The TERRIFYING TRUE story that inspired Candyman

I just started watching this channel two days ago. I’ve watched almost every video that has been put out on this channel. I’m addicted 😭

It's actually so sad and ironic because Ruthie was so strict about locked doors and when she died her door was locked yet still was murdered in her own home. She wasn't even safe with the door locked 😥

I am 39 years old and I still refuse to look in the mirror and say candy man. Logically I know nothing would happen but why risk it

So heartbreaking. She was so close to being in a safer environment and getting to see more of her grandkids. Even worse Ruthie never even got justice.

This broke my heart. That poor lady. I worked in mental health for 10 years and it used to infuriate me how often those with mental illness would be overlooked when they were terrified.

I feel sad for Ruthie especially after hearing about her close bond with her grandchildren 😪 what a terrible and scary thing to experience. RIP Ruthie

Poor Ruthie. If you think about it, she was incredibly brave. Even though she suffered from mental illness and paranoia, she would go around to make sure her neighbors locked their doors. Sure, she went about it in an odd way but for someone who was afraid of everything, she put herself in harm's way so that her neighbors would lock their door and stay safe. This was actually a really sad story.

The Candyman movie was set in Cabrini Green, very dangerous place in reality. The mirror removal thing is absolutely terrifying. Great story telling Mr. B!

My mother, who was also severely mentally ill, was targeted heavily by those televangelist con artists. It's disgusting that they still have tax exempt status.

The thought of people creeping through the walls and coming out of mirrors is truly terrifying. Scarier than the movie. Poor Ruthie.

What I had imagined as you described someone crawling out the hole in the wall really creeped me out. Imagine how she felt. Poor woman.

Ruthie's story is sadly a common one (outside of the odd details of her murder), very frequently people with mental or physical disabilities are entirely disregarded and forgotten. Police and medical professionals very often will treat us with less respect than we deserve- especially in the cases of those of us that suffer from hallucinations or delusions. I remember one story circulating a while back where one individual in a mental facility reported a bat in their room, but all of the staff assumed it was a hallucination, until they walked in the room and saw it hanging in the corner. It's a sickeningly common phenomenon for terrible things to happen to disabled people because everyone chooses to pretend we're invisible for their own comfort instead of giving us the support we need.

The paranoia of her mail being from someone trying to take all her money is not an unreasonable paranoia lmao. I feel the same way when I get mail 😂

This is just so tragic. Nothing saddens me more than hearing how someone who lived in constant fear finally experiences those fears becoming a reality and to top it all off, she never got justice.

This story just breaks my heart. That poor woman spent her time trying to protect her neighbors and then she was murdered so tragically. I hope her family was able to find peace even with a lack of justice.

I love that Mr Ballen leaves in some of the original takes when he can't help laughing. Also, I like how he builds in context and information for non-Americans (listing metric conversions, geographic details for locations in the US, etc.) and details for Americans when talking about international locations. This helps all viewers around the world to enjoy.

Candyman was actually directly based on a Clive Barker short story, but barker had based the story on real life events such as this. Poor people, living in dangerous neighbourhoods essentially being forgotten by the govt and police.

I feel so bad for Ruthie never truly getting justice, and that just because she lived in a dangerous place the cops didn’t take the calls seriously. Thank you so much John for bringing her story to light and speaking about her in a gentle way. As an anxious and paranoid person myself I cannot even image what those last few moments of her life were like.

This was horrifying!! The thought of people creeping between the walls would be my worst nightmare. So sad for Ruthie!!😢

I've been listening to things like this for a good while and have practically become numb to the horrors the world has to offer. This, however, actually made my heart hurt. Ruthie wanted to keep her neighbors safe in a place she recognized as dangerous. Sure, she was a bit over the top about it, but she really cared about her neighbors. She seemed like such a genuinely kind person despite her mental illness causing her such paranoia about the world around her. The police did her dirty, putting off checking on her just because she was "crazy." They might have been able to help her or at least get some details on her killers had they actually bothered to come when she called. I can't even begin to imagine how terrified she must have been. You think you're doing everything you can to keep yourself safe but then actual pieces of shit find their own ways in. Her locked door kept help out because they couldn't be bothered to confirm things were okay and the mirror she was looking for miracles in is what allowed evil in. Those two, I hesitate to call, humans robbed more than just Ruthie of her life and things, but they also robbed her grandkids of a true gem.