#1 Edgar Allan Poe Predicted The Future. His Only Novel Is About 4 Shipwrecked Men Who Run Out Of Food And Eat The Cabin Boy, Richard Parker. 46 Years After It Published, A Yacht Sank In Real Life And 3 Of The 4 Survivors Also Decided To Eat The Cabin Boy... Named Richard Parker
#2 Houska Castle, Located In Czech Republic, Is A Castle That Was Built Over A Hole So Deep, That Nobody Could See The Bottom. It Was Supposedly Built To “Keep The Demons And Monsters From Hell” From Ever Reaching The World
#3 In 2003, Two Men Stole A Parked Boeing 727 From Luanda International Airport And Flew Away Into The Sunset. They've Never Been Found
Given people's fascination with urban legends, an important question arises: what drives this interest? According to New York Times bestselling author Vincent Ralph, it all goes back to our inherent morbid curiosities.
#4 John Bentinck, 5th Duke Of Portland - Was Most Remembered For His Eccentric Behavior. Only One Servant Saw Him For Two Decades. He Built 15 Miles Of Tunnels Under His Estate Including A Giant Ballroom That Never Had Dances. Every Room In His Mansion And Everywhere Underground Was Painted Pink
#5 In 1925 Percy Fawcett Vanished In The Amazon Jungle, In His 3rd Attempt To Find "Z", A Lost Ancient City Deep In The Jungle, Commonly Believed To Be A Myth. Recent Technological Advances Have Made It Possible To Digitally Deforest Part Of The Amazon, Revealing An Extensive Urban Settlement
#6 Yemen's Well Of Barhout - The "Well Of Hell", Which Is 100 Feet Wide And 328-820 Feet Deep. Foul Smells Emanate From The Well, And Folklore Says It Served As A Prison For Demons
“The best urban legends are both unnerving and, somehow, safe. They are horrifying situations twice removed,” Ralph wrote. “We’ve all heard of the friend-of-a-friend who repeated a cursed mantra in front of the mirror or took a wrong turn in the woods, but few can verify their fate.”
#7 The Real Christine, A 1964 Dodge 330 With A Confirmed Total Of 14 Owners, Each Owner Passing Away Before The Next
#8 In 1912, A 4 Year Old Boy Named Bobby Dunbar Went Missing While On A Family Trip. 8 Months Later, Bobby Was Found & Reunited Him With His Family. Almost 100 Years Later, DNA Evidence Proved That Child Who They Found Wasn’t Actually Bobby. No One Knows What Happened To The Real Bobby Dunbar
#9 The Beast Of Gévaudan Was A Creature With "Formidable Teeth, And An Immense Tail" Believed To Have Attacked 610 People, Resulting In 500 Casualties Between 1764 And 1767 In The Margeride Mountains Of France
Ralph explained that FOMO also has a lot to do with fanaticism about urban legends. He even described it as “the beating heart” of those who love their folklore.
But at the same time, Ralph says the what-ifs regarding their authenticity are what make urban myths a hit among those who subscribe to them.
#10 Erdstall Tunnels - Around 2,000 Medieval Era Tunnels Can Be Found Throughout Europe. No One Knows Who Built Them, Or Why
#11 This Picture From Over 200 Years Ago Depicts A UFO On A Beach In Eastern Japan. It States That An Attractive Woman, Aged 18 To 20, Was Aboard And Greeted Those On The Beach While Holding A Strange Box In Her Hand
#12 In 1976, Four Men Witnessed A UFO While Visiting The Allagash Wilderness Waterway. Their Stories Were The Exact Same For 40+ Years And They Showed Real Signs Of PTSD. They Also All Passed A Lie Detector. The Men Were Certain That What They Were Abducted By Unknown Beings During That Camping Trip
Medical journalist Naveed Saleh also pointed to how urban legends “prey on listener fear” while enjoying “long shelf lives” because of the internet. As he explained, these stories resurface in various iterations, especially through social media.
#13 The Human Skin Manuscript Of Kazakhstan - An Ancient Latin Manuscript, With A Cover Made Of Human Skin And Only 10 Out Of 330 Pages Deciphered And Is Shrouded In Mystery. Hiding Secrets No One Has Fully Uncovered
#14 This Obsidian Mirror Was Used By Queen Elizabeth I’s Adviser And Occultist John Dee To 'Speak' With Spirits Of The Dead And Angels. The Researchers Estimate That Dee’s Mirror Is Over 500 Years Old, Most Likely Made In The Final Decades Before The Spanish Conquest Of Mexico In 1521
“Although (these stories) change during the course of retelling, with urban legends, these changes are often cosmetic in nature,” Saleh wrote. “The setting or time of urban legends changes while the message is retained, which gives urban legends staying power—especially in the age of the internet.”
#16 In 1981, The Badly Decomposed Bodies Of Dean And Tina Clouse Were Found In A Wooded Area Near Houston, With The Whereabouts Of Their Infant Daughter, Holly, Unknown. In 2022, Holly Was Found Alive, After Two Women In White Robes Had Abandoned Her In Arizona 40 Years Prior
#17 The Brazilian Tribe Members Had Never Heard Of "Aliens" Before, They Did Not Understand, But When They Were Shown A Picture Of An Alien Grey They Recognized It Immediately And Said: "That Is Mankunawabu" They Live Underground
#18 A Bible Believed To Be 1,500 Years Old Challenges The Crucifixion Of Jesus Christ, Proposing That It Was Judas Who Was Crucified By Roman Soldiers. This Ancient Text, Known As The Gospel Of Barnabas, Recently Surfaced In Turkey's Ethnography Museum Of Ankara, Causing Significant Controversy
#19 Ghost Ships - Ships Found Abandoned With No Sign Of The Crew, Still Occur Even With Modern Methods Of Rescue, Safety And Communication. The Last Recorded Ship To Be Found With No Sign Of Life Was In January 2021
#20 The Patomskiy Crater - Local Indigenous People Call It "The Fire Eagle Nest", And Consider It "An Evil Place Where Animals Will Not Go, And Where People Feel Unwell And Can Even Disappear. The Large Scar On The Landscape Of Siberia Has Puzzled Scientists Since Its Discovery In 1949
