Due to the graphic nature of this episode, listener discretion is advised.

This episode includes discussions of murder, mutilation, and torture.

We advise extreme caution for children under 13.

It was the holiday season of 1972, but Toby Hooper was feeling anything but festive.

He stood in a daze at Austin's capital plaza as hordes of frantic shoppers bustled past him.

The place was packed to the gills.

Toby wanted nothing more than to turn right back around and drive home, but he had to

get his Christmas shopping done sometime.

Bracing himself, he headed into Montgomery Ward, a department store that had everything.

If he was smart about it, he could be out of there in no time.

But inside the store, his heart sank.

The crowd was awful, jamming up every walkway, making it hard to even see where he should

be going.

There were throngs of people blocking every display.

He was starting to get a headache from the fluorescent lighting, and it could feel every

muscle in his body, tensing from frustration.

Finally, he sought refuge in a quieter corner of the store, the hardware department.

Unsurprisingly, not a lot of people were buying power tools for their loved ones.

His Christmas.

As he caught his breath, Toby found himself staring at a display rack of chain saws, and

a disturbing thought entered his mind.

I know a way I could get through this crowd really quickly.

...