15 Horror Movies That Inspired Real-Life Crimes
9. Friday The 13th
He’s been axed in the head, melted by toxic waste, incinerated in
Earth’s atmosphere and hacked to death by Corey Feldman but Jason Voorhees is
the horror villain that just won’t die. Immortality wasn’t the case for
19-year-old Mark Branch who stabbed 18-year-old psychology student Sharon
Gregory to death in their hometown of Greenfield, Massachusetts before taking
his own life in 1988.
After Gregory’s body was discovered and police identified Branch as a potential suspect it came to light that he was a diehard Friday the 13th fan and possessed several Jason Voorhees related items including a number of the villain’s infamous hockey masks.
Taking place in the lead up to Halloween, the town of Greenfield went into panic and cancelled all festivities in fear of another murder as police searched for their missing suspect. The panic ended about a month later when Branch’s body was discovered in nearby woodland by a hunter after the teen had committed suicide.