Author: Kaylee Fowler

I'm a gothic horror author, vampire enthusiast, true crime aficionado, and a general fan of classic horror movies.
Doll - Horror
Paranormal, Experts, Kaylee Fowler

Mexico’s Island Of The Dolls

Isla de las Muñecas holds the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of haunted dolls. But who was the eccentric owner of the island, and why did he collect so many?

Technically, Isla de las Muñecas is not an island at all. It’s a chinampa, or a small rectangle of fertile arable land built up on wetlands for agricultural purposes. Thie particular chinampa is located in the ancient Aztec canals of Xochimilco in Mexico City, Mexico. Don Julian Santana Barrera was the owner of the island until his death in 2001. The island was used as the location of the film María Candelaria, the first Mexican film to be screened at the Cannes International Film Festival. Barrera moved to the island in the early 1950s, and from there, things took a strange turn.

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Horror - Serial Killer
Experts, Kaylee Fowler, Serial Killers & Murders

Because You Were Home”: The True Story Behind “The Strangers

Welcome back to Reel Horror! Today, we’re looking at the case that inspired “The Strangers”: Charles Manson and the Tate-LaBianca Murders.

Charles Manson was born on November 12th, 1934, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Ada Kathleen Maddox, an unmarried 16-year-old. She later married William Eugene Manson, though the couple divorced in 1939. His early life was unstable: his mother was frequently absent or incarcerated, and Charles was shuffled between relatives and reform schools for much of his childhood. He spent the better part of his teens and twenties cycling in and out of prison. After the divorce, he took his stepfather’s surname due to Maddox’s neglect.

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Asylum - Horror
Experts, Halloween, Kaylee Fowler, Phobias, Psychology

McKamey Manor: America’s Most Controversial Horror Attraction

A bag of dog food to enter. A waiting list of 27,000 people. A $20k cash prize. But what is McKamey Manor, really? And how did it become the source for a 32-page lawsuit?

McKamey Manor is a notoriously intense survival horror-themed haunted house attraction located in Summertown, Tennessee. The founder, Russ McKamey, has been known to be an avid horror fan since childhood, and in 1989 he decided to build his very own haunt in San Diego, California. He attempted to move to Illinois and Arizona in 2014, but the backlash to his presence was so strong that he abandoned the attempt. The San Diego house closed in 2015, but two years later, McKamey moved to Summertown and reopened for business: passionate about humane animal treatment, he only asked for a 50-pound bag of dog food or a donation to animal welfare as admission.

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Horror - Nightmare
Experts, Kaylee Fowler, Medicality, Serial Killers & Murders

The Girl Who Wasn’t a Child: The Barbora Škrlová Case and the Horror It Inspired

Welcome back to Reel Horror! Today, we’ll be discussing the Barbora Škrlová case, the basis of the 2009 movie Orphan, as well as the film’s tragic repercussions in the years that followed.

DISCLAIMER: I am neither a medical nor a mental health professional. Additionally, several details of the Škrlová case are related through hearsay and internet rumor. This article is for educational and entertainment purposes only. I have done my best to report the facts as they are and note a few places where urban legend has taken root.

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The Exorcist - 1973
Experts, Kaylee Fowler, Psychology

The Real Story Behind The Exorcist, The Exorcism Of Roland Doe

Hello, and welcome back to Reel Horror, where we discuss the real-world inspirations behind horror films. Today, we’ll be looking at the Roland Doe case, which inspired William Peter Blatty’s 1971 novel and subsequent film The Exorcist.

The Roland Doe case is one of the most-documented possession cases in American history. It entered the mind of the public in 1949, when several newspapers printed anonymous articles describing the possession and exorcism of a 14-year-old boy in Missouri, pseudonymously referred to as Roland Doe or Robbie Mannheim. It is widely believed that these articles were written by Luther Miles Schulze, the former pastor of Doe’s family. The case itself was documented in a diary by Raymond J. Bishop, a priest who was present at the exorcism. Much of the information now known comes from a book by Thomas B. Allen.

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Horror - Knife
Experts, Kaylee Fowler, Serial Killers & Murders

Reel Horror – The True Story Behind Ghostface

Hello and welcome to Reel Horror, where we discuss the real-world inspirations behind horror films. From true crime to paranormal happenings to mysterious, unexplained, or just plain strange phenomena, horror often finds its roots in its surroundings, and this new series is devoted to exploring where some of the most iconic films and villains find their origins.

Today, we’ll be looking at the inspiration behind Ghostface and the Scream franchise: Danny Rolling, also known as the Gainesville Ripper. Rolling was an American serial killer from Shreveport, Louisiana, who killed 5 college students in Gainesville, FL over four days in 1990.

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