Channel 63

I was still in my tween years in mid-1981. My parents handed me their old television to make way for their new RCA.

One midnight, I happened to wake up. It was 1:18, and my parents were already asleep. So I turned on the television, and all there was on were color bars. Well, for most channels. Others were uninteresting local programming. I eventually started surfing through the channels, until I saw something on the screen when I reached 63. I scrolled backwards until I got it right on the channel.

There wasn't a real given title to the channel except for a simple "Channel 63." What was on the screen was a simple schedule for the time of the day. Since I couldn't go back to bed, I kept watching.

The scheduled show of that time was "Earth and Its Glories." The specific episode was a recording of Charlotte, North Carolina at 7am. From what I remember, there was a top-floor view of the city streets, a drive around the town, before the show ends when the guy recording arrives at the airport. It wasn't abrupt like you may think, it did have end credits, though most of the people said "Zackery Tannahill" as if he made the show himself.

The next one was "Outtakes" which was meant to parody scenes of films in process. I did get a good laugh out of it, but then I started to feel tired, so I turned off the TV and went back to bed.

I was glad to find another channel, while the others were either off-air or displaying boring commercials for the rest of the night.

That morning I woke up, I had sausage and eggs for breakfast with a cup of orange juice. My dad even made me an extra waffle. And of course, I was off from school, since it was summertime. Later that day I watched The Price is Right on CBS, and played on the Simon electronic game I got for Christmas 1978. As my parents went out grocery shopping, I tuned into Channel 63 again.

A show named "Weathered" was displayed. It was like a normal sitcom, yadda yadda yadda. The specific episode has a guy, named David, work at a restaurant. Unfortunately, it seems that he couldn't make certain dishes, and ends up setting some items, like the oven mitt, on fire. He ended up letting a live crab free. When the customers tried to eat it in disgust, I couldn't stop laughing.

When I heard my parents open the front door, I quickly switched it to CBS and left it there, shutting the TV off. They made me a small pizza for lunch. Afterwards, I laid on my bed watching TV (not Channel 63) for a while.

The next night was rainy. I woke to a thunder sound with the time saying 2:29 AM. I figured I would watch the channel again for a while, a special film came on named "Wild Life in The Wildlife." As you may have guessed, it was a film about nature. There wasn't a narrator, just a camera view of the forest. I started getting bored so I went back to bed.

Nights pass as I entertain myself with Channel 63. One night, my parents went on a plane to Seattle for the night, so I went ahead and turned on the TV. Turned it to 63. Yadda yadda.

As I tuned in, yellow text saying "CHANNEL 63 PRESENTATION" appeared. I thought it would be interesting. A family has moldy cheese for dinner. One compliments that it looked different and disgusting, and the mom replied saying it was good. As they ate, they surprisingly thought it was tasty. It cuts to them laying in the same bed, all ill with green-tinted faces. The next day, their bodies lay on the grass. They died.

A screen coming after with the Channel 63 logo and their phone number came on-screen. I had to call them to get an explanation, even though I knew my parents would be angry at me if I did.

I just stopped watching the channel. Turns out, I'm one of the only 2 to experience the horrifying images. I wrote the number on a piece of paper, and called them the day later on the house phone, no matter if mom and dad would be angry. I got an automated phone message, saying "This number isn't available for now." I just hung up.

The local newspaper came out, and it mentioned Channel 63 and their disturbing presentation, reported by the other person who had experienced it. The paper said their name was unknown, but are certain this happened. I, too, saw it, but didn't want to say anything about it. The next day I tried to ride a bicycle outside of my house, in depression, until I was knocked out.

I woke up in a police office. They asked me about Channel 63, implying they knew that I was a victim. I told about the shows I've seen on the channel, and asked them why the execs did such a thing. They refused to answer and just let me go. My parents were standing outside, and were told about the channel. They figured I was depressed and got me an ice cream cone, even though they may have been disappointed in me.

I didn't get an answer until 5 months later.

Channel 63 was run by a group of 17 people, their president being Goran Westheimer. Goran was 43 when Channel 63 was put on air. He was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder since his mother ate a moldy hamburger and went severely ill. Goran rushed her to the hospital but it was no use, she was dead.

Goran didn't make the channel for shock, but he wanted to make entertainment. Unfortunately, his horrific memories of his family eating rancid food got the better of him, that he ended up making the gross-out special.

When I tuned back into Channel 63, it was a repeated 1 minute clip of a guy crying, possibly implying the channel shut down.

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