Saturday 24 January 2015

Top 10 Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction Stories

Okay, today we're going to cover something a little different. I thought I would share with you guys my top 10 favourite Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction stories. A lot of the stories they had on the show I really liked and it was harder than I imagined narrowing it down to just 10. Although, I'm happy with the ten I've selected to be in this list and hopefully you guys will enjoy them as well.

 
Before I start to talk about my top 10, let's first talk about the TV show itself as some of you may not be familiar with it.

Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction is an American sci-fi and paranormal TV show which ran from 1997 - 2002 and had in total four series. The first season (1997) was presented by James Brolin (I know him as being the husband of Barbra Streisand) and the remainder of the series (1998, 2000, and 2002) were presented by Jonathan Frakes (as seen in the image above) who is best known for being Commander William T. Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Every episode would feature five stories, and each one would somehow appear to defy logic. However, some of these stories would be 'true' and some would be fiction. It was up to the viewers to decide which of the stories was either fact or fiction. At the end of the show, the presenter would reveal if the stories were works of fiction or actually true. 

Most of the stories which turned out to be 'true' were based upon first hand research conducted by an author called Robert Tralins. Now, I'll be honest here, I have doubts about the credibility and legitimacy of their sources because some of them seem a little sketchy to me. And on the other hand, the majority of the stories which turned out to be fiction were usually just urban legends re-told in a modern setting. 

I have to say that I absolutely love this show! It's probably one of my favourite TV shows. I used to come home every day from school when I was 12 and watch this show on CBS Reality. Today, they don't show it anymore, but instead show endless repeats of Bait Car and Judge Judy. Most of the episodes you can find on YouTube or other websites however. 

Right, that's enough of an introduction. Let's start talking about my top 10. The majority of the stories I have selected for my list have horror elements to them, simply because I liked them the best. Some of you may disagree with my list, and that's fine, but this list is just my opinion.   

I should point out that each of these stories was designed for entertainment purposes. If any of these stories are said to be 'true', then the core of the story is true and not the exact story depicted in the video. 

Some of the video footage is not the best quality, so my apologies for that. 

My top 10 is as follows:

10. The Sleepwalker - True

A man has trouble sleepwalking and one day he hears that he is cursed and one day he will sleepwalk out of his house and will never return. He tells his daughter that he will remain with her forever. One night he vanishes without a trace, and the next morning the girl tells her mother that her dad is in the dollhouse and will be with her forever. Inside was a doll of him, with 100% accurate details of her father.

This story starts at 24:20.

(If you are watching on a mobile device, please click HERE)


9. Town of Remembrance - Fiction

A woman who is suffering with amnesia discovers on the way to a doctor’s appointment that the town she is stopped in seems very familiar. She discovers a name of a boy that died in a car accident years before and visits his grave only to discover another grave with a photo similar to herself.

This story starts at 24:12.

(If you are watching on a mobile device, please click HERE)


8. The Girl Next Door - Fiction

A man falls in love with a woman who lives 'just across the street'. She then explains that at one point in her life she was once cheated on, and is finding it hard to expect him as her boyfriend. He eventually persuades her by telling her he will never cheat on her. After over hearing a conversation he has over the phone with another woman, she flees the house. The next day, he sees her run into the churchyard across the street, only to find that she is buried there and he has been seeing her ghost.

This story starts at 13:27.

(If you are watching on a mobile device, please click HERE)


7. The Gravedigger's Nemesis - True

Two young boys get jobs as grave diggers and work for an evil grounds keeper. The two boys and grounds keepers hear and see an old woman. The old woman haunts the grounds keeper until he dies in the old woman's grave.

This story starts at 24:05.

(If you are watching on a mobile device, please click HERE)


6. The Wallet - True

A teenager comes across a wallet along his walk home from high school. He decides to return the wallet to its original owner as there is an address inside. On returning the wallet, he is asked a series of weird questions about himself and where he found the wallet. Deciding to leave, he turns around and discoverers a man in a picture that looks exactly like him. This man turns out to be his father and he will inherit his fortune.  

This story starts at 21:07.

(If you are watching on a mobile device, please click HERE


5. The Viewing - True

A boy who lives in a funeral home is alone one night as his parents are out. There is a knock at the door and it’s an old man who has some war medals who he wishes to be buried with the deceased. The boy lets him in to place the medals in the coffin. After a while, the man doesn't return, and on inspection, the old man at the door is the man in the casket.

This video is the entire story. 

(If you are watching on a mobile device, please click HERE


4. The Caller - Fiction

A radio host gets a series of bizarre phone calls from a listener. After a while, the listener reveals himself to be his dead son. No one else at the radio station can hear the caller, only the host himself. Whilst talking to his son he starts to hallucinate and become increasingly scared by the caller. 

This story starts at 30:33.

(If you are watching on a mobile device, please click HERE


3. The Hooded Chair - True

A wealthy man purchases a hooded chair which is said to have curse attached to it. He asks his assistant to track down its previous owners. One of the owners was Napoleon, who sat in the chair before the battle of Waterloo. The curse takes the lives of both his maid and best friend who had sat in the chair. After realising that the chair is cursed, he tries to destroy the chair with an axe, but dies of a heart attack before he strikes the chair. 

This story starts at 30:39.

(If you are watching on a mobile device, please click HERE)


2. Halloween - Fiction

A man by the name of Harold Ratcher hates Halloween. He especially hates the kids who come pestering him at his door, and each year scares them away. Then one knock at the door is the grim reaper and this literally scares him to death. 

This story starts at 7:37.

(If you are watching on a mobile device, please click HERE)


1. Blood Bank - True 

A nurse is in charge of treating a weird patient. One night she hears noises from his room during the early hours of the morning. When entering the room, she discovers an elderly couple, dressed in black who have come to see the patient. After a while, she sees the elderly couple dragging two large black bags into the elevator. She is informed by a fellow nurse that hundreds of blood bags have been stolen. After inspecting his bathroom, she discovers hundreds of empty blood bags and finds out that he is in fact a vampire. 

This story starts at 23:10.

(If you are watching on a mobile device, please click HERE)


This concludes my top 10 list. I hope you enjoyed this post, as I know it's a little different from what I usually write about, but I had a great time putting it together. I hope you were intrigued by the stories you saw and maybe you will look at some of the many other stories in the series.  

Catch you later,

Giordano 

32 comments:

  1. I love this show so much! Nice list.

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    1. Yeah, it was a great show. Thanks for the kind words!

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  2. I love it Your the shit

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  3. I'll always love this show! Great list, btw!

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  4. I really love this show. I haven't seen all of the episodes but I remember some of the stories you wrote about. I remember also boy who saw his twin brother's dead body and died because of heart attack(?) or the painter who painted people who wanted to die. Sorry for my bad English but I'm pretty sure you understand everything :D

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    1. I remember the painter one. That was was crazy. I love this series it is sad it ended, but they show reruns on the Chiller channel and Syfy on Comcast/xfinity and Direct TV.

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    2. That painter one had me spooked! I'm scuffled that was a true story. Or the one when the daughter and sick mother went to a hotel then the daughter leaves and comes back to no mother and the doctor and hotel clerk have no recollection of the daughter or mother at all. That was crazy

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    3. That story was a bit updated. But it was believed she had the "Plauge" (The sick mom) hence the secrecy. Infact, Alfred Hitchcocks "The Missing Woman" came out, do to this story

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  5. Loved this show, growing up!

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  6. It still comes on. It is on the Chiller station

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  7. Best show ever :D

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  8. I don't have a Top Ten but living four blocks west of where Graffiti took place, that's my number one of all I've seen. The show is now repeated on our Chiller Channel here in the States. I got the goose bump chills when I first watched it on the CC as I never caught it when the greatly strange program was aired on the Syfy Channel! CJ White Owensville, IN

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  9. I love this show and night visions. Things like this boggle my mind.

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  10. LOVE THIS SHOW! One of my favorites from the 90s and 00s. I gotta say though you missed a couple of really good ones, but I know everyone likes different ones. I loved the your #1, #10 #6 and #7. I would have put "The Mirror of Truth" in there and "Kid in the Closet". These two episodes creeped me out to no end when I was a kid, because they were both true. :o

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    1. I was thinking surely the kid in the closet would be there. I still am scared of the closet!!
      Is the Mirror of truth the one with the girl who ends up having like a rabid rabbit face? I won't even look at the screen the face is so scary in thar one!!

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  11. Kid in the closet was the one that creeped me out the most. I don't know how that was true tried forever as a kid when i first saw it to find out the true story but found nothing! Weird. Great list by the way, too many great ones i wouldn't be able to pick top 10.

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  12. I really enjoy watching beyond belief fact or fiction. I first watched it years ago but even now athough they are repeats, I still like them. I'm from the UK and the channel they're on is called 'CBS reality.
    Kel marsh.

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  13. I love this show and still watch it from time to time, I have all of them ripped on dvd and the original first season on official dvd with James Brolin. Some of my favorites are:

    1.the battered doll
    2. Second sight
    3. The monster in the closet
    4. The magic rose garden
    5. The dream house
    6. seven hours of bad luck
    7. The fine line
    8. Imaginary friend
    9. $1 dream car
    10.mighty man

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  14. I love this show and still watch it from time to time, I have all of them ripped on dvd and the original first season on official dvd with James Brolin. Some of my favorites are:

    1.the battered doll
    2. Second sight
    3. The monster in the closet
    4. The magic rose garden
    5. The dream house
    6. seven hours of bad luck
    7. The fine line
    8. Imaginary friend
    9. $1 dream car
    10.mighty man

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  15. WOW, so glad I'm not the only beyond belief fan. watch it all the time now its on CBS Reality. I was just thinking of the ghostly trucker episode today.

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  16. you can catch all the episodes of beyond belief on movies.123.ac and try to guess true or false - its truly an amazing show

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  17. What's the one with the teens who rent a vhs movie and it's them in a train wreck only to later find the tape has no tape on it

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  18. Thank you for posting. Always Loved it. Is there a Beyond Belief Book that contains all of the stories? I would love to read about the research for the "true" stories.

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  19. I love this show too. My top 10 is.

    1 Firestation 32
    2 Blind Man's Dog
    3 The Card Game
    4 The Wrestler
    5 The Warning
    6 Titan
    7 Red-Eyed Creature
    8 Secret of the Family Tomb
    9 Mystery Lock
    10 The Train

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  20. I also like the Black Friday where she looks into the tape and sees images of their death. She beg everyone to not go and her friend stayed but said she ruined her life but the next morning found out that her friend was right and actually saved her life.

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  21. Here is an old favorite of yours that became a true legend 3 blocks west of this PC. Best C.J. White
    http://giorcardo1394.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-mystery-of-remember-pearl-harbor.html

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