Texas, the Lone Star State, isn’t just wide-open plains and cowboy lore. Beneath its colorful, multicultural history lurks a darker side filled with haunted hospitals, cryptic creatures, and chilling crimes that most people never hear about. In this top 10 lesser list we’ll travel from ghost‑filled corridors to decapitated victims, revealing the hidden terrors that still haunt the state today.
10 Top 10 Lesser Ghosts of Yorktown Memorial Hospital
Deep in the heart of South‑central Texas, nestled between San Antonio and the Gulf Coast, sits the sleepy town of Yorktown. Born from the historic Old Indianola Trail that once linked the bustling port of Indianola with New Braunfels, Yorktown carries a lingering sense of decay, most famously embodied by the now‑abandoned Yorktown Memorial Hospital.
Founded by the Catholic Felician Sisters, the hospital served patients battling drug and alcohol addiction until its final closure in 1980. Over three decades, an estimated 2,000 souls passed through its doors, and many claim that a few never truly left. Residents report eerie music echoing through empty hallways, dolls that seem to converse, and ominous black shadows with glowing red eyes that flicker in the darkness.
Professional ghost hunters and paranormal researchers point to the sheer number of deaths—roughly two thousand between 1950 and 1980—as the source of the building’s lingering negative energy. Today, Yorktown capitalizes on the spooky reputation, hosting Halloween tours that let thrill‑seekers explore the haunted halls. Whether you believe in the supernatural or not, the sheer volume of strange sightings makes Yorktown Memorial Hospital a bona fide epicenter of Texan terror.
9 Yorktown Wendigo
Sticking with Yorktown, locals whisper about a creature even more unsettling than any ghost—an alleged wendigo. Traditionally rooted in Algonquian folklore of the frigid northern woods, the wendigo is described as a ravenous, cannibalistic spirit, sometimes imagined as a massive, snow‑covered beast or a shape‑shifting skinwalker that drives people to murder.
While Texas doesn’t experience the icy climates of Canada or Minnesota, residents like Izel Vargas claim to have seen a pale, bald, black‑eyed wendigo roaming the mist‑shrouded streets of Yorktown on moonless nights. Some even suggest this creature is part of a broader family of skinwalkers that haunt the Lone Star State. Curious investigators have created a Reddit community dedicated to sharing sightings and stories of this eerie pale monster.
8 The Goat Man of Lake Worth
In July 1969, across from Greer Island on the north shore of Lake Worth, a startled crowd claimed to have witnessed a creature that was neither fully goat nor fully man—a “fishy goat‑man.” One daring onlooker managed to photograph a hazy, white‑furred figure looming among the reeds.
Dubbed the Lake Worth Goatman, this half‑goat, half‑human cryptid quickly entered local legend after a feature in the “Star‑Telegram.” Residents began setting traps, loading rifles, and posting warnings about the creature’s alleged attacks on parked cars and even a lone woman that night. Police reports from July 1969 noted a mysterious 18‑inch gash on a vehicle’s side door, fueling the myth.
Decades later, a 2005 letter surfaced in the “Star‑Telegram,” allegedly confessing that a high‑school student had donned a fur suit to scare classmates. Though never verified, the tale persists, and many still venture to Lake Worth armed with cameras and, perhaps, a well‑lubricated rifle, just in case the Goatman is more than a prank.
7 Rumors of the Devil
The 1980s, an era of Reaganomics, heavy metal, and the infamous “Satanic panic,” seeped into the small town of Childress, Texas. Between 1988 and 1991, the community was rocked by a series of unsettling deaths that sparked rumors of devil worship and cult activity.
It all began when teenage Tate Rowland was found hanging from a tree. Though the sheriff’s department ruled the death a suicide, many locals believed otherwise, especially after a witness claimed to have seen Tate’s hanging. The mystery deepened in May 1991 when his older sister, 27‑year‑old Terrie Trosper, was discovered dead in her own bed. Both deaths in a town of roughly 5,800 people seemed too coincidental for many.
Official investigations later revealed Tate’s death resulted from a breakup‑induced suicide, while Terrie’s passed away from choking on her vomit, with toxic levels of the antidepressant Elavil in her system. Yet the town’s rumor mill ran wild: reports of mysterious figures at Tate’s funeral chanting “suicide,” a truck allegedly collecting children from schools, and even a teenager allegedly eating a Bible. A friend of Terrie’s, Darwin Wilks, attempted suicide, leaving a note claiming knowledge of Terrie’s killer, further fueling the hysteria. The Texas Rangers even issued a pamphlet on ritual murder, but no formal satanic charges were ever filed.
6 The Tragic Birth of the Amber Alert System
The nationwide Amber Alert system, a lifeline for abducted children, was born from a heartbreaking tragedy in Texas. On January 13, 1996, nine‑year‑old Amber Hagerman was riding her bike in the parking lot of an abandoned grocery store in Arlington when a man in a black pickup snatched her and fled.
Eyewitness Jimmie Kevil promptly called police, prompting a massive search involving over fifty law‑enforcement agencies. Despite their efforts, Amber’s body was discovered five days later in a creek, four miles from the abduction site. She had been brutally slain, her throat slashed, and found nude and bruised, indicating a violent, sexually motivated attack.
In the following months, investigators debated motives, ranging from a spur‑of‑the‑moment act to personal grievances. The case spurred the creation of the Dallas Amber Plan in 1997, which later evolved into the national Amber Alert system in 2000. Amber Hagerman’s name remains widely known, yet her killer remains at large, making this one of Texas’s most enduring cold cases.
5 The Eyeball Killer
Late 1990 saw a chilling pattern emerge in Dallas: prostitutes were being murdered with a macabre signature—removal of their eyes. This gruesome modus operandi pointed to a man later dubbed the “Eyeball Killer.”
Charles Frederick Albright, born in 1933 in Amarillo, grew up in a tumultuous household. His mother, Delle, employed harsh discipline, often tying him to the bed and forcing him to wear women’s clothing. At eleven, she enrolled him in a taxidermy class, where he learned to skin birds, substituting buttons for missing fake eyes.
Albright’s early life was riddled with petty crimes: theft, molestation, and a stint in prison. The first confirmed murder attributed to him occurred on December 13, 1990, when 33‑year‑old prostitute Mary Lou Pratt was found partially nude in a field, shot in the back of the head, and her eyeballs surgically removed. Two months later, 27‑year‑old Susan Peterson met a similar fate. In March 1991, 45‑year‑old Shirley Williams was discovered with her eyes missing, shot in the head, and with knife‑like cuts suggesting precise removal.
Detective work led to a breakthrough when Veronica Rodriguez, another prostitute, recounted a night where she and Pratt were attacked by a man who later fled. Investigators traced Albright’s connections to the crime scenes through property ownership and a tip linking him to Pratt. He was arrested on March 22, 1991, and police seized X‑ACTO knives, Gray’s Anatomy, and other disturbing items. Although Albright was only convicted for the murder of Shirley Williams, he remains incarcerated for life, his chilling legacy etched into Texas crime lore.
4 The Servant Girl Annihilator
Austin’s “weird” reputation hides a darker chapter from 1884‑1885, when a serial killer—later dubbed the Servant Girl Annihilator—terrorized the city, targeting working‑class women, primarily Black cooks.
The first victim, Mollie Smith, a Black cook, was discovered on December 30, 1884, brutally stabbed multiple times and struck on the head with an axe. The second, Eliza Shelly, met a similar fate on May 7, 1885. Subsequent murders included Irene Cross (stabbings), 11‑year‑old Mary Ramey (rape and ear stabbing), and the duo Gracie Vance and Orange Washington (bludgeoned to death).
On Christmas Eve 1885, the killer struck twice in one night, killing 17‑year‑old Eula Phillips and Susan Hancock—both white women murdered in their homes, marking a shift in victim profile. In total, eight victims (seven women, one man) fell to the axe and knife.
Police initially blamed Jimmy Phillips and Moses Hancock, accusing them of copying the murders. Phillips was convicted but later exonerated; Hancock’s trial ended in a hung jury. Over the years, suspects ranged from the infamous Jack the Ripper (via theory linking James Maybrick) to O. Henry, who coined the moniker “Servant Girl Annihilator.” Skip Hollandsworth of Texas Monthly ultimately suggested a 19‑year‑old Black laborer, Nathan Elgin, as the most plausible perpetrator—Elgin was killed by police in 1886 while attempting to attack a woman with a knife.
3 Angel of Death
When a caregiver becomes a murderer, the betrayal cuts deep. Between 1981 and 1982, the pediatric intensive care unit at San Antonio’s Medical Center Hospital saw a surge of suspicious infant deaths, eventually linked to nurse Genene Jones.
Jones, a 33‑year‑old mother of two, was described by coworkers as intelligent yet coarse, often making lewd jokes. She was arrested and charged with the murder of 15‑month‑old Chelsea McClellan in October 1983, accused of injecting a lethal dose of the muscle relaxant succinylcholine. In 1984, she received a 60‑year sentence for the attempted murder of Rolando Santos.
Despite her convictions, over sixty toddlers died at the hospital during that period, leading many to suspect Jones of being behind the majority of the deaths. In a 1998 jail interview, she reportedly admitted, “I really did kill those babies,” though later claimed the voices in her head were responsible. In 2019, at age 69, she faced new charges for multiple killings, including Richard “Ricky” Nelson and others, even as a statewide push to reduce prison overcrowding threatened her release.
2 Headless in Houston
The oil boom of 1979 swelled Houston’s population, but also attracted a series of gruesome murders that shocked the city. Within just two months, five victims were found decapitated, their bodies bearing signs of sexual assault and extreme violence.
The first victim, Alys Elaine Rankin, was discovered on July 27, 1979, in the Orchard Apartments of Gulfton. Her coworker Bob Smith found her naked, bound to the bed, and missing her head. Two weeks later, Mary Michael Calcutta, a 25‑year‑old transplants from Pittsburgh, was found in her bathroom, fully clothed, throat slit, and with defensive wounds, though her apartment was only two floors above Rankin’s.
On the same day as Calcutta’s discovery, exterminator workers unearthed the body of 26‑year‑old Doris Lynn Threadgill, whose throat had been cut so severely she was nearly decapitated. Later that year, 16‑year‑old Joann Huffman was found dead in Watonga Park, and 18‑year‑old Robert Spangenberger’s headless corpse was discovered in a car trunk on a used‑car lot.
Investigators remain divided: some argue a single deranged killer committed all five murders, noting the proximity of Rankin and Calcutta’s apartments; others suggest multiple perpetrators, pointing to differing crime‑scene details and locations. The case remains unsolved, a chilling reminder of Houston’s dark underbelly.
1 Angel of the Railroad
The golden age of hobos may be over, but the railways still host a slew of drifters, some of whom turned lethal. Angel Resendiz, a Mexican immigrant born in Puebla in 1959, became known as the “Railroad Killer,” a serial murderer who claimed between nine and fifteen victims across multiple states.
Resendiz’s early life was tumultuous; after being passed among relatives, he was raised by his mother until age 12. A troubled youth, he amassed a criminal record in Mexico before crossing into the United States. In 1999, after a brief arrest by Texas Rangers, his mother claimed he turned violent after being gang‑raped as a teenager.
Resendiz’s killing spree began around 1986. After illegally crossing the border, he murdered an unnamed homeless woman in Bexar County, shooting her four times before discarding the body. Later that year, he was caught in Laredo for using a fake birth certificate, receiving an 18‑month sentence.
He resurfaced in May 1991, arrested for forging Social Security cards and illegal weapon purchases, leading to deportation back to Mexico. Undeterred, Resendiz returned to Texas, killing 33‑year‑old Michael White on July 19, 1991—his body riddled with bullet holes in a San Antonio yard.
Between 1997 and 1998, Resendiz’s terror spread: he strangled 16‑year‑old Wendy Von Huben and 19‑year‑old Jesse Howell along Florida rail tracks, beat a man to death with a pipe in Colton, California, and bludgeoned 21‑year‑old Christopher Maier with a 50‑pound rock in Kentucky, raping Maier’s girlfriend. Further victims included elderly women in Texas and Georgia, a schoolteacher in Houston, and a father‑daughter duo in Illinois.
After his last known murders, Resendiz landed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list. He eventually surrendered in El Paso, Texas. Though fingerprints linked him to several crimes, he was only convicted for the murder of Claudia Benton in Houston. Resendiz pleaded insanity, claimed to be an angel of God, and was sentenced to death, dying by lethal injection on June 27, 2006.