This entry may be a bit controversial since it’s a documentary, but since it deals with urban legends and the boogeyman, I thought I’d include it. Plus, for a documentary, it’s utterly terrifying — I mean, what if an urban legends were real?

The filmmakers start out by detailing a myth of their youth: “Cropsey”, a boogeyman type who hunted and killed the children of Staten Island. This eventually turns into the filmmakers exploring several missing children cases from their neighborhood when they were younger. What they discover is that the urban legends of Cropsey turn out to be completely true.

I forget how I stumbled across this, but it came out in 2009 and I watched it just last year. Bottom line is it’s incredible, I’m so glad I watched it. I love documentaries and true crime as it is, but it plays to my horror fanatic side as well. In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen a documentary like this: it plays out just like a horror movie. Like a real life Candyman.

After you watch a scary film, when the lights come up and the credits start to roll, you can take a breath and say it was just a movie. But if you want to watch something that you cannot dispute and won’t be able to shake, watch Cropsey.