Scary legends and myths. Mystical urban legends of the USA. The creepiest legends

In this review, documented cases of paranormal activity that can scare even scientists. The universe is full of all sorts of mysteries and it only seems to us that we understand everything that is happening around.

Glassy glassy

The mirror reflects everything that appears before it. Sometimes - a little more. Since the creation of the first mirrors, people subconsciously felt a certain mystical component of this shiny surface. One of the paranormal legends originates in the dense depths of South Africa, where the natives used fragments of reflective mica, and then mirrors to summon spirits.

The first story about the Glassy Glassy appeared in the 17th century: a ship full of the dead entered the port of Bristol. Locked in the hold, black slaves survived. They told the frightened soldiers about Glassy Glassie, who came from the Black Continent through mirrors to take revenge on the merchants. Carefully documented evidence of this strange incident has been preserved: even modern scientists cannot really explain how the team died and why the captives survived.

Mayakka

This strange humanoid ape lives in Florida. So, at least, say numerous witnesses. Bipedal primates are distinguished by long dark hair and a very unpleasant odor. It is believed that the tribe has been moving through the swamps of the sunny state for several hundred years, from time to time meeting people - and attacking them. The last appearance of Mayacca dates back to 2000: a woman sent a picture to the police, in which a strange creature makes its way through the backyard of her house.

Faces from the void

In 1979, the Pereira family first encountered a paranormal phenomenon: gloomy faces appeared on the floor and walls of the house, followed the inhabitants and disappeared just as suddenly. Patrolmen, called in a panic, also saw faces - the town was filled with reporters from all over the country. Over the next thirty years, the mysterious phenomenon was repeated with enviable tenacity, until the mayor of the city simply ordered that the cursed house be surrounded by a fence. Maybe faces are still appearing there, looking in the deserted silence at the dark corridors and empty rooms.

Gargoyle of Beckenham

A gloomy gargoyle looms over one of the playgrounds in the small town of Beckenham, England. Children bypass this place, and adults are in full solidarity with them. Several times, passers-by called the police squad to the statue - they say, the gargoyle had just moved and was about to attack. Law enforcement officers could simply laugh at the impressionability of the townspeople, but the films from the surveillance camera really show that the stone sculpture meets the eaves every morning in a different place.

Room 428

This student dorm room is always closed. The doors were nailed down several decades ago: students have repeatedly reported strange activity that frightens the inhabitants of the hostel. Sounds like another college tale, right? Approximately so argued the dean of the Faculty of Law Phillip Richards, who set out to put an end to this disgrace - the students had already called the police to the hostel several times.

The dean decided to spend the night in the accursed room, demonstrating its complete safety. Room 428 was empty in the morning, and Richards was never seen again.

Looking at the many spineless, teenage and friendly vampire characters that are featured in modern books and movies, it's easy to forget that vampires were originally completely different and much, oh, much more scary.

The world is full of legends and tales of mythical monsters, mysterious creatures and incredible beasts. Some of these monsters were inspired by real animals or fossils found, while others are symbolic expressions of people's deepest fears.

Centuries ago, our ancestors trembled and were horrified at the mere mention of the name of monsters, which is not at all surprising, considering how nightmarish their mythology could be.

This short review will focus only on the 20 most terrible, and sometimes strange monsters - vampires, monstrous creatures and other undead, which, even by the standards of our ancestors, were one of the most terrible and disgusting creatures in the world.

Callicanzaro

Callicanzaro spends most of the year in the underworld (whose location is unknown) and only appears for the 12 nights between Christmas and Epiphany, because he knows that on these festive nights people are too drunk to run away. Even though the mere sight of his black, distorted face, red eyes, and fanged-filled mouth is enough to drive the holiday spirit out of anyone, Callicanzaro isn't content with robbing everyone of the fun. The monster tears apart anyone it meets with its long claws, and then devours the torn body.

According to Greek lore, any child born between Christmas and Epiphany will eventually become Callicanzaro. Scary, isn't it? But parents should not be afraid, because there is a cure. All you have to do is hold the newborn's feet over the fire until his toenails are scorched, such a procedure should break the curse.

But what kind of holidays would it be without a family reunion! Touchingly, Callicanzaro remembers his family from when he was human and has been known to eagerly go in search of his former siblings. But only to devour them when he finally finds them.

Soucoyant

Soukoyant in Caribbean mythology is a type of werewolf that belongs to the class of "jambi", local incorporeal spirits. During the day, a jambi soukoyant looks like a frail old woman, and at night this creature sheds its skin, puts it in a mortar with a special solution, and, turning into a fiery flying ball, goes in search of a victim. Soukoyanth sucks out night wanderers, and then trades it with demons for mystical power.

Like European myths about vampires, if the victim survives, then he becomes the same accomplice. To kill a monster, you need to pour salt into the solution in which its skin lies, after which the creepy creature will die at dawn, as it will not be able to “put on” the skin back.

Penanggalan

It is possible that the creature that we will describe in this paragraph is the most disgusting of the entire list!

Penanggalan is a nightmarish monster that looks like a woman during the day. However, at night, he "takes off" his head and flies away in search of victims, while the spine and everything internal organs Penanggalana hang from his neck. And this is really a real Malaysian legend, and not an invention of modern filmmakers!

The monster's internal organs glow in the dark and can be used as tentacles to clear the way for Penanggalan. In addition, the creature can grow its hair at will to grab its prey.

When Penanggalan notices a burning house, he tries to get inside with the help of "tentacles". With luck, the monster devours all the small children in the house. If there is no way to get into the house, the mystical creature stretches its incredibly long tongue under the house and tries to reach the sleeping inhabitants through cracks in the floor. If the Penanggalan tongue reaches the bedroom, it digs into the body and sucks out the victim's blood.

In the early hours of the morning, Penanggalan soaks his insides in vinegar so that they shrink in size so that they can fit inside his body again.

Kelpie

Kelpie is a water spirit that lives in the rivers and lakes of Scotland. Although the kelpie usually appears in the form of a horse, it can also take the form of a human. Often, kelpies lure people into supposedly rolling them on their backs, after which they drag victims underwater and devour them. However, the tales of the vicious water horse also served as a wonderful warning to children to stay out of the water, and to women to be wary of beautiful strangers.

Ghoul

The ghoul may look just like an ordinary Russian person. He may even have the ability to walk in broad daylight like a Russian. However, he is not Russian. Behind its harmless façade hides a vicious vampire who will gladly refuse all the vodka in the world if they give him even one drop of blood for it. What's more, his love for blood is so great that after he rips you apart with his metal teeth, he might just eat your heart for fun.

The ghoul also loves children (although, you guessed it, not parental love), preferring the taste of their blood, and always drinking their blood before proceeding to drain their parents. He also doesn't dislike the taste of frozen mud, as legend has it that he uses his metal teeth to gnaw his way out of his grave in the dead of winter when his hands freeze due to poor insulation in the coffin.

Basilisk

The basilisk is usually described as a crested snake, although sometimes there are descriptions of a rooster with a snake's tail. This creature can kill birds with its fire breath, humans with a glance, and other living creatures with a simple hiss. Legends say that the basilisk is born from a snake or toad egg that was incubated by a rooster. The word "basilisk" is translated from Greek as "little king", so this creature is often called the "serpent king". During the Middle Ages, basilisks were accused of causing plagues and mysterious murders.

Asasabonsam

You are probably familiar with the old urban legend of the Hook Man. So, as it turns out, the Ashanti people of Ghana tell a similar (albeit much creepier) story about Asasabonsam, a strange vampire with curved iron hooks for legs who lives in the depths of African forests. He hunts by hanging from the branches of trees and thrusting the aforementioned hooks into the body of those unfortunates who pass under this tree. Once he hauls you up a tree, he eats you alive with his iron teeth, and then presumably spends most of the night getting your bloodstains out of his hooks so they don't rust.

Unlike most vampires, he feeds on both humans and animals (so someone needs to alert People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)). The strangest fact about the Asasabonsam is that when its prey is a human, it will first bite off the thumb before moving on to the rest of the body, possibly to prevent you from hitching a ride and getting home if you like- somehow manage to escape from its hooks.

Asmodeus

Asmodeus is a demon of lust who is mostly known from the Book of Tobit (deuterocanonical book Old Testament). He pursues a woman named Sarah and kills her seven husbands out of jealousy. In the Talmud, Asmodeus is mentioned as the prince of demons, who expelled King Solomon from his kingdom. Some folklorists believe that Asmodeus is the son of Lilith and Adam. The legend says that it is he who is responsible for the perversion of people's sexual desires.

Varakolach

Varakolach(s) is arguably the most powerful of all vampires, so it's not at all clear why so little is known about him other than the fact that he has a difficult-to-pronounce name (seriously, try saying it out loud). According to legend, his skin is a dermatologist's worst nightmare - it is terribly pale and dry, and no amount of body lotion can cure it, but otherwise he looks like an ordinary person.

Oddly enough, such a frightening creature as the Romanian Varakolach has only one superpower, but what a superpower! He can devour the sun and moon (in other words, he can cause solar and lunar eclipses at will), which in itself is the coolest of all tricks. However, in order to do this, he must sleep, because, apparently, the invocation of astrological phenomena, which can frighten us even today, and which must have inspired terrible fear in people of more primitive cultures, takes an enormous amount of his energy.

Yorogumo

There are probably more bizarre cryptozoological creatures in Japanese mythology than there are in all seasons of The X-Files. One of the most bizarre is the Yogorumo or "harlot" - a spider-like monster of the Yokai family (goblin-like creatures). The legend of Yogorumo originated during the Edo period in Japan. It is believed that when a spider reaches the age of 400 years, it acquires magical powers. In most legends, the spider turns into beautiful woman, seduces men and lures them to his home, plays the biwa (Japanese lute) for them, and then entangles them in cobwebs and devours them.

upier

The Russian ghoul (see above) has a nightmarish Polish cousin named Upier, who is famous for being even more bloodthirsty. Moreover, his thirst for blood is so strong and insatiable that in addition to drinking huge amounts of it inside, Upier loves to bathe and sleep in it. His body is filled with so much blood that if you drive a stake into him, he will explode into a huge geyser of blood, worthy of the elevator scene from The Shining.

He takes particular pleasure in sucking the blood of friends and family members who were dear to him during his human life, so if one of your friends or relatives has recently turned into Upier, you should know that, most likely, you are already listed as a dish on his menu. When it finally finds you, it immobilizes you with a powerful hug (a kind of farewell bear hug) and then digs its spiked tongue into your neck and sucks every last drop of blood out of you.

Black Annis

A ghostly witch from English folklore, Black Annis is an old woman with a blue face and iron claws who haunted peasants in Leicestershire. Legend has it that she lives in a cave in the Dane Hills, and at night she wanders in search of children to devour. If Black Annis catches a child, she tans its skin and then wears it around her waist. Needless to say, parents scared Black Annis of their children when they misbehaved.

Neuntother

Attention! If you are a hypochondriac by nature, then you probably better not read about this monster!

The Neuntother is a walking biological weapon of mass destruction that does one thing and one thing only - it brings death wherever it goes. Neuntother lives in the myths of Germany and is the carrier of an endless number of terrible types of plague and deadly diseases, which he spreads around him like candy, in whichever city he is in, infecting everyone and everything that gets in his way. Therefore, it is not surprising that, according to legend, it appears only during massive and terrible epidemics.

Neuntother's body is covered in open sores and wounds that constantly ooze pus, and which most likely play an important role in the spread of deadly bacteria (if reading this sentence made you an irresistible desire to immediately bathe in a disinfectant, then you are not alone) . His well-chosen German name literally translates to "Killer of the Nine", and is a reference to the fact that it takes nine days for a corpse to fully transform into a Neuntothera.

Nabau

In 2009, two aerial photographs taken by researchers in Borneo, Indonesia, showed a 30-meter snake swimming down a river. There is still controversy regarding the authenticity of this photograph, as well as whether they actually depict a snake. Some argue that it is a log or a large boat. However, locals living along the Baleh River insist that the creature is Nabau, an ancient dragon-like monster from Indonesian folklore.

According to legends, the Nabau is over 30 meters long, has a head with seven nostrils, and can take the form of several different animals.

Yara-ma-yha-hu

Grab your didgeridoo, because the creature is truly strange. Australian Aboriginal legends describe Yara-ma-yha-hu as a humanoid creature 125 centimeters tall, with red skin and a huge head. Yara-ma-yha-hu spends most of his time in the trees. If you are not lucky enough to pass under such a tree, Yara-ma-yha-hu will jump on you and attach to your body with small suction cups that cover his fingers and toes, so no matter how hard you try, you will not be able to shake off.

Further - worse. Yara-ma-yha-hu made this list primarily due to the peculiarities of its feeding method. Because it doesn't have any fangs, it sucks your blood through the suction cups on your arms and legs until you're weakened to the point where you can't run or even move anywhere. After that, he leaves you lying on the ground like a discarded, half-empty juice can, while he leaves, presumably to have fun with kangaroos and koalas.

When he returns from his evening of fun, he gets down to business and swallows you whole with his huge mouth, then regurgitates you after a while, still alive and unharmed (yes, it's a gagging vampire). This process is repeated over and over again, and each time you become smaller and redder as a result of it digesting you. In the end, yes, yes, you guessed it, you yourself turn into Yara-ma-yha-hu. That's it!

Dullahan

Most people are familiar with Washington Irving's story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and the story of the Headless Horseman. The Irish Dullahan or "dark man" is essentially the forerunner of the ghost of the decapitated Hessian soldier who pursued Ichabod Crane. In Celtic mythology, the dullahan is a harbinger of death. He rides a big black horse with glowing eyes and carries his head under his arm.

Some stories say that the dullahan calls out the name of the person who is about to die, while others say that he marks the person by pouring a bucket of blood over them. Like many monsters and mythical creatures, the Dullahan has one weakness: gold.

Nelapsi

This time the Czechs came up with something really disgusting. Nelapsi is a walking corpse who doesn't care to put on clothes, so he goes hunting in what his mother gave birth to. The lack of clothes combined with glowing red eyes, long messy black hair and teeth as thin as needles is enough to make you leave the lights on at night, but unfortunately that's just the tip of the iceberg.

In fact, Nelapsi can easily win the competition for the most powerful and overbearing of all vampires. He can destroy whole villages at once, and like that guy who is forbidden to approach the buffet, he does not stop until the morning, no matter how much he has already eaten during the night. He is not a picky eater at all and feeds on cattle as well as humans, and kills his victims by either tearing them apart with his teeth or crushing them with his Death's Embrace, which is so powerful it can easily crush bones. However, if given the opportunity, he will try to keep you alive for as long as possible and enjoy torturing his victims for weeks before killing them (because to be called a real villain, you have to torture people for weeks ). However, even that is not all. If Nelapsi leaves the tormented people alive for some reason (very unlikely, you guessed it), they are quickly driven to death by a deadly Noyntoter-style plague that will follow the surviving human wherever they go.

Finally, if all of the above doesn't seem terrifying enough, Nelapsi can also kill people just by looking at them. One of his favorite pastimes is playing "I'm spying on you with one eye" from the tops of church spiers, causing any person that Nelapsi's eye falls on to die on the spot. We may have gone overboard with mentioning just how evil Nelapsi is, but he's such a scoundrel that it's impossible not to emphasize it enough.

Goblins "Red Caps"

Evil goblins in red caps live on the border between England and Scotland. According to legends, they usually live in ruined castles and kill wandering travelers by dropping boulders from cliffs on them. The goblins then paint the caps with the blood of their victims. Redcaps are forced to kill as often as possible because if the blood on their caps dries out, they die.

Evil creatures are usually depicted as old men with red eyes, big teeth, claws and a staff in hand. They are faster and stronger than humans. Legend has it that the only way to escape such a goblin is to shout out a quote from the Bible.

Manticore

This is a fabulous creature that looks like a sphinx. It has the body of a red lion, a human head with 3 rows of sharp teeth and a very loud voice, the tail of a dragon or a scorpion. The manticore shoots poisoned needles at the victim and then eats it whole, leaving nothing. From a distance, she can often be confused with a bearded man. Most likely, this will be the last mistake of the victim.

Indian vampire Brahmaparusha

Brahmaparusha is a vampire, but he is not at all ordinary. These malevolent spirits, which are described in Hindu mythology, have a passion for human brains. Unlike the suave, dapper vampires that live in Romania, the brahmaparusha is a grotesque creature that wears the intestines of its victims around its neck and head. He also carries a human skull with him and when he kills a new victim, he drains her blood into this skull and drinks from it.

In fact, humanity has invented truly nightmarish monsters in its history (and continues to invent!) far from two unfortunate dozens. There are just 20 monsters in our selection. But there is also the vile Japanese sea spirit Umibozu, the American forest human hunter Heidbeheind, a relative of the famous and no less terrible Wendigo, the huge Bakeneko cat, the incredibly fast cannibal Wendigo, the Scandinavian super-strong undead Draugr, the ancient Babylonian Tiamat and many, many others!

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

About section

This section contains articles devoted to phenomena or versions that in one way or another may be interesting or useful to researchers of the unexplained.
Articles are divided into categories:
Informational. They contain useful information for researchers from various fields of knowledge.
Analytical. They include an analysis of the accumulated information about versions or phenomena, as well as descriptions of the results of the experiments.
Technical. They accumulate information about technical solutions that can be used in the field of studying unexplained facts.
Methods. They contain descriptions of the methods used by the members of the group in investigating facts and investigating phenomena.
Media. They contain information about the reflection of phenomena in the entertainment industry: films, cartoons, games, etc.
Known misconceptions. Disclosures of known unexplained facts, collected including from third-party sources.

Article type:

Analytical

Mystical urban legends USA

Urban legends are widespread in the United States and have a huge impact on attitudes towards the paranormal, as they have become the basis of many cult films, TV shows and literary works world famous. These include The X-Files, Supernatural, lots of horror movies like Bloody Mary or The Entity, literary creativity Stephen King, etc. The list of such works can be very long.

Urban legend (in American English - urban legend) is modern variety folklore and is usually fiction. However, in some cases, such stories are based on real incidents, the descriptions of which are distorted by numerous retellings.

The history of modern America began back in 1565, when the Spaniards founded the city of St. Augustine - the first European settlement in the territory of the modern United States. The United States of America itself was formed in 1776 by the unification of thirteen British colonies that declared their independence. The inhabitants who crossed the ocean in search of a new life brought with them a cultural heritage that formed the basis of local mythology. The plots of myths were also influenced by Mexico, rich in cultural, historical and religious heritage, and the indigenous peoples of North America.

Let's look at the main plots of American urban legends and the history of their origin.

It is probably worth starting with a topic that is common to all peoples - mysticism on the roads. Many cultures describe the road as a mystical place, as if it connects not only settlements, but also different worlds. Travelers have a lot of mysterious and creepy stories about the ghosts of people, animals and even cars, about a soul collector who votes on a night road, about a truck engulfed in flames that suddenly appears on the highway and just as suddenly disappears, about UFOs and strange creatures running out on the road, about mysterious fellow travelers and much more.

For example:

At night, in June 1994, a traveler from Alabama was driving a car along the famous highway. Suddenly, he saw a bus coming towards him. The young man managed to turn to the side of the road, and when he got to the first motel he came across, he learned from the owner that he was still very lucky. This bus has been appearing on this section of the route for many years, and there have been a lot of accidents due to its fault.

Unsuspecting motorists who stop on the highway and get out of their cars to stretch their stiff limbs are attacked by packs of demon dogs looking for new victims. A chilling howl, pupils that shimmer with yellow light and sharp teeth like knives - this is the potential danger to which everyone who stops at night on the side of a hellish highway in Utah exposes themselves.

The next place in terms of the frequency of the appearance of mystical creatures, probably, should be considered a cemetery. Again, the Americans are not unique in this, almost every nation considers the burial places of the dead to be the gates to another world. There are many stories about cemeteries about ghosts and other mystical creatures.

For example, the legend of the blond Mary is quite widely known:

In the early 1980s, a man drove past the cemetery and saw a woman locked in the cemetery after it closed. It never occurred to him that it was a ghost; he thought that someone had been left in the cemetery and needed help. The man went straight to the police station for help. The police arrived at the cemetery and did not notice anyone. But they found that the iron bars next to the cemetery gates had been unbent by what appeared to be human hands. The rods were blackened and burned, and they had notches that looked like fingers.

But perhaps the most famous is the phrase "ancient Indian cemetery." If it is present under a building or in any territory, this place may contain ghosts, a poltergeist, and simply pose a danger to the inhabitants.

In American culture, there are many references to ghosts in residential buildings, public buildings, roadside motels, cafes, and even gas stations.

In addition to ghosts, there are often references to strange creatures. The most famous legends include meetings with the Mothman, the Jersey Devil and strange people having some visible defect (for example, people with black or completely white eyes).

For example:

In October 2005, a 47-year-old female realtor named Tee related one such case. A stranger knocked on the office door just after lunch. He looked to be about 17, or possibly 18. He arrived on a bicycle. He asked if there were apartments available.

“I remember how I suddenly felt a terrible fear, barely seeing his eyes. Goosebumps crawled up my back, I just trembled! How much I work, but I don’t remember that this happened to me at least once, - says Ty. I couldn't look him straight in the eye. It seemed to me that I would die right now ... He did not approach me, he simply stood outside the threshold and waited for me to invite him in or take him to see a free apartment. He talked to me normally, and I slammed the door in front of him and rushed away from there - to hell. I felt like I was in mortal danger. And it's all because of his eyes. If I had looked into them a little longer, I probably would not have been able to close the door. And after that it shook for a few more hours.

On the late night of November 15, 1966, Scarberry and Mallett, a couple, were driving through an abandoned munitions factory seven miles outside of Point Pleasant, West Virginia. As they drew level with the factory gate, they noticed a strange glow, which they thought was coming from a generator set. However, after stopping the car and taking a closer look, they realized that the two red lights were not from the generator - they belonged to a living being.

People had time to notice that it looked like a man, but six and a half or seven feet tall, with wings folded behind its back. Noticing them, the creature turned around and headed towards them. Frightened, Scarberry and the Mulletts jumped into the car and ran away. The creature spread its wings and took off in pursuit of the car. It pursued the fugitives to the very edge of the city, and its speed exceeded 100 miles per hour.

A terrible incident rocked the quiet seaside town of Atlantic City yesterday. Its inhabitants have never had to witness such a mysterious and incredible tragedy. As expected, it happened in the darkness of the night.
Hal F. Williams, an Electric Company employee, was returning to Philadelphia with his wife and two children after a weekend at sea. Hardly anyone could have predicted that this would be his last trip. Did he think about it when a minor accident forced him to stop near Atlantic City?

“Hal was a little annoyed by the delay, but he didn't show concern,” says Mrs. Williams. - He disappeared within minutes. It happened completely silently. I even thought he was playing a prank on me until I noticed blood on the grass. What grabbed him appeared completely unnoticed."

Fortunately for the distraught Mrs. Williams, she and the children were picked up by Mr. Dixon, a resident of a small town, passing by at such a late hour. In New City, Mr. Dixon immediately took Mrs. Williams to the police station. Struck by her story, Sergeant Cleveland roused the entire police force of the city. And, as soon as dawn broke, a detachment of policemen and volunteers immediately went to look for the missing person and his killer.
Sergeant Patrick Cleveland discovered the body. Here is what he says:

“I have never seen such mutilated corpses before. The deceased had no legs, and he looked as if they had simply been torn off or gnawed off."
When the fate of the electrician was clarified, the brave hunters set off in the bloody footsteps of his killer. Not far from the highway, in one of the small caves, they found a lair. The frightened inhabitant did not want to leave his hole. Not wanting to lure out a dangerous beast, the police simply shot him dead. What was the surprise of the hunters when they removed from the cave not the carcass of a cougar or a grizzly, but ... a human corpse!

Most cultures in the world have their own werewolf legends, and America is no exception. It is believed that they adopted faith in them from the Indians. Navajo legends tell of "black" shamans and witches who can transform into wolves, coyotes, bears, or birds, yet retain human intelligence.

One of the stories about werewolves:

In 1960, Delbart Cregg of Texas described a mysterious incident that happened to her in 1958. One of the nights, someone scratched through an open window covered with a metal mesh. The woman began to look closely and, when lightning flashed, she saw a terrible wolf face. When she jumped up for a flashlight, the monster ran into the bushes, and soon a man came out of the bushes instead of him, who quickly disappeared in the direction of the road.

America also has its own "Nessie": a mysterious creature lives in Lake Champlain. There are stories about vampires and about evil spirits. But not all stories have remained unchanged.

A rather striking example of the change in European ideas that have passed through American culture is the Tommyknockers. From English mining folklore, stories of knockers came to the American land. This word comes from the English knockers, which, according to the New International Dictionary in English Webster, means "spirits or goblins who live in mines and knock warning of a possible collapse." But the work of Stephen King "Tommynockers", where he calls this word rather scary aliens, radically changed the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bits about them, giving rise to a terrible legend among the new generation about creatures knocking on doors.

However, the most famous characters of urban legends can still be considered primordially American. It was on the territory of the United States that the popularization of stories about encounters with UFOs and aliens began. Mass observations of unidentified objects moving in the sky began in the middle of the 20th century. After that, the topic of UFOs, aliens and "men in black" developed quite quickly, overgrown with new stories and details.

“They flew about 20-25 miles and disappeared from sight. For about three minutes, I watched as a chain of objects moving like saucers on water, like thrown flat stones, objects, stretching for at least 5 miles, tacked between high mountain peaks. They were flat as pans and, like a mirror, reflected Sun rays. I saw it all quite clearly and distinctly.” - K. Arnold described his observations

There is no strict division into children's and adult folklore in American urban legends. The same stories circulate among children and adolescents as among adults. However, among adults, it is still much less common to meet people who summon spirits or head to a cemetery or an abandoned house in order to tickle their nerves. Therefore, the most revealing among teenage and children's folklore is the story of Bloody Mary, very similar to the legend of the Queen of Spades, common in. The evocation rules are as follows: "Look directly into the mirror and say three times: "Bloody Mary, come to me!" When you say these words for the third time, you will see Mary behind your left shoulder." It is believed that this is very risky, because she can kill the caller.

Thus, there are not many stories in US urban legends that were not borrowed from other cultures. However, thanks to the film industry, comics and books, American culture contributes to their modification and popularization. Distinctive feature American urban legends can be called the frequent presence in the story of the exact dates of this or that incident, which makes it possible to filter the real components of the described incident from the rumors that it has acquired in the process of retelling.

It is hard to believe, but among the urban legends that frightened us in childhood, there are often absolutely true ones. It often happens that the scary stories told at night gatherings actually happened to real people.

Escalator eating people

Легенда: Parents often enjoy being the director of a horror movie, even as they teach their kids the importance of learning how to tie their shoelaces. They mention a story about "that guy" who lived nearby, and one day he didn't tie his shoelaces, and they got into the escalator in the store. The remains of his fingers are still being picked out with dental floss. However, after many safe rides on the escalator, it starts to feel like a meteorite will fall on your head rather than the escalator will swallow your fingers.

Truth: Escalators seem to be really hungry, like wolves. In this case, mechanical, intangible wolves that can't stop once they taste human blood. The laces are pulled inwards, like cola through a straw. These are the words of Kevin Doherty, one of the escalator safety experts. According to him, it's just not likely what an escalator can do to human flesh.

It happened that fingers and even feet were chewed by escalators. And the worst thing happens if the victim tries to escape from this “shredder for people. Most likely, no one wants to deal with the escalator when he is in the process of his meal.

For example, in 2003, a girl lost part of her arm when she tried to free her shoe from being stuck in an escalator. And in 2005, for a 34-year-old man, the choice of a hood as a headdress was a mistake. He hit the escalator, which pulled the man down and strangled him. No one knows if he tried to get his shoelace or just sat down on the escalator.

The escalator is not only dangerous, not only the teeth at the end and beginning. If you drag your foot in the place where the wall intersects with the steps, then you can miss at least three fingers. Escalators have a back-and-forth feature, so it can get painful, even if they don't look like jaws with steel knives.

closet girl

Легенда: Almost everyone knows the feeling when you're in your room and suddenly you feel like someone's watching you. This creepy property of our brain is often the subject of ghost stories. From the depths of the house someone's whisper is heard, and in the morning you can find a strange message on your forehead. All these fears are pretty irrational, aren't they?

Truth: A 57-year-old Japanese man began to pay attention to the fact that in his house small objects began to change their places on their own. Food disappeared, although he clearly remembered that he had not eaten it. At night, he was awakened by strange sounds, but each time the front door and windows were securely closed. There was no stranger in his house.

Halloween is ahead of us all, and most recently Friday the 13th took place, so get ready for a new batch of creepy horror stories that have been scaring residents of very different cities of the world for many years.

Urban legends are passed down from generation to generation, just like good books or family traditions, so don't be surprised if your children tell each other scary stories about black people and a coffin on wheels. And if on the eve of Halloween you do not have enough inspiration for a new costume, read this collection of horror movies right now!

10. El Silbon (El Silbon) or Whistler

In Venezuela and Colombia, there is a terrible tale about a creature cursed to roam the Earth for all eternity with a bag of bones on its back.

The mystical creature was once a young boy who lived with his parents in Venezuela. El Silbon was the only child in the family, and his parents spoiled him very much. As a result, the boy became a spoiled, capricious and harmful young man.

One day the child requested that his parents cook him venison for dinner. The father could not get such meat, which made the demanding son very angry. El Silbon stabbed his own father with a knife, pulled out his insides and brought them to his mother to cook supper from the offal.

The unsuspecting woman used the meat for cooking, although it seemed suspicious to her. Finally realizing what had happened, the mother was horrified and was so overwhelmed with grief that she allowed her grandfather to punish the evil boy on his own.

The grandfather beat the child half to death, and he poured into his wounds lemon juice and rubbed the chili pepper. Then he handed his grandson a sack full of his father's bones and set a pack of dogs on the little villain. Right before the beasts tore the boy apart, his grandfather cursed him to wander forever. Thus, a creature named El Silbon was born.

It is said that he still wanders through the forests, fields and villages, whistling a simple melody under his breath, and sneaking into other people's houses. There he throws a bag of bones on the floor and counts them right in the house. If no one notices the monster's presence, one member of that family will die. However, if the household catches the Whistler (the second nickname of the cursed creature), no one will suffer, and the inhabitants of the house, on the contrary, will be lucky.

9 Suicide Drawing From Japan


Photo: urbanlegendsonline.com

The most disturbing and scary urban legends often appear in Asian countries, and many of them even become the basis for famous horror films.

According to one such legend, a young Japanese woman painted a colored portrait of a young girl who seemed to look straight into the eyes of the viewer. A talented artist published a drawing on the Internet and, for an unknown reason, soon committed suicide.

After the incident, netizens began to write comments on this drawing, and many said that they see sadness and even anger in the eyes of the drawn girl. Others wrote that if you look at this portrait for too long, the stranger's lips begin to curl into a smirk, and a strange ring appears around her image. Some went even further - people began to spread rumors about the poor fellows who looked at the picture for more than 5 minutes in a row and then also committed suicide.

8. Nixies (Nykur)


Photo: kickassfacts.com

We are used to the fact that in films and pictures horses are portrayed as beautiful creatures and noble animals. However, if you ever find yourself in Iceland and notice a gray horse there, standing on the shore of the sea or lake, do yourself a favor and get accustomed to the hooves of the beast. If they look the other way, then you have a problem - it looks like you met with a nyx ...

Nyxes are said to be monsters that live in the water, but sometimes come to the coast to lure unsuspecting people to the bottom of the reservoir. The skin of such a horse is sticky, so if a person, fascinated by a wild horse, wants to saddle an animal, he will no longer be able to get off it and will be doomed to certain death, because the nyx will drag the rider to the bottom. There is a belief that if you call out the name of the mystical horse, it will get scared and run back into the water without harming anyone.

7. Child in a high chair

This city walks all over the world, but it most likely appeared in Norway. For many years, a Norwegian couple could not afford to go on vacation. Finally, everything fell into place - the couple found a reliable nanny for their grown-up baby and planned a trip.

When the day of departure came, the nanny still did not appear. She called and said that she had problems with the car. However, the woman also said that she could call a mechanic and be there in 15 minutes because she had almost reached the couple's house and was ready to walk.

Taking the nanny's word for it, the parents put their son in a high chair, fastened the child with special belts, kissed him goodbye and left the house. The couple was in a hurry to get on the plane. They left one of the doors open so that the nanny could go inside.

One version of the legend says that the nurse could not get into the house because all the doors were closed (they were slammed by the wind), and she decided that the parents took the child with them. The woman went home without being sure if this was true.

According to another version, on the way to the house, the nanny was hit by a truck, and according to the third scenario, the nurse was actually an elderly relative of the family, and on the way she had heart attack. In any case, she never got to the house where she was waiting for a little boy on a high chair.

In all versions, the couple return home to find the child dead and still strapped into his child seat...

6 Studley Road Girl

The scariest urban legends are the horror stories that take place closer to our own cities and homes, or when the mention of them pops up again and more recently. Three years ago, a user of the social platform Reddit told a horror story that terrified him all his childhood and all his youthful years. The man lives in Mechanicsville, Virginia (Mechanicsville, Virginia), and in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthis town lies a winding road called Studley Road.

Several years ago, a family with an alcoholic father lived in a small house near this road. One evening the man went berserk and beat his wife and child to death and then killed himself. The girl had a broken jaw, but she did not die immediately. In search of help, she managed to get to the road, where she fell dead, blood all over her pajamas.

Since then, on the winding curves of Studley Road in the middle of woodland, some drivers have seen the luminous figure of a little girl trudging along the curb with her back to passing cars. Unsuspecting motorists, unaware of the creepy legend, stop to help a child in pajamas. The girl turns around and lets out an inhuman scream, showing her dangling bloodied jaw to the stunned travelers. Sometimes she even tries to say something, but because of the blood flowing from her mouth, she manages to make only gurgling sounds.

5 Ghost Wagon

South Africa also has its own urban myths, and the most famous among them are the story of the Flying Dutchman and the ghostly fellow traveler from Uniondale. However, the most terrible legend originated here in 1887. Major Alfred Ellis told this terrible tale in his South African Sketches, and since then the legend has terrified all the locals.

Four men - Lutterodt, Seruriy, Anthony de Heer (Lutterodt, Seururier, Anthony de Heer) and an unnamed visitor from Cape Town - boarded a wagon and set off on a joint trip from Ceres to Beaufort West (Ceres, Beaufort West). This area has long been famous for being haunted, which was even indicated on old South African maps. During the trip, one of the wheels of the wagon suddenly broke, and its repair lasted until 3 o'clock in the morning. The company returned to the road again, but their horse suddenly rebelled, froze in place and refused to go further.

Out of nowhere, the men heard the sound of another wagon approaching at high speed. When the travelers finally saw her, they realized that a team of 14 horses was rushing right at them, whipped by the coachman with all his might. Frightened, Latterodt, Serurii and a stranger from the capital jumped out of their wagon, and de Heer grabbed the reins and managed to remove their transport from the road. An angry de Heer shouted at the hurrying coachman: “Where are you going?”, To which he replied: “To hell.” With these words, the wagon vanished into thin air, as if it had never existed.

Later, Lutterodt learned that anyone who dared to talk to the ghostly coachman ended up very badly. A week after this incident, de Heer's body was found at the bottom of a rocky gorge, and the wreckage of his wagon and the corpses of horses lay right there next to their master.

4. Blue baby


Photo: urbanlegendsonline.com

Like Bloody Mary, the Blue Baby is a legend associated with a mirror, except in the case of a little boy, there is also an insane mother who killed her child with a piece of that very mirror. Naturally, after the birth of a terrible story, there were those who are trying to call on an innocent victim, nicknamed the blue child. The ritual for meeting the other world includes going to the bathroom at night. Make-up mirror needs to be fogged up so that you can write "blue baby" on it. The light at this time should be turned off, and the one who made the inscription should fold his hands as if a real child were lying on them. Belief says that the spirit of the boy will certainly appear in the hands of the person calling him. If for some reason you drop this baby on the floor, your mirror will break and you will die.

According to another version, the boy appears if you go into a dark bathroom, repeat “blue baby” 13 times, and all this time move your arms, as if you were rocking a child. The ghost will not only make itself felt, but also scratch you. However, this time, do not be afraid to drop the child, because the escape from the bathroom will the best way survive. They say that during such a seance, a distraught mother may appear in the mirror, and she will definitely want to kill you.

Source 3The woman who hanged herself on a delonix royal


Photo: abc.net.au

One of Australia's creepiest urban myths is the story of a young woman from the town of Darwin who was raped by a Japanese fisherman near East Point. When the girl realized that she was pregnant, she was horrified and hanged herself on the nearest tree, which turned out to be the royal delonix.

The restless spirit of the victim began to haunt all the men who appeared in East Point. The girl appeared in the form of an alluring figure in white. However, as soon as the man succumbed to the charms of the beauty, she turned into a terrible witch with long claws, tore her prey apart and ate the insides of unfortunate men.

The most intrepid adventurers can try to evoke a suicidal spirit by visiting the local park on a moonless night. Turn around yourself three times and call the woman by name. An eerie scream will notify you that the séance was a success. Although in this case it is better not to hesitate and run without looking back if you value your own guts.

2. Devil's toy box


Photo: thoughtcatalog.com

The Hellraiser series of mystical films is said to have been inspired by a terrifying urban legend buzzing across America. According to rumors in Louisiana (Louisiana, USA) there is a one-room house, the walls of which are covered with mirrors from the floor to the ceiling. The place got the creepy name "Devil's Toy Box", and according to the myth, if you enter this house and linger there for too long, the devil appears in the room and takes the unfortunate soul.

Specialists in the field supernatural phenomena found out that the mirrors facing the inside of the house form a hexagon, and according to rumors, it is almost impossible to stay in this room for more than 5 minutes. One person stood there for more than 4 minutes and went out into the street completely dumb. Since then, he never spoke again. One woman in this room completely survived a cardiac arrest, and a teenager who entered the "devil's box" was hardly taken out of there - he screamed and fought like a madman. Two weeks later, the guy committed suicide.

1. Tsok-tsok


Photo: yokai.com

One terrible Japanese legend says that a few years after the Second World War in Hokkaido, American soldiers raped and beat a local girl. The scolded Japanese woman jumped off the bridge over the railroad tracks that same evening, and was immediately hit by a train. The unfortunate body was cut in half at the waist. The weather that evening was very frosty, and therefore the girl did not die immediately. Slowly bleeding, she (her upper half) crawled to the station, where a shocked station employee threw a piece of tarpaulin over the terrible remains. The suicide died in terrible agony.

According to Japanese legend, 3 days after you heard or read this sad story, the ghost of a young woman will find you, and you will know about her approach by a characteristic clatter. If you think you can run away legless girl as easy as shelling pears, you are mistaken, because it is capable of moving at a speed of 150 kilometers per hour. No wonder it's a ghost...

After the death of the suicide, she set herself the goal of grabbing as much as possible more people. The ghost chases its victims to cut them in half, and takes the lower part of the body for itself. The only way to avoid a terrible fate is to answer the monster's questions correctly. The girl will ask if you need your legs. The answer is that you need them right now. And if the ghost asks who told you this story, feel free to say: "Kashima Reiko (Kashima Reiko)".