The Babysitter StoryThe babysitter story is truly an unforgettable urban legend, often told at slumber parties. The tale has different variations but the spooky and downright terrifying elements remain the same.

As the story goes, a teenage girl is hired by a young couple to baby-sit their two small children. They go out to a dinner party and leave the girl to tend to the kids in a somewhat isolated, large house at the end of the block.

When the hour gets late, she puts the children to bed and sits down to watch some late-night TV. The phone starts ringing and startles the half-asleep teenager. When she answers it, she hears heavy breathing and a man tells her he is "coming to get her." While she is somewhat scared, she dismisses it as a prank phone call.

About 15 minutes later, the phone rings again. When she answers it, the man starts laughing and tells her that he is closer. The baby sitter is truly frightened now and calls the police.

They tell her that it's probably just a prank phone call, but they will try to trace the call -- so she must keep him on the line as long as possible if he calls another time. She once again settles down on the couch, not sleepy at all.

The phone rings a third time and the man tells her he has come for her and it's only a matter of time. He continues with some heavy breathing until the babysitter is so terrified that she hangs up the phone again.

She quickly decides to get the children and flee the house when the phone rings again. This time it is a policeman on the other end and he tells her frantically "GET OUT OF THE HOUSE NOW!" THE MAN IS INSIDE THE HOUSE AND IS CALLING FROM THE UPSTAIRS EXTENSION!"

She runs from the house as the police arrive. The madman escapes but they find the children upstairs dead and a bloody axe laying on the bedroom floor next to an open window.

Note: The baby-sitter urban legend is as old as the hills. In this story, the man is always calling from the "upstairs extension," but it's unlikely that he would be able ring the phone from an extension. In most instances, he would have to be calling from a separate phone line upstairs.

Notice how the perpetrator gets away, leaving him "on the loose" to prey on other innocent teenage girls? It makes for some great storytelling, particularly when the crime is not solved.

Watch the 1979 movie "When a Stranger Calls" and the 1993 sequel "When a Stranger Calls Back" to see how this legend evolved into film. Want to see something newer? Released on February 3, 2006 is a remake of the former movie, also titled "When a Stranger Calls."

Poison Halloween Candy - Urban LegendOn Halloween, It's a parent's worst nightmare and a child's deepest fear. A little ghost or goblin receives poison candy while trick or treating and is harmed with physical and mental scars, or worse yet -- fails to survive at all.

These stories come in many forms right around the Halloween season. Newspaper and magazine stories repeat the annual warnings. E-mails are sent out, once again reminding parents and children that the innocent pleasure of trick-or-treating children get from Halloween is full of people wishing to hurt them.

One would have to believe that there is a mean old man with warts on his nose lurking around on his porch, waiting for his next "victim." He gets his revenge on the greedy little children with tampered Halloween candy.

Most of these stories consist of razor blades, needles, screws and other harmful things being inserted inside apples and popcorn balls. How about the arsenic or cyanide laced candy? Ever hear that one? These stories will once again be heard, with some variations as imaginations wander.

I remember trick-or-treating years ago, with a sense of security until the stories would emerge once again, making me afraid to turn the next corner. Somehow, it took the fun out of it and soon thereafter, I had no desire to go.

So how much basis is there to these poison Halloween candy stories? From what I've researched, there's very little evidence pointing directly to strangers intentionally tampering with Halloween candy, and less yet of someone attempting to harm the scores random of trick-or-treaters that turn up at their door.

Unfortunately, in 1974, Ronald Clark O'Bryan of Waco, TX did indeed add cyanide to candy, though he was no stranger to the victims. He distributed the poisoned candy to his daughter, son and two other children. His son, Timothy O'Bryan ingested the candy, resulting in death. Large life insurance policies point to a motive. Ronald, aka "The Candyman" paid for his unthinkable crime with a lethal injection in March, 1984.

While there's been many reports over the years, most of them were proved false alarms, or had an explanation that did not point to an individual trying to poison children trick-or treating. Some were actually pranks, pulled of by children attempting to alarm their parents!

Still, with the media attention and the possible threat, this Halloween urban legend will never die. Because of the ideas it may give some insane, vindictive person, precautions must be taken. Unfortunately, Halloween will never be the same as it was back in the good ol' days.

Halloween Candy Safety Tips

Limit your trick-or treating to the early hours.Do not eat any candy or treats until it's been thoroughly examined.Do not eat anything that has loose or open wrappers.Do not eat anything that has not been store wrapped.Take advantage of the hospitals offering their x-ray machines for detecting foreign objects.If anything tastes "funny" spit it out and save it for any evidence that may be needed.

Bloody Mary LegendWho can forget the scary story of Bloody Mary, the evil spirit who will scratch your eyes out when summoned? Most people heard the Bloody Mary legend when they were children, listening to spooky ghost stories around the campfire. The tale is still told at slumber parties, campouts, and late-night bonfire parties.

The legend claims that the evil woman can be summoned by chanting "Bloody Mary" into a mirror anywhere from three to one-hundred times in a darkened room lit only by a candle. (Thirteen seems to be the most popular number of chants, appropriately so.) The bathroom is the most popular setting to test out the legend, but other dark rooms seem applicable.

After the given amount of chants, the spirit will then appear in a mirror to claw your eyes out. Death will follow. Other variations have her driving you insane or pulling you into the mirror, never to be seen again.

Who Bloody Mary really is remains a mystery. While there are many versions of this story, most accounts point to a woman named Mary Worth, who was horribly disfigured in a car crash. Some people still tell of a witch who was burned at the stake and has returned for revenge, or it may be the devil himself who comes for your soul.

The Bloody Mary Legend saw some rising popularity with a variation of the story in the 1992 movie "Candyman" that used the idea for it's plot. When the characters chanted "Candyman" in the mirror 5 times, he would appear and murder them with his hook hand. I found this movie terrifying! Although I can say that as an adult I generally don't have any nightmares from horror movies, this one I remember vividly -- waking up in a cold sweat, and trying not to fall back asleep.

The movie "Urban Legend" was released to theatres in 1998 and borrowed the Bloody Mary myth once again, for one of it's stories. As if that wasn't enough, 2005 brought us "Urban Legends: Bloody Mary," which was released directly to DVD. There's no doubt, the horrific tale will appear again, perhaps in yet another version with a different twist.

While you may think you're safe from mean, old Bloody Mary, think again... Legend has it that if you are near a mirror in total darkness, she can still come for you, regardless of whether or not you're trying to call for her.Once, a girl named Mary lived in a castle with her step-sister and her step-sister's boy-friend. Mary and her sister hated each other. One day, Mary stole her step-sister's wedding ring and ran away. Her sister sent out guards to find Mary. When they found her, they brought her to the castle of the prince (the step-sister's boyfriend / fiancée). That night when the guards came back with Mary, the step-sister and the prince were

sitting in front of the lit fireplace. The step-sister grabbed the ring and threw Mary into the fire. When the fire was out, all that was left of Mary was a part of her throat, the esophagus.

To this day, Mary is still looking for her sister to kill her. Of course, her sister is already dead but her spirit still exists. Go into the bathroom, in front of the mirror. Take a candle with you and light it. Turn off all of the lights except the candle and say her FULL name thirteen times (bloody...) and open your eyes, you might see her. But be careful, because every eight years is FRIDAY the 13th of February and if you ever mention her name in your life, on the 13th she will give you a fright night because that is the night she got killed. The last time that it was a FRIDAY the 13th, was this year, 2004. If you want to talk about Mary, say her name like this: "B-Mary."

The Clown StatueIt was Halloween night and a young couple were invited to their co-worker's Halloween party. They hired a young teenager named Maria to babysit their eight-month-old baby. It was about 9:30 pm when the couple left the house. At around 10:30, the baby fell asleep. After Maria tucked the baby in to sleep, she went to go lie down in the couple's bedroom to watch TV, because they had a plasma screen in their room.

Once she started watching TV, she noticed a life-sized clown statue in the corner. The statue was kinda creeping her out, so she got a sheet from the closet and covered it. She went to go lie down again, feeling partly relieved. An hour later, she fell asleep. A couple of minutes after she fell asleep, she heard a "thump". She thought something just fell off a shelf in the closet. She was so tired she just ignored it and went back to sleep.

Then, the phone rang downstairs. She went to go answer it and all she heard was heavy breathing. She hung up, thinking it was just a prank call from some of her friends. As she turned to go back upstairs, it rang again. This time she answered and said, "You guys better knock it off!" After she said that, she heard a voice say, "I'm closer than you think," in a scratchy, male voice.

She was frightened and ran upstairs. After 10 minutes passed, there was another "thump," but it was a little louder this time. Maria knew that it didn't come from the closet. Then the phone rang again, so she ran downstairs quickly. She answered it and said," Please, just leave me alone!" The unknown male voice said sarcastically, "Hey, I'm warning the police."

She ran upstairs and hid under the blankets. After 20 minutes passed, She heard the loudest "THUMP." She was so scared but she was the babysitter. She was going to get up and check on the baby when SLASH. The clown chopped her head off. As the neighbors heard the screams, they were calling the police.

When the police arrived, it was silent. They didn't find anything downstairs, so they went upstairs. They noticed that all the doors were wide open except for the master bedroom. The door was shut. The police were astonished when they found a strangled baby and a headless girl crammed into the closet. When they closed the closet, they noticed a chair next to a window in the corner of the room. It was dark so they couldn't see very well. They went over to turn on the lights and found Maria's head on the chair

with a butcher knife next to it. The policed were especially astonished to find a note saying,

I warned you guys, didn't I? - Signed, Prisoner

It turns out that the clown was a murderer that escaped from prison.

The Cursed VideotapeThe idea of a cursed videotape has been in existence for a very long time at my home in New Orleans, LA. It is a different version from both movies, The Ring, and it's Japanese predecessor, Ringu.

I heard the legend of a videotape that will kill you within forty-eight hours after watching it at a bonfire when I was younger. The story behind the legend is that these college girls are having a slumber party and go to rent a video at a local dealer. The girls cannot agree on a film, so one of them asks for help. The clerk states that she has just the thing and disappears into the back room.

Meanwhile, one girl sees a box-less tape laying on the counter and reaches toward it. Just then, the clerk comes out from the back and tells her not to touch it and hands her an older film. The girl asks about the first tape, and the woman tells her that it is just a home movie. The girls agree to rent the tape that the woman suggests. While they are checking out, the girl who asked for help swipes the "home movie" tape.

Back at their house, the girl tells the others about the tape she swiped and they laugh, telling her that she is dumb for stealing some woman's home movies. Still, they ask her to play the tape. She puts the tape in and then the power goes out -- but the television stays on.

The video starts playing and shows a black woman being burned for practicing witchcraft and hoodoo. She utters a curse that all who witness her death will face the same fate in two-days time. The VCR begins to make skipping sounds and then cuts off. As promised, the girls died forty-eight hours after watching the tape. They all met their demise in unrealistic places such as the pool or ice rink.

The Dripping Tap: Drip... Drip... Drip...

There once was a woman who lived all alone, except for the company of her beloved canine friend. Every night the dog would curl up in his basket beside his bed where he slept, and every night the dog would lick her hand to say goodnight.

One night, she woke up in the middle of the night to hear a "drip...drip...drip..." sound coming from somewhere in the house. She got out of bed, and went into the kitchen where she tightened the tap. Then she went back to bed, the dog licked her hand goodnight and she went back to sleep.

Another hour later she woke up again and once again she heard the consistent "drip...drip...drip" sound. She got out of bed and this time went into the bathroom where she tightened the tap. After feeling that this time she had done the trick she went back to bed, received a lick on the hand and went to sleep.

The next time she woke up, morning had dawned. She got out of bed, and made her way to the bathroom. Although when she entered the bathroom, she was greeted by a shocking sight. Her dog was hanging from the shower curtain, and it's blood was still going "drip...drip....drip...."

DoppelgangersVery frightening and extremely intriguing, is the legend of doppelgangers, who prey on their human counterpart. So what is a doppelganger? The term originated in Germany, meaning a "double walker," or the "ghostly double" of a living person.

Although there is no evidence or solid proof, there are many theories. One theory is that everybody has a body double. Of each, one is good and one is exceptionally evil. Assuming you are the good one, the other one is probably evil, and can be just an apparition trapped in another time or dimension.

Urban LegendLegend has it that if you come face to face with your doppelganger, it's an omen or warning of death, for both you and your twin. Because of this, if you see a replica of yourself, run for your life. If you keep seeing your doppelganger, chances are that your days are numbered, because you'll soon see your demise.

There are many stories regarding encounters with doppelgangers, none of them pleasant. Often, a person does not actually see their own doppelganger, but someone else does. Can you be two places at once? No, but it's a very strange feeling when someone who knows you very well insists that they saw you just thirty minutes ago, and you were nowhere in the vicinity. Imagine this happening time and time again and you'll soon go insane.

Hence, the myth that a doppelganger will precede the arrival of the real person. Many stories explaining their experiences with these apparitions have this in common. Perhaps he's one step ahead of you?

Alex sent in a compelling story last year, just before Halloween. He describes some unsettling incidences, but had no idea what the cause was. The story was published with the title of The Cemetery Mimic. Lauryl writes in a few weeks later, stating that she believes this story depicts repeated encounters with a doppelganger.

So are there really doppelgangers or is it just a creepy urban legend? You're not likely to believe it if you've never had an experience with one. Whether Alex really has one is just speculation and how the story is interpreted. The story rings true, but Alex is probably not in any danger as there's no solid proof of doppelgangers or of someone meeting their demise after seeing their own. Regardless, the legend lives on.

Ghost TracksThis is the legend of the haunted "Ghost Tracks" in San Antonio, Texas. The story is that in the early 1930's or '40's, there was a school bus carrying kids, making it's route and dropping them off after school. When the bus was going uphill over some railroad tracks, it stalled. Suddenly, a train, going too fast, crashed into the bus, killing all of the passengers.

While the ghost tracks is known to be the place to go on Halloween, it's visited by regular folks on any day of the week. I've gone there three times in the past five months with family members. I'm not from Texas, but the point of going there is the phenomenon that occurs. If you park your vehicle fifty yards away from the tracks, place it in neutral and turn off the engine, your vehicle will roll up and over the tracks.

We've tried it different ways and each time, it worked. We put the brakes on as we were coming over the tracks and we still rolled over them. We parked at the bottom of the tracks as were mysteriously pushed away. We were not allowed to go back up the hill. To attest to the ghost track's popularity, many people were there on all three nights that we visited.

It is said that the spirits of the kids who died on the bus push the cars away from the train tracks so the passengers don't experience the same fate. Legend has it that if you put powder on the back of your vehicle, you can clearly see small handprints in it, after the vehicle is pushed. I have seen many people do this and look for the handprints after they are over the tracks. I don't know if they found any and we didn't use powder.

Another creepy thing is that the roads near the railroad tracks are named after the children who died in the accident. The ghost tracks are on Shane Road. There's also Cindy Sue, Bobbi Allen, Richey Otis, Laura Lee Way, and Nancy Carole. I read a book that my grandmother bought form me called "Spirits of San Antonio and South Texas" by Docia Shultz Williams and Reneta Bryne. This book is interesting and has a couple of pages about the ghost tracks.

The RoommateThere was a girl who went back to her dorm room late one night to retrieve her books before heading over to her boyfriend's dorm to spend the night. She entered the room, but knowing her roommate would be sleeping, she didn't turn on the light.

She stumbled around the room in the dark for several minutes, gathering what she would need before finally leaving. The next afternoon, she came back to her room to find it taped off and surrounded by police.

When asked if she lived there, she replied with a "yes." They took her into the room, and there, written on the wall in blood, were the words, "Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light?"

The Hitchhiker Urban LegendWhen I was a little girl, about 10 years old, I heard a story about a guy who was driving down a dark country road on his way home from work. He was driving along and he saw a young girl, about 17 or 18 years old, standing on the side of the road. He pulled over and picked her up. He asked her what she was doing out there all alone, and she said she needed to get home very quickly before her parents got upset. So the man took her home, watched her go inside and then he left.

As he drove off he noticed that she had left her sweater in his car, so he figured he would bring it back to her tomorrow. He drove home and went to bed. The next morning after breakfast, he went to return the sweater. When he arrived, he knocked on the door and a old woman answered the door. He held out the sweater and told the lady that the

girl had left it in his car the night before. All of a sudden the lady started crying and saying, "There is no way she could have left that in your car, she has been dead for 40 years!"

The story of the young lady goes this way: She was on her way home from a high school dance when her boyfriend and her got in to a car accident and died instantly. The ghost of the young lady hangs around, getting men of all ages to pick her up and take her home, always leaving something behind. I have heard this story many times over the years, one time it was a cop that picked her up, the other times it's just some tired man driving home from work. Submitted by Elizabeth

Story Two

One summer day, a woman pulled into a gas station. As the attendant pumped the gas, the woman told the attendant that she was in a hurry to pick up her daughter who would soon be finishing her art class.

While she was waiting, a man walked over to her car. He explained to her that his rental car had died and he needed a ride to an appointment. The location was just down the road from her daughters art class, so she told him she would be happy to give him a ride.

He put his briefcase in the backseat, and said that he was going to the men's room quickly. A few minutes passed, and the woman looked at her watch. Realizing that she would be late, she drove off quickly, forgetting that the man would be coming back.

She thought nothing of it until she and her daughter pulled into their driveway. She saw his briefcase and realized she had forgotten him! She opened the briefcase, looking for some sort of identification. All she found inside was a knife and a roll of duct tape.

The Hook Urban LegendAs with any urban legend, the stories are similar. They stray off a little from each other, and add it's own elements of surprise. This makes it very difficult to know which one was the original. This is the first one I heard:

A teenage couple drove to Lover's Lane and were making out when the music was interrupted with a special bulletin. The radio announcer said that there was a mass murderer who had just escaped from the local insane asylum and was on the loose. The announcer then urged everyone to "be on the lookout" and stay indoors.

Immediately, the girl was frightened and she urged her boyfriend to take her home. He insisted that everything was okay and continued to kiss her. She heard a strange thumping noise, pulled away, and insisted they leave. Although he was irritated, he realized that the mood was broken and drove her on home.

When they arrived at her house, her door was stuck and wouldn't open. When the boy walked around to her side of the car to let her out, he was shocked to find a hook lodged in the door handle. Needless to say, they were very lucky that night.

Story Two

The man with a hook-hand who is stalking young lovers seems to have taken on a life of it's own. Or is that a death of it's own? Sometimes the boyfriend isn't so lucky! Take this one for example:

Two young teenagers are totally involved with each other at a wooded area, near a lonesome highway. Suddenly, a special announcement alerts them to the fact that a convicted killer had escaped from the local prison and was armed and dangerous.

The girl insists that they leave and the miffed boyfriend finally agreed, realizing that it was a dangerous situation. He first had to relieve himself and told his girlfriend to lock the doors and don't, under any circumstances, get out of the car.

When the boyfriend didn't come back, she decided to drive the car and look for him before leaving. Soon, she discovered that the keys weren't in the car and they must be in his pocket.

She began hearing terrible scraping and screeching noises and huddled up in the back seat. After a long and fearful night sitting in the car, daylight broke and she decided to make a run for it to the highway nearby.

After leaving the car, she took a look back and saw that her boyfriend was hanging from a tree above the car and his shoes were scraping against the roof.

END

Hooks seem to hold a fascination with horror stories. Perhaps because it's an undesired oddity and also it makes a useful murder weapon.

Killer in the Backseat: Urban LegendThe "Killer in the Backseat" story plays on our fears that danger is right under our noses and we are not aware of it. This story was conceived in the late 1960's and has been circulated ever since. Some more recent versions of this story involve gang members out on initiation night, others involve modern gas stations. The story here is in a more traditional form and goes something like this...

On a moonless, foggy night, my friend was sleepy and having trouble driving on the road due to a recent rain. She was getting frustrated because she was running low on gas and there was no sign of civilization anywhere. Not knowing where the next town was, she was ready to pull over and get some sleep when she noticed a tiny, rundown gas station.

She pulled in and asked for the attendant to fill up her tank. She noticed he was acting very odd and somewhat irritated. He finally proceeded to fuel her car and then told her to open up the hood because "something didn't sound right."

Reluctant and afraid of the odd-acting attendant, she didn't want to be stranded later on down the road, so she got out. When she neared the front of the car, the attendant grabbed her and said she would have to step inside. With his hand over her mouth silencing her, he dragged her into the station.

Very afraid, she struggled, and the attendant let her go and blocked the door. He then said "There is a man crouched down in the backseat of your car and I didn't want him to know that I'd seen him."

After calling the police, my friend then learned that the stranger in her backseat was a serial killer who stowed away in her back seat, planning to make her his next victim.

END

This version sometimes has the woman and the gas station attendant getting married and having children. Other versions have the attendant telling her there was a problem with her credit card and that she'd have to come inside.

Yet another variation has a man getting into her backseat AT the gas station while the woman is inside the store. The attendant notices and tells the woman to stay inside and proceeds to call the police.

This is only an Urban Legend but there's a lesson here - While it's unlikely you'll have any serial killers lurking in your backseat, always keep your door locked and check the backseat before you get in.

"Humans Can Lick Too"My great-grandmother lived alone up in the mountains at her cabin. Her husband had died, so she was there all alone. She only had one companion, and that was her loving dog. They both loved each other very much and the dog loved her and comforted her. Every night when she went to bed, the dog would lick her hand to let her know that he was there to protect her.

One night, she had gone to bed and the dog had licked her hand like he had done routinely every night since her husband died. But this night was different. She had woken up in the middle of the night because she heard her dog whimpering. She wanted to comfort him and let her know she was there for him, so she stuck her hand out by the bed and she felt the dog gently lick her hand like always. She figured he was just cold so she went back to sleep.

The dog's whimpering had woken her up a second time in the night so she stuck her hand out, the dog licked it and she went back to sleep. This happened a third time, and she stuck her hand out and the dog stopped whimpering and came and licked her hand. She stayed awake a few moments afterward and the dog had stopped whimpering. She went back to sleep again.

In the morning, she woke up and stuck her hand out by the bed, but nothing licked her hand. She thought that the dog had already awaken and was just in the front room. She rolled over and got out of bed and heard a drip... drip... drip... drip, so she walked into the kitchen and turned the handles on the sink faucet, but it wasn't dripping.

She continued into her bathroom to take a shower. As she walked in, the drips got louder! She turned and looked above the bathtub and SCREAMED! There, hanging from the light by his tail, was her loving companion, with his blood dripping into the bathtub. She screamed and began to cry. Wiping her eyes and sobbing, she turned around and looked at the mirror. In the mirror she saw the dog hanging and written on the mirror in her dog's blood with drips and streaks hanging down from each letter, written with a finger, were the words... HUMAN'S CAN LICK TOO!

Continuing to sob and cry, she left the house and moved in with her daughter (my grandmother) and told her the story, who told my mother, who told me, and we have continued to tell the story throughout our family's generations. Story submitted by JoAnna Rae

Story Two

When I was at lake house my friend started to tell me this story about the little girl and her dog she got for her birthday. Here it goes:

One day this little girl was having her 6th birthday party. Her parents knew that she has always wanted a dog. The girl went to open her present and she pulled out a little brown puppy that her parents got her. Well, that night she was getting in her bed and the dog went under her bed.

The girl put her hand under the bed to see if the dog was ok. When she put her hand under the bed the dog licked her hand. Every time she put her hand under the bed the dog would lick her hand.

One night she put her hand under the bed and felt the wet tongue lick her hand. She woke up and started screaming at the top of her lungs. Her parents came in shocked. On the little girl's mirror it said "HUMANS CAN LICK TOO" in her dog's blood!

Madman in the Back Seat - Urban LegendI was reading the story about the man in the back seat of the car, and I heard another story to the same extent so I thought I would share it with you guys. It starts off the same about a woman who is driving down a deserted road outside her town. She is low on gas and pulls up to gas station.

While inside paying and getting a coffee to keep her awake while she drives home, a madman crawls into the backseat of her unlocked SUV. He is unseen by the woman,

however just as she is getting into her car, the gas attendant sees the madman stand up as if to hack her to bits with his axe.

So he jumps into his car. The woman sees this and becomes afraid. The gas attendant Ernie follows the woman and each time he sees the man sit up he flashes his lights so the man must lie down to be unseen. Ernie follows the woman all the way to her driveway flashing his lights a total of 54 times.

The woman jumps out of her car before it even stops and her husband comes running out of the house. "This man Ernie phoned me on his cell phone saying there was a killer trying to kill you and he was hiding in the SUV backseat" the woman starts screaming.

Ernie had apparently gotten her home phone number from the credit card she had used to pay for the coffee and gas. They trapped the madman in the back seat until the cops arrived. It turned out that he was an estranged man who had escaped from a mental institution not far from the gas station! That's the way I heard it!

The Porcelain DollA teenage girl, popular, rich, and happy, was walking through a store with her mom and saw a beautiful porcelain doll, which would look great with her collection. She demanded that her mother buy it for her. He mother agreed and got it for her.

As soon as the girl returned home, she unpacked the doll and set it on a stand above her bed. She then left her room and went out with her friends. When she got home, it was late and she was tired. She went to her room, put on her pajama's, and tucked herself into bed.

When she woke up the next morning, she saw a note attached to the lamp beside her bed. It was from her mother, telling her they'd be out of town until next Sunday. She yawned and noticed that her cheek was sore, but she didn't pay much attention to it. She got dressed and went to school.

This went on for a few days until she woke up and her cheek was extremely sore. She decided she'd check it out in a minute or two, then went about her room to pick out what she would wear. She finally decided and walked over to her full body mirror and noticed a large, ugly lump on her cheek.

Figuring it was a pimple, she squeezed it, and felt something moving. All of the sudden, spiders began pulling themselves out of the lump. She screamed, but since there was no one home in her huge house, nobody heard her. She tore at the spiders but there were millions... and she died of the poison in their bites.

Apparently... there was a nest of spiders in the porcelain doll she'd gotten.

Resurrection Mary - Urban LegendOne of the most famous, ghostly hitchhikers is Chicago’s Resurrection Mary. Reports and eyewitness accounts attest that beautiful, blonde, Mary was sighted on numerous occasions near Resurrection Cemetery wearing a long, white, flowing gown.

The first claims began back in 1930, after young Mary attended a dance at the O'Henry Ballroom (now called The Willowbrook Ballroom) and subsequently had an argument with her boyfriend. Mary fled the scene of the fight and hitchhiked down Archer Avenue on that cold winter night when she was tragically killed in a hit-and-run accident.

She was then buried in Resurrection Cemetery, which utilizes heavy bars on the front gate. Witnesses claim that Mary did not pass into the other world because they have seen her ghost haunting both Archer Avenue and the ballroom at which she danced that fateful night.

Several things remain common to those who encounter Resurrection Mary. She is a young blond-haired, blue-eyed girl, simply stunning to look at. Her attire has always been a long ball gown and dancing shoes. Her skin is cold and clammy to touch to those who have contact. If she was picked up by a driver, she disappears through the car or asks to be let off when they pass the cemetery.

In 1976, a passerby called the police after noticing a woman who appeared to be locked inside Resurrection Cemetery. When the police arrived, the woman was nowhere to be seen but there was physical evidence that the bars on the gate were bent apart. Not only that, her handprints were embedded into the bars.

It's unknown just who Resurrection Mary is and exactly what occurred the night she died. Nonetheless, she will remain one of Chicago's favorite ghosts because apparently, she does not want to be forgotten.

The Old Woman in the Mall Parking LotOne day at a shopping mall in the afternoon, a woman was coming out of the mall from a shopping spree. She was in a happy mood. She had gotten to her car and loaded her stuff that she had bought into her trunk. When she was done loading, she shut the door of her trunk and she saw an old lady standing by the passenger side of her car.

The old woman said "Would you be a darling and give me a lift home? I don't have a car and I was walking all day." The woman said "I'd be happy to." So she unlocked the door for the old woman.

As she started to make her way around the car to the driver's side, she started to feel uncomfortable. So when she got in the car, she looked in her purse and said "Darn, I can't find my credit card. I'm going inside to see if anybody found it." The old woman said "I'll wait for you here."

The woman left to go look for help. Then she found a security guard and told him the situation. They went back to the woman's car and the passenger door was wide open. On the seat of the car was a shopping bag that the old woman had been carrying. Inside of the bag was the old woman's dress and a gray haired wig, along with a huge butcher's knife and a roll of duct tape.

Spiders in Hair - Urban Legend

Spiders are one of the scariest, most-detested creatures known to man. Urban legends play on that fear, further reinforcing that hatred.

There have been various urban legends involving spiders for decades and every now and then, a new spider story emerges. Usually the spider is nesting in a human body-part, or someone's hair.

The hair stories involve a hairstyle that is difficult to wash without ruining the hairdo, such as those big bouffant hairstyles which were popular in the 1950's, braids or dreadlocks. Consistent with these stories is the "victim" complaining of headaches or an itchy scalp.

The most common tale involves a teenage girl who, keeping with the current hairstyle trend, would continue to rat and style her bouffant hairdo without shampooing it. As she persisted in styling and applying hairspray, she noticed a spider clinging to a strand.

Apparently, she didn't think much of it at the time, but did complain of an itchy scalp. Later when she died, it was discovered that hundreds of baby black widow spiders had hatched and delivered dozens of fatal bites.

VariationThere was a woman about thirty years old who would always wear her hair up in a big bun, in layers on top of her head. She never took her hair down at all. Whenever it should have been washed, she just put hairspray on it. If her head itched, she would just spray it again. For one week, her head itched like crazy, but all she did was spray it with more hairspray.

Then one night, she died. When police had found her, her hair was still up in the layered bun. When they were getting her body ready for the funeral, for some reason they hadn't put down her hair. One woman who was helping get the clothes on the woman said, "I bet she would look pretty with her hair down." So, as the woman and two other people took down her hair, they found tons of baby spiders and fleas in her hair. They had eaten through her skull to where the brain was showing.

Dreadlocks Infested with SpidersAnother similar urban legend has a young man with dreadlocks leaving the barber shop prematurely because the barber was clipping into his scalp while giving him a haircut. Later, when he died, it was discovered that hordes of spiders had infested his hair and were continually biting him

Sara Jane Road LegendI was told this story by a friend of mine and her mother when I was about eight years old. My family was somewhat new to town and my friend asked if I knew the story of "Sara Jane Road."

As the story goes, the old highway here in Southeast Texas which is called Sara Jane Road by local residents, is haunted by the ghost of Sara Jane and her baby. Legend has it that in Civil War times Sara Jane's husband was fighting in the war and it was just herself and her newborn that lived in a house out in the woods on this highway along the Neches River.

Word got to her that Union soldiers were on their way to her house, so she placed her baby in a wicker basket and set the basket under the wooden bridge that was near her house. She then returned to the house and hung herself from a tree out front.

If you stand on the bridge at midnight you can see a light flickering out in the woods that looks like a light of an old lantern and you can hear Sara Jane's moans & hollers, as she is looking for her baby that she left under the bridge. Some people say that on certain nights like Halloween or Friday the 13th you can actually see the ghost of Sara Jane wandering the woods with her lantern in search of her baby.

I have been out there many times as a young kid, about 18-20 years ago, with slumber parties and such, and have never seen any lights or ghosts. My friends' parents said they had seen these themselves when they were teenagers. I'm not even sure if there ever was anyone with the name Sara Jane that lived in this area. Story Submitted by Cari

The Furry CollarOnce, there were two girls named Mary and Karen having a sleepover. It was being held at Karen's house because her parents were out of town. In fact, every time Karen's parents went out of town, they had a sleepover because Karen was afraid to stay by herself. It was Halloween and once again, Karen's parents were out of town. When Mary rang the doorbell, Karen answered wearing a beautiful silk nightgown. It was blood-red and had a furry collar. Mary envied Karen for having that nightgown.

They began to watch some scary movies. All of the sudden, Mary heard a soft "thump, thump, thump, thump." She was frightened and looked at Karen, who didn't seem to notice. As the night progressed, Mary heard the thumping noise intermittently and it seemed to be growing nearer. When the noise sounded from right behind them, the electricity and lights went out. Mary and Karen ran screaming, up to the second floor, into Karen's room. It was now midnight and the two girls were scared to death.

Suddenly, Karen got up and ran out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Mary sat there for what seemed like an eternity. After a long silence, she heard the thumping noise again. It seemed to be coming up the stairs, getting louder and louder. Thump, Thump THUMP, THUMP, THUMP! Then, it stopped. Mary thought she heard someone standing on the other side of the door and bravely got up and opened it.

Mary couldn't see a thing, so she reached out her arm and felt Karen's soft silk nightgown. Then, she reached up to feel her favorite part of the nightgown, the furry collar. When she reached higher, there was nothing but a bloody stump!!

Urban Legends, Folklore, and MythsUrban legends thrive on people's deepest fears, that our safe world can crack at any moment and a madman will change our lives forever. That alone is enough to give anyone second thoughts about our everyday routine.

Legends and folklore tales range from the maniacal serial killer to the completely unexplained. Everyone loves scary ghost stories around the campfire or in the Fall, when the days get shorter, the nights get longer, and imaginations run wild.

Chances are you'll find many versions of these stories as they get passed on from person to person. Children have a tendency to twist the plots and make them fit their particular circumstances. The Halloween season seems to bring out the best of urban legends, both old and new.

Many of these stories are old classics from years past. They may not be the version you've heard, but that's what makes it fun. With the help of our readers, we've got lots of variations, some relating to ghosts, the supernatural, and hoaxes. These legends are not suitable for young children or the faint of heart. If you've got nerves of steel, proceed with caution.

Get comfortable, dim the lights and read through some classic as well as modern urban legends and folklore. Did it really happen, or was it just a figment of someone's imagination?