ABSTRACT
Beginning in the first quarter of 1997, CBC radio aired a disturbing story pertaining to the Tamai family in Emeryville, Ontario. It felt like something from a bad dream: lights flickering on and off haphazardly, nonstop telephone calls with no one on the other end of the line when the phone was answered, gurgling and groaning sounds coming through the telephone lines during normal telephone calls, along with voicemail passwords being changed by an unknown entity. A hacker named “Sommy” took credit for the shenanigans, even talking directly to the Tamai family via the telephone at random times. The episode, christened “The Emeryville Horror,” mystified law enforcement authorities who were also disconnected from the Tamai family when they attempted to phone them. The telephone company, the electric power company, and two distinct security organizations, one from NBC and another from the Discovery Channel, were all baffled.
