New England is especially famous for its lighthouses. Many of these are allegedly haunted by both malevolent and kindly spirits. Owls Head Light in Maine is famously haunted by the ghost of a friendly old sea captain.
According to Hawaiian legend, The Shark Man is the monstrous shapeshifting child of The Shark King and a human woman. While his mother tried to suppress his killer nature by keeping meat away from him, she was unsuccessful and he ended up craving human flesh and committing murders in shark form. Locals killed and dismembered him, and it's said his eternally hungry spirit hides out in Kaneana Cave.
Originally from Puerto Rico, the monstrous Chupacabra is said to have been spotted all over the Southwest. Its name literally means "Goat Sucker," because this reptile-like creature is said to drink the blood of livestock.
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Captain Tony's is possibly the oldest bar in all of Florida. A tree grows through the center of it that used to be where pirates were hanged. According to legend, they were forced to build the bar around the tree as any person who tried to cut it down suffered a terrible fate.
In this urban legend, a young couple drives into the woods to make out, only to be hunted be a deranged killer with a hook for a hand. Whether they live or die depends on the version of the legend being told.
In 1997, a unique UFO sighting occurred over Phoenix, Arizona. What made it so unique is that thousands of people saw it and described strange lights moving in a triangular formation in the sky.
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Bloody Mary is a popular urban legend told at slumber parties across the country. According to legend, Bloody Mary was executed for witchcraft and will kill you if you summon her.
According to urban legend, if you leave a tooth in a can of Coke overnight it will dissolve completely. This is not true.
One popular urban legend states that Walt Disney had his body cryogenically frozen after death, so that future technology could bring him back to life. This is not true. Records show that he was cremated in the 60s.
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An old Texas urban legend is that of The Candy Lady, who would leave candy on children's window ledges. After awhile, she would leave candy with a note asking children to come out and play with her. Those that did were never seen again.
No one is sure if Jackalopes are real or a story cooked up by Wyoming residents decades ago. These vicious creatures are said to be a mix between pygmy deer and rabbits and can move at speeds of up to 90 mph.
People have been dying at "Terrible Tilly" before it was even finished being built. Nearly 20 people have died around the lighthouse, their bodies always washing up on the shore, since it was built in 1881.
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No one knows exactly what The Char Man is, but this creature haunts Camp Comfort County Park in California. It's a burning disfigured inferno that charges at people as if trying to kill them.
This popular tale dates back to the 1930s. It's believed that people from Florida brought alligators up to New York City to be kept as pets, only to release them in the sewers when they got too big.
Marie Laveau is a central figure in New Orleans voodoo. According to legend, she rises from the grave every year on St. John's Eve to lead the faithful in a secret ritual. Her ghost has been seen throughout New Orleans.
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After a hoax email went around in the 90s warning people of organ thieves, a story of a businessman being taken out for drinks only to wake up in a hotel bathroom in a tub of ice missing a kidney got big. The National Kidney Foundation even asked victims to come forward, but no one ever did.
Many cities and towns across America have a variant of the tale of a hitchhiking ghost, who will get in a car after asking for a ride, only to disappear. Some are malevolent, but most of the tales feature young women who died tragically.
According to legend, in the 1940s Russian scientists kept five inmates locked in a chamber full of stimulant gas to study the effects of sleep deprivation. The men were promised their freedom if they could stay awake for 30 days, but only lasted two weeks before violently losing their minds.
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According to legend, placing an onion half in every room of your home will ward away illness. According to some versions of the myth, placing half an onion in a jar next to your bed while you sleep will cure you. The onion will absorb the germs making you ill, turn black, and you will feel better.
According to legend, brothers John and Wayne Carter drained women of blood in 1930s New Orleans. After being caught and executed, their bodies were interred in their family's funeral vault. Years later, when a member of their family was being buried in the vault, their bodies were gone. It's said they still wander the streets of New Orleans.
The Alaska Triangle stretches from the northern tip of Alaska and into Canada. It is an area of land that has twice the missing person's rate of the national average. Thousands of people have disappeared without a trace in this area. Most famously, a plane carrying a congressman and several other politicians disappeared without a trace in this area in 1972.
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Washington state has the most Bigfoot sightings of any state, with over 500 sightings. The next biggest American Bigfoot hot spot is California.
This myth claimed that oranges imported from Libya had been injected with HIV positive blood and posed a major health risk. This rumor was untrue.
In many cemeteries, there is some take on the urban legend of The Devil's Chair. In one central Florida cemetery, it's said that if you sit in the brick mourner's chair there at midnight the devil will appear and will drink any beer you leave him. In other cemeteries, the devil punishes or drives those who sit in his chair insane.
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The first sighting of The Mothman occurred in 1966 in Clendinin, West Virginia. It was spotted by two married couples and described as a 6- or 7-foot tall man with wings and seen over a hundred times between 1966 and 1967.
One room in the depth of Alcatraz prison called "The Hole" was used for solitary confinement. One prisoner who was put there screamed and screamed about a demon with glowing eyes, only to be found strangled to death the next morning. To this day, no one knows how he died.
In 2015, there was a widely circulated rumor that the energy drink Red Bull contained actual bull semen. This is not true.
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In this urban legend, a couple notices a foul smell in their hotel room, only to eventually discover a dead body under their mattress. This has actually happened several times over the years.
There are Crybaby Bridges in many states across the country. While the stories differ slightly at all of them, all of them are said to be haunted by the spirit of a child who died tragically.
Throughout the U.S. there are many hills where if you put your car in neutral, it will suddenly start driving up the hill. There are numerous ghost stories attached to these Gravity Hills. There are an unusually high number of them in Southern California.
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Many people have claimed to have encountered eerie black-eyed children across the country. No one is quite sure what they are, where they come from or if they are real.
In this myth, a college girl returns to her room late at night and doesn't turn on the light so she doesn't wake up her roommate. The next day she discovers that her roommate is dead and the words "Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light" are written on the wall in blood.
There are numerous versions of this urban legend, which is big in El Paso, Texas. According to one legend, La Llorona is a banshee creature that stalks the Rio Grande wailing after drowning her children in the river to impress a wealthy suitor.
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For decades in western Pennsylvania, a glowing green and disfigured creature was said to stalk the night. This myth actually grew out of the life of Raymond Robinson. Robinson, who lived from 1910-1985, was badly disfigured in an accident as a child, so he went for long walks alone at night when no one would be around.
In this urban legend, a girl tries to locate a dripping sound in between trying to fall asleep as her dog licks her fingers. She eventually locates the dripping sound to be the blood of her dead dog in her cupboard. Next to its body is a note that reads "people can lick hands too."