People in the comments saying friends and families should've gotten them mental help in an age when mental help meant giving someone a lobotomy.

“Born to a pair of first cousins. Their father was an eccentric gynaecologist.” That’s a lot of skeeve packed into 13 words.

"We've no telephone and we've stopped opening our mail. You can't imagine how free we feel" The 1930s version of quitting social media

I was a personal assistant to an elder lady from NYC. She told me all about the Collyers. She was over 100 yrs old but she never forgot them. So i went & looked them up. She was right, though it is unbelievable.

I hope that my younger brother would build me a murder labyrinth made of garbage if I ever went blind. I kinda doubt it.

Man . . . The fact that Langley painted stuff and collected reading material for his brother for "when he can see again" is really sad but touching . . .

My mother in the early 60's: "Clean up this room! It looks like the Collyer Brothers live here!".

1:17 Eccentricity is not a trait I want in a gynecologist.

"Eccentric" should never be in the same sentence as "gynecologist"

"My brother dreams of beautiful buildings all in red and when he describes them to me I try to paint them to the best of my ability. When he regains his sight, I'll show them all to him." Gets me every time. Unbelievably tragic

Interesting story. I was a roofing salesman in Wisconsin and one day I was called to a house north of Madison to quote a roof. I was a 3 story+ old mansion and had a garage that was falling down. The owner and his wife were very reclusive and in their 70's. Believe it or not the inside was almost like this story. There was junk and boxes piled 6 ft. high everywhere. To get upstairs you had to navigate a path a couple of feet wide all the way to the top. In his bedroom there was junk piled and only a small path to his bed that probably hadn't been changed for a long time. Both of them were not healthy and hardly mobile. The yards were the same. The porch roof was loaded with so much stuff I couldn't believe it hadn't collapsed. Well, we got the job and I knew it was going to be rough. The insurance co. was paying otherwise I would have done it for cost. They were nice folks but only spoke when needed. In the end we took about 10 dumpsters of stuff, none from the inside as per his wishes. Moving everything took 3 days before we could start the roof. This story reminded me of them. i told the local authorities about them and was told they were aware of them and had a son looking out for them. A couple of years later I heard they had both died, I hope together.

You can't imagine how free we feel gave me chills. Like I have some depressive and anxiety disorder tendencies and this whole pandemic thing just felt like an encouraged excuse to be my worst self and not do what I need to and it is freeing to just live ignoring everything in your own little world and it's just kinda viscerally upsetting if you know what he means.

I keep picturing Homer hearing the trap being sprung, and calling out to Langley a few times before realizing he's dead. Either that, or Langley realizing he's trapped and calling out to Homer and the two just...talking as they slowly died together. ...Now I'm sad.

Just imagine - he had to listen to his own brother slowly dying while being completely helpless, knowing that that also inevitably leads to his own death. That's absolutely soul-crushing.

Sounds like they were dealing with awful mental health problems, in a time when there was no help at all. No doubt the neighbourhood bullying and news fascination only made it worse.

"The Collyers were descended from the Livingstons". If true, this is a key fact. The Livingstons ran the game when the Rockefellers were nobodies. I'm reading about them in "America's Secret Aristocracy". Would explain the cross-breeding too.

The whole story sounds like something Edgar Allen Poe would have written. Sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction.

I can't imagine how awful Homer's death was. You can't move, you can't see, you only have one person helping you. One day you hear that person in trouble, so close to you. And then one day it just goes quiet. And then you slowly starve to death, smelling your loved one's body beginning to decay, before you die of either dehydration or starvation. What a horrible, miserable way to go. And Langley too; you're pinned down, unable to move, the only person in your vicinity completely unable to help you. I feel so awful for both of them. They just wanted to be left alone.

"he walked to a town 6 hours away to buy bread, the reason for this is unknown" my fellow OCD sufferers know that dude was just thinking something about the nearby bread was wrong

Just imagine being pinned to the ground, unable to breathe, knowing that the closest person to you is your paralyzed, blind brother who literally can't help you in any way. God, that's a grim ending.

Are we just not gonna talk about how Homer allegedly eats ONE HUNDRED ORANGES A WEEK???

went in this expecting to hear some creepy and unnerving mystery, came out feeling sad he really cared for his brother a lot

They were mentioned in an episode of "The Honeymooners". Ed reminded Ralph that he (Ralph) once had the lowest electric bill since the Collyer brothers.

Every time I think I’ve seen it all in my 67 years a story like this comes along. In my early 20s I worked at a department store in Altadena Ca. I delivered prescriptions and liquor. A lovely combination I’m sure! I was always fascinated when I had a delivery to this run down house and yard. An elderly lady with white hair that stood straight out would answer the door. I could see a pathway through the piles of newspaper and clothing. It went from the front door to the back of the house piled up to the ceiling. Every time I would leave I would think about her and how does this happen. Now that I think of it if every room in my house looked like my closets I would be one of those people. This story was fascinating. Just think of all the nic nacks and odds and ends that were thrown out. Today they would be worth a fortune.

Thank you for presenting the brothers as humans, instead of just freaks

Two words that should *never* go together; "eccentric" and "gynecologist".

I just know that watching four minutes of this video is going to infect my UKposts feed for the next eight years.

"He set up traps, some to alert the brothers, some to crush any intruders" At that moment, I knew at least one of them was gonna die that way...

I was thinking they were hiding something awful, but instead this was just a sad story of a guy who died caring for his brother

i do find it weird that these guys who randomly made the equivalent of $100K payments only had $2000 worth of property... i think a lot of things just disappeared into searchers and investigators pockets..

My late husband had a tendency to hoard things and I used to kid him about it telling him that he must have been a third brother to Homer and Langley! I used to tell him that one of these days I would do a thorough search of his whole pile of junk and find at the bottom of it the remains of at least three very famous missing people, namely Judge Crater, Amelia Earhart and Jimmy Hoffa! He fortunately got over his hoarding problem 15 years before he died when he realized that the junk he collected just wasn’t worth the difficulty it was causing.

It's heartbreaking to think of how horrible Homer's last days must have been after his brother already died... I can't imagine such a terrible fate. Blind, paralyzed, probably knowing something awful had happened to the only other person in his life... the loneliness, suffering, maybe even a sense of abandonment.

I imagine the words "eccentric" and "gynaecologist" are probably not words a woman wants to hear in such close proximity to one another.

“Born to a pair of first cousins” Say no more.

I pass by the park pretty often as I work everywhere in Manhattan. I never knew the story behind it. I'm glad I do now, thanks.

You know this was gonna be a weird family when the Dad is described as an “eccentric gynecologist”

I'm... Gonna go clean my room.

Homer: How did your daily cleaning chores go, brother? Langley: Uh great! Uh.... the place looks beautiful! Uh... I feel like the cleaning never ends. Say look at the time! Gotta run - bread doesn't make the six hour walk by itsself you know!

My mother always compared my room, when it got messy, to the Collier Brothers.

"My legs have doubled due to rheumatism. I will never be able to lie down again." Breaks my heart.

man the pilot episode of hoarders was really dark

Going through the great depression and discrimination while taking care of the only relative you have,knowing that that relative is paralyzed and blind surely takes a a toll on Langley's mental health. But still, his brotherly love is admirable. Creating artwork and collecting newspaper for his blind brother is such a noble thing to do.

I'm an introvert, a hermit, a recluse. I just want to be left alone. I feel for the Collyer brothers.

The ending of this actually made me really sad. Despite the fact that the brothers were highly eccentric penny pinchers and hoarders who had an unhealthy sense of paranoia, they were still human at heart, and cared for each other deeply. I can’t even begin to imagine what Homer Collyer endured as he was forced to listen to his younger brother die, and the horrible realization that he too would die, paralyzed in a tomb of their own creation.

Died by his own trap. That's really sad. He was only trying to take care of his brother.

I remember watching this not long after you uploaded it and fell in love with the doct genre of youtube, and still today, 5 years later, I think this is my fave video of yours. Im glad you kept making videos, I was so sure back then I had stumbled on a channel that would only post a few stories and vanish. Keep up the good work, man! Love your dedication!

My mother was one of those moms who compared our bedrooms to the Collyer brothers' house. She worked in NYC in the late 1940s and told us great tales of the eerie and bizarre brothers.

I don’t think they’re that strange, just sad. They were doing fine until their parents died. They couldn’t bare to throw out their parents stuff and so they kept it all. When his brother fell ill, Langley did his best to care for him, hoping he might return to health. People harassing them only added to their seclusion and inability to stop hoarding. He probably set traps to protect his frail brother from any would be burglars. Eventually he succumbed to his own trap and his brother starved. A tragic story of two close brothers.

I honestly feel bad for them. They just lost their parents, went through the great depression and then Homer had a stroke *before* they got bullied by their entire neighborhood. Because they honestly just seem like nice, sociable people put in a horrible situation. Poor Homer and Langley. :(

Great content. Spectacular atmosphere. Thanks a lot. It's been long since I last watched a 20 minutes video without fast forwarding or speeding up.

When a teenager I read a book called My Brother's Keeper by Marcia Davenport which was based on the Collyer brothers. I remember that book from 65 years ago.

It is too bad they didn't keep journals. I would have loved to hear their thoughts from their perspective.

“Moved into a cold water flat” Me: “I wonder what that is?” “So called because it had only cold running water” Me: “...I feel stupid.”

Just goes to show how society can be cruel and wrong about those who don't fit into they're warped perception. These men were truly brothers who believed in family above all else.

God I can’t imagine the pain and sense of helplessness that must’ve overcome Homer when he watched Langley die to his own traps. Can’t move, can talk but not ask for help, can’t eat or drink water, can’t shower… three days, all while watching your brother slowly asphyxiate under a mountain of garbage, reaching for help yet unable to get it. I can’t imagine the emotions and extreme turmoil he must’ve experienced in those three days

Am I the only one that’s wants to know more on the “Kaiser Wins Contract on Mars Boats” and the “500 Flying Vessels” on the newspaper headline?

Langley's death sounds horrid. Crawling through the tunnels of all you own, following your daily routine of helping your brother, only for the tunnel to collapse, crushing you, and leaving you to rot.

They might have been insane, but the brotherly love that clearly tied them together is really sweet. And that death... I wouldn't wish it to my worst enemy

what horrid way to end life for both of them, so very sad and heartbreaking.

I'm impressed youngster. I've been watching your videos for a while now. Great work, interesting, and informative. Ty 😎🤙

"Why are these people staying locked away in their apartment? Why don't they come outside to society?" *Smashes windows by throwing stones* *Crowds outside apartment to gawk at the brothers* "I don't understand!"

10:22 Charles Bonnet Syndrome. When vision is lost suddenly often visual hallucinations set in as the brain adjusts to the confusing lack of input, creating its own.

Thank you for your portayal of these brothers in such an unbiased way. This was well worth watching.

Wow! I really enjoyed your narration ! This is sooo lengthy, lots of visuals , just an excellent , fantastic work!

Love for a brother is so strong. I Hate the thought of his brother waiting, starving, listening or smelling his dead brother 10 feet away unable to do anything.. it really cuts me deep.

My mom was born in 1915. She lived in the Collyer neighborhood for a time during the early 40s. When I was growing up in the late 50s she would say my room looked like the Collyer Brothers home because my room was untidy.

So well done, well-written and spoken. Thanks Fredrik.

I think I'm going to take a weekend and clean my house. Update: Two years after posting this, I've finally gotten around to getting my house under control, as well as giving each room a fresh coat of paint.

I've heard that the psychology of hoarding is that it starts when someone suffers a great loss. Edit for clarity: all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares. Mental issues can be triggered by loss, but loss doesn't always (or even most of the time) trigger mental issues.

Fade to black is like 3 seconds too long. I kept thinking, "shit my screen turned off again?"

It’s weird what the workers did to get the gas meters. My postman won’t even walk up to the door to deliver mail when it snows until the walkway has been cleared.

an "eccentric gynecologist" who "paddled a canoe" back and forth to work everyday. ........ok, I'm in.

I feel incredibly sick. This is a painfully sad story about two brothers who believed it was them against the world so much, it lead to their death. His last moments, watching his brother die and feeling the pain of starvation/dehydration must've been... indescribable. It's 1pm and I still feel like this will keep me awake tonight

Wow! This really touched me as, I know some people who live that way.. Brought tears to my eyes acknowledging the sheer desperation of such a life...Thank you kindly for sharing this true story...

I was introduced to this story through a play. I think this is a well informed look into the two brothers. Thank you for your investigative efforts and presentation!

Having family that mimic this to a shockingly fearful degree. The only thing I cant help but imagine is homer listening to his brother muffled crying knowing his death meant both of theres. Both helpless to help each other

Very sad story. I can understand why they did what they did, but very disturbing how they went about keeping the world at bay and trying to protect themselves from imagined or real threats. Very sad indeed.

“Where some saw suffocation, Homer and Langly saw freedom” great interpretation. Great video, never expected someone so young.

I seriously need more DTRH.. Iv watched your videos over and over throughout the past 4 years. Hopefully you are able to ramp up the production of these top notch vids.

I don't know what's scarier, this story, or the fact I can see myself doing this. If someone I cared about were to go blind and I truly thought they'd somehow regain sight I would hoard stuff to show them later on. This whole thing breaks my heart, but at least both brothers died knowing they loved each other. I hope they're living happily in the afterlife.

This is heartbreaking. They died in such a horrific way.

I never would have heard about this if it wasn't for your work- thank you

I cleaned out foreclosed homes for 15 years, this is more common than you would think. One particularly large house, outbuilding and yard with temporary structures contained 44 tons of Debris that filled twenty 40 cubic yard dumpsters. There was very little actual trash, it was millions of dollars of packed in possessions. Turned out the guy had a salvage business.

OK . Signing off to clean house, now. And list some stuff on E-Bay.

Such an excellent video, thank you for making this.

Thanks for this outstanding bit of reporting the facts. I've heard about the brothers, but was never compelled to listen to their story because everything being shown was so sensationalized and I just wanted facts. No embellishments, no sugarcoating. I knew this upload would be different. Well done 👏

Finally someone who properly narrates such gloomy/spooky stories. You wouldn't imagine how many irritating "creepypasta"-like channels I had to go through to finally find myself here. Other such channels should learn from yours. Great story (must have taken a lot of research judging by how obscure it is), great presentation, you've kept me interested and focused through the whole vid. Thank you for this experiencre, Fredrik.

I feel bad for them. The way they died is really horrific. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

For all the eccentric behaviour they may have exhibited. This is just ultimately a sad tale of two brothers.

Thanks ..The Brothers Are Legendary... and Excellent Radio Voice ..

Poor guys being harrassed by kids smashing the windows and nosey people annoying them. No wonder they holed up.

Because of these two men, I got my name "Marcia." A woman wrote about these men in a book titled, My Brother's Keeper. My mother red the book and like it very much. She named me after the author, Marcia Davenport.

This is the first of your videos I ever watched ,by pure accident, and I'm glad I did

Your efforts at factually representing your research are appreciated.

holy smokes, it's like what would happen if HP Lovecraft tried to write comedy

It's impressive how they pulled that off without any internet / before online shopping...

Possessions controlling how you live your life seems like a very evil trap. Living surrounded by others you do not want to interact with but won't leave you in peace. This must be what drives so many to become minimalist and go off grid.

Thoroughly and thoughtfully done presentation. Very unique.

This one is really sad

"where some saw suffocation, Langley and Homer saw freedom" maybe so, in life. But you gotta wonder... in their final moments of life, did they really believe it? One crushed under trash, another crippled and waiting to die... in those last moments, did they feel free, or were they regretful?