Introduction

The world is a dangerous place. Everyone knows that.
Even the most familiar corners of the Earth, as safe as they seem, have hidden dangers. Lurking in dark rooms, hiding in enshrouded tombs, even prancing out in the open; hidden under a disguise is death.
This danger comes in many forms. In the cruel laws of nature. At the hands of primordial forces beyond our control. And even, sometimes, in humans. And sometimes, this danger pounces on the unsuspecting.

The Incident at Dyatlov Pass – Rukshara Shruti Mandava

In February of 1959, 11 hikers explored the northern areas of Sverdlovsk Oblast, located in the Soviet Union. The eleven hikers arrived by train at a town near the mountain. They began their expedition on January 27th. However, one member of their team backed out at the last second due to knee and joint pain, only later to realize how lucky he was.
Now, ten hikers left behind journals and cameras so that if anything happened to them, local police would be able to see their traces to pinpoint their location. They then planned to get over the pass and make it to camp on the other side. However, because of harsh weather conditions, the group diverted east. They made camp and decided to stay there until the weather cleared.

Igor Dyatlov, a 23-year-old student, led the expedition. Dyatlov had told Yudin (the injured hiker) that Yudin would receive a telegram back on February 12th to indicate their safety. When February 12th had come, however, there was no telegram. No one was worried as expeditions occasionally took 2-5 more days than expected. However, eight days after the expected arrival of the telegram, the receivers knew something was up.

The hikers’ relatives demanded a rescue team. On the 26th of February, the rescue team found an abandoned and severely damaged tent blanketed with snow. The group’s belongings and shoes were in the tent, which meant only one thing: the group was left barefoot in the cold.

Two of the Hikers were found with barely any clothing on them and recalled that they were trying to go back to camp. The two hikers tried to find their friends; after two months, they were found on May 4th buried under four meters of Snow. What most surprised the crew was the injuries that three of the crew members had. Two of the hikers experienced internal bleeding from severe chest trauma, meaning that the hikers must’ve collided with something else at high speed to the point that the inside of the hiker’s body tore apart. The other hiker died from a fatal head injury where a line had formed against his skull. The rest of the corpses had missing tongues, harmful radiation exposure, and blood spilling everywhere.

No one knows what exactly happened to all of these hikers. Theories arose with one stating that the hikers were trying to run away or escape. Some say it was an avalanche. Others say that a monster lurks in the mountains, waiting and watching for hikers so it strikes at night.

The Cecil Hotel – Aairah Shaikh

If you explore this hotel elevator, you’ll enter another dimension. You’ll break away from reality if you don’t survive.

The Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles has been around since 1927. It’s been the home of mysteries and unexpected suicides. Serial killers checked in and out of crime’s haven – and so did the spirits. 

One day in 2013, Elisa Lam, a 21-year-old Canadian student, checked into the Cecil Hotel. While in her room, her shared roommate filed a complaint against Lam’s eccentric behavior. The hotel then requested Lam to book another room, free of charge. Her leaving that room was the last time anyone saw her.

Lam was expected to leave for Santa Cruz on January 31st, but her family, which she kept in touch with during her vacation, suspected her disappearance. She did not check out on January 31st. Instead, she made her way to the hotel’s elevator, which camera feed was the only footage of the scene. The footage is grainy, but Lam is noticed to be pressing multiple elevator buttons, entering and exiting the elevator, and obscuring herself from the front door by lurking in the elevator corners. After 2 ½ minutes in the elevator, she lets go of the wall and strolls through one of the floors. 

Nineteen days later, her family called the Los Angeles Police Department to investigate the Cecil Hotel. Around the same time, almost all the customers complained to the front desk about how decontaminated the water is to the point of it being black. A staff member checked the water tanks and peeked through the open water tank. Elisa Lam drowned herself in that tank. 

Nobody knows why Elisa Lam entered the tank. There was no sign of force or even anyone who entered the room. Some say that Lam’s bipolar disorder and depression caused her to act deranged and drown herself. Others suspect that the elevator game’s to blame. When you enter the Cecil Hotel’s elevator, you have to enter the elevator buttons in a specific order. After entering the fifth floor, you’ll start to feel strange and dizzy. You’ll sense a freezing chill in your spine and chatter with your teeth. This is because you’re not in the real world. You’re in another dimension. Elisa Lam possibly did not survive the dimension she entered – the floor she left the elevator on – and unconsciously drowned in the water. 

The Cecil Hotel then changed its name, ultimately washing away its reputation. But it can never hide what happened within its walls

The Sasebo Slashing – Sahasra Yerravally

Our world is developing and thriving with new technological advancements. And so are the minds of people — especially young children. Children are learning, and indulging in every piece of information they receive or find. Their brains are filled with many things that cause them to act and react in different ways. But in most situations, kids would make rushed decisions emotionally rather than logically. And through these senseless thoughts, trust plays a crucial role. This is an incident that [unfortunately] happened a couple of years ago, which will make you think twice next time about your choices and the people around you.

On June 1st, 2004 in Sasebo, Nagaski in Japan, 11-year-old Nevada-Tan, murdered her classmate and ex-best friend, Satomi Mitarai. Nevada-Tan, is the name given to the undecennial Japanese schoolgirl and the name she will be referred to in this article (her real name is disclosed but several sources reveal it is “Natsumi Tsuji”). This name came to be by the internet memes of her because it was known that she was wearing a pullover sweatshirt with the word “NEVADA ” printed on it during the time of the murder. And the “-tan” part is a variation of the suffix “-chan” — an honorific for children specified in Japan. Although in Japan’s legal procedures and documentations, she was officially referred to as “Girl A” since she was a minor. 

The Zodiac Killer – Zainab Naseer

Everyone has heard stories about serial killers, whether these killers killed many people or not everyone knows that they exist. There are very well-known serial killers like Ted Bundy and Jeffory Dhamr. However, the most mysterious, well-known, and unsolved case of murder is the Zodiac Killer. A name you have probably heard before even if you do not know much about this killer. If you have at least heard about him you should be able to understand how crazy this case truly is.

 The Zodiac Killer is an unidentified serial killer who has 7 confirmed kills in total. However, he himself claims to have around 37 murders in letters that he sends to the police and newspaper. What is so shocking about all of this is that even though he wrote letters every so often his real identity has never been found even until today. Giving letters like this to the police is basically taunting them and he started writing letters after his first kill. These letters contained multiple coded messages that could reveal important information. The name Zodiac Killer comes from these letters since he would sign this name at the bottom of his letters. Not only this but after killing people he would sometimes call the police and tell them where to find the bodies to taunt them even more.