Greetings, and welcome back to October Horror Fest! Today, we do something that has never been done in the history of Horror Fest, and THAT is to actually go into a REAL LIFE murder case. A TRUE horror story to keep you all up at night. With only nine days remaining, I’m pulling out all the stops, and it starts here. Let’s dive into one of the most famous pairs of killers on the planet, and the “monsters” they may or may not be. Without further ado, sit back, relax, turn off the lights, grab some Candy and Popcorn, and let’s review…

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story – Episode 1

We begin our TRUE (but obviously exaggerated tale) of the Menendez Bros in the car, as Lyle is wearing his father’s shoes. Erik sees this and begins to break down, but he is comforted by his brother. (We don’t have all the facts just yet, but we WILL). The brothers are taken into a building after fighting the press, saying that the mafia were the ones behind the killing of their parents. The brothers walk into a HUGE auditorium in the building, where a wake for their parents are taking place. Erik steps up to the podium, and begins to cry after talking about his mother. Lyle steps up to the plate right after, and has a VERY different speech, where he uses his charisma and speaking skills to get a reaction out of the audience. At the end of the speech (much less emotional than Erik’s), Lyle starts a song playing, as several pictures of the family are shown on the screen. We look at Lyle’s closed eyes, as we cut to our title.

The year is 1989, and we see the BEAUTIFUL Menendez Mansion in sunny California. We see a montage of Erik, as he works out, plays tennis, and then cries in the shower (there is a LOT going on). Erik, while eating, watches the T.V., as a report plays about the killings of José and Kitty Menendez, their father and mother. Erik eventually walks into the lounge next to the T.V. room, and sees the room. It is, of course, beautiful. However, we hear faint echoes of screams in the background, as we see a dried blood stain on the white couch. Erik then PULLS OUT A SHOTGUN and places it to the roof of his mouth. He fires, and the REAL Erik wakes up on the couch in a sweat, still watching the T.V. Erik calls up his therapist Dr. Oziel, as he asks to meet with him as soon as possible, but takes ALL PRECAUTIONS to be absolutely alone with the doctor, with no witnesses. Erik is VERY freaked out as he hops in the car, as Lyle and his girlfriend Jamie arrive. The day is, of course, Halloween.

Erik arrives at Dr. Oziel’s office, and is VERY nervous, eventually going for a walk with the doctor. Erik explains that he is being haunted by dreams of his parents being killed, but after they are shot and shot in the dreams, they don’t die. The ONLY WAY for the dreams to be ended is for Erik to shoot himself, and Erik tells Dr. Oziel that he is feeling suicidal. We cut back to Lyle at the house, handing out candy. Lyle is MUCH more naturally aggressive than his brother, and curses at all the kids. Back with Erik, he talks about his father, and how he was really a “good man”, who wanted to be a senator, and even wanted his sons to be Presidents. As he talks about his father being controlling, Erik begins to get to the brink of tears, and his actor is KILLING IT (no pun intended). In the midst of his breakdown, Erik reveals that he and Lyle were the true murderers. Oziel obviously panics, as he and Erik get back to his office.

Erik then starts going through what happened, and says that he got the idea to kill his parents from a movie (we see all of these events in flashbacks). Erik tells Lyle about the plan, and they decide to do it on Sunday, since the maid would be out. Oziel then begins to ask if their father was abusive, as we see SEVERAL flashbacks of him being horrific to Lyle and Erik. Erik says that he was “domineering”. In terms of their mother, Erik reveals to Oziel that she was addicted to José, and after he had an affair, she turned to drugs and alcohol, and became suicidal. Erik says that they were going to put their mother out of her misery. We then get one of the MAJOR reasons why the murders happened. We see a flashback to a family dinner, where the entire family besides Erik are screaming at each other. Lyle was kicked out of Princeton for plagiarism, as he argues his case for marrying Jamie. In a fit of rage, Kitty RIPS off his hair, revealing that it was a wig, and that Lyle has been losing his hair for three or four years. 

Erik of course goes to talk to his brother, as he asks why Lyle never told him. Lyle says he didn’t want anyone to know, but for Erik, that caused something to snap. Seeing his brother, who he idolized, in such a state, caused Erik to tell Lyle that he loved him, and that he would choose him over their parents. The day after, Erik originally watched the movie. Our flashbacks continue with the brothers searching all over LA for a gun store, until they are eventually able to get their hands on two shotguns. They get their alibi set up with Lyle’s friend Perri, as the date approaches Sunday. Finally, Sunday arrived, and Erik said to Oziel that they had to do it then. After hyping themselves up, we get the most horrific scene in this episode, maybe in the entire series. The brothers load up their shotguns, after Lyle says Erik needs to shoot first so he won’t back out. We see the brothers walk into the lounge with their guns, as their parents sit on the couch. Erik SHOOTS at his father MULTIPLE times, as Lyle targets their mother. Lyle goes around the side of the couch, and shoots his father in the head. At the sight of this, Erik walks out of the room, as Lyle keeps shooting his mother. Lyle follows Erik, and the brothers head back out to the car, as Lyle says he will finish off Kitty. He walks back in, and Erik hears the final two bullets. Erik heads back into the house, and the brothers pick up the shotgun shells (I know. It’s a lot.)

We see Erik burying the guns in the dirt, as the brothers try their first alibi. They go to the theatres to try and see Batman, but since the tickets are timestamped, it won’t work. Lyle rips up the tickets, and the brothers head to Taste of LA, a restaurant in the city (the sets are AMAZING in this show). Although Perri isn’t there, the brothers stay for about four hours solidifying their alibi, and making sure they are spotted in public. Once the brothers get back to their house, though, no one is there. That’s when they execute plan B. They call the cops themselves, and we hear the 911 call play out (this actually happened in real life). Our flashbacks finally end, as Erik says that he can’t sleep because of the nightmares, and they only stop if he shoots himself in them. He begs Oziel to tell him that he is a good person, and Oziel does. He then says that they should call Lyle, and they do. Lyle (of course) begins yelling and panicking on the phone, as he abruptly hangs up on Oziel. Oziel says that Erik told him everything, but he won’t put Erik on the phone.

Oziel then makes up a lie about coffee, as he RUNS into the street and eventually gets to a payphone, calling his mistress Judalon (this is the series of events that happened that actually got the brothers caught). Oziel says that Erik confessed, and she NEEDS to get down to the office to be a witness. We cut to a VERY distressed Lyle driving in the street, as he hallucinates his dead parents being marched at gunpoint by himself and Erik. Eventually, both Lyle and Judalon make it to the office, as Lyle BARGES into the room. The brothers begin to argue, as Erik says the reasons why he said what he said. We realize that Judalon has been listening in on everything that they have been saying, until Lyle notices, and she runs off. BOTH of the brothers’ actors show their skills off to the ten, as Oziel says that everything is confidential, and he cannot do anything with the information he was given. Lyle leaves with his brother, after he continuously tells Oziel that just because Erik says something, does NOT mean it is true. The brothers hop in Lyle’s car, as Erik apologizes for confessing. Lyle says it’s okay, but then asks his brother if he knows what they have to do, and Erik asks what it is. Lyle hits the gas, as he says, “we have to kill him”…

THERE WE HAVE IT! I was honestly so excited to share this one with you guys. Although I KNOW I am a bit late to the Menendez Brothers train, I was happy to actually look at REAL horror for once, and see just how horrific it really can be. We all know the public support the brothers gained, so I decided to finally check out what happened in 1989. But, look around. Eight days remain, my friends. Halloween is approaching… And, before you go, always remember, there are true MONSTERS living in the same world as us…