Urban legends. You know them. The scary stories you always hear at sleepovers or around a summer campfire. The ones that have been told and retold, passed down from one generation to the next, sometimes taking on new twists and turns as they go. Can you believe the first traces of these contemporary legends date back to the 1960s? And the same elements that make them such good urban myths — the horrifying, the humorous, and the cautionary — kept the legends alive until now.
Yeah, you heard that right. You might be surprised to learn that urban legends are still alive and well in our society. Not only have they been turned into movies and TV shows, but some have even inspired games and popular fiction tropes! The stories of haunted houses, serial killers, and evil spirits are so ingrained in our minds that we don’t realize how much of an impact they’ve had on popular culture — and how many people still love hearing them.
So if you’re looking for a fun way to test your knowledge of modern myths, or want to prolong the Halloween spirit this year, here are some of the most famous urban legends that show no signs of leaving our minds anytime soon!
#1
Ghost jogger
Modern legends tell stories of a friendly ghost jogger that knocks on people’s car windows to say hello. Another version describes a man who woke up one night and saw someone jogging past his window, then remembered he lived on the second floor.
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#2
The licked hand
A scary urban legend popular among teenagers. The story narrates how a killer secretly spends the night under a girl’s bed, licking her hand when offered, which the girl thinks is her dog. The girl only finds the truth the following day, when she finds her dog dead in her closet and a bloody message — “humans can lick too.”
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#3
Arizona’s Skinwalkers
Skinwalkers are said to be people (some versions say they are former healers) who turned evil and acquired the ability to shapeshift into animals and other people. This Native American legend is so deeply rooted in Arizona’s culture that when a Navajo woman was found brutally murdered in 1987, people said only a Skinwalker could have done that.
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#4
The call is coming from inside the house
A young woman working as a babysitter receives a creepy call from a mysterious person asking, “Have you checked the kids?” She then calls the police, only to find out the call came from inside the house. A version of the story ends up with the children getting murdered. This famous urban legend became a popular horror scenario.
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#5
Night marchers
According to Hawaiian folklore, night marchers are the ghosts of highly respected Hawaiian warriors who march around the islands to protect the most sacred areas.
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#6
Bloody Mary
According to this folk legend, the spirit of Bloody Mary appears to reveal the future if you say her name multiple times while looking in a mirror. Different versions of it depict her as a benevolent or evil creature depending on the story. Some have tried to explain the phenomenon, stating that staring into a mirror in a scarcely lit room for a prolonged period of time can cause hallucinations.
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#7
The little girl on Knock Knock Road
A young girl murdered on Knock Knock Road in the Detroit area now appears to drivers at their car windows and taps on the glass, trying to find her killer.
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#8
La Mala Hora
La Mala Hora is an evil entity from New Mexico folklore that haunts crossroads at night, hunting solo travelers. Legend says that meeting it brings disaster to your family.
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#9
The spider bite
In the 1970s, a modern urban legend began emerging in Europe. It featured a young woman bitten on the cheek by a spider. The bite kept swelling until it burst open, revealing hundreds of tiny spiders growing inside her cheek.
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#10
The kidney heist
In this local legend, a man is seduced by a charming woman and spends the night with her. The next morning he wakes up in a bathtub full of ice, only to find one of his kidneys has been removed and sold on the black market.
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#11
Loch Ness Monster
Also known as “Nessie”, it’s probably one of our list’s most famous urban legends. The Loch Ness monster is allegedly a massive creature with a long neck, found in the waters of the Scottish Highlands. In ancient Scottish stone carvings, Nessie has been depicted as a hostile creature that attacks swimmers and fishermen.
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#12
The 100 Steps Cemetery
This modern legend claims that if someone enters this cemetery at midnight, they must climb the steps and count to 100. At this point, an undertaker’s spirit will appear and show the person a vision of their death. On the way back down, the visitor must count the steps again — if the number of steps is the same, the vision is false. People who tried to trick the ghost by avoiding the steps altogether have reported being shoved to the ground by a mysterious force.
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#13
The spirits of Hoosac Tunnel
The Hoosac Tunnel in Massachusetts has had its fair share of tragic events. One of the most horrendous happened when 13 miners got trapped inside the tunnel due to an explosion. While everyone thought they were dead, it was later discovered the miners had survived for some time but eventually died due to poisonous gas inhalation. Rumors say the 13 miners have been haunting the tunnel ever since.
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#14
The 13th Child (Jersey Devil)
In 1735, a woman who lived in New Jersey’s Pine Barrens got pregnant for the 13th time. Not wanting another pregnancy, she cursed the baby out of frustration. Born as a normal child, the baby later changed into a monstrous creature who has been terrorizing the area ever since. Sightings of the legendary beast became so widespread that it’s rumored the Philadelphia Zoo offered a $10,000 reward for its capture.
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#15
Polybius
Polybius’ urban myth emerged when arcade games were still going strong. Polybius was allegedly an arcade game that caused psychoactive and addictive effects as part of an experiment conducted by the government in Portland, Oregon. Men would appear out of nowhere to collect data from the machine before vanishing.
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#16
Chupacabra
The first sightings of this legendary monster were reported in Puerto Rico, but this ominous creature has been said to roam various parts of the Americas. The name "chupacabra" comes from the beast's habit of attacking goats and drinking their blood.
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#17
Bunny Man
Bunny Man is a scary urban legend following a man from Virginia who, dressed as a rabbit, killed people with an axe. Most stories about him occurred around Colchester Overpass, later called “The Bunny Man Bridge”.
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#18
The boy in the bathroom at Pine Haven School
Located in Jamestown, Tennessee, this old school was allegedly the location of a tragic story. The local legend says a group of bullies cornered a boy in one of the bathrooms and pushed him against a mirror, which broke into pieces and killed him. Desperate to hide what they did, the bullies buried the body under the floorboards. The story led people to visit the abandoned building; some swore they could see the boy’s reflection in the mirror.
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#19
Krampus
Krampus’ urban legend finds its roots in Germanic Christmas folklore. The myth describes Krampus as Santa’s assistant, a half-goat, half-demon, who punishes misbehaving children. While Santa rewards good kids with sweets and gifts, Krampus beats with branches, kidnaps, and sometimes even eats the bad ones.
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#20
Mothman
A contemporary legend about a moth-like humanoid creature seen in the Point Pleasant area, West Virginia, in 1967. According to the reports, Mothman has glowing red eyes and enormous wings, and has been first spotted by a couple who claimed the creature was chasing them while they were driving down the interstate.
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