Stalking Samantha: 13 Years of Terror on Hulu: The Story Behind Samantha Stites
Documentary series about Samantha Stites who was stalked for 13 years and kidnapped to a soundproof bunker
What is the series about?
Stalking Samantha: 13 Years of Terror (Hulu, 2025) depicts the harrowing and prolonged case of Samantha Stites, who lived in a constant state of fear for 13 years. The series, produced by ABC News Studios and directed by Sara Mast, focuses in the first episode, 'Hunted', on how a chance encounter in college developed into an obsession for the perpetrator, Christopher. Over three episodes, viewers follow Samantha's struggle to maintain a normal life while being monitored at her workplace, at her local gym, and in the supermarket, despite repeatedly trying to seek help from authorities and obtaining a temporary restraining order.
The real case
The real case behind Stalking Samantha: 13 Years of Terror took an extreme turn in 2024 when the stalking escalated to outright kidnapping. Samantha Stites was taken to a soundproof bunker that the perpetrator had constructed specifically to keep her captive. During the investigation, it emerged that Christopher was heavily inspired by the fictional character Joe Goldberg from the Netflix series You . This detail underscores a dangerous trend where popular culture can serve as a manual for criminal behavior. Samantha Stites managed to escape from the bunker on her own, leading to Christopher's arrest and a subsequent trial that has highlighted the shortcomings of the American legal system in protecting stalking victims.
Timeline of the case
The case spans over a decade, making it one of the most prolonged examples of stalking in recent American history. It began around 2011-2012 when the two met peripherally during their college education. In the following years, the monitoring gradually escalated, from unwanted messages to physical stalking. Although Samantha attempted to involve the police, the legal tools proved insufficient to stop Christopher before he resorted to physical violence and deprivation of liberty in 2024. The case is now a central reference point in the debate about the need for stricter legislation against stalking and violent crime .