the radio and do a little necking.’ An announcer causes an interruption in the music, informing about the runaway convict from the nearby institution. He had served his term for the murders he had committed. While giving the description about the convict, the announcement tells that he is acquainted with a hook in place of a right hand.
Mere listening to this, it chilled down the spine of a couple who were enjoying their romantic moments, and much for the sake of their life, they drove off with speed in a state of fear, as mentioned by Dear Abby.
What do other versions of Hookman say?
Going by alternate tales about Hookman, they have a different version to present. According to them, the couple taking a drive to a place that appears stranger to them. In the middle of the night around night, the man comes out to relieve himself. And then there causes breakage in the car, and so the husband or boyfriend runs for help. The female partner, be it wife or girlfriend, are waiting for their male partners to come back and come to know about the Hookman on the radio.
When their hubbies do not return
What creates fear is when the ladies waiting for their male partners do not return. Meanwhile, they expect to wait for more, they hear a loud thumping voice on their car rooftop. When comes out from the car to find out, she witnesses a scary lunatic figure holding the chopped head of their dear partners with which he hits on the rooftop.
Thinking it to be an imagination, when it is not
Another version has a different description to it. Here the female spouse or lover watches the decapitated torso of her husband or boyfriend hanging from a tree. She sees the body down from the tree, and there are fingers crawling above the rooftop. The most usual version comes up with a happy ending. This story shows the couple speeding up the car after it seems like the Hookman is following them. Later they realize that it was nothing more than a fantasy, and come out of the car. But there they see a Hook stuck to the door.
The portrayal of Hookman in movies and television series
There have been different adaptations of Hookman in not only horror movies but also in TV series. Referring to a big example here is the well-known 1997 horror film ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’. If you have watched this movie, then you must be knowing that it tells about a lunatic man who with his hook creates fear in the life of teenagers. The leading characters assemble around a campfire and narrate the eerie legend of the Hookman.
In 1999, there was a movie called Lovers Lane, in which a sinister takes away the lives of young people using a hook at a lovers lane. In 1981, there was a collection of short spooky stories for children by Alvin Schwartz, the author. It had references to Hookman via story version that read ‘Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Supernatural has been a famous television show, where Hookman was portrayed as the main gory villain in its first season, the seventh episode.