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With the arrival of spooky season, it's time for soap operas to take some cues from horror films and turn into 1980's slashers with murderers, masks and whodunits. And for some of daytime's finest, that's nothing new.
An unknown serial killer offing the favorites of Salem or Port Charles is a common storyline used on soaps, and as overdone as it is, it never fails to leave fans on the edge of their seats as the murderer creeps up behind their favorite character. From Ben Weston's reign of terror on Days of Our Lives to James Franco's killer character on General Hospital, some soap serial killers will never be forgotten.
The Necktie Killer ('Days Of Our Lives')
In 2015, The Necktie Killer of NBC's Days of Our Lives arose with murderous plans of offing anyone who got in his way by strangling them to death with a necktie. The mystery didn't last long for viewers, however, when it was revealed Abigail's then-boyfriend Ben Weston was secretly the killer.
While Ben attempted to kill fan-favorites like Marlena, Chad and girlfriend Abigail, he succeeded in murdering four Salemites, including the devastating death of Will Horton. In an unexpected twist, Ben later became cured of his murderous ways when he found out that one of his victims, Will, was secretly revived after he had killed him.
The Corinth Killer ('Loving')
When Loving got canceled in 1995 and replaced with a spin-off called The City, the writers came up with a clever way to end the original series. For its remaining episodes, a murderer named The Corinth Killer went on a killing spree, offing several main characters and forcing the rest out of town and to Manhattan, where The City would take place.
The Corinth Killer had a body count of six and rather than slashing with typical weapons like knives or guns, this killer found unique ways to attack his prey like poisoning candles and body powder to end the lives of Loving favorites like Stacey, Clay and Jeremy.
Franco ('General Hospital')
When James Franco made his soap opera debut in 2009, it was as a serial killer named Franco on ABC's General Hospital. As a successful artist, when he wasn't stalking Jason Morgan and his loved ones, Franco would mark his murders with the graffiti tag CO77X.
Despite being one of the creepiest characters in GH history with a laundry list of crimes including several kidnappings, attempted murders and digging up the corpse of Claudia Zacchara, Franco's body count actually stops at six, and never included any main characters on the soap.
The Oakdale Slasher ('As the World Turns')
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The Oakdale Slasher was a masked murderer whose target was the teens of CBS' As The World Turns, creating what the show called the Raven Lake Massacre with a total of eight murders.
The soap turned into an 80's slasher film when a group of teens had a party at Raven Lake and The Oakdale Slasher began offing them one by one until Maddie Coleman was the last one standing, eventually unmasking the killer to reveal that it was her sister Eve all along.
The Sin Stalker ('Another World')
Another World kicked off its serial killer storyline in 1987 when a series of murders hit Bay City at the hands of The Sin Stalker. With a total of nine victims, the first few were unknown to the show's characters before beloved characters like Quinn, Maisie and Josie were offed.
When the killer's identity was finally revealed to be Dr. Alan Glaser, he admitted the disturbing reason behind his slashing on his way to prison, saying he was following his deceased mother's orders to purge the world of sinful women, despite there being a few men on his victim list.
The Salem Stalker ('Days Of Our Lives')
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In 2003, The Salem Stalker arrived on Days of Our Lives in a silver hockey mask and a Ghostface-like black gown and began killing Salem's finest one by one. This serial killer's body count rose to 10 and included Maggie, Roman, and even matriarch Alice Horton.
In early 2004, not only was the killer revealed to be Marlena Evans, but every supposed victim was found alive and well on an island called Melaswen. The twists kept coming when it was later found out that Marlena had been brainwashed into the supposed killings by Andre DiMera, who was posing as his identical twin brother Tony.
Ryan Chamberlain ('General Hospital')
Move over Helena Cassadine and Franco Baldwin, because when it comes to the villains of General Hospital, Ryan Chamberlain will always be the scariest, most disturbing killer. Since arriving in Port Charles in 1992, the evil twin brother of Kevin Collins has wracked up a total of 16 victims.
Aside from the stalking, kidnapping and tormenting on his list of crimes, not only did Ryan attempt to kill legendary GH characters like Steve Hardy and Lulu Spencer during his decades of serial killing, but he ended the lives of characters like Mary Pat Ingles, Bryce Henderson, and most devastatingly, Ava Jerome's daughter Kiki.