Come out to play: 'The Real Monsters of October' available on REELZ streaming, episode one headline John Wayne Gacy

The original “Killer Clown,” John Wayne Gacy, headlines “The Real Monsters of October” event streaming on REELZ over Redbox, Xumo, Samsung TV Plus, The Roku Channel and others.

Pundits credit Gacy as the inspiration for the terrifying Stephen King character, “Pennywise the Clown” in the book and movie franchise, “It."

“John Wayne Gacy was the ‘Killer Clown’ and it was all too real, says Steve Helling, Senior Crime Reporter at People. “Behind the grease paint smile was a lust for murder.”

In December 1978, police uncovered the first of many bodies buried in the crawl space under John Wayne Gacy's South Chicago home. As Des Plaines, Illinois police detectives searched the property, their horrifying investigation revealed that many of the victims were teenage boys and the body count was rising.

“There was more than one victim here but we had no idea it was going to be 33,” recalls Mike Albrecht, a former Des Planes Police Detective assigned to the Gacy case.

A businessman and active member of his community, Gacy often dressed up as a clown named “Pogo” to perform at charitable events and parties. He’d lure young victims to his house with the promise of giving them alcohol. After they were drunk, he would handcuff them and claim he wanted to demonstrate a trick from his clown routine. After they were bound, he would viciously torture and sodomize his victims before strangling each one to death. Gacy was executed by lethal injection In May of 1994 at the Stateville Penitentiary, near Chicago.

There is much more to learn in “Murder Made Me Famous: John Wayne Gacy,” part of The Real Monsters of October event all-month on REELZ Streaming Services.

The Real Monsters of October event includes real-crime documentaries on Son of Sam, The Boston Strangler, The Green River Killer, Charles Manson, The Hillside Strangler and a host of other storied serial killers.

Watch REELZ Streaming on Redbox, Xumo, Samsung TV Plus, The Roku Channel, IMDB TV and Vizio. Find REELZ at reelz.com/get-reelz/