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HBO Max’s Chilling True Crime Series Turns Friday the 13th Into Real-Life Horror
Giovana Gelhoren is a High-Trending Topics Writer at Collider, where she covers all the most-talked about stars, movies and TV shows. She’s a proud Latina, hailing all the way from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in Journalism and International Studies. She’s known among her friends as an encyclopedia of celebrities and will watch just about every type of media (especially if said friends are around to watch it with her). She's also interviewed many celebrities during her career, some favorites including Anne Hathaway, Halle Berry, Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Brenda Song, Jordin Sparks, and many more. Whether or not you're superstitious, everyone's heard of the curse of Friday the 13th. After all, not only is there a whole horror franchise based off the spooky date, in which iconic movie villain Jason Voorhees goes on killing sprees, but the superstition itself dates back to much earlier. And while the day has certainly been the inspiration for countless movies (there are 12 Friday the 13th slasher films and counting), it's inspired much more than fiction. In fact, the real-life horrors linked to Friday the 13th are the focus of Investigation Discovery and HBO Max's latest chilling true crime docuseries, The Friday the 13th Murders. Across six episodes, the series explores the real killings and attacks that unfolded on or around the infamous date. Each episode examines a different case, leaving viewers convinced that Friday the 13th might be more than just silly superstition. In each episode, The Friday the 13th Murders dives deep into a specific Friday the 13th occurrence, featuring interviews with witnesses and victims, as well as real-life video and picture evidence. The first episode of the series, which was released on October 1, 2025, and is titled 'Obsession to Do Evil,' tells the horrors that took place in the small town of Panhandle, Texas, on Friday, July 13, 1990. The small, conservative town was in for a whirlwind that day when 19-year-old teenager Glenn Milner, who was not only fascinated by serial killers like Charles Manson and Jack the Ripper, but also had an obsession with Satan, went on a killing spree. Among his actions that day was showing up to the house of Jimmy Britton, his ex-girlfriend's stepfather, and stabbing him multiple times. After that, Milner fled the scene, and soon made his way to the home of Kenneth Williams, his former high school principal. He arrived at almost 3 a.m., woke up Williams from his sleep, and despite not being allowed inside, Milner shot Williams two times. Most horrifyingly, Milner lured a school friend of his, 17-year-old Frankie Garcia, to a haunted house earlier that day and killed him with a gunshot wound as a part of a satanic ritual. Throughout the episode, the sharp editing and eerie soundtrack add to the storytelling and leave viewers at the edge of their seats. Not only do they follow the journey police officers went through that night, but the reenactment footage is sliced in between a real video of Milner saying his goodbyes. 'The one thing I do have is the desire to kill,' he says eerily. 'Happy Friday the 13th.' In the second episode, the series will be investigating the murder of a whole family who were found dead in their mansion. 'A letter hinting at the demon from The Exorcist leads investigators to believe the case is more complex than a murder-suicide,' the synopsis reads. In Episode 3, a killer in a small town who's been going after women for years gets discovered after a major breakthrough from law enforcement. In Episode 4, the docuseries looks into the disappearance of José Herran, a young man who was murdered as a result of a 'monstrous plot.' In the fifth episode of the series, law enforcement links the disappearances of two young girls, 14-year-old Amber Dubois and 17-year-old Chelsea King. 'A survivor links the two cases, prompting law enforcement to act quickly to stop the killer before another Friday the 13th murder occurs,' the synopsis adds. Last, but certainly not least, the final episode of the series follows the 35-year-long investigation surrounding Jane Doe, a woman who vanished after getting into a patrol car. From the episode descriptions alone, it's safe to say The Friday the 13th Murders will be a docuseries true crime lovers need to watch. With a new case every week, the 42-minute episodes grip viewers with each case, taking them through the suspect's action, understanding their motives, and finding out what happened to everyone involved. Most importantly, the series settles once and for all that Friday the 13th is more than just a fictional date; it's a bone-chilling, real-life curse too.
