UPCOMING EPISODES

The cult classic feeds off the Haitian belief in zombies could be based on the (admittedly rare) cases where a person was poisoned by tetrodotoxin and later revived inside the coffin and taken from the grave. Furthermore, he added, there was much more to the zombie phenomenon than simply the powder; it was only one part of a deep-rooted sociocultural belief in the power of witchcraft. In Haitian culture, voodoo priests do much more than create zombies; they are said to bring both blessings and curses through magic.

Before there was a Freddy Krueger, there was the night terror. The horror icon wasn’t born in a boiler room, but he did originate in troubling dreams. A string of real-world deaths inspired the A “Nightmare on Elm Street” films. Witnesses and survivors didn’t report a burn-scarred face or a striped sweater. Death came without warning or explanation, while its victims slept. In the late 1970s to the mid 80s, more than 110 men died in their sleep. Until their quiet final moments, they were young and healthy. Their families were stunned. Investigators were bewildered. With the victims all being Asian, medical authorities named the sleep scourge “Asian Death Syndrome.” Witnesses and families called it the night terror. The first case was reported in California’s Orange County in 1977. By the summer of 1981, 20 people had fallen victim to the night terror. Authorities and medical responders were powerless as men across the country went to sleep and never woke up.

“Apocalypse Now” is regarding as one of the best movies about the Vietnam War. In the film, Army Special Forces Colonel Walter E. Kurtz has gone insane and now commands his own local troops inside neutral Cambodia. Army Captain Benjamin L. Willard is assigned to terminate Kurtz with extreme prejudice. Francis Ford Coppola’s movie was inspired by Joseph Conrad’s book, “Heart of Darkness”, about the disintegration into madness of a man who goes into the jungle. But the Shocking Truth is that the story is also based on a real army colonel who went rogue in the jungle. Robert Rheault, and five of his men were accused of murder and conspiracy in the death of a suspected South Vietnamese double agent. Colonel Rheault along with several of his Special Forces officers were arrested by the U.S. Military and threatened with court-martial charges of conspiracy to commit murder. The investigation and court-martial, held by the U.S. Army in Vietnam, rapidly became engulfed in a firestorm of media publicity. Most of the American public, and the Special Forces, believed that Colonel Rheault and all involved had been made scapegoats for a matter that reflected poorly upon the Army.

The movie “Casino” was directed by Martin Scorsese and stars Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Sharon Stone. It tells the true story of Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal and Anthony “The Ant” Spilotro and how the Chicago Outfit dominated gambling in Las Vegas. It is based on the book “Casino: Love and Honor” in Las Vegas by “Goodfellas” writer Nicholas Pileggi. The main character, Sam "Ace" Rothstein, is based on Rosenthal, who was retired and living in Florida when writer Nicholas Pileggi came around wanting to write a book about his career.