Summer Scares: Deadly Premonitions and Final Destination

Twisted Tales with Heidi Wong

The episode explores historical instances of chilling premonitions that mirror the themes of the Final Destination film franchise. Heidi Won

Key takeaways

• Morgan Robertson's 1889 book 'The Wreck of the Titan' shared striking similarities with the Titanic's sinking, including size and lack of lifeboats.
• The 1966 Aberfan mining disaster was preceded by visions from local children, such as Errol May Jones and Paul Davies.

Main topics

• Historical premonitions
• The Titanic and Morgan Robertson

Notable quotes

But what if you don't want to be right?

Conclusion

The episode leaves listeners questioning whether these historical trag

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) Hi, everyone. It's Vanessa Richardson. Real quick before today's episode, I want to tell you about a show I host with forensic psychologist Dr. Tristan Engels. It's called Serial Killers and Murderous Minds. Every Monday and Thursday, we take you deep into the psychology of the most chilling murderers and uncover what drives them to kill. Follow Serial Killers and Murderous Minds, available wherever you listen to podcasts. Speaker 3 (0:33) This is Crime House. Speaker 2 (0:40) A writer foresees history's most infamous shipwreck. People in a Welsh mining town predict a terrifying disaster. A president has a vision of a corpse in the White House just weeks before his own assassination. They say to trust your intuition. But what if you don't want to be right? Welcome to Twisted Tales, a Crime House original. I'm Heidi Wong. Every Monday, I'll take you deep into the true stories behind horror's biggest legends. From vengeful ghosts to bloody slashers to alien encounters and more, these real-life accounts are guaranteed to keep you up at night. But scary stories aren't any fun if you're telling them alone. If you've ever had a haunted moment or a twisted tale of your own, I want to hear about it. Drop it in the comments. The creepier, the better. Crime House is made possible by you. Follow Twisted Tales and subscribe to Crime House Plus on Apple Podcasts for ad-free early access. And if you're into true crime as well as horror, go search and follow CrimeHouse Daily, our team's twice-a-day show bringing you breaking cases, updates, and unbelievable stories from the world of crime that are happening right now. Today, I'm talking about Deadly Premonitions, inspired by the Final Destination franchise. These movies are all about people who see visions of their own deaths, but no matter how much they try to outrun their fates, there's no escaping it. And in this episode, I'm getting into three different deadly events where the tragic outcomes were predicted before they actually happened. From the world's most famous shipwreck, to a horrific disaster in a small mining town, to the infamous assassination of Abraham Lincoln, these stories will have your head on a swivel and have you asking, is it possible to outrun death? Speaker 2 (2:27) There's no movie franchise out there quite like Final Destination. From airplanes to log trucks to tanning beds, this series will make you look at even the most everyday things in a whole different way. By this point, the basic concept behind the franchise has wormed itself into the hearts of pop culture. They all begin with a character having a premonition, like a teenager seeing his flight to Paris blowing up, or a girl who dies in a deadly freeway pileup. In these visions, they and their friends will die one by one in the worst ways that you can imagine. And usually the very last one to meet their end is the main character who experiences the premonition. They always try to stop it, like getting off the plane or by blocking off the road. And while it saves their lives in the moment, death comes for them all. If you're not familiar with any of the movies, here's how the first one goes. Speaker 2 (3:19) It starts with a high school kid named Alex Browning. He's headed on a school trip to Paris. Alex is psyched, but he's also nervous. When he gets on board, we can see he has some pre-flight jitters. There are crying babies, weird mechanical noises, all the triggers for anyone who doesn't like to fly. Alex tries to play it cool, but he's clearly having a tough time. It doesn't help that his takeoff is a bit bumpy, and that's not the end of it. Once they get in the air, the turbulence is even worse. Soon, the electricity in the cabin is cutting in and out. Oxygen masks drop from overhead, and then... An electrical fire breaks out in the cabin, and chaos ensues. A portion of the plane rips off, flinging passengers out into the sky and towards their deaths. Eventually, the electrical fire envelops the entire plane, incinerating everyone on board. Just then, our friend Alex awakens in full sweat. It was just a nightmare. Or so he thinks. When Alex comes to, he's still on the plane. They haven't taken off yet, and he does what I'd hopefully do if I were in his shoes. He panics his way off the airplane. A handful of his classmates follow. And back at the gate, they watch as the plane glides away off to Paris. It seems like he freaked them all out for nothing. But then the unthinkable happens. The plane does explode in a huge fireball. Everyone on board dies instantly. Alex and the other people who got off survive, but they've cheated death, and the Grim Reaper isn't going to stop until he claims what is rightfully his. Speaker 2 (4:56) Now, this story might have done a number on you when you first saw it. It might have made you think twice about boarding an airplane or falling asleep on one. Not the ideal movie to watch before a flight. But behind all of the carnage, is there something real? Putting it simply, premonitions are the feeling that something bad is about to happen. And they've been around at least since the Book of Genesis. Whether it's oracles or witch doctors, these spooky omens aren't anything new. I know what you're thinking. Omens? Final destination? This all sounds unrealistic in our everyday lives, but what if it's not? What if a premonition can come true? What if it already has, like more than once? I want to take you through some of history's creepiest premonitions. Stories that prove Final Destination isn't just a work of fiction. It's a reflection of real events. Ones that can't be written off as a coincidence. And will have you looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life. Speaker 2 (5:55) We all know how this first story ends. The greatest luxury liner in world history, equipped with Turkish baths, swimming pools, gymnasiums, the finest food and champagne. A grand ballroom. It's an unsinkable ship that one chilly night slams into an iceberg and down she goes. Around 1,500 people died when the Titanic sank. Almost no one was spared as the ship plunged into the icy waters of the North Atlantic. She was the world's most luxurious cruise liner, the largest ship afloat, the crown jewel of Edwardian luxury. So it was even more of a shock when it ended up