Just some of the scariest urban legends, because Halloween

If you’re bummed out because you’re not currently in the Halloween spirit, don’t worry. We’re here to help. So grab a warm beverage, some fun-size Snickers, and turn on all the lights in your home because we’re going to start talking the scariest of all the urban legends.

Interestingly enough, urban legends do not have to take place in an urban area, which is why many folklorists prefer the term contemporary legends (which doesn’t sound as scary, tbh). These are fictional stories that combine local pop culture and grim details. They often spread through news outlets, e-mail, or social media. You may even see them being recreated in some of your favorite movies or TV programs (because who doesn’t love an eerily realistic, scary story?).

We also have to mention that, since these legends have been told countless times, there isn’t always one perfect story that covers everything. So, we picked the scariest versions for your All Hallows’ Eve pleasure.

Okay, are you ready? *turns on flashlight and shines it on face*

Black-Eyed Children

During the late 1990s, a journalist named Brian Bethel was sitting in his car one night when he heard someone tapping on his window. He looks over and sees two young boys. As he begins to roll down the window, he’s overcome by a feeling of dread. Right away, one of the boys starts talking. He explains that they need a ride, so they can go home, grab some cash, and go see a movie. The theater was right by them, so Brian looked up and realized that the last movie of the day had already started playing. When he noticed this, the older of the two boys began to get pushy. He said that they were just kids, that it wouldn’t take long, and that they were unarmed.

Brian looked down and realized that he was unconsciously moving his hand toward the car door’s lock. He immediately took his hand away and looked up, to see if the boys had noticed. His stomach dropped.

Both boys had eyes that were completely and utterly black.

Brian rolled up his window and started to drive away when the older boy knocked on the glass and stated, “We can’t come in unless you tell us it’s OK. Let us in!” He kept on driving, looked back, and saw that the boys were gone.

Since he was a journalist, Brian decided to write about this experience, which led others to admit that they experienced a similar situation. The scariest part is that all accounts have several things in common: there are always two, black-eyed children, they ask for help, request that they be “let inside,” and cannot enter unless they are specifically invited in.

The Crying Baby

There once was a woman who was browsing the Internet late at night. She was in her living room. All of the sudden, she heard a baby crying on her doorstop. She got up, went to the door, and looked through the keyhole, but she couldn’t see anything. She wasn’t sure what to do next, so she called the police. The woman explained what was happening and said that she was thinking that she should go outside.

The dispatcher began to shout, urging her to stay inside and explaining that the police were on their way.

When the officers arrived at her house, they did a thorough investigation and couldn’t find a baby. That’s when they told her that she wasn’t alone. Several other homeowners had heard the same exact cries. The policemen believed that someone was using this sound to lure women outside their homes.

Then again, they never found any proof.

Bloody Mary

Bloody Mary lived in the forest, which is where she called a tiny cottage home. Here, she sold herbal remedies for a living, causing nearby townsfolk to call her a witch.

When the village’s little girls began to disappear, they blamed Bloody Mary. They asked her if she had taken these young women, but she denied it. What was strange was that, all of the sudden, Mary looked younger. Upon seeing her appearance, the neighbors became suspicious, but they still had no concrete proof, until…

The miller’s daughter awoke one night when she heard a bewitching sound and began to follow it. Luckily, the miller’s wife was up nursing a toothache, so she screamed for her husband to restrain the young girl. Together, they worked to hold her back, but she kept breaking free and heading toward the forest.

The neighbors heard this commotion and ran outside, which is when a farmer noticed a strange light at the edge of the woods. It was Bloody Mary. She was holding a magic wand, pointing it toward the miller’s home, and casting an evil spell upon the man’s daughter.

The townsmen grabbed their pitchforks and their guns. They chased her through the woods. The miller shot Blood Mary in the hip and she hit the ground. They took her bullet-laden body, lit an enormous bonfire, and burned her at the stake. While the flames danced around her body, Mary screamed a curse. She said that if someone mentioned her name before a mirror, she would seek revenge upon them.

After she died, the villagers searched the woods and found unmarked graves that held the little girls’ remains. Mary had used their blood to retain her youth.

Now, it’s said that if you chant her name, exactly three times, before a darkened mirror, it will cause her to rip your body to pieces. She will then trap your spirit in the mirror for all eternity.

The Clown Statue

A girl in her teens is babysitting for a family. The family is wealthy and lives in a mansion with many rooms. Before the parents leave, the father tells the babysitter that after she puts the kids to bed, she should go into a specific sitting room and watch TV (because he didn’t want her to wander around the house). So that’s exactly what she does.

As she’s watching a program, she tries to ignore a clown statue that’s in the corner of the room. As time goes on, she gets increasingly disturbed by the statue, calls the father, and asks, “Hey, the kids are in bed, but is it okay if I switch rooms? This clown statue is really creeping me out.”

The father replies, “Get the kids, go next door and call 911.”

She asks, “What’s going on?” and he responds, “Just go next door and once you call the police, call me back.”

The babysitter does as she is told and calls the dad back. He explains that the family does not have a clown statue – but that his kids were recently complaining about a clown who was watching them while they slept. He assumed that they were having nightmares… until he received her call.

While the police were searching the house, they actually found someone dressed as a clown. He was homeless and mentally ill. For weeks, he’d been secretly living in the home. Since the family’s house had many rooms, the clown was able to avoid being caught.

This means that every night, for weeks, he’d creep into the children’s room and watch them while they slept.

(Image via iStock)