When Ryan's mother marries Blaine Nelson, he hopes he'll gain a fun-loving stepdad; instead, he gets chaos, pain and fear, and while Blaine relishes tormenting Ryan, he can never imagine just how dark and sadistic his stepfather truly is.
When Dreamer meets Teddy, she sees a broken young man and hopes her love will change him; he returns her love with fear, cruelty and control; after her father tries to help her escape his clutches, Teddy makes them pay a price.
When Teresa reveals her 7-year-old daughter, Hannah, has a terminal illness, the community rallies around them; Hannah is terrified but does her best to face her own death, but the shocking truth comes to light.
When Eline starts dating Matthew, he seems kind and charming, but soon he reveals his dark, secret life.
Patrick Bruce idolizes his fun-loving older brother, Lance; however, as he watches Lance descend into darkness, he feels powerless to stop him; he never imagines the horror of the unspeakable acts his brother is capable of - until it's too late.
When Letisha meets Phillip, his charm lures her in; but when his dark side emerges, Letisha is trapped; she manages to escape him, but when she discovers he's wanted for rape and murder, she knows she's lucky to be alive.
When Shaquoia and Imani first meet Isiah, they sense his evil; they don't know why their mother would date a man like him; Shaquoia does all she can to protect her siblings from Isiah's rage, but his cruelty and obsession would destroy the family.
As a child, Deon knows her stepfather, Edward, is deeply controlling; he instills fear into the family with his rage fits; after Deon's mother finally leaves him, Edward tries to regain control of the family with a plan to eliminate them all.
Misty fears her violent, cruel and manipulative brother, Patrick Boggs; his ex-girlfriend Lena once loved him but now fears him too; they both feel lucky to have escaped him with their lives; they suspect that others were not as fortunate.
When Christina meets Loren, she's looking for love and an escape from a troubled home; after his dark side emerges, Christina thinks she's the lone target of his rage; a trail of clues reveals that Loren and his best friend are serial killers.
Lisa can't understand why her mom stays with her dad; he's cruel, unpredictable and violent; Lisa finds ways to cope, but what takes place is something she couldn't have imagined.
When Kristyn escapes her toxic home and rageful mother, she leaves behind her sister and grandmother; it's a decision that still haunts her.
Desiray is lost and vulnerable when she meets Ray; he seems kind and understanding; Ray lures her into his trap, revealing his violence and cruelty; Desiray finds herself trapped in a living hell and must fight like hell to survive.
Debra believes Randy is a good man and faith will help him overcome his dark past; after they marry, his violent and cruel side takes over; she manages to escape, but the next woman isn't so lucky.
People recount their horrifying true stories about living side-by-side with sociopathic friends or family who go on to commit heinous crimes.
When Abbi sees her boyfriend's darkness, she tries to help but cannot; she hopes being a father will change him, but it doesn't; when his cruelty becomes too much to handle, she leaves and discovers who her boyfriend was all along.
At 16, Roxie rushes into marriage; her husband manipulates and threatens her nearly every day; she leaves after 30 years but pays a terrible price.
When she wakes from her coma, Melanie puts the puzzle pieces together; she had worked so hard to make her relationship with Tracy work despite his lies and abuse; when she reflects on their past, she realizes he's been trying to kill her.
Betty hopes her sister's son, Chance, is a beacon of hope in their troubled lives, but Betty sees his dark side early on; he lacks empathy and becomes violent until he explodes in a fit of rage, harming the one person who cared for him most.
Little sister Heather terrorizes her siblings, David and Crystal from a young age; everyone hopes she'll change when she becomes a mom, but she only gets worse; after Heather meets Kareem, she becomes a monster.
Abby's life takes a dark turn when her aunt and uncle adopt her; what she initially hoped would be a blessing, turns into a nightmare as she realizes she's living with predators; escaping their clutches will take every ounce of her courage.
Debra sees darkness in her young brother's eyes but hopes he'll change; when he attacks their stepmother and grandmother, she accepts his denial; when her brother becomes a notorious serial killer, she realizes her brother is a monster.
After her father, Donald Hoop, meets a woman named Joy, Desiree's life spirals; Joy is hot-tempered, cruel and controlling; Desiree knows her dad can't escape his toxic marriage, but she has no clue that Joy is orchestrating a cold-blooded murder.
Maya Burgess always knew her brother, Stevie, was trouble; after he holds a butcher's knife to her brother's throat and threatens to shoot her at her wedding, Maya knows he is dangerous.
Kayla's mother pays a hefty price when she breaks free of her husband Richard; he plots a final and brutal revenge.
Lori and Brook have one terrible commonality, Gary Simmons; Gary tortures Lori during their 6-year marriage; later, he imprisons and violates Brook; the two women meet for the first time and share their stories.
Elishaba always believed that her father wielded the power of God and that the only way to salvation was through suffering.
Andrea believes that Ray Clark is the man of her dreams; but when she reveals she's pregnant, Ray becomes a nightmare; he stalks her and tortures their infant son; Andrea and her baby narrowly escape, but the next woman Ray meets isn't so lucky.
As a child, Joy believes her mother, Anna Young, is the voice of God; in their isolated church community, Anna punishes anyone who breaks her rules, including young children; years later, Joy realizes her mother is not an angel but a killer.
Tonja Balden doesn't know the charming man whom she meets at a bar, Andrew Luster, hides a twisted secret; when they date, she doesn't know he's recording his crimes until a major news story unveils his long, dark history.
LaTonya believes her husband, Nathan, is her best friend; over the years she suffers emotional abuse at his hands and decides to take their kids and leave; Nathan refuses to let go, leading to a night of terror that ends in a tragedy and a miracle.
When Roger's best friend, Bob Duke, asks for a favor, he thinks Bob is venting; when he asks again, Roger worries for Bob's wife and son; after an accident occurs, Roger knows his friend is a killer.
Ron Youngblood always dreamt of having a family; when he meets Veronica, he thinks his dreams are coming true; instead, it's a nightmare; she's cold, cruel and unfaithful; when Ron tries to leave, she destroys everything he cherishes.
Victoria and Christine Lisowski live in fear of their mother, Sungnam Kwon-Lisowski; they never imagine that this Christmas, they'll feel lucky to survive the holiday and their mother's crazed vengeance.
Tammy Moore's loyalty to her mother, Marie, is absolute; when police arrest Marie for murder, Tammy lies to protect her; a look back at the horrific events of her youth forces Tammy to see her mother in a new, terrifying light.
Christina Thomas believes her brother, John, the first time he nearly kills a woman; she forgives him when he murders another; but when it happens again, she wonders why she trusted him and how she missed the signs he was really a devil in disguise.
Vince Boston finds himself an unwitting accomplice to murder; he realizes his father, Silas, has been killing for years; he embarks on a mission to get justice for his father's many victims, which may include Vince's mother.
When Terry Patzer hears what police discovered at Russell Tillis' house of horrors, memories of the nine years she spent married to him come flooding back; she cannot explain how her former lover became so twisted.
Teresa Holman spends much of her childhood wishing her father, Freddie Bowen, would die for the things he does to his family, but when presented with a chance to get her wish, the choice she makes has unforeseen consequences and leads to tragedy.
Sara Pitcher thinks Shawn Spink is a man of God, but she'll soon endure three-and-a-half hours of pure terror to save herself from the darkness within him; police believe Sara's survival is a miracle -- even so, her life will never be the same.
As a child, Lori Hodge doesn't understand what she sees when her father, Gene Keidel, digs a hole in the yard in the middle of the night, but as she gets older and realizes the truth, she becomes a threat; he will stop at nothing to keep his secret.
For years, every time Gabi Blair walks past the freezer, she shudders at the thought of the horrors hidden inside; forced to keep secret her mother's crimes, she prays that someone will discover the truth before she becomes her mother's next victim.
Eugene Borg knows that Satan has evil plans for his young son Tyler and spends the subsequent years battling the demons he believes plague his child; a shock comes that proves he may have forever lost the war for his son's soul.
David Magnano and his stepsister, Jessica, know that Scott Magnano is dangerous; they know they would be safer if he were gone; what David doesn't know is how much he will regret not killing Scott when he has the chance.
When Dianne Burns moves across the country to marry Mark Burns in prison, she holds no doubts of her fiancé's wrongful conviction until after his release, when she begins to see signs of both his guilt and plans to resume his criminal behavior.
Margie Bult sees a fugitive on TV named Paul Steven Mack who resembles her second husband.
When a hole appears in the backyard, Delila Yang gets suspicious; she knows her mother, Karina, dug it and knows someone is missing, but Delila doesn't yet realize she must work with police to trap her mom and unearth her sinister secrets.
Genie already knows Lee Cawthon is capable of horrible things when he forces her into a polygamous relationship; she plays along with his twisted demands, but doesn't realize that the consequences of letting him have his way might be worse.
William Cosden Jr. coerced his much younger sisters, Karen and Susan, into keeping secrets about what he did; now the girls are adults, and with one facing death, they reunite to try to repair the trauma keeping those secrets caused them.
When Linda Bergstrom begins to suspect that her husband James' bondage fetish shifted into something sinister, she can't get anyone to believe her; the more she learns about his behavior, the more she becomes determined to stop her husband.
When Sarita Anderson begins feeling ill, she thinks it's just the flu at first; she never suspects that the man pretending to love and nurse her back to health is actually the monster responsible.
The story of Morgan Metzer, a woman who fell victim to an elaborate assault and rescue drama orchestrated by her ex-husband.
When police arrest Adam Pennylegion's stepbrother, Dustin Duthie, some people blame steroids, but Adam has noticed Dustin heading down a dark path for years.
Alice Jenkins locks Jesse Eging in a closet; Jesse realizes that if he and his siblings do not find a way to escape, they will surely die.
When Amy Chesler calls 911 to report what her brother, Jesse Winnick, has confessed to, she doesn't know whether to believe him; Jesse's always been a liar, and Amy doesn't understand what he is capable of until she walks in and sees it for herself.
After Ernest Christie dies, his son, Sam, calls police and tells them everything he witnessed as a child, including murder.
As a child, Benjamin Risha believes Tony Alamo when he preaches he is a prophet of God; as Benjamin gets older and realizes that the prophet is a liar, he fears for his life because he sees what happens to others who doubt Tony.
When Steven Crittenden confesses to his brother, Bryant, and then swears him to secrecy, Bryant faces the toughest decision of his life: whether to keep the secret and risk letting a murderer get away with it or tell the truth and betray his family.
When the police tell Chris Matechen his girlfriend, Alyssa Dayvault, has confessed, he doesn't want to believe it because it means admitting that he fell for her lies and spent years being blind to the horrific things she did right under his nose.
When Vernon Jensen's ex-wife proves how far she'll go to get him back, his family is fractured beyond repair, and the little girl who was to be his stepdaughter never sees him again; now Jade Scotton is an adult and wants answers only Vernon has.
Jon Eason hopes every day that someone will murder his son Dylan in prison; Dylan Eason's life sentence without parole doesn't appease his father, who admits wishing for his own son's death is horrible but feels Dylan deserves it for his 2016 crimes.
Christian Fuhr receives a life sentence, and his girlfriend, Ammie Turos, believes he is innocent; when she discovers he's guilty, her conviction is replaced by uncertainty, and she wonders if her life had been in danger the entire time.
When police arrest Melvin Ignatow for murder, his son Mike is sure he is innocent and that his dad's girlfriend is to blame instead; Mel is acquitted but later confesses, and Mike must face the fact that his father has gotten away with murder.
A woman believes that her sister blames her for the crimes she committed.
As a child, Daniel Rolle idolizes his father, Donald, until Donald's rage makes everyone suffer; when that eventually leads to murder, Daniel must decide if he still loves his father enough to beg a jury not to kill him.
Cathy Mills is only a teenager when her fairy-tale marriage to Robert Walden turns into a nightmare; still, it is not until she sees a police sketch of her husband that she realizes his true identity.
Seven-year-old Deborah Brashers' father, Robert, kills himself in a hotel room, and for 20 years, she struggles to understand why; neither she nor the police had any idea he'd been living a secret double life as a serial killer.
Jennifer Winter accepts Cristobal Palacio's marriage proposal out of necessity; she believes that he understands that it is a marriage of convenience, not love; he makes her his prisoner, and she realizes escape will come at a terrible cost.
When Matt Roth is just a boy, his stepfather brings him along on handyman jobs; he thinks he is just there to help his dad, but he doesn't realize he is walking into the scenes of brutal murders.
Christina Gaines goes on a date with Patrick Fowler, a supposed perfect gentleman; she soon discovers Patrick's true nature, and she realizes she's been duped; now that Christina is in his grasp, she must find a way to avoid becoming his next victim.
Craig Lester Thrift brags about getting away with murder, but everyone thinks he is kidding; Robyn Barry knows Thrift better than anyone, and she begins to suspect he isn't joking; someone needs to believe her before Thrift makes her his next victim.
Questions persist surrounding Cameron Todd Willingham's conviction and death sentence, but according to Stacy Kuykendall, who knew him better than anyone, Cameron is a monster who was guilty as charged and deserved to die.
After finding her name on a bullet, a woman fears her son has lethal plans.
Kelly Pletcher elopes with Wayne Adam Ford, who begins to descend into an obsessive world of twisted sexual fetishes and demeaning desires, and Kelly's short-lived fairy tale becomes a nightmare from which she is desperate to escape.
When Eric Nance asks his sister, Belinda, to find and destroy a murder weapon, he expects her to protect him; when Belinda finds it, she is torn between family loyalty and doing what she knows to be right.
Teenager Sarah Garone is targeted by an anonymous predator for nearly a decade; each time, Sarah turns to her stepfather, Gary Hardy, for protection, not realizing he is the one determined to hurt her.
When Sonja Holt's fiancé, Stafford Shaw, starts staying out late, she initially believes his excuses; she never imagines just how far he'll go to safeguard his secrets or the terrible price that will have to be paid when they come to light.
Claire Throssell interprets Darren Sykes' overwhelming displays of affection as signs of true love; she doesn't realize that Darren's grand gestures are his way of luring her into a false sense of security so he can control her.
Christina Hildreth unwittingly helped Shawn Grate clean up his first crime scene, she didn't realize what she was doing.
Teri Knight spent weeks driving cross-country, desperately searching for the secret her ex-husband, Manuel Gehring, took to his grave; it took years before a stranger finally solved the mystery.
Shirley Furgala helps her mother, Betty Lou Beets, drag a dead body into the yard and bury it, but Shirley doesn't know that this won't be the last time her mother will ask for help.
In 1989, Jessi Toronjo goes to a sleepover thinking her stepbrother, Jeffrey Pelley, is at his senior prom; she spends the next 13 years believing someone else killed her family members, only to discover she knew the killer all along.
When Vickie Webb's son warned her the police might come looking for him, she wasn't surprised. He had been getting into trouble, but she sensed this time was different. How much can a mother's love withstand when her son is accused of the ultimate evil?
Wilda Gadd dismissed rumors she heard about Howard Willis when she married him, but it wasn't until she found herself wearing a wire and risking her life that she finally realized the truth.
Vickie Webb's son is accused of absolute evil, and she isn't surprised.
Robert Foust contemplates killing his son, Aaron, as the only way to prevent Aaron from becoming a murderer; instead, Robert chooses to put himself and his son in God's hands, and God's plan makes him question everything.
Joylynn Martinez sometimes wakes up and cannot remember what happened the night before; she thinks she must've had too much to drink, never suspecting that her husband, Robert Howard Bruce, was responsible, and that he was just getting started.
Travis Spencer thinks that the cruel pranks played by his older brother, Timothy, were ultimately harmless; it turns out that older brother Timothy is using younger brother Travis as practice for a gruesome future.
Michele Ward is glad that her husband, Richard Daniel Starrett, doesn't mind her frequent trips to visit her parents; Michele could never guess the reason that he sends her away is because his sick perversions are getting harder and harder to hide.
It has been more than 25 years, yet Joyce Alexander is still terrified of her son, William Patrick Alexander; she fears he holds her responsible for his horrifying crime, and is convinced he is plotting his revenge from prison.
Edward Pehowic harbors dark secrets before he marries Robin Healey, and she'd catch only glimpses of her husband's dark side, but when she finally escapes from him, she realizes just how evil he is.
John Duck spends his entire life fearing the day his brother Kevin would finally kill someone, but when John discovers his brother is actually a murderer, he still isn't ready to face that Kevin had been born a killer.
Timothy Bass had gotten away with murder for decades, telling his wife, Gina, that he enjoyed working the night shift to make extra money; Gina believed him until she uncovered his secret and was left wondering what evil her husband had done.
It never occurred to Shirley Gaskins that the father she adored could be one of the most prolific serial killers in America, but the more people vanished without explanation, the harder it was to deny.
Richard and Ryan Girgis knew their father, Magdi, was not a particularly good father, but when their family is torn apart, the brothers feel they knew he was evil all along.
Jack Roy Spillman starts collecting wolf memorabilia, and his sisters think it's an odd hobby; when they learn of horrific things he's done, they realize some people may have been right when they called him more animal than human.
For 17 years, Kathy Swanson fears her son, Michael, will harm someone; she tries in vain to convince people that there is something different about Michael, then her worst nightmare comes true.
William Knorr's mother, Theresa, always threatened that if she ever went to jail for what she had done, she would take him down with her; after years spent helping her keep the horrors secret, he may go to jail with her.
Pam Jacobs spends her childhood on the run from the law, but she has no idea her father, Charles Sinclair, is a wanted man until the day the FBI catches up with them.
When James Henslee realizes he is the police's prime suspect, he can't believe it but he attempts to convince them that someone he had once looked up to was the one capable of murder.
Ronald and Patty had always seen the signs that their older brother, Bernard Eugene Giles, had a darker side, but when Gene finally let loose the monster lurking inside, they couldn't help but wonder how things had gone so wrong.
When Tim Kreider discovers proof that his son, Alec, was responsible for a horrific crime, he knows what the right thing to do is; his instincts as a father tell him something else.
When Elizabeth Flores was a child, her sister, Louise, tried to shield her from a horrible family secret; when Louise met David Turpin, that all changed.
As a little girl, Karen Kuzma adores her older brother, then she sees changes in him she doesn't understand; it never occurs to her that he will become the most infamous serial killer in American history.
When Joshua Hudnall goes off to war, he feels more at home than he ever did around his mother; while Joshua thinks he's escaped his mother's torment, she sets her sights on someone else and destroys their family from within.
When Lori McLeod falls for a man claiming to be an FBI agent, she feels certain she will always be safe; now, as the end of her life draws near, Lori vows that the murderer who betrayed her family will never become a free man.
Unlucky in love, Jamie Clark has high hopes after meeting Anthony Lord; by the time she learns about his perverted plans for her, she is already trapped.
Walter Stawicki always tries to protect his son, Ian, from evil, but Ian grows up to commit an unspeakable crime, making Walter realize he failed to protect his son and his community.
Felecia Collier almost kills Chester Turner but is relieved to hear he will survive; years later, that moment becomes the biggest regret of her life.
Cindy Best's friends and family all think she's crazy when she tells them her suspicions about her husband, Karl Karlsen; regardless, Cindy is determined to take matters into her own hands and prove he's a killer.
When Robin Lindsey is rescued from her mother's violence and goes to live with her father, she thinks she has cheated death; she has no way of knowing that her so-called savior is hiding something even worse.
Aswad Ayinde is known as an award-winning music video director, but his daughter, Aziza Kibibi, remembers him as a monster who did horrifying things in God's name; after years of suffering, she finally escapes to reveal the truth about him.
Norma Hawkins grows up fearing her mother, Shirley Allen, but when people start dying, Norma has to find the courage to turn her mother in to police.
When Alvin Bud Brown is arrested he tells an officer that he is just like Hannibal Lecter; to his wife, Jackie, the man she shared a bed with for years appeared to be gentle and loving until the Thanksgiving Day when she discovered the truth.
Linda Wittmier and Terry Jo Howard fall in love with James Michael Randall; both of them discover the monster lurking inside him without ever realizing how lucky they were to survive his twisted desire to kill.
As a young boy, Michael Blanco sees his mother do violent things straight out of the movies; he never once doubts she did them to keep their family safe until the day he learned the truth.
Charles Sexton believes his father, Eddie, is God; he and his siblings are loyal disciples until the family descends into madness, and Sexton finds out that crossing his parents means death.
When Reginald Brooks begins acting strangely, Beverly Stephens worries that her husband's bizarre behavior is a warning sign that something wasn't right, but never suspected there was a killer lurking inside him.
When Brian Cargill divorces his wife, Kimberly, he thinks it's the end of the worst time of his life; instead, he finds himself in a desperate battle to save his son, Jamie, from her deadly wrath.
Linda is overjoyed after finding out that family friend Greg Scarpa is her biological father; when Scarpa's secrets come out, Linda realizes that being part of his family is not only dangerous, it is potentially deadly.
Brooke Lehman is raised to believe Kevin Dunlap is her father; her mother, Stephanie, keeps the truth a secret, but neither of them realize that Dunlap is keeping far more deadly secrets of his own.
When Gwen Bailey marries Norman Starnes, she counts herself lucky to land the most eligible bachelor in town; years later, she realizes she never really knew him at all and becomes his unwilling accomplice.
Years after discovering the horrifying truth, Cindy is still haunted by memories of the night she decided not to kill her husband, Bobby, in his sleep.
Teenager Cindy Taylor's world is shattered by the sudden death of her father; while police say he died of a heart attack, Taylor will discover the cause of her father's death is just one of the deadly secrets her mother had been hiding from her.
Shelly Lietz has been afraid of her son ever since he was four years old, and her fear intensifies and grows more crippling as he gets older and more violent, turning her into a prisoner in her own home.
Melissa Holland begins to realize she's in mortal danger after marrying her high school sweetheart, Michael Overstreet.
Actor Thom Bierdz brings his troubled younger brother, Troy, out to Los Angeles to help set him straight; however, Bierdz turns out to be wrong about being able to help his brother and pays with the life of a loved one.
When Walt Chavis joins the police force, he is prepared to risk his life, but he never imagines the greatest threat will come in the form of his own brother or that he will be forced to choose between his duty and his family.
Estephania LeBaron is raised to believe that her father and brothers are holy men who are justified in doing terrible things in God's name, then she begins to question everything when faced with having to do the same terrible things herself.
As children, Betty and Ulayla adored their little brother Johnny and tried to protect him; as they got older, Johnny did strange things, but they never believed he was capable of pure evil until he confessed a horrible secret.
Melissa Moore loved being daddy's little girl, and to her, her father, Keith Jesperson, could do no wrong; but as she got older, that admiration was replaced by fear, and then by the horror of learning how close she had come to being his next victim.
Karen strikes a deal to get her brother, Richard, out of her life, not knowing he will begin targeting his new wife, Vernetta; neither woman realizes how devastating Richard's impact will be on both of their lives.
George and Margaret Keller don't suspect that the man terrorizing their city could be a member of their own family; as it dawns on them that their son hides a sinister secret, they must decide whether or not to turn him in.
Eric Witte's father teaches him to protect his family, then grows increasingly violent, and Eric realizes his father as the evil from which his family needs protection.
Wallace Jeffs grows up believing his half-brother, Warren, will guide his family to salvation; when his nephew reveals Warren's true nature, Wallace must choose between loyalty to his family or to his church's new prophet.
Sherry Shafer never had a good relationship with her younger brother, Brian Britton, but she never expected to lose everything because of him; today, all she has left is the fear that one day he will return to finish what he started 26 years ago.
Dennis Ryan grows up believing his father's violent teachings will prepare him to save the lives of everyone in their farmhouse, then the teenager discovers the horrible truth.
Sean Lewis isn't surprised to hear his brother, Patrick, has been arrested again, but this time around, Lewis learns he has been helping a monster lead a secret double life by repeatedly helping his brother get out of jams.
Alice Swanson envies her childhood neighbor William Jennings Choyce for his perfect life, then she marries him and realizes his life wasn't perfect below the surface.
Lindsay Wrinkles always knew her father had a short temper, but she never expected to be on the run from him when she was only 14; as she runs from hideout to hideout, desperate to evade him, Wrinkles wonders what will happen if he ever finds her.
While Ronald Hawkins and Candace Sims know their son, Robbie, is different, they are shocked when he commits a crime that shakes the country.
Cathy thought she had found the man of her dreams in Peter Tobin; but by the time she uncovers his dark secret, it was too late.
Kevin Currie is a devout follower of spiritual leader Jeffrey Lundgren, then he comes to realize Lundgren is really a devil in disguise who has hatched an evil plan.
When 17-year-old Bernadette's boyfriend, Brian Sugrim, told her he had murdered someone, she didn't believe him until years later.
Sheila Janutolo dreads being alone with her husband, Jim Cruz, who has a violent temper, but when she gets a call saying he's been arrested for committing an appalling crime, she is certain the police have the wrong man.