Every year, we look back in horror at the sheer evil mankind is capable of, and 2017 was no different.

Across the world, but particularly in the United States, startlingly horrific crimes have almost become commonplace, causing us to double-lock our doors at night and look over our shoulders, wondering if we're safe, no matter how crowded or well-lit our location is.

In this true crime release, we've compiled some of the most gripping and gruesome crime stories of 2017. Some of the horrible stories you will hear about includes: 

• A Florida serial killer stalked a close-knit suburb of Tampa, killing Seminole Heights residents seemingly at random.
• A member of a neo-Nazi organization used his vehicle to kill a protestor in Charlottesville, Virginia, more than 50 years after the world defeated Hitler's racist rise to power.
• A couple was sentenced to death for brutalizing a 10-year-old girl for years, beating her, depriving her of food, forcing her to walk on the hot pavement of a sizzling summer in Arizona, only to let her die in an airtight box overnight, her punishment for eating a Popsicle without asking after sweltering in 115-degree heat.
• Two young girls were smart enough to record pictures and audio of a man suspected in their deaths, evidence that will hopefully soon solve their murders.
• A blood-soaked man carried his mother's decapitated head into a grocery store, attacking a clerk and stabbing him as well before being apprehended from police.
• The UK was rocked by terrorist bombings that turned joyous moments deadly in an instant.
• The death of Charles Manson gave us an opportunity to look back at the bloody mayhem inspired by a murderous man with a messiah complex.

Keep the lights on, Dear Listener, and welcome to 2017's most horrifying true stories.