The story of Cropsey, a murderous madman with a hook for a hand, was whispered in the dark by kids at summer camp, and was even told to misbehaving children to scare them into shape. It was said he camped out in the woods of the Green Belt in Staten Island, a particularly green borough of New York City. His lair was said to be in the abandoned Willowbrook State School, a all-too-long-lived institution for children with intellectual disabilities, where horrible abuse was directed at the poor residents for decades before being shut down. Was Cropsey a previous patient who escaped and set out to enact the same tortute he received on other children? Or perhaps he was one of the workers who delighted in abusing the helpless kids? Where'd his hand go???
In this episode, our first ever in spooky season, Frank relays the urban legend before diving into the historicity of the story. Unfortunately, this tale doesn't stay a legend. While the story of Cropsey was traumatizing kids in the 70's and 80's... actual children were going missing in Staten Island.
