Local Legends: What Monsters are Lurking in Your Neck of the Woods?
Cult of Weird readers share their local legends of ghosts, murders, and mysterious creatures.
Wherever you go there’s sure to be a neighborhood witch, notorious haunting, or mysterious creature lurking nearby. As children, we are fearful of walking passed the overgrown house at the end of the street, or wandering too far from the campfire at night. Then, eventually we become bored teenagers exploring the same places we used to fear. These legends, while rarely ever based on anything more than a shred of historical truth at best, are inseparably woven into the fabric of communities and the collective imagination.
Even if they are entirely untrue, they are just as important culturally as the stories that are. That’s why they persist, decade after decade, through generations.
Since I often share local legends from around my stomping grounds here in Wisconsin (Witherel house, St. Nazianz, Ed Gein), I thought it would be interesting to hear some of yours. Two ways to enter last month’s Cult of Weird birthday giveaway (7 years…what the hell have I been doing with my life?) included sharing a story of the strangest thing that ever happened to you, most of which can be read in the comments here, and telling me about a local legend near you.
The results included here are anonymous because the contest app didn’t include names. If you would like to be credited for your contribution let me know.
Local Legends
“I live near Maxdale Bridge in Killeen, TX. A man hung himself from the bridge after failing to save his girlfriend from drowning in the river below. After midnight if you go on the bridge, you may see him hanging. Leave your car unattended and you may come back to children’s handprints. This comes from a drunk school bus driver going over the side of the bridge. Everyone on board died. There’s also a ghost truck in the area that runs people off the road.”
“When I was in primary school, there was an old bank across the road, and everyone said that it was inhabited by a giant eye that had a snake like neck and mouth. Everyday, we would sit at the fence watching and waiting.”
“There is a local man who comes into the Herb ‘N Legend Smoke Shop weekly, and purchases two large bags of fresh tobacco: one for himself, and one for Bigfoot. When asked about this, he will enthusiastically explain that he brings the freshly shredded tobacco with him into the woods (he refuses to specify where for the safety of his hairy buddy but hints at it being near Cape Disappointment) to leave out the second bag on the forest floor. He then climbs up a nearby tree and waits, all day if need be, till Bigfoot arrives to collect his share of tobacco. The man does this weekly, and states that Bigfoot shows up every time for his tobacco delivery.”
“The White Lady of Oakhill Cemetery is a local legend around Janesville, WI. We also have had a few phantom kangaroo sightings, out of place alligators, and Dogman sightings.”
“There used to be a Burger King in my town when I was a kid. I don’t remember ever going there, but I didn’t have much chance to go after a murder was committed there. It turns out that a former employee came in one night after hours, tied up the manager (who was there alone locking up the store), forced her into the freezer, and shot her to death. The body was discovered the next day and the cashbox was robbed. Since then, it was dubbed “Murder King” by local children. Soon after, they renovated it into a pizza place, but it never survived. Guess no one felt comfortable eating 30 feet away from where a murder took place!”
“The County Line Monster of Elkhart, Indiana”
“91 beechmount avenue in Belfast, N Ireland Was the most haunted house in Ireland, it was exorcised twice and had to be demolished in the end.”
“There’s the story of the girl on the tube who was actually dead. The men with her were going to throw her body in the Thames. Another is the ghost in our opera house in my home town. It was built where the old gallows used to be and sometimes people see the nooses and hear people begging to be released.”
“There’s a creepy portal in a local ex-graveyard at Murston, Sittingbourne, Kent, UK”
“There is a legend that a large house not far from where I live is haunted by the ghosts of slaves who died there. It’s called “Major Graham’s Mansion” and they give ghost tours there as well as having a special halloween haunted house there every year.”
“Living in Portland, OR there are many. Pittock Mansion, for example, is just up the hill from where I live. There’s also the internationally [in]famous ‘Witch’s Castle’ in Forest Park… one of my favourite places in the city. We also, of course, have the ever-horrifying Shanghai Tunnels, as well.”
“Mcpike Mansion is a famous local haunted house here is Alton Illinois that I love to visit. A local legend that some people are always amazed at when I tell them is the Phantom Panthers of Illinois. (just google it) I actually saw one when I was a child, although no one believes me but I know what I saw.”
“In Ocean City Maryland there is a Life Saving Museum on the Ocean City Beach boardwalk. In it are old sea Darin’ things. One is a capsule they would throw out in the water at the end of a rope to save drowning people, when the waves were too dangerous for the to go out in a boat to save people. The person or persons being saved would climb in pull over the lid and then be pulled ashore. A woman visiting the museum said she looked into the capsule and suddenly smelled the ocean and saw a wet man dressed in old fisherman’s type clothing. She freaked out and refuses to go back into the museum. Then also on the same boardwalk is the Shoreham Hotel. The story is that a bunch of college students on spring break were staying there. One girl got drunk and thought it would be funny to climb out her window, walk along a very small ledge to knock on one of her friend’s windows. Of course she fell and cracked her head like an egg on the pavement below. People that stay in her room say their belongings sometimes get tidied up, clothes folded and such. They say she is a nice ghost. There are lots of other haunted places here but those are two of my favorites.”
“I am the local legend in my area. I’m the Witch of South Mountain, I own a hearse, and my house is haunted by at least four people and a cat.”
“There’s a place down the road from my buddy’s house called the dollhouse. It’s this random parking lot with various old toy parts scattered around it. There’s different ones every time we go.”
“There’s an old abandoned house down the street from my parent’s house that supposedly has a baby buried on the property, and kids used to say you could hear the baby crying when you walked past it.”
“I live near a cemetery, there’s no specific legend but I’ve not met one neighbor yet that hasn’t had a least one unexpected visitor in shadowy form in their home.”
“This is more grotesque gossip from my hometown, but a young man (17 y/o) went missing some time ago. He worked at our local grocery store, and his disappearance and presumed murder were linked to the store owner’s son, whom also worked at the store at that time. After pieces of the mystery began to arise, that they young man was likely murdered INSIDE the grocery store after hours, rumors began spreading around town that he was ground up in the meat grinder and turned into sausage, for sale to the public. The store was always well known for their excellent cuts of meat… So, legend goes, we unknowingly, or rather unwillingly, became a town of cannibals.”
“I live near an old manor house. People say that a little girl fell down the stairs and died and you can see her ghost on those stairs.”
“1700 Bannie Avenue Las Vegas NV was once owned by mobsters and there was a killing room inside. I captured footage of a man standing next to me wearing a blood splattered sportcoat!”
“I’ve heard of the Goat man and the blair witch being around Baltimore/Maryland”
“The sexton house in Russellville Ky (my home town) the cemetery caretakers daughter got upset and cursed god because her father wouldn’t let her go out. she got struck by lightening and her image was burned into the window. They boarded the window up not too long ago so you cant see it anymore.”
“In the beautiful city of Torun there was a dragon sighting in the spring of 1746. It is not a legend – it was documented on August 13th 1746 in the city council chronicles. The beast was seen by master carpenter Johann Georg Hieronim and a city soldier’s wife Kataharina Storchin. It could fly and swim and was approximately two metres long. Its head and body was dark grey and its tail was light brown and shiny. It was seen in the old town area near the rivulet and flew in the direction of the Teutonic castle. In the place of the sighting there is now a memorial plaque and a small statue of the dragon.”
“In a town about 20 minutes from me (Southern Illinois), there’s a legend about a particular hill. This hill is said to have been a burial ground for slaughtered Native Americans (which is plausible, many manmade hills and mounds around here were the work of natives and served as areas of worship and an honorable burial ground), but it is now haunted by their restless spirits because a rich white man built a railroad over their final resting place. Since the hill was originally used for honorable burials (for leaders, healers, and warriors), and then as a dumping ground for murdered civilians, the spirits are especially powerful, and they seek vengeance on the white men that continue to disrespect their sacred grounds. The descendants of the family that built this railroad still live in town and own a house not far from this hill. It’s said that the vengeful spirits plant bones and bloody, antique weapons on this family’s property on the hottest night of the year (supposedly because they would be awake, too uncomfortable to sleep, and thus, would see these bones and leave immediately during the night). There’s been quite a few accidents on the property and people have become stuck on the tracks as they drive over, but as for the appearance of bones and bloody tools, nothing has been confirmed.”
“The train Depot and downtown buildings as well as many of the homes in Livingston MT are said to be haunted. The Blue Slipper Theater has a lot of activity.”
“Deady Hall on the university of Oregon campus is reported to be haunted.”
“The Tunnel Monster of Cabbagetown: In 1978, a 51 year old man named ‘Ernest’ went looking for his missing kitten on Parliament St, and had such an experience. The monster was described as having grey fur, red eyes, and weighing approximately thirty pounds. This story has prompted the City of Toronto to inspect the tunnel over safety concerns that children might try to enter.”
“Where I grew up in Kimball, MN they always said the laundromat was haunted by a little girl. Some people said they could hear her. I was there often with my parents to do laundry because they owned a cafe across the street called Bill and Toni’s. I never heard anything.”
“I’m from Prague, Czech Republic, which is a very old city full of local legends and strange things and happenings. I love the one about a skeleton ghost holding his neck: The legend is there was a count who had killed a man in a battle and felt so terrible because of it, that he turned to a philanthropist and still died from a broken heart and was buried in one of Prague’s monasteries. Fast forward a century or two, during the 17th century when Prague was under siege by the Swedes, one of the Swedish soldiers who were killing many innocent people at that time, were robbing the monastery when one of them fell into the tomb of this count. As soon as he fell in, ghostly skeleton hands started to choke him as a revenge for all the pain and suffering he has caused. His fellow soldiers could see all of this, but before they tried to reach him and help him, he was dead and the monastery floor above the now two dead bodies toppled over, burying them both. Ever since then, people have said that they kept seeing a ghost of a skeleton, walking down the halls of the monastery, holding its neck, as if it was choking and trying to free his airways.. This story ends on an interesting note, because in the 20th century many archeological excavations took place in the monastery and an unknown grave with two skeletons, with one of them having its hands around the other’s neck, was found, thus turning the legend to be a real tale.. Another interesting legend is that whoever puts on Czech crown jewels in a wrong way, dies soon. Interestingly enough, Reinhard Heydrich, high ranking German Nazi officer responsible of deaths of thousands of people, who was in charge of my country when Germany occupied us, put it on incorrectly and got assassinated two days after that. There are so many amazing haunted and creepy stories about my city and I highly recommend reading about them! Most of them are from the middle ages or the renaissance, so they are very old.”
“I live near the Texas Killing Fields. There have been several murders in this area and supposedly there are still bodies there that have not been found.”
“There’s a haunted place near me. they say a bus full of kids crashed there and that they push you across the bridge if you put your car in neutral and turn all the lights off.”
“Hitler’s tunnel in Palos Verdes, CA is a storm drain tunnel that runs under Green Hills Cemetery – about a mile long – people freak inside when they think they hear creepy voices – actually the bleating of goats at the cemetery used to weed the back areas.”
“I live in Queen Creek, Arizona and I’m not sure if it’s true, but I did hear a story from long before this town is like it is today. It was a big farming town, and, according to this story, at the end of the harvest season for the owners of the blue house were having a party for their hands, workers. The next day they realized that two of the workers were missing, without receiving their pay first. They went around looking for them, thinking that they may have passed out during the night. Upon reaching a ditch, not far from the house, they find 2 large toolboxes. When they open it up, the find the mutilated bodies of the workers and were never able to find the killer. I’ve heard from several people that they could feel the entities of the workers, at times reaching so far that they could feel the pain, but that was so long ago and whose to know what really happened.”
“Bizarre murder: A few years ago, a teenager named Zach Proper murdered his grandparents in their home, near my office. He said it was because they were bad-mouthing his mother. He lured his Grandfather home (after he already shot Grandma) by calling his cell and asking him to bring home pizza for dinner. When Grandpa walked in the house, Zach shot and killed him, took the pizza, stole the car and went to party with his friends and cousins in the next town over. He ended up hanging himself in his jail cell before the trial. I drive past this house a minimum of twice a day. On the morning of the discovery of the dead grandparents, I was on my way to work and got stopped right in front of the house. There were “official” vehicles everywhere in front of the house…police, CSI, Coroner, HazMat…the police had blocked traffic up the hill, so I had to sit and wait while they removed bags from the house. A few weeks later, the son of Grandma & Grandpa (Zach’s father) moved into the house like nothing had happened. He still lives there, and is always working in his yard when I drive by. I think about the incident every day.”
“Ghost of a girl who was killed in the 1870s in the woods of Lums Pond State Park, Bear Delaware”
“I live near Germanton, North Carolina where the murder of the Lawson family occurred. On December 25, 1929, sharecropper Charlie Lawson murdered his wife and six of his seven children. Its been recounted in a few books one notably White Christmas, Bloody Christmas.”
“I live in the Bridgewater Triangle in Massachusetts. Lots of weird stuff happens here! UFO’s, Bigfoot, Thunderbirds, ghost sightings, etc.”
“In the woods around Barrington, RI where I live people often find: – Burnt out fires with nails in them – Broken religious statues – Incense So most people think there’s occult practices going on.”
“Emo’s grave; Victim of the beast 666; Bear Lake monster; ghosts at This Is The Place Park; Utah has a lot more!”
“There’s a place here that appears and disappears called shady lane, I live near it.”
“I live in Vegas. Sometimes people commit suicide in the casino hotels and some employees hate working night shifts because they swear they hear and see stuff aka ghosts.”
“There is a local legend of a an eccentric man from the county I reside in- Sullivan county, PA. He was supposedly a sawmill worker who never told anyone his real name. If anyone asked, he’d simply say “I’m the Devil”. He’s apparently buried in a small cemetery in the woods, with his tombstone simply reading “The Devil”. My family has looked for it, but we’ve never found it. (There’s also a rumor that his tombstone has been stolen- So there’s that.)”
“The ghost of a man has been seen and often gives chase to those who stop on Jicarilla Rd, in Apple Valley, CA.”
“We have the haunted manresa castle in Port Townsend…I’ve heard a widow commuted suicide as well as a priest hanging himself in the attic there. It’s now a popular hotel and wedding venue.”
“In Lafayette Oregon there is a story that there was a woman burned as a witch in the 1800s. She was not a witch but vowed to burn the town to the ground three times to avenge her death. The town has burned twice. She’s buried at the local cemetery which is said to be haunted by her ghost. I’ve visited and it’s definitely weird.”
“The Bear Lake Monster (Bear Lake, UT/ID). Kind of like the Loch Ness Monster.”
“A man got his daughter pregnant. Family kept it a secret. Then when his daughter was away he locked the baby in the wood box and murdered his wife with an axe. Can’t remember if he killed himself. This was early 1900’s.”
“The Sunnyvale ghost that haunts the toys r us.”
“Many years ago a guy was visiting a dominatrix and she had him tied up. She had his testicles tied up by a separate rope and had his body suspended from the ground. The rope holding his body broke but the rope holding his testicles did not. Instantly castrated him and almost killed him. To make matters worse he was doing this behind his wife’s back and she divorced him. True story, made all the news stations here in Columbus ohio.”
“Reynolda house supposedly has a sordid past that no one likes to talk about but it’s involves a murder. It’s in Winston Salem, nc and is now an art museum.”
“There is a bar 2 miles from me that everyone claims is jinxed. After 4 owners and renovations, it still bankrupts anyone attempting to make a go of it.”
“I grew up in Salem, MA. There are hundreds. I particularly like the one about the really old cemetery that’s “cursed”. Any restaurant built next to it (it shares a retaining wall) fails. There was even supposed to be a Cheers location there once but everything went so wrong that it never opened. Legend has it that the wall inside the restaurant once gave way and a couple caskets even spilled in.”
“In Saugus/Malden Massachusetts there is a local story of an old school bus during the depression era that was in a horrific crash and fell down an embankment into a small lake. Allegedly, between the wreck and submerging into the water, all the children were killed and they still haunt the neighborhood surrounding the intersection. It’s an odd place too because the area is just outside of Revere/Boston in a heavily populate area just by Route 1, but for some reason to this day the neighborhood is wooded, the roads aren’t paved and the streets are all random steep hills, which is extremely uncommon for the region. It’s like a 3 block area of tall, steep hills, unpaved roads, no streetlights and lots of trees on the Saugus/Malden line that is completely out of place as it is so otherwise urban in the surrounding area.”
“There is the Blue Man in a cemetery outside of Urbana, Illinois.”
“I used to live down the street from the boarding house where Dorethea Puente murdered her tenants.”
“My friend bought a home very cheaply in the outskirts of my country hometown. Every time I would enter the house especially the lounge room I would feel ill and awful. Turns out a very high profile murder case of a local woman that we all remembered had taken place in his lounge room. Apparently it was like a bloodbath she was stabbed repeatedly in the lounge then dragged into the shed out back and wrapped in barbed wire and dumped in the local lake. There is still a massive roll of barbed wire in the shed. So hence why he bought the house cheaply. It’s very very creepy.”
“There is supposedly a ‘goatman’ in Montana and I heard people I know talk about it all the time.”
“The Big Red Eye is Northern New Jerseys version of the Bigfoot. It is claimed that it has been seen crossing my road.”
“In leonardtown, M.D. we have a legend about a woman named Moll Dyer who in the 1600s was accused of witchcraft and after fleeing get home died in the woods from the writer cold. They found her the next morning clutching a large rock which now sits in front of our court house with a sign. If you look closely, you can see the ghost of a hand print on the side of the stone. (She has at least one road named after her as well as a brewery)”
“In 1817 a girl called Mary Ashford was raped and murdered near Pype Hayes Park as she walked home from a dance. 160 years later, on the same day and in the same place, the body of a girl called Barbara Forrest was found, she had also been returning home from a dance. The men who were acquitted of both murders had the same surname – Thornton.”
“The ogopogo and bigfoot, but they’re pretty well known. they just show up on the island a lot.”
“I don’t remember the story, but there is a piece of toast memorialized in a headstone at Fairview Cemetery in Greensburg, Kansas. It would be fun to look into!”
“The Driskill Hotel in Austin, TX is said to have the most haunting aparitions in the state. Opened in 1886 by Civil War veteran Jesse Driskill, the hotel contains a stained glass dome, columns throughout the lobby, and a dramatic stairwell. However, after the opening several suicides and accidents took place within the walls, including 2 brides committing suicide in room 525, and the tragic death of a child on the stairwell chasing a ball. Also, claims of seeing Jesse Driskill roaming the halls are alive and well.”
“I live in Dallas, surprisingly home to America’s longest running goth club called The Church. Apparently it’s haunted! It used to be a brothel, and there have been sightings of a Victorian era man lurking around the club! I believe he appeared once in the background of a photo I took.”
“Evansville Indiana area is full of some weird shit. We have the second largest street fair next to Mardi Gras that has everything from brain sandwiches to pickle slushies. There are hidden civil war gravesites everywhere. A plague went through here that no one talks about and occasional serial killers. And on top of that I’m pretty sure the masons are up to some weird again. I’m also living up in Muncie Indiana for School and that and that is a whole different ball park of weird.”
“In my area of Spain, there was purportedly a witch coven that exorcised demons from people under the effects of demonic possession up until about the 1930s. They were widely visited and praised for numerous miracles.”
“The haunted fishing shack in Jonathan Dickinson state park.”
“I live where Cannon towels were made. The Cannon family had most of the big houses in downtown Concord, NC. Most are said to be haunted. One particular I know is.”
“Mikey’s grave. In Rockland County, N.Y. there is a large campus of old stone buildings that was once Letchworth Village. For many years it was an institution for children and adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities. In the 80s an expose on the news led to it being shut down. Many of the former residents were buried on the property and their graves were marked with simple metal cross markers and they were numbered rather than labelled with names. Local legend has it that there was one former resident who was a young boy named Mikey. Mikey was reportedly very violent and injured many staff during his stay. Mikey reportedly died on grounds and was buried. His marker was numbered like the others. He was assigned #666. The legend reported that if you drove into the cemetery from an unmarked road on grounds and flashed your headlights 3 times, Mikey would rise from his grave and chase your car. Oh. And all of the other iron crosses were bent down and pointing toward his grave. There was also a caretaker that watched for stupid kids in cars. When cars would pull down the road, he would block the path out with a tree or large rocks and call the police and have trespassers arrested. The campus has been revitalized and there is no longer access to the spot.”
“I don’t know too much about it but there is a legend based around a cemetery in Ada,Michigan. Known as the Ada witch.”
“The ghost of the doctor in the old hospital on elgin street, which is now beckta restaurant! it’s been a couple of other restaurants before and staff have reported hearing pacing on the floorboards when the place was empty as well as someone invisible brushing past them in the stairs. it’s also claimed he can be seen in the window of his old office!”
“There’s a restaurant called Wok ‘n Roll in Chinatown here. It’s purported to be haunted by the ghost of Mary Surratt (one of the conspirators in the Lincoln assassination).”
“If you go up on Gold Camp and park in the cave and turn your lights off, ghost children will come shake your car. You can put flour on the outside of the car and see the hand prints. I’ve never done it, but it’s still neat.”
“Southeast WI, there is the beast of Bray road, haunchies in Muskego, heard about the goatman and my mom claims to have seen a pigman.”
“I live in Thessaloniki, Greece and since I am about to do my masters in forensics, I will tell you about one of my favorite cases. It is an old but interesting case of a serial killer who was active around 1959. His name was Aristides Pagratidis and he became famous as the ogre, or dragon of seih-su forest. The forest of seih-su located very close to the city of Thessaloniki was a famous spot for couples. He approached his victims there, holding a cigarette and hiding a rock on his other hand pretending that he needed a light. He was arrested while drunk and high, in his attempt to rape an eleven year old orphan. He was executed inside the forest uttering his last words ” My sweet mother, I am innocent”. To this day we are not sure if he was the famous “dragon” everybody was afraid of. His case slowly became a legend and is still used to terrify young couples.”
“I live in a neighborhood of Brooklyn called Bensonhurst, which more than anything is known for its Italian/Sicilian crime family history. One soldier in particular, Tommy Pitera (b. 1954) of the Bonanno family, resided in adjacent neighborhood Gravesend and is suspected of responsibility of around 60 murders. Though his killing techniques weren’t necessarily unusual for the mob, with a few exceptions of torture, he did obsess over the method of body disposal and apparently took pleasure in dismemberment of the cadavers. He also kept jewelry as souvenirs from many of his kills, which indicates serial killer behavior. In 1992 he was convicted of the murder of six people and running a huge drug operation, and was sentenced to life in prison.”
“I live in Athens, Greece. The most famous “haunted” location is of.course the old Sanatorium and later hotel (now abandoned) on Mt. Parnitha. There are several ‘spirits’ according to the legends haunting the place. True or not, I have captured photos with unusual phenomena there more than once…”
“The ancient tunnels that run under the market square in Northampton.”
“There is one I know little about but which probably deserves further research. In Bordeaux, there are these strange steeples that stand high near churches but are not attached to the main building. One, Saint-Michel Steeple, if we can name it that, used to house mummies in a crypt. During the XIXnth Century, it apparently was kind of a popular tourist stop. Sometime in the 20th Century (not really sure when), they finally removed the mummies as some parts were stolen as souvenirs. The corpses were relocated in a common grave. Rumors has it that some people also came in that crypt to practise rituals amongst the dead. I heard about this story at an exhibition about Mummies, but it probably is worth digging into it. It’s not exactly a legend, but being new in the area, I haven’t heard any yet. Hope that was still a bit interesting!”
“Camp Brunswick…summer camp for inner city youth to come out to the country for a few weeks; was always said there was a hooded figure seen on the grounds…”
“Lake Tahoe has a creature (like Loch Ness monster) called Tahoe Tessie. The Donner party got stuck in the Sierra Nevadas near the north side of Lake Tahoe and had to resort to cannibalism. Dead bodies supposedly don’t decompose in the lake because the water is so cold.”
“I live close to Miami, we have the chupacabra.”
“I live in Nashville but close by in Adams, Tn. is where the Bell Witch Legend is from. My theatre group from high school does a yearly weekend excursion to the area on the anniversary, pretty intense place for sure.”
“In 1973, there was a large creature sighted. It appeared in a lovers lane type scenario, and the witnesses experienced some kind of large bipedal creature that seemed to be covered in mud. It was named the Murphysboro Mud Monster.”
“In the back of my neighborhood, the railroad tracks use to run. Supposedly, late at night, you can see a man walking where the tracks formerly were with his light. Allegedly, the man died on the tracks.”
“Discovery harbour in penetanguishene ontario is said to be haunted by the spirits of soldiers.”
“In the late 80’s there was a pedophile serial killer who abducted young blue-eyed, blond girls. One finally escaped and police were notified. when they tracked him down, he shot his accomplice, and then himself. The strange thing is, the bodies were never found. They excavated his whole property – which still today is just an empty, weedy overgrown plot – and found nothing. I used to stay in the same street. Bricks were stacked in front of the property’s gate with children’s hand prints in paint.”
“Stull cemetery in Topeka KS. About a old church that burnt down. If throw a bottle in if it breaks you are going to hell. They tore church down a few years ago. They loosely based a movie on it. It was supposedly produce by slash of guns n roses.”
“A historic building near the Rideau Canal is one of Ottawa’s most haunted places. I visited what is now known as the “Bytown Museum” during a “Haunted Walk Tour”. While I was there, the bottom portion of a Dutch door slammed shut. I am not sure if it was a hoax/some very elaborate prank but everyone was so scared! I tried to see if there was a mechanism behind the door but I couldn’t see one…This happened 7 years ago and it is still fresh in my mind!!”
“The ghost of Anne Boleyn is well known to haunt her childhood home of Blickling Hall which is very local to me.”
“We don’t get murders very often here (once every decade or so), but there’s one that always goes around where an ex-boyfriend chopped his ex-girlfriend into small pieces and put her in a box for her current boyfriend to find.”
“I lived in a house with a spirit that did not like me when I was 15. It liked my mother, but not me. It made my life a living hell and my mother couldn’t understand anything I was talking about for the duration of our time there. It was only when I had to fly out of the country with her and the spirit started attacking my father did any anyone believe me. That was absolute torture.”
“The San Carlos Hotel in Downtown Phoenix *claims* to be haunted (but I can’t personally verify) but a jem is the Grand Hotel in Jerome, AZ! That’s truly a haunted place that I’ve personally experienced with a great deal of history!”
“The Nessie-like Memphremagog Lake Monster in Canada.”
“There is a gravestone at a cemetery near my house that holds the legend of a young girl kidnapped. The headstone reads “kidnapped” and “found dead” they never found a killer but the story is very mysterious and very long, upon further research. They day i found it walking my dog in the cemetery i found it quite strange. Later that day my brother mentioned he saw an article about a headstone of a kidnapped girl. I was shocked and I mentioned my finding. Was the same one. What a weird coincidence.”
“The Oakville blobs of unknown origin that fell during rainstorms, has been featured on Unsolved Mysteries and similar television shows.”
“The night people that hang out on the north side of the mountain nearby, ‘you don’t want to be up there at night!!!’ And Bigfoot.”
“The ghost children / school bus ghosts of Tunnel Drive, several other haunted areas in Colorado Springs / Manitou Springs, the wealth of prohibition-era booze still hidden under the swimming pool in The Broadmoor hotel. We’ve got dozens, actually, of varying oddity and credibility.”
“In the central city/black hawk area there are many free mason graveyards and strange mining history all over.”
“The purple church in Oklahoma.”
“Where I live in Richmond Virginia there is a legend about the Richmond vampire. A train tunnel collapsed and a man or creature with dead flesh hanging off his body and broken and jagged teeth ran out from the tunnel. He fled to Hollywood cemetery and people believe that he was returning to his coffin.”
“There is an abandoned insane asylum about an hour away from my hometown. Bryce Hospital. It was home to insane slaves a long time ago. It was shut down for various creepy reasonings.”
“The Faust Hotel in New Braunfels, Tx there’s supposedly the ghost of a salesman who committed suicide in the late 50’s. The economy ‘salesmen rooms’ are charming but notoriously prone to strange calls and noises in the middle of the night.”
“Johannes Bückler, frz. Jean Buckler as the so called ‘Schinderhannes’ – he committed a minimum of 211 crimes in the 18th century in mid-west Germany.”
“Screaming Mimi’s bridge. Tiffin, Oh. It’s a story of a girl who died in a motorcycle accident and she haunts the bridge. My dad used to go scare his fellow high school students with his friend’s there when he was a kid. The legend is if you turn off your head lights and sit in the dark, she will come up to your car.”
“LA is the weirdest place – There are multiple stories about what happened on Loma Alta Dr. in Altadena — some say a teenage girl and her friends took her parents’ car and died in a crash, others say a school bus crashed there, killing everyone on board. But the phenomenon is the same either way. If you go to this particular stretch of road and put your car in neutral, your car will supposedly start to roll UPHILL. It goes against everything you think you know about physics, and the legend says that it’s the ghosts of those girls or schoolkids pushing your car up the hill to help you avoid the same fate they met. Even creepier, if you put baby powder on the trunk of your car, legend says you’ll find fingerprints on it after rolling up the hill.”
“We have the water babies at pyramid lake in Nevada.the Indians would drown the babies that were born with major defects because they would not be a productive member of the tribe.”
“Bigfoot is near me, I live at the very north end of California.”
“In Colorado springs it is rumored that the tunnel on goldcamp road is haunted by the ghosts of children who got killed when the bus they were in for a school trip crashed there. Legend is if you park there in the tunnel and turn off your lights the children will come visit you. The evidence is little hand prints left in the dust on your car.”
“I live in Lancashire quite near Pendleton Hill, home of the infamous Alice Nutter.”
“The old train station which is now the Casino Regina has a reputation of being haunted. I even had an experience there.”
“Being from Florida many people believe there is a monster called swamp thing/man.”
“Many legends around here. The most notable ones being Fort Humboldt, The Carson Mansion, and The Eagle House Victorian Inn.”
“In my hometown in PA, in the forest (Black Moshannon) there are supposed to be creatures that have wooden eyes that hunt campers and eat their hearts at night.”
“The char-man of ojai. Or the lady in white at the olivas adobe house.”
“My mom used to tell us a story about Walking Rosie in Monroeville’s Restland-Lincoln cemetery. According to legend, Rosie and her boyfriend crashed their car and died in the cemetery pond. Rosie’s arm was torn off during the crash and she now roams the cemetery looking for her lost limb.”
“The Public Hospital, in Williamsburg, VA. First asylum in America. Supposedly quite haunted!”
“The Legend of the Woman of Old Woman Springs Road, Yucca Valley CA – in a freak desert flood her two children were trapped on a isle in a run off. They lived in isolation – a early settler family whose father had died – and there was no one to help so she tried to wade in and save them but they all were carried away and died. Their bodies were never recovered When the wind comes up you can here her wailing in the night and sometimes during the full moon you can see her walking in the dried river beds looking for her children.”
“The Legend of the Boojum (Haywood County, North Carolina)”
“The Cadaborosaurus or caddy. Ledgendary sea monster.”
“We have cemetery close by called “coon hill cemetery” lots of creepy things happen…… I have been meaning to take a visit!”
“Gacy used to manage a KFC in the area. I knew someone who’s father worked with em & another who babysat his chillun’.”
“The legend of The Green Man! Various websites claim his disfigured spirit haunts the railroad tunnel along Piney Fork Road!”
“There’s a haunted building called Edifício Joelma, where it’s said, strange things happen and people have died before in there. It’s located in São Paulo. Also there’s the haunted stories of Patio do Colégio, in São Paulo too. Must visit more and search.”
“Every city has that creepy place either at the edge of town or out in the middle of nowhere about 20 minutes away that everyone talks or has rumors about. This one just so happens to be dead center (hehe) between two towns not too far from where we all go skiing every year. There’s a great big, white three-story house with these long skinny window panes that you can find sitting on the edge of a large, gorgeous lake tucked and hiding behind all of the oaks and pines of the surrounding forest. It was once used as a tuberculosis center back in the day, although some argue that it was once a mental institution, but we’ve never had one in the area. Boarding schools and the like, maybe. Anyway, most people who go into the building, usually come out with some sort of bad luck or sickness. One lady has photographs with a few different apparitions in them. She ended up getting sick for awhile there and the doctors didn’t have a clue what was wrong with her, that is until they did an x-ray of her stomach and found a fishing hook in there. She claims she hadn’t eaten fish in over 10 years at the time! If that is true, why did it cause her problems so many years later? Other people claim to see a little girl who plays on the outside of the property in an older-style dress. Loud noises, foot steps, flashes of light and the like can all be heard and felt on the inside of the building. There are ‘no trespassing’ signs on the property now and the new owners aren’t the biggest fans of people sneaking in and around their property, but I did hear a rumour or read somewhere that they had thoughts about turning it into a bed and breakfast. Ooh, did I forget to mention what they did with the bodies of people lost to tuburculosis? They had to cremate the bodies to keep the disease from spreading but weren’t sure what to do with all the leftover ashes so they poured them into the lake which the house sits on. I don’t have plans to visit or see this place any closer than I already have but I can assure you, everyone has a story about it and I believe most of them. Especially after digging around and finding the actual backstory!”
“I live in NJ! There’s local legends on every street! I pass one every day, Dinosaur Rock.”
“Al’s Diner in Chicopee, Massachusetts supposedly used to be called the ‘Devil’s Denny’s’ due to local occultists meeting there before/after official gatherings.”
“Old Three-Toes – like bigfoot, but with three toes.”
“I’m from New Orleans, there are too many to list. My favorite is about the babies that can be heard crying at night by Ursaline Convent. Unwanted children of wealthy wealthy families were buried under the wall.”
“The Hannah House, which was used for passage of the Underground Railroad, is supposed to very very haunted.”
“There is a legend that there was once an old insane asylum off of Elfin Forest Rd. No one can find its exact location, but there have been many ghost sightings in the area and there is also a ‘cult’ of sorts called Questhaven in the same area. Spoopy.”
“Prince George’s County in Maryland has its own Goatman legend, actually! Also, there’s the Bunnyman, a serial killer who supposedly killed multiple people while dressed in a bunny suit.”
“Actually to be sure I should do some research but I don’t have much time right now so I will tell a story I made up about building where I live. It always felt strange to live in it.It is very tall for Croatian standards.And I remember when i was just a girl there used to be a very spooky drawing of a dracula on a wall in between ground floor and a first floor,and there was no window just a dim light from a neon light bulb.The drawing was very simple linear,with some shade of purple and little dost of blood from draculas teeth,It was very basic but it gave me and other kinds ghoosebumps,so we would play a game who will endure standing there for the most time.And there is this thing about my building that lot of people choose to jump and commit suicide even if they didn’t live in it.So besides the dracula (who has been painted over unfortunately)I’m sure my building is pretty haunted.”
“We had a Sasquatch sighting in Rockford Illinois back in the 70’s. He was just passing through. They called him ‘Momo the monster’. Stupid name. I’ve had 3 good UFO sightings here in the last 9 years. Rockford is quite a place.”
“We have a tower in Amsterdam that is called the weeping tower, when people went to war the women were waiting near the water and the weeping tower and it is said they stayed there, crying, until they died. You can still hear them cry, or so it is said.”
“Grace Sherwood’s ducking in Virginia Beach on Witchduck Road”
“In Ketchikan, AK. The natives believe in the Kushdika (sp) that inhabits the local rainforest. Part of the legend is that wearing bright colored clothes in the forest will offend the Kushdika and it will then take you to the spirit world as it can pass between both. He is considered a protector of the forest.”
“We live opposite Hanging Wood, with a hillside where a gibbet supposedly stood. The woods feel very strange in places, and my son & his pal had one very odd experience when their torches died at the same moment.”
“My country before it become christian country had a mistirious history full of folk tale legends,they say even a first recorder’d vampire comes from “Istra,Croatia” and his name is “Jure Grando”..:)”
“The Yowie is a local legend here in South East Qld.”
“We have a grave yard called booger hollow, supposedly its haunted it’s even blocked off so people cant get there anymore.”
“The creepiest thing that people talk about is the tunnels underneath the Oregon State Hospital, which the extensiveness of isn’t public and until recently the existence of was denied.”
“Plenty….here (the Balkans) we’re loaded in that respect …for example people here traditionally believe in a whole bunch of strange beings like the Karakondzula- a female creature that lives on the sides of steep mountains for which purpose she needs shoes made out of human veins…so every once in a while, when she’s worn out another pair, she will climb down and rip someone’s veins out to make repairs …..or there is also the drekavac…a small creature that imitates the cries of small children as a bait for other children which he ambushes and devours….hope you like those:)”
“Decoursey Bridge (Cambridge, MD): Big Lizz was a slave in Dorchester County whose master believed she was trading information with the Union Army – specifically information about his stash of money. Her master had Big Lizz follow him into the swamp to re-bury the money. Then he cut off her head. Shortly afterward he died. Today people see Big Lizz near Decoursey Bridge holding her head in her hands motioning to come follow her to her master’s treasure which has never been found. All who have followed have never returned.”
Are you familiar with any of these legends? Do you know of a local legend near you worth sharing? Share it in the comments below!
Between the late 18th and 19th Centuries, rural residents of New England were convinced that vampires were lurking in the graves of the recently deceased. The most chilling story happened in Exeter, Rhode Island in the 1790s, where a young woman names Sarah Tillinghast is alleged to have drained the life of six of her own sibling before she was eventually dug up and destroyed. The vampire curse is still feared by some locals today, and offerings are regularly left on the graves of the suspected night-stalkers.
In Millard, NE there is a story about an old abandoned one room schoolhouse, you know the kind with the school bell in a small tower on the roof. Well as the story goes, a female teacher went insane and hacked up all her students with hatchet. then threw all the bodies off a bridge and into a creek. This was the legend of the Hatchet House. The Ghost of the insane teacher with the hatchet was supposed to still haunt the schoolhouse and surrounding area. While I was in High School the building still existed, and kids would go… Read more »