Top 10 Scary Slenderman Urban Legends
10. Dead Rats on the Wall
This story is messed up. This whole saga was posted on Reddit No Sleep a few years ago by Redditor Moonbay. She said she went away with her husband to her Grandpa’s cabin and on their way up to the country, he husband cracked his classic Slenderman joke. When they got to the cabin, the girl saw scratch marks on one of the sides of the cabin, like someone had dragged a rake across the side of the house. She made a note to tell her grandpa but got on with her trip. That night, she heard something outside, like scratching. Her husband joked it was Slenderman again, but then said seriously that it must be rats and in the morning he would set up some pest control. IT turns it was indeed rats…..rats nailed to the cabin wall! The husband is a bit concerned but thinks it was kids playing a prank. The next night, there is scratching noises and heavy breathing and growling coming from outside the cabin and the pair both agree to leave at first light. In the morning, they step out to a whole menagerie of dead woodland animals strewn around the property and Goodbye, thanks for playing written in blood on the wall. Was it Slenderman urban legend, or some other woodland killer?!
9. The Garage
Incrediblefalk 1 posted about an encounter with Slenderman in their garage in Texas, USA. They admitted that they had read a lot of the No Sleep sub reddit and played the Slenderman video game. One night, they said they walked out to their garage to grab a drink after school and they noticed it smelled a lot like Gasoline. They grabbed an Arizona Watermelon cocktail and as they were walking out of the garage, they heard a growling noise. They looked over their shoulder and that is when they saw it. The Redditor says that what they saw looked a lot like the descriptions of slenderman, just with no suit. They said it was like looking at a warped naked mannequin with abnormally long arms. They also said that the mans hands were black with an inky shine to them. When he want back to the garage the next day, with caution, he took these pictures of the garage and big handprints he found.
8. Xbox
Something weird happened with an X Box 5 years ago in Ohio. Posted to reddit about his experience in a new house. MyBudDaVinci wrote that their new home had been the location for a murder and a previous reported Slenderman Sighting. When this guys parents were out one evening, he was playing videogames online with some friends. Everything is fine until he gets a text and puts his controller down, which is when his game character appeared to morph into Slenderman and stared at him through the screen. Then, he started to move through the screen and in to real life….which was when the guy woke up. He saw his clock, which said it was past 4am…and the though….woah, that was weird, he must have been asleep at his computer for two hours. He then noticed that his bedroom door and window were open. A bit freaked out, he closed them, went to check on his dog, and when he came back, he noticed the clock again….it was 2.16am, the time he last remembered playing his game.
7. Slenderman Tape
Sometimes Slenderman will come for you….and in those times, you just need to run! Run is exactly what this one redditor did when Slendy came for him. ScizorofVenus wrote that in their old hood, they saw Slenderman – tall, slender, black, no face, creepy. Sure. After seeing him a few times, he says that he moved. Good on him, Slendz is a creep. When they were at a new home, a village by a mountain, the guys wife saw something weird on the mountain will hiking. Later, the guy found a tape in a drawer that was seemingly an interview with a child called JImmy. The kid seemed scared about something. Jimmy the kid seemed to hallucinate, and the guy listening to the tape had a hallucination of his own – he dreamed Slenderman came to him with tentacles and that he hid his wife and kid in a mountain cave. He woke up to hear the kid in the tape screaming.
6. The Optic Nerve
Optic Nerve are also known as The Organisation, the Bureau and the Anti S-Walker Unit. This is the legendary group that observes and tracks Slenderman. The Optic Nerve is highly secretive but the urban legend goes that they’re based in Washington and are a government organisation; possible a collaborative outfit between the USA and Germany. The ON is said to have been watching Slenderman for years and believe that he is harvesting organs for some greater evil purpose. While the team tracks Slender man, who they call the Tall Man or S Man, they do not know how to neutralize him.
5. Slenderman in the Fog
The person from this Reddit post was convinced that slenderman was just a creepy pasta until they encountered him on a foggy night. The sun was setting and it cast a weird blueish light over the fog. The narrators dog seemed antsy and the cat seemed weird too, although the pair didn’t love each other. When they went to the bathroom, they looked in the mirror and saw something reflected – it seems that there was a long, tall figure outside, looking around. They thought it was a trick of the light, but when they went to let the cat out, they noticed that there was a crouched figure by the trees in the garden. As they strained to get a look at what it was, their neighbours came home, lighting up the fog around them with their car headlights. The figure seemed to disappear.
4. The Cannock Sightings
In 2015, slenderman rumours were as rife as ever when not one, but four people reported seeing the spooky figure in and around Cannock, in the midlands of Great Britain. Some swear the sightings were slenderman, others were convinced it was the lost soul of a ghoul, roaming the old mining town. That being said, three of the four slendy sightings were inside a house! One witness said tha they woke up to see a sphere shared shadow in their room and as they tried to get up to investigate, the woman sad– I quote As I tried to get out of bed and investigate further, the shadow began to stretch towards the ceiling. “It was at that point I found myself faced with the most disgusting and horrific creature imaginable.“It was about eight feet tall and had a white face with razor-sharp fangs.” Another household reported the tall man to have fierce red eyes and was wearing a black suit and hat. The indoor sightings are being explained by the effects of Sleep paralysis. Anther witness, who reported seeing the man outside, said that he wore a long black overcoat! What was going on in middle England?
3. The Scottish and Irish folk Legends of Fear Dubh
Fear Dubh is a Celtic legend about a dark man, the black man I believe is the most accurate translation. Fear Dubh is said to be a malevolent force that lives in the woods that wears all black. It sounds like someone we know! He is said to have long, tentacly arms which he is able to pass off as branches when he wants to be disguised. By disgusing himself as a tree, Fear Dubh is able to peep in the windows of children and tap at the glass with the branches.
2. The Dutch Takkenmann
Takkenmann means branch man in Dutch, and the legend is strikingly similar to that of Slenderman urban legends…which leads me to think about the many slenderman like stories across the world. We might not have the same name for the menace, but its eerie how many different cultures have a similar figure in their local lore. With Takkenman, or branchman, he his legs resemble thin tree trunks, and he is very tall, blending into the woodland. It is thought that Takkenmann shares some key similarities with the German legend of Lange man, long man. They’re both creepy woodland dwellers that appear to show up in the background of seemingly normal pictures.
1. Slender Sickness
Those stalked by Slenderman have been known to contract what the internet is calling Slender sickness. This sickness presents itself in coughing and sneezing fits, then leads to coughing and vomiting blood. It is also characterized by extreme exhaustion, paranoia, nausea, fever, nose bleeds and short term memory loss. Not ideal. The Slender Wikia explains this sickness as Sigma Radiation, so radiation poisoning, contracted by being too close to the slender chap. Apparently the illness gets worse, the more you spot slendy.
Top 10 Scary Saudi Arabian Urban Legends
Saudi Arabia is a desert country located in the Middle East that is known to be the birthplace of Islam. Along with its rich history and cultural background, Saudi Arabia also has their fair share of scary urban legends that have been circulating the country. So let’s dive right into this list of the top 10 scary Saudi Arabia urban legends.
10. Um-Duwais
Or otherwise known as the Myth of deadly temptation. This is a story about a beautiful, charismatic female demonic spirit who visits neighbourhoods in search of finding her next victim. She is disguised as a beautiful looking woman so men are easily drawn and attracted to her. Once she is able to entice them and lead the men to an abandoned location, she changes her form into an ugly looking demon who brutally murders her victims. She is said to have two donkey legs that she uses for speed and agility and both of her hands are made out of sickles which she uses to slice open her prey. And she also has the eyes of a cat so that she is able to see better in different lighting conditions. The moral of this urban legend is for men to not be easily attracted to beautiful strangers because you never know what they are capable of.
9. Qareen
The Qareen is another type of demonic creature that is very similar to a genie. They can have a master who controls them because they are in possession of the Qareen’s heart. These awful creatures are known to be excellent shapeshifters who will take on the form of a person’s deepest, darkest desire in order to seduce them. Once you fall victim to a Qareen, they will brutally kill you and the only way to kill a Qareen is to stab them in the heart but this is extremely difficult and you will probably die trying. Besides shapeshifting, they are also telepathic and extremely strong. They are naturally very evil and powerful and they know every detail about you. So that means they know all of your greatest fears, your weaknesses and your darkest secrets. So, they can easily trick you or blackmail you into doing whatever they want.
8. The haunted house in Jeddah
Saudi Arabia is known to have a lot of houses that are haunted by demonic spirits and actually, a lot of people living in this country are scared to move because they fear that their new house might be haunted. So, we guess it is safe to say that Saudi Arabia is not unfamiliar with haunted houses but this house in particular is on a whole other level. The most haunted house of Jeddah is located just one hundred meters from the sea and it has a notorious reputation. Taxi drivers don’t even dare to drive near this house and people say that if you get close enough, it acts like a magnet and you can’t escape it. According to the local legend, if you stand in front of the house during the day, you can feel your blood pressure increasing, and small shocks in your body.
7. Jinni terrorizes
According to the urban legend and folklore, Jinn are supernatural spirits that are very skilled at shapeshifting. So these evil creatures take on human or animal forms and they can even live in inanimate objects such as trees, rocks and underneath the Earth. They aren’t immortal, so they can be killed but they are free from any form of physical restraints. They love to torture and punish humans so they are said to be the ones behind many diseases and all kinds of accidents such as natural disasters or road accidents. They are known to cause a lot of destructive mischief and they love to watch humans suffer. There are different types of Jinn and depending on their classification, they have a bunch of different powers that are all harmful or damaging to humans.
6. Bent Al Kharsa
She is also referred to as the daughter of the speechless because her lips have been stitched together because she is being punished for something sinful that she did. It is believed that she likes to kidnap men and force them to marry her. She has the ability to kill without any weapons and she is even able to kill you by tickling your flesh. Apparently, she has these long fingers and she enjoys tickling her victims so that they will historically laugh until they die. Wow, this woman sounds like a complete nightmare. This sounds like one of the worst ways to die.
5. The Nasnas
This horrific looking creature is a hybrid between a human being and a demonic spirit. This unfortunate crossbreeding resulted in the Nasnas to be half a human body and a demon spirit. Yes, that means he literally looks like an evil half human. Even though the Nasnas only has one leg and arm, they are extremely agile because they use their tail to help them with balance and movement. These evil creatures would disguise themselves as decrepit old men who would try to get others to carry them over passages of water. Once the Nasnas successful enticed their victim to help them, they would change form and drown their victims in the water. These terrifying creatures are also known to easily murder a human to death by only using their one hand. And because they are missing half of their vocal cords, they aren’t able to speak but they are able to emit an ear-piercing noise that is supposed to be dreadful to hear. And depending on the volume and tone of this screeching noise, you would be able to tell what the Nasnas is feeling.
4. Ghouls
These terrifying creatures are known to feed on decomposing corpses and they can be found living in tunnels located underneath graveyards. The ghouls have been a part of Saudi Arabian folklore for a very long time. Ghouls are known to be excellent shapeshifters that prey on unsuspecting victims who are looking to cross the desert. Ghouls are very resilient and resourceful creatures who will transform into a desirable woman in order to lure these men where they would viciously kill them or mate with them. Obviously ghouls have a very bad reputation but things get even worse. They are known to be repulsive looking creatures who enjoy kidnapping people and feeding on their flesh. They are even able to absorb the traits of the humans that they eat such as memories and appearances. Apparently, the only way to banish a ghoul is to recite a line from the Quran.
3. The haunting of the Al Qasimi Palace
Every horror movie that has a possessed or haunted house looks like this one. Except unlike the movies, this house has a dark past and it rumoured to be very sinister. The palace was abandoned back in the 1980’s after the owners stayed there for only one night. They claimed that the house was full of paranormal activity and they couldn’t live there anymore. Since the palace was abandoned, curious people have wandered around the mansion, searching for ghost activity and supernatural presences. People have reported feeling impending doom, sounds of a woman crying through the halls and they have also seen children peeping out of broken stained-glass windows while crying. According to the legend, “You don’t seek the way to the palace, it will find you in time.” The legend also claims that if you visit this haunted palace on a night with a full moon, something awful will happen to you.
2. Abu Al Salasel
This scary looking man is also known as the man of chains. This is a very popular Urban Legend that has been circulating in Saudi Arabia for many years. It’s about an extremely ugly humanoid that is covered in chains. He often uses these chains to attack his prey and it is also believed that he is one of the most powerful demonic spirits in Saudi Arabia. He is most active at night and it is said that if you hear him walking with his chains, you are supposed to get out of that area immediately or you have a high probability of dying. The Abu Al Salasel craves human flesh and he won’t stop hunting humans until his craving his satisfied. This urban legend says that he is completely fearless and he might even follow you into your home.
1. A real witch
Witches and ghouls are a very popular urban legend in Saudi Arabia and even everywhere else in the world. Witches are women who are thought to have evil magical powers that have the potential to harm or kill people. So, what if I told you that there was a real police encounter with a witch? Do you believe in witches? You might after you see this clip. Is this real life right now? The two Saudi police officers came across this creepy looking witch in a hostile military area where no civilians were able to go to. And based on their reactions, they seem legitimately terrified.
Top 10 Scary Chicago Urban Legends
10. Haunted Oprah Show
The Ophrah Winfrey Show is famously filmed in the Windy City near the spot of one of the worst boating disasters of all time, which resulted in the largest loss of life from an incident in the great lakes. In 1915, passengers were boarding the SS Eastland which was docked in the Chicago River. Workers from Hawthorne Woks were off to a picnic. A full boat caused weight distribution issues and the boat listed to one side, rolling. This trapped some passengers below decks, others were crushed by heavy furniture. 844 passengers and four crew died in the disaster. The dead were taken to a nearby armory building, which served as an impromptu morgue. Fast forward decades and this building is now a warehouse and film studio where the Oprah Winfrey show is filmed. Many members of the show's crew gave reported seeing and hearing strange things in the building. There have been reports of screams from the doomed passengers, and even some apparition sightings. The most frequently spotted ghost is the Grey Lady, who is often seen stalking the halls.
9. 12,000 Corpses Under Lincoln Park
Between 1843 and 1865 there were four different cemeteries in the spot where the public park is now. The city was eyeing up the spot for a park, and after the Fire of 1871, they had the perfect excuse to start again. While some bodies were exhumed and moved, around 12,000 remain under the park. When the zoo was built in 1962, bodies were unearthed and reburied! With that many bodies, is it any surprise there have been a number of ghost sightings in the area?
8. Mrs. O Leary and the Fire That Killed 300 People
The Great Fire of Chicago was one of the most horrendous things that happened to the city. 3.3 square miles of the city burned from the 8th to the 10th of October in 1871 and left 100,000 people without homes. The popular legend blames Mrs. O’Leary…you know the song… late last night before she went to bed, Mrs. O’Leary hung a lantern in her shed….then her cow kicked it over…winked at her and said they’ll be a hot time in the old town tonight? You know the score. Except poor old Mrs. Leary never did it – she was a poor Irish Catholic Immigrant and was made a scapegoat because Protestant Founders of the US were distrustful of Catholics, and there was a lot of Irish racism around at the time. Reported Michael Ahern of the Chicago Tribune was to blame for fanning the flames on Mrs. O'Leary's reputation… but it was already destroyed. She was pardoned by Chicago’s city council in 1997, as was the cow…but, of course, this was far too late for Mrs. O. None the less, the legend lives on.
7. Haunted Water Tower
In the fire Legend has it that one brave citizen pumped water from the iconic Chicago Water Tower to try and help quell the flames. The water tower on Streeterville survived the blaze as a result of the man's actions, proving himself as a hero as he manned the pumps instead of fleeing for his life. Then, as the metal structure got hotter and hotter and the flames rose around him, the man knew he was going to die. Rather than die slowly and painfully, the legend has it that he hung himself from the structure. Legend has it that sometimes people still see his body hanging through a towers upstairs window. This has been confirmed by a police officer who also saw the awful sight.
6 - The Devil of Hull House
This story spawned the popular movie. The Hull House was a focal spot in the Chicago community. Jane Addams’ took the building over in the late 1800s and ran it as a women’s shelter. Jane reportedly took in a woman who was heavily pregnant and whose husband had abandoned her. It seems the midwives in Jane’s Employ would not go near the child after it was born because of its monstrous appearance. The legend states that the baby was born a monster because his father yelled to heavens in the frustration of being given only daughters. He yelled, “I would rather have the devil in this house than another daughter.”
Jane kept that baby a secret, but one day, three Italian women burst into the house and demanded to see the devil baby. They said they knew a baby had been born with pointed ears, a tail, and cloven hooves. The woman caused such a fuss and would not leave until forcibly removed that locals started talking. Soon a crowd appeared at the house and people wanted to get a look at the child. The mystery was never resolved, but there have been many whispers of hauntings at the house. Some report seeing the devils face at the window of the house to this day.
5. Homey The Clown
Homey the clown is a classic Chicago urban legend and long predates the creepy clown sightings of 2016. In 1991, there was a slew of reports about a creepy clown cruising the streets trying to lure kids into a red and blue van with Ha Ha written on the side. The Clown was dressed as a TV character called Homey and was said to be offering up candy and money to children who would come with him. The police had a lot of reported sightings, mainly from children. They dismissed a report from two ten-year-old boys in Oak Park, suggesting kids had banded together to troll the police. None the less, this didn’t quell the rumors and a whole epidemic of sightings sprung up over the city. The clown, however, was never caught. A lot of kids around in the 1990s in Chicago will remember Homey.
4. The Machine Guns of the St Valentines Day Massacre
The Saint Valentines Day Massacre is no urban legend – it was a real and gruesome morning of bloodshed in 1929, during the gang-riddled era of Chicago. 7 members of the North Side Gang were lined up and shot at with machine guns against a Lincoln park garage. This led to further bloodshed between the Irish North Siders and the Italian South Siders, famously led by Al Capone. While legendary, this is an irrefutable truth. The urban legend slips in as people claim the Clark Street spot is haunted by the massacred souls to this day. Civilians report hearing screams and gunfire as they walk by the massacre spot. There have also been a lot of reports of animals being freaked out as they pass the spot.
3. The Knocking Ghosts of Flight 191
On the 25th May 1979, American Airlines Flight 191 crashed moments after takeoff from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. 258 Passengers and 13 crew were killed, as were two people on the ground. This insane death toll makes this the worst aviation accident in United States History. Just as the jet was beginning its takeoff rotation, the left engine separated from the left wing and smashed into the runway, severing hydraulic fluid lines. As the plane began to climb, the damaged left side of the plane produced less lift and caused the plane to roll. This then caused the plane to crash in an open field right by the airport, killing all on board. The pictures from the aftermath are truly harrowing indeed. Debris was hurled into a nearby trailer park which destroyed five trailers…but that wasn’t all the trailer park would see of the crash. As the years went on, people living at the trailer park have reported frantic knocks at their doors, only to open them and find nobody there. One resident reported coming across a worried man who claimed he needed to make a connection. Another man in the area was walking his dog when he came across a man in a suit that smelled of gasoline who told him he needed to make an emergency call.
2. The Italian Bride
Mt Carmel Cemetery is best known for being the final resting place of Al Capone and a number of his gangster cronies. Also resident in the cemetery is the much famed and deeply mysterious Italian Bride. The Bride wasn’t actually a bride at all. She was a young woman named Julia Buccola who died in childbirth in 1921. She was reportedly buried in her wedding dress, which sparked her urban legend name. Following her death, her mother had a string of wild and vivid dreams that her daughter was not dead. Julia would tell her that she was alive and needed her help. Finally, six years after her daughter's death, the dreams got too much for Julia’s mother, who had her body exhumed. When the casket was opened, her body had not decayed one bit since the day she was buried. Creepily, on her gravestone, there is a picture of her body after she was exhumed, and yeah….she does look pretty freshly dead….which is really the best a gal can hope for sometimes. Finally, at number one, we have one of the most popular Chicago urban legends of all time.
1. Resurrection Mary
Ah, the vanishing hitchhiker. This urban legend is pinpointed to the southwest of Chicago in Justice Illinois. Since the 1930s, around 30 men who have been driving along Archer Avenue between Resurrection Cemetery and Willowbrook Ballroom have reported being hailed over by a young blonde haired, blue eyed woman in a white party dress. Further reports say she is wearing dancing shoes, wearing a shawl and holding a small clutch bag. The men that have stopped for her and let her in their car report her being softly spoken and shy. The woman asks to be dropped off at Resurrection Cemetery and then disappears in front of the gates. The legend says that this girl was in the ballroom with her boyfriend in the 1930s but they got into an argument and she decided to walk home. Sadly as she was walking up Archer Avenue, she was hit by a car that then sped away. She died at the scene, but her spirit is still searching for a chivalrous man to drive her home. Other reports have involved drivers breaking suddenly when they see a woman in white in the middle of the road.
Top 10 Scary Haunted Train Urban Legends Part 2
10. Express Train to Hell This story is an Urban Legend from Newark Central Station in New Jersey. It seems that a homeless man had been hanging around the station for a number of days and the station master had kept trying to move him on. One night he started screaming “ “It’s coming for me, it’s coming for me….” When the stationmaster reluctantly told the man that he was going to call the police, he said in all seriousness – The express train for hell is coming for my soul, you’ve got to help me. He confessed to the station master that he had killed a man who had cheated him. The stationmaster told him to calm down, but sure enough, at midnight, the sound of a steam engine came rolling into the station, along with the telltale wind that comes with an approaching train. He held the homeless man back, as he looked like he was about to jump in front of the invisible train. Both of the men stumbled back and the stationmaster lost his grip on the man. When he turned to see if he was okay, the homeless man was nowhere to be seen.
9. HELL GATE bridge
Which is disconcerting. Hell Gate crosses the east river, connecting Queens to Randalls Island. That isn’t all the bridge connects, though, it may well join New York to the afterlife….According to local lore, the bridge is haunted by an old train whose passengers are the cities damned. Those who find themselves on the bridge at night report seeing strange lights thundering towards them before they disappear. Others report seeing an old, battered train floating over the river. The legend says that the carriages are filled with people who have lost their lives in the water…from murder victims, people who have fallen short of the mafia, suicide jumpers and historic Dutch Explorers…they all sit together on the weirdest ride of all time.
8. Haunted Connolly Station, Ireland
Connolly Station is a busy train hub in the center of Dublin and connects rail routes across the country. In 2011 Ghost Hunters visited the station after a rise in reports of strange goings on in the building and around the platform. The Station is old, dating back to 1844, which means it is likely to have seen a lot of action. The station is also near the North Strand, which was heavily bombed during World War 2 and it is thought that some of the poltergeist activity is from lost souls who were killed in the bombardment. Leading Paranormalist Tim Kelly was keen to be granted permission to investigate the station, which is hard to obtain seeing as it is always so busy. He said Sometimes the human ear can't pick up the voices and they are only audible once recorded on the audio recorders and reviewed ….. he also quoted ghostbusters and claimed that he ain't afraid of no ghost.
7. Deadman on the New York Subway
This legend has been circling the New York Subway for about as long as the subway has been running…and has also done its rounds on the Paris Metro, the London Tube, the Toronto TTC….and basically all cities with underground train networks. This legend goes that a person is sitting on the train minding their own business, but they soon look up to realize the person across from them is staring at them with a creepy vacant stare. They notice two people sitting next to the starter, seemingly unaware. A man then comes up and whispers in the train riders ear that they ought to get off at the next station. They do, and the man says something along the lines of “thank god, I didn’t mean to scare you but you had to get off the train, the man staring at you was dead and the two people aside of him were propping him up.” There are so many variants on this story – some include one person riding round and round on a loop until someone finally realizes they’re dead. This story appeared in print in 1933 in a newspaper about Manhatten folk tales, leading us to believe this is simply an urban legend.
6. The Legend of Casey Jones
Jonny Cash sings the true story of the legendary Casey Jones, a gallant railroad engineer working in Cannonball, the USA in the late 1800s. Jones had a rep for always running his trains on time without fault, even if it meant running trains at very high speeds. He began to be known for his efficiency and the whistle he would make while driving trains through towns. One day, in April 1900, Jones was working a double shift and was tasked with bringing a late train from Memphis into Chicago on time. The train was an hour and a half behind schedule and Jones sent the train flying at 100 miles per hour. Sadly, as he pulled through Vaughn, Mississippi, he realized there was a train parked on the tracks ahead. Because of how fast he was going, he couldn’t stop in time. He pumped the breaks and advised some passengers to jump. He sounded the train's whistle as a warning. The collision was awful, but all the passengers survived. The only person who died was Casey, who was struck in the throat while he had one hand on his whistle and another on his break.
5. The Baby Train
Ah, this is a classic urban legend! Why is it scary? Well….because… babies! Babies as a result of train schedule! This urban legend has been told across a number of cities and one of the earliest mentions was in Chicago. 1939 a passage in Christopher Morley’s Novel, Kitty Foyle read: “The first thing you hear mornings in Manitou is the early Q train to Chicago. It’s too early to get up and too late to go to sleep again. They have a legend out there that the morning yells of that rattler do a good deal to keep up the birth-rate.” The legend also was appropriated to Canberra in Australia when the Government supposedly noticed that the birthrate was three times higher than in the rest of Australia. When a Government Statistician went to investigate he found the place swarming with kids. He realized the town was on the main rail line used by the Kyogle Mail train every morning at 4.30am. Apparently, this wake-up call got people frisky.
4. Ghosts of Glen Eden
Railway Station. Situated in Auckland, the Glen Eden Station has a rather morbid history. The station in Waitakere City was built in order to transport bodies to the nearby Waikumete Cemetery. That isn’t all, either. On January 11th, 1924, Alex MacFarlane, a tablet porter at the station, lost his balance and slipped between the platform and an oncoming train, severing his legs. He died from his injuries two hours later. Since the station was refurbished, a caf? has been built on site. It seems the ghost of MacFarlane is partial to a visit. Caf? staff has reported seeing a man with a grey beard and trench coat walking up and down the platform. Some say they see a man peering at them through a window. Other staff members have reported a man in a top hat entering the caf? and asking for a train timetable before disappearing.
3. Macquarie Fields
According to local reports, after the last train departs, crying and wailing can be heard whistling down the station. Those who have been on the platform after the last train has reported seeing a teenage girl shrieking, crying and sitting on the tracks. Apparently, this ghostly apparition is fond of starring into peoples eyes as they walk by her. Some say the ghost is of a girl who missed the last train home and was murdered as she tried to make her own way home, others say she was a teen who fell on the tracks…whereas others say she is a regretful suicide victim.
2. The Ghost of William Terriss
Actor, William Terriss was stabbed to death outside London’s Adelphi Theatre on December 16th, 1897 by a fellow thespian, Richard Archer Prince. It seems that Terriss had had the man fired from a previous production due to his instability….which…considering he later turned to murder him, is a fair shout. Prince was an alcoholic and was declared insane, which meant he got off quite lightly. Perhaps this unresolved business is why the Ghost of Terris is said to haunt the Adelphi Theatre and the nearby Covent Garden Tube station. Terriss’ ghost has been reported at Covent Garden station since 1955, over 55 years after his death. Jack Hayden, a ticket taker at the station was locking up when he encountered an elegantly dressed man wearing gloves and holding a cane. When Hayden asked the man how he was still in the station, he disappeared. When he reported the incident, his description matched the late actor. Many other station staff has spotted him after hours, too. It seems that the Tube station is near the site of Terriss’s favorite bakeries.
1. Time Travelling Train of Zanetti
This is a popular urban legend surrounding the alleged disappearance of a train in Italy in 1911. The story goes that an Italian Rail company, Zenetti, had set up a trip to advertise a new train route. They invited 100 high flying members of society to board this new train on a show route. The train, manned by 6 crew, left Rome and was traveling towards Lombard. As the train approached a mountain tunnel, a few of the passengers had a bad feeling. Two of the passengers were so overcome with terror, they jumped from the moving train. The rest glided on the train into the tunnel….which trembled and closed up behind them. It literally seemed as if the mountain swallowed the train, which was never found. The two people that jumped from the train were injured but survived and relayed their experiences to locals after they regained their health in hospital. The other 104 people on board were nowhere to be found. There were some sketchy reports of 100 or so people turning up in Mexico speaking Italian and seeming very lost and confused.
Top 10 Scary New York City Urban Legends
10. Hell Gate Bridge
In fairness, the bridge is named after the tidal straight it crosses in the east river…but still. The bridge connects Queens to Randalls Island and is an on brand red color. There are a number of urban legends connected to the bridge, including rumors of a killer lurking beneath its arches, but the main legend here surrounds the ghost trains. According to local lore, the bridge is haunted by an old train whose passengers are the cities damned. Those who find themselves on the bridge at night report seeing strange lights thundering towards them before they disappear. Others report seeing an old, battered train floating over the river. The legend says that the carriages are filled with people who have lost their lives in the water…from murder victims, people who have fallen short of the mafia, suicide jumpers and historic Dutch Explorers…they all sit together on the weirdest ride of all time.
9. Cropsey
Cropsey is Staten Islands very own Boogie Man, but the legend coincides with some real life terrifying stuff… Cropsey was rumored to be a killer with a hook for a hand who had escaped from a mental institution and hunted children. Cropsey was said to live in an old abandoned asylum, the Willowbrook Mental Institution. He would come out late at night and steal children off the streets, torturing them with his hook…in other variants of the story, he would have a bloody ax. Whichever way it was told, he was out there. Parents would use Cropsey to warn kids not to miss their curfews, others would use him to tease one another at sleepovers.
Sadly, the legend became mixed up in reality in the 1970 and 1980s when Staten Island children really started to disappear. Andre Rand started working at the Willowbrook State School – a school for children with learning difficulties that turned out to be an awful an unnurturing place for many reasons. Rand worked there and abducted and murdered 5 children. He was finally caught in 1987 when a young girl with Down Syndrome, Jennifer Schweiger, went missing. According to the acclaimed documentary, Rand may have been involved in Satanism and was possible killing the children as a ritual sacrifice.
8. 8 Million Rats
NYC dwellers will tell you that the population of rats will soon outnumber the population of people living in the 5 boroughs. Rats, of course, are terrifying for a good number of reasons – they’re vermin, they’re unclean and the spread disease. Hello…plague, anyone! While there is a whole load of rats living in New York City, there is actually around 1 rat to ever 4 dwellers – around 2 million rats…which is still a lot of rats! They’ll only be one Pizza Rat, though! We could do a whole top 10 on various legends of New York Rats…some people even think giant and or Mutant rats are running riot down there.
7. The Ghost Ship of the Hudson River
The Hudson River separates New York and New Jersey and runs all the way from the ocean up to Albany. The river is an iconic part of New York City urban legends of its very own. One popular story is the Legend of The Half Moon – the famous ship sailed by Henry Hudson, the namesake of the river. Hudson was lost at sea in 1611, although his ship is sometimes spotted sailing the famous river. One man named Samuel was fishing along the Hudson on the evening before a storm when he saw a wooden ship with three empty masts. Samuel was confused as he had never seen a boat like this in his life and said it drifted 50 ft away from him before disappearing. It seems the legend goes that the Half Moon is only spotted when times are rough on the river, serving as a warning for people to stay on dry land until bad weather passes.
6. The Buried Treasure of Liberty Island
Captain William Kidd was a Scottish Pirate who sailed on many an adventure but was especially known for his illicit activity around New York City. The famous pirate was said to have stashed a boatload of bounty on Liberty Island, which in those days existed without its famous state and was called Bedloe Island. After his death in 1701 for piracy, people started looking for Captain Kid’s loot, two soldiers, Gibbs and Carpenter, went to look for the treasure. They literally thought they had struck gold when they came across a wooden chest. Before they could open it, they were set upon by what they described as a demon with black skin, horns, and wings. This evil apparition is said to guard the treasure to this day, and still stalk liberty island at night.
5. Killer Pennies off the Empire State
Ever heard the one about people throwing pennies or cents off the empire state and – with the momentum they picked up from being dropped at such a great height, them killing innocent people standing below? It is a popular Manhattan urban legend and genuinely makes people nervous when walking around the base of the iconic building. This is just a scare story, though…an urban legend! A penny’s terminal velocity, the fastest it can fall through the air, is 25 miles per hour…even when dropped 1250 feet, it wouldn’t kill someone on the ground. It would hurt, sure. It would sting, absolutely, but it wouldn’t kill. To be honest, there are so many safety precautions these days that it is very unlikely anyone would be able to launch a projectile off the top of the building.
4. The Secret Bunker
Legend has it that there is 500 square acre subterranean city 100 feet under the central park. Theorists call the secret bunker The Manhattan Project….although I don’t know if they know that that name is already taken. These theorists, though, think that this secret project predates the atomic bomb. To accompany the theory, there is a rather in-depth website that claims to the bunker was built in 1853 and that it is still in active use down there. The site shows picture evidence of the bunker and its clandestine entrances around the park. The site also claims that the bunker is the property of the US government and that both Tsar Nicholas, the overthrown King of Russia, and Adolph Hitler were rescued and lived out their lives there. Hitler under the central park. Keeping it in Central Park, we have the legend
3. Ice Skating Sisters
This urban legend dates back to a pair of siblings, the Van der Voot sisters, who lived with their overprotective wealthy father in his Manhattan townhouse. Their father, a widower, would rarely let his daughters leave the house and when they did they weren’t allowed to go far. The furthest he would let them go would be to ice skate on the 59th street pond located at the south-east section of the park. They enjoyed this tiny, tiny slice of freedom so much. Both siblings died spinsters within months of each other in 1880. Around 35 years later, during the first world war, stories started circulating of two girls seen gliding over the 59th street pond. The sightings have occurred frequently ever since, and in all weather. The pair is seen in a Victorian-era dress, with one wearing red and one wearing purple. The sisters enjoy such fame as an urban legend, even the New York Times ran an article on them in 1997.
2. John Lennon and the Ghosts of The Dakota Building
The Dakota Building is a New York Landmark. Built-in 1884 it was already shrouded in mystery and paranormal whisperings before providing the backdrop to John Lennon’s Murder in 1980. The former Beatle, of course, was shot outside the front steps by David Chapman. John lived in the building with Yoko Ono, who claims to have seen his ghost sitting in their apartment. She isn’t the only one who has seen his apparition, either.
In 1983, Joey Harrow and Amanda Moores saw him standing at the entrance looking pensive. It seems John is just one of a number of ghosts haunting the famous building – Lennon himself said he saw a spirit called the crying lady, the ghost of a former manager of the building. The Dakota is also said to be haunted by the ghost of a young blonde girl in a yellow taffeta dress. Residents of the building to this day still report a lot of strange goings-on.
1. The legend of the Sewer Alligators
In New York City, there has been a legend for decades upon decades that Alligators exist in the sewer. The urban legend dates back to the 1930s and goes that wealthy people would bring baby gators back from their trips to Florida and the southeastern states. When the Gators got too much for them, they would flush them down the toilet and the snappy chappies would end up in the sewer, where they would breed with other abandoned pets.
In 1932, the New York Times reported an alligator spotting along the Bronx riverbank and three years later teenagers told news outlets they saw one crawl out of the sewer. People still claim to see gators in New York today, despite many refuting the claims. That being said, A 2-foot Caiman was caught in Central Park in 2001…so the legend more than prevails.
