Everyone enjoys a good urban myth or legend, they're great for telling around campfires or at birthday sleepovers. But what if the scary stories that you grew up with turned out to be true? The horrifying thing is, most of them are! Most of what we hear are exaggerated stories but myths and legends have to stem from somewhere, right?
Right, so I'm sure your skin will crawl when you read the real incidents that happened to stem some of the scariest urban legends still around today. Read below stories of murder, creepy children, and myths like Slenderman and finally find out the scary truths behind already terrifying stories.
1. The Buckley Children
Susan and John Buckley beheaded their own mother as part of a Halloween joke. They switched the idea of a beheaded dummy for their actual mother and disappeared before anyone realized that the Halloween decoration was a real dead body.
Freaked
2. Dr. Jacquelyn Kotarac
Dr. Kotarac was found dead after she suffocated after lodging herself into the chimney of her estranged lovers home. She was discovered by a house sitter after the smell became disturbing, and it took a team of firefighters 5 hours to extract the body.Guim
3. Michelina Lewandowska
This 27-year-old woman was buried alive in 2011 by her then-fiance. After 'becoming bored' of her, the man taped her up, tasered her and buried her in a cardboard box. She escaped after over an hour by cutting her way out with her own engagement ring.
Freaked
4. Kuchisake-Onna
This is the legend of a woman who was mutilated after her samurai husband caught her cheating on him with another samurai. To punish her, he slit her face from ear to ear and asked her "Who will think you are beautiful now?". People now believe that she wanders the streets wearing a medical mask asking people if they think she is beautiful. Whatever your answer after she removes her mask, she kills you.
Freaked
5. Black-eyed Children
There have been many accounts of people running into these children with black eyes, mostly related to them needing to be "let in" somewhere. Obviously, people are terrified of these kids, and one of the most recognized stories around them is the story of a Journalist named Brian Bethel, whose car was approached by two of these odd children. After claiming they had missed a movie and needed a ride home they demanded to be let into Brians car. Brian drove off, expecting to see them in his rearview mirror but the two kids had vanished.Freaked
6. Slenderman
Slenderman is an unnaturally tall figure with no face known to stalk, abduct, or traumatize people, often children. He features in works of fiction, movies, and video games and people who idolize or indulge in works surrounding him have been linked to violent and often fatal acts. It is believed that in the late 2000's he convinced a young girl to commit murder.Kym-cdn
7. Sweet Dreams
On three separate occasions, 1994 in Miami, and 1996 in Pasadena and 2003 in Kansas City, people rented hotel or motel rooms just to be greeted by the sickly sweet stench of decomposing meat. Bodies were later found under the beds of all three.Wp
8. Elisa Day
Eliza Day was a beautiful young girl who was courted by a young man. After presenting her with a rose and convincing her he loved her she went to meet him on the banks of the river where beautiful roses would grow. He waited until her back was turned and hit her repeatedly with a rock as he whispered: "all beauty must die." He placed a rose between her teeth and pushed her body into the water where it was never found again. People now claim that they have seen her ghost walking the banks of the river amongst the flowers.Freaked
9. The White Death
The White Death is the legend of a young girl who killed herself. Oddly enough, soon all her family died. According to legend, if you discuss her death she will come knocking on your door to take your life, too.Dewitzphotography
10. Psychic Japan
Psychic Japan was a TV Show that talked about spirits and ghosts and worked to convince people that they existed. Here is a photo that was taken of an audience member looked oddly possessed. Is it possible that the ghosts are trying to blend in as normal people?Freaked
11. The Cooper Family
After moving into a new home the Cooper family decided to celebrate by taking a family photo. When the image of Mother and Grandmother with the kids was developed this ghostly figure could be seen. Whether it's real or not it sure is creepy.Freaked
12. Cedar Senai Hospital
In 1972 a young patient escaped from their room and killed two nurses before escaping from the hospital.Freaked
13. Candle Cult
Numerous murders in Peru 2009 appeared that the victims had had all of their fat drained from their bodies. It is believed that the murders were performed by a cult who then turned the fat into candles and burned them to perform satanic rituals. Men captured from the group also admitted to selling and trading the fat in a human fat trading ring to make things such as perfume and anti-aging cream.Diariomovil
14. Charlie Noonan
Folklorist Charlie Noonan traveled the US chasing down the origins of bizarre and mysterious stories. His last adventure included finding an odd woman who people had reported seeming "not quite human". She was always followed by a large dog and a disturbing sense of fear. After setting off to find her, Charlie disappeared never to be seen again. His camera was found in a pawn show with only one photo waiting to be developed (see above.)Freaked
15. The Bunny Man
The Bunny Man legends started in 1970 in Fairfax County, Virginia when stories began about a killer roaming around in a bunny suit killing people with an axe. Most of the stories center around Colchester Overpass, a southern railway overpass that is now commonly referred to a "Bunny Man Bridge".Spokedark
16. The Bunny Man Copy Cat
This picture was found in Georgia, 1982, behind a dumpster. It was handed to the police, but to date, the case remains open and unsolved.Freaked
17. Halloween Murder
A 1962 Halloween Party turned from fun to sour when a masked man entered the party with a kitchen knife and proceeded to stab 7 people to death. He fled the scene and was never captured.Freaked
18. Body In A Rug
In 1984 students from Columbia University found a rolled up rug stashed near a dumpster by their building. Thinking they had scored a nice new piece of decor they took it up to their room and prepared to unroll it, just to find a dead body inside. The police were called and found the body of an African American male in his late twenties with two gunshots to the head.Library
19. No Decoration Is TOO Spooky
In 2005 residents of Delaware were tricked into thinking a hanging body was a Halloween stunt. It wasn't until someone noticed the hanging body was warm and called the police that everyone found out it was a real woman who had chosen to hang herself about a mile from her home.Freaked
20. Killer recipes
In late October 2009 professional chef David Viens duct-taped his wife's hands, feet, and mouth after getting into an argument. He left her alone for a period of time and when he returned, she was dead. Convinced no one would believe that her death was accidental he stuffed her 105-pound body into a drum of boiling water and cooked her for 4 days until little but her skull was left. He tried to convince her friends that she had left him and sent fake texts off of her phone, but no one believed him and they reported her missing anyway. When the police began closing in on Vienz in 2011 he threw himself off a cliff in an attempt to end his life. He survived the fall but was greatly injured and is now sentenced to serve 15 years to life in prison.Dailymail
21. Volcanic Ash
The residents on an island off Peru were forced to wear surgical masks at all times because of an active volcano which put them at risk of breathing in dust, ask, and other dangerous substances.Freaked