19 Urban Legends to Creep You Out

Are they real or simply made up?

By Micah JamesPublished about a year ago • 8 min read

Photo by sankavi on Unsplash

999 phone charging myth. This legend originated in Britain. Supposedly, if your phone is low on battery, just dial 999 (or your own local emergency number) and hang up; your phone will then be charged. The British police have actually come out and said that this is very untrue, that it is strictly an urban legend. If your phone is really running low and about to die, just find a place to plug it in and wait a few minutes rather than calling the emergency line.
Alexandria’s Genesis. This legend started to be passed off as “true” around 2005. It is a genetic mutation marked by purple eyes. Those who have it are apparently “perfect” humans. Beyond the eye color, those who have this mutation have extremely fair skin that doesn’t get sunburned, dark brown head hair but no other body hair, no menstrual cycle yet don’t suffer infertility, strong immune systems, don’t gain weight, always look five to ten years younger than their actual age, and a lifespan of 150 years. The very first person to allegedly have Alexandria’s Genesis was all the way back in 1329. The person was a woman from London named Alexandria Augustine. However, according to Snopes, the actual first occurrence and/or mention of this mutation was in Daria fanfiction from 1998.
Buckley family. While the legend itself isn’t true, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility. As the story goes, Susan and John Buckley had planned a Halloween prank where they would chop off the head of a dummy. However, they changed their minds and decided to behead their own mother. When the deed was done, Susan and John took a picture with their decapitated mother before disappearing. The photo that is connected to the story started off as a regular family photo of two kids with their mother. Artist Edward Allen got his hands on it and turned it into an art piece titled “Midwestern Matricide.”
Cropsey. This is a classic boogeyman story that is based on real life kidnapper and child killer Andre Rand. The legend circulated mainly in the 70s and 80s in Staten Island. The story says Cropsey was an escaped mental patient who would snatch kids off the street late at night. Occasionally he is described wielding an axe or a hook hand.
Death Number 999-9999. The Thai legend states that if you call this number after midnight, you are able to wish for something. But this wish does come with a hefty price: your death. It is said that plenty of people have called and met their demise while others haven’t died at all. Although, many have not been able to make the call as they are too frightened to find out if they’ll really die or not.
Elevator Game. This is a popular ritual legend that originated in South Korea. You have to go to a building with at least ten floors. You press the buttons in a certain order. At some point, a woman will enter the elevator with you, but you need to pay her absolutely no attention. At the end of the first journey, you will end up in an alternate universe. To get back home, you need to press the same exact buttons, just in the opposite order.
Frozen Hill People. This urban legend dates back to the 1880s in Vermont. The US was facing a pretty intense storm, and Vermont wasn’t fairing well. A farming family, like many others that winter, were really struggling. In one version of the legend, the family found a way to make some of the older and infirm members of the family go into a hibernation to help with the dwindling food supply. A man by the name of Uncle William witnessed the group drug six family members - four men and two women. When the sex were unconscious, they were dragged outside so they could freeze up. Following this process, they were then buried for the next four months. When the hibernation was complete, these family members were warmed back up, seemingly unharmed by the winter.
In the Air Tonight legend. Phil Collins released a song called In The Air Tonight in January 1981. Not long after, an urban legend began to build around it. People started saying that it was about a man drowning out at sea. Allegedly, Collins didn’t help because he simply couldn’t help as he wasn’t close enough to save the man. The singer denied the legend and rumors during a BBC World Service interview, stating that he was going through a divorce during the time he was writing it.
Killer in the Backseat / High Beams. A woman is driving home from work, a party, a friend’s house, or just simply being out (depending on the version of the legend you read). She is being followed by a truck that keeps flashing their high beams. When she finally arrives home, the driver lets her know that there was a man in the backseat of her car and it seemed as if he was trying to kill her. Snopes claims that it may have been inspired by a similar real life case. In 1964, an escaped murderer hid in the backseat of a car and ended up being shot by the car’s owner (a police detective).
Love Rollercoaster Scream. The legend revolves around the song Love Rollercoaster by the Ohio Players. There's a scream heard around the 1:24 mark on the single version and around the 2:32 mark. People have said that it's the scream of someone who was being murdered while the tape was rolling. However, the truth is more mundane than that. It is apparently the screech of Billy Beck, much like that of Mariah Carey when she goes an octave higher.
Mowing Devil of Hertfordshire. A pamphlet from 1678 details the account of a farmer who seemed to have a visit from the Devil himself. The Hertfordshire farmer refused to pay the laborer for the duty of mowing the farmer's lawn. He even claimed that he'd rather have the Devil do it. That same night, it was reported that his lawn was up in flames. The next morning, the grass seemed perfectly cut. I personally couldn't find a “real” version of the story, but it wouldn’t be hard to believe that a fire did breakout somehow on a farmer’s lawn and a legend and/or rumors to start.
Niles Canyon ghost. This is a variation on the vanishing hitchhiker urban legend. It is said that a young woman died in some kind of automobile accident on February 28th (year differing by story) and is seen walking around the area she died every February 28th. Whenever a driver stops to pick her up, this girl gives them an address across a bridge. Upon reaching the start of the bridge, the hitchhiker disappears.
Red Room Curse. This Japanese legend revolves around a pop up on your computer. It starts with a red pop up with a question, roughly translated to, “Do you like | ?” When you close the window, it will pop up again and again until it reads (again roughly translated), “Do you like the red room?” The most common variation of the legend says that the screen will then turn completely red. The victim will feel a mysterious presence behind them before losing consciousness. Later on, they will be found dead in their room with the walls painted red with blood.
Siren Head. A Canadian artist by the name of Trevor Henderson drew up a character that people eventually have claimed to see in real life. Siren Head is described as twelve feet tall, having a skeletal frame, covered in dried mummified flesh, and has skin the color of rusted metal. Its head is in the shape of a siren, of course. It can make various sounds, both natural and man-made such as sirens, radio broadcasts, white noise, and even human voices.
Snuff Films. The legend of snuff films has been around since the 1970s. Supposedly, these are videos (which are meant to be profited off of) that show real murder. Victims are lured by the “filmmaker” under false pretenses before being, well, snuffed out. The “film” is then sold to buyers. There are beheading videos and other videos where you see someone die, but these are usually shown as propaganda or the murderers own gratification rather than for profit so they can’t be classified as snuff films. I couldn’t find any evidence of actual snuff movies, though that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. If they do, I do not recommend trying to find any.
Mercritis. This legend originated in Mississippi. According to the legend, Mercritis is a disease that came over from Europe that ravaged the south. Men who suffered from the illness would emit an odor that, when inhaled, would cause women to go into a homicidal rage.
Doveland, Wisconsin. The small town supposedly disappeared at some point in the 1990s. Although, there is not much evidence that Doveland has ever existed. That being said, there are people who claim that they have been there, even saying that they have various merchandise (shirts, mugs, etc) with ‘Doveland’ written on them. There are even some who have claimed that they had family living in the small town. Because there has been no mention of Doveland, Wisconsin before 2015 and only memories of some traveling to or through the town, it’s hard to prove that it ever actually existed.
The babysitter and the man upstairs. There are many variations of this tale, but the one I’ve heard most often has been as follows: A girl, anywhere between 13 and 16, is hired to babysit two children. It is a relatively easy job as the kids are already out to bed, so the girl studies and/or watches television when the phone rings. “Have you checked the children?” the voice asked. The girl hangs up, but the phone rings again. So she calls the police and they tell her to try to keep the other person on the phone for 60 seconds so they can trace the call. As it turns out, the call was coming from inside the house. The story ends with either all three being killed or getting out safely before the person gets them. This story was turned into a movie called “When a Stranger Calls.” There was even a case where a babysitter was killed in the 1950s. Many people believe that this is where the legend began.
Humans can lick too. A kid has a dog that he loves dearly, and every night the dog would sleep next to the kid’s bed and lick the boy’s hand. One night, the kid hears a dripping sound from the bathroom. He thinks it’s just the faucet but is still nervous. So he hangs his hand over the edge of his bed and feels calmer when he feels a lick. In the morning, the boy goes to the bathroom and is greeted by a horrific fright. He sees his dog hanging from the shower head with the words “Humans can lick too” written in what appears to be the dog’s own blood. The ending always varies, but the ending I grew up with was the one where the killer was never found.