Why do we let scary stories and urban legends get under our skin? As an adult, it's easy to declare there's most certainly nothing in the closet or under our bed, but from the moment we hear that's where the monsters live we spend the rest of our lives flipping on the light in the closet "just to be sure." Something about urban legends serve, not as a story, but more of a warning.
Reddit user, u/nousernamesbeleft, wanted to hear something scary when they asked:
What are some scary urban legends you have heard of?
Built Into Our Code
season 1 GIFGiphySkin Walker. Something that pretends to be human, but isn't.
Also [apparently] there's this thing in humans that if we see something that resembles something too human we get uncomfortable, almost like our ancestors needed this evolutionary defense against something that could mimic humans.....
(Ps, there's a theory it could be defense mechanism against dead bodies, but it's not as spooky, so please ignore this)
Zero Evidence, Real Fear
Red rooms on the Dark Web.
There's no evidence that they ever happened, but the legends say they're livestreams of someone being held hostage, and they torture them live on camera. Viewers can interact and request certain things done to the victim.
Seriously Spooky.
This was kinda something that was just talked about in a pool of friends with me but here we go anyway:
So one day I was out in the woods with a couple of my friends and neighbors. My neighbors had to go back to their house for lunch so me and my friends decided to split up and look around the woods for some branches to build a fort out of. My friends went a little further out than I did, so I was waiting at the fort for a bit for them to come back when I heard rustling behind me.
I figured it was just a deer because there was and still are a ton of them in my area, so I just kinda ignored it, but I kept hearing it back and forth in what sounded like the same spot but getting closer each time, I tried to ignore it but I eventually turned around and I saw what looked like a person on all fours covered in moss and dirt, and then they ran away. Scared the Jesus out of me so I ran away, but yeah, never found out what it was. Had to text my neighbors that I had gone inside, my friends saw me sprinting up the hill to my house. Not super spooky but it gives me the chills to remember what it looked like.
not spooky? not spooky?? what the hell do you think is spooky???
What A Name.
My hometown had a man whose face was severely disfigured from an electrical burning; he lost his eyes, nose, and one ear.
He would take walks on a lonely stretch of road at night, as he was hesitant to go out during the day. He'd feel his way along with a walking stick. He was hit by cars more than once.
He was called Charlie no- face, or the green man for no apparent reason. People would go out on that stretch of road listening for the tap-tap of his cane, and offer him a cigarette if they found him during his walk.
Protect Your Bones
hungry homer simpson GIFGiphyNot sure this counts as urban legend because it was SUPER specific to where I grew up, but my elementary school had a big field for kids to play in during lunch and whatnot. On one side, right by the fence, there was a huge tree that someone had tied a bunch of chicken bones to, all up in the branches. So being small and having underdeveloped brains, all the kids believed those were children's bones and that if you went to the tree alone at night, a man would come out of the roots, eat you, and add your bones to the tree.
Every Country Has A Woman That Kidnaps Children, It Seems
Eight Feet Tall or "Hachishakusama" is a Japanese urban legend about a tall woman who abducts children. She is 8ft tall, wears a long white dress and makes a weird humming type of noise.
Sounds a lot like the old La Llorona legend in the Spanish speaking world. Creepy tall lady who goes around saying something like "mis hijos" which means my kids. According to legend she will take any children that she sees after dark.
Something That Can Get People Hurt In Different Ways
The one about gang initiations where the new guy has to kill someone. They get in a car at night, drive with headlights off. First motorist to flash their lights is the target.
A Story That Changes Your Behavior
The one that sticks with me is:
A woman is driving home at night down a dark back road. She passes a big eighteen wheeler, which swerves into the left lane behind her right after she passes and begins flashing its lights. She checks to make sure her brights aren't on (they aren't) and speeds up, thinking the truck driver must be angry with her. But he keeps riding her bumper, periodically flashing his lights.
Eventually, she pulls into her driveway, and the truck pulls right behind her, brights on full blast. The trucker runs up to the car carrying a loaded shotgun and fires into her backseat. She turns around and sees a dead man laying on her floorboards with a knife in his hand.
I don't get in a vehicle without checking the backseat (no matter how sure I am that I locked the doors) because of this old and infamous urban legend.
Nope, Nope, Nope, NOPE, NOPE
Embarrassed Hide Away GIFGiphySo this is an urban legend in my school's 4th floor bathroom. Basically a student walks into one of the stalls and does her business. Then a voice starts to whisper to her saying "respicite" over and over. She starts getting freaked out so she finishes up and leaves as fast as she could without looking back.
Then she tells the story to her very religious teacher who happens to be a good friend of hers. The girl mentioned the weird whispers and the teacher's face turned pale, because the word "respicite" is latin, and if translated into english, the voice was telling her to "look up" the whole time
