WCPT
WCPT, the television station. The most cursed one. Don't ever watch it, unless you want a good scare.
Chapter 1: WCPT's Early Days
So, I was born after this happened, so all the events in this chapter are from a dusty diary I bought from Knoxville, Tennessee.
It was 1949 as a technician stared blankly at some old analog transmitters mounted on top of a huge rusty machine. His hand was on a FA-260 lever. An old man wearing swimming goggles - he was a very talented swimmer - and a suit too big for his size told him: "Pull the lever.". And he did.
A loud mechanical whir was heard across the room as lights gradually turned on. A static television now said "Welcome to WCPT.". The technician put a filmstrip in one of the slots and left.
They sat in a bench, confident that WCPT had really launched. Yep, that's all I got. The next chapter will be my experience and fully detailed.
Chapter 2: When I Came Across WCPT
It was 1985. I was about 5. So this is what I remember.
I messed around with the analog TV until I found this channel playing "Breezin'" by George Benson and I only know that because I Shazamed the VHS tape. (That was not WCPT.) Yes, I accidentally recorded it. There would be no way that a 5 year old would record it unless his parents had left it still recording watching a New York crime drama with San Bruno real estate commercials inserted.
Turning the dials back and forth, I found a show for kindergarteners. As a kid in its target audience, I remembering thinking they captured my thoughts and so I was appealed to it. And it was broadcast on WCPT from 1:00 pm to 1:30 pm. So my parents let me watch it every single day until I was left alone watching the show. After 1:30 pm, I was alert looking if they would aire another episode of that show.
But no. It was just some boring WCPT ident. As you expect, I am now going into the creepy stuff, so beware. This is the good stuff.
After the ident ended, the intro started, but at the end there was blood all over the letters and it showed gory pictures like a severed head staring into your eyes. I watched as it switched to some man looking at a house across the road. The man whistled the intro to the show while juggling knives. (Seriously, don't juggle knives.) He left the screen as it cut to a gory version of the intro. All those characters had bloodshot eyes leaking blood from them.
After that gory version ended, it switched to the cameraman following the man. He pushed the doorbell, and at the same time, I heard the doorbell. I opened the door, and I found the man on the television! I screamed in terror. I ran to the couch and found my behind being shown. Luckily, I had my pocket phone and I pressed "HOME". 45 minutes later, my parents came back and they were shocked as the TV was shouting "I WILL KILL YOU, YOU WILL DIE!" as it showed gory pictures of blood leaking from a severed arm. The cameraman and man left quickly in a rush as the program reported "technical difficulties".
I didn't know it at the time, but I had experienced an episode of the lost television series "Gory Killings" rated 18+.
Chapter 3: The Investigation Starts
I was scarred until I was 18. It was 1998, where everybody was staring at the loading screen of their Windows '98 computer. Well, except me. I had an iMac and I browsed the web in my house. I was single but happy. But some questions still lingered - "What was that gory show I watched? And why was it after a child-friendly show?". I searched up "WCPT" but nothing came except for a few radio stations across the USA. That didn't help. The Internet was little.
I searched again in 2000. And one result captured my attention. It was titled "WCPT TV - As a child I saw videos of unknown black figures eating blood and severed body parts." I clicked it and it showed a digital video. I downloaded it and watched it.
I felt nostalgia the intro to the series started. "All the friends we love, we treat them like how you want to be treated!", I sang as the intro stopped. Then I heard the sound of an "eeeeeeeeeeeeeghhhhhh" and the text "GORY KILLINGS" was engraved on a severed human chest. It faded into a bunch of gory pictures and then I saw black figures devouring a human. In the top-left was the rating: 18+. I was 20, so I was safe.
That was a 3-minute clip. That took forever to download. Once I saw all of the clip, I scrolled down. No comments. In 2005 I registered for a YouTube account and searched for videos. No videos. So I uploaded my video. By 2006 it had 15K views and the comments said mostly "what the heck is this?". But one person remembered seeing this as a 7 year old. To be fair, I knew that the "Gory Killings" series had at least 2 episodes, since this was episode 2 (it was in the title card). So I assumed that I was in, and watched episode 1, which aired in 1985. But there was one problem: the guy said he saw it about the time of Typhoon Lee - December 25, 1981, guessing by the Christmas cameo. That meant episode 2 was 12/25/1981 and episode 1 was possibly 12/18/1981. From that, I can say that I watched it on a Friday, so I concluded there was more than 2 episodes.
I researched further and discovered that it was responsible for many murders. I found more videotapes on the Internet, and listed them:
- EP. 1 - Found, aired 12/18/1981
- EP. 2 - Found, aired 12/25/1981
- EP. 3 - Found, aired 01/01/1982
- EP. 5 - Found, aired 01/15/1982
- EP. 6 - Found, aired 01/22/1982
The show was hosted by Gregory Brinkman, a serial killer who died by gas chamber in 2004.
Chapter 4: Lost Gory Killings Episodes and Merchandise
From the information we gathered, the show ran from 1981 to at least 1985. In late 2007, someone contacted me with a place to meet. I drove to San Fransisco Bridge on January 15, 2008 with my jacket and we met. He gave me an NES and a game. I drove away.
I already had an NES with Super Mario Bros., so first I tested it on my old NES. It didn't work, probably becuase it was too dusty, so I used the other one and it worked. The game was called "Gory Killings: Killing Spree".
The game is where you kill everybody. At the end, a phone number appeared: "555-0196". I dialed it and was astonished to find it still working. The intro was played, then I heard "W-C-P-T". Some whooshing sounds was heard. I recorded it.
Somebody suggested the whooshing sounds was a spectrogram. I got Audacity and analyzed the recording. The spectrogram was a picture of a book. "WCPT Diary", it said. I searched for the book and found the only copy for sale in Knoxville, Tennessee. "I don't need it anymore.", the description said. "This worthless diary chronicles my grandfather's adventures being a technician."
I contacted him and he told me to meet him at the Sunsphere.
Chapter 5: Under the Sunsphere
"Here's the book.", he said happily as I reached the dusty book. I blowed it and read it. I stared at the cursive writing. "Thanks," I said and gave him the 50 dollars out of my leather wallet.
It was 2010 when I found the episode with me in it. I watched with popcorn as my 5-year-old self sceamed, unaware that my 30-year-old self was watching his 5-year-old self. Apparently it was called "The Doomed Child". Now I know the exact date: October 18, 1985. I decided to tune on my digital TV and watch WCPT in celebration, but it showed an error: "We are detecting analog frequencies. Please watch Channel 23 - WCPT on your analog TV.". I brought out my heavy analog TV and watched WCPT. Another Gory Killings episode was on. "One of those reruns," I thought. It just the 29th anniversary special. It was late 2010. I watched as I saw the Italian Prime Minister resign then an image appeared. It was a skull covered in blood. Then it switched to the Sunsphere. I started recording episode 988 - "The Sunsphere Murders". "The Simpsons has 400 episodes and this has already 988. Ugh...", I thought. "Gory Killings is requested to mourn Gregory Brinkman. We have a new host, the grandson of the Zodiac Killer!", the TV announced. "Bodies and Blood", the 1,192th episode then started. I was just relieved that I had finally solved the mystery. And so, I finally say...
The End.
Credited to Misc544
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