I prefer the urban legends, of Elvis, Jim Morrison, and Andy Kaufman faked their deaths.
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At summer camp, we’d get to hear the legend of “the hunchback”, who supposedly used to be the deformed child of one of the old owners of the camp, who lived in a trailer out in the woods. The old campers and counselors would tell us this story when we did a day-long hike to camp out in the woods. Supposedly the “hunchback” had kidnapped some kids from the camp years ago, throwing them in a sack and taking them back to his trailer, and not for any wholesome purpose. People hunted him down, but by then it was too late, he had killed the kids, and of course, escaped.
They’d even make sure that we walked by an old trailer in the woods that was full of bullet holes and they’d point it out and say “that’s the hunchback trailer!”
Of course this was all an excuse to scare the kids, and when we fell asleep, the older campers and counselors started grabbing our sleeping bags and pulling us off into the woods, causing mass hysteria.
Disappointed. No Goat Man of Greer Island (Fort Worth.) Epic legend. Also known as the “Lake Worth Monster.”
We scare ourselves silly talking about it late at night as kids.
The Hash-Slinging Slasher
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2sPLNtpne4
1) Epidemic of Halloween candy being poisoned (false).
2) Day care centers were ruled by satanists who molested children (false).
11. The vaccines are safe and effective.
Well, if you ever go back in the Wooley Swamp. Well, you better not go at night. There’s things out there in the middle of them woods. That make a strong man die from fright. Things that crawl and things that fly. And things that creep around on the ground. And they say the ghost of Lucius Clay
Gets up and he walks around.
Here’s one that’s been around for years:
Supposedly a couple of guys in a new sports car (Ferrari, Corvette, etc. It varies from teller to teller) drove down a long abandoned driveway/logging road on a summer night where they were going to get high on some illegal drug, but the overdosed on the drugs and died right there in the car with the windows rolled up. Well, the heat in the vehicle caused the bodies to decay and liquefy rapidly. The stench was so bad that they offered to sell the car for a ridiculously low price of $100. Some stories say $1000.
Click bait.....probably made up by AI....
The Chicken Heart That Ate New York City
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fE0hHEtkkQA
La Llorona, (the Crying Lady) actually.
This one extends into Colorado. I spent many a night in rural SE CO absolutely sure she was outside my house.
I always liked “The JATO Pack Story”.
Since the Cecil Hotel opened its doors in 1924 it’s been filled with crime, murder and death. It was dubbed “Hotel Death” and people over the years have thought there were dark forces and spirits there which were behind everything that was happening.
The hotel is located in Skid Row, a neighbourhood in downtown Los Angeles. The complex, at 640 S. Main Street, was built by three hoteliers, William Banks Hanner, Charles L. Dix and Robert H. Schops, as a destination for business travellers and tourists. But since then, hundreds have died and murderers have checked in to stay.
It was also the residence of Richard Ramirez (the Night Stalker) for a period of time.
One we have in my neck of the woods is the Pope Lick Monster who haunts a railroad trestle on the east side of Louisville over Pope Lick Creek.
Funny story about that. Recently the Highway Cabinet did a major rework of the intersection by that trestle and Pope Lick Park. They had a very cool virtual of the whole thing/area so you could see and maneuver yourself around in it (before driving through there) how all of it was laid out.
In the virtual, if you knew where to look, the software designer had put the Pope Lick Monster on the overhead trestle. A kind of Easter Egg.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Lick_Monster
Another legend near me is “The Legend of Donkey Tree”. That you can find on youtube by putting that in the search function. The tree is pretty old and I think not far from rotting enough to no longer look like a donkey. We tracked it down while riding our motorcycles out that way.
Dumbest urban legend I ever heard is that Biden legitimately won the 2020 election.
Next to dumbest urban legend I ever heard is that Jan 6 was an insurrection.
After that, well, lots of talk about Nannie Pelosi as a sentient being, Chuckie Schumer as human, George “Stab her in the belly” Floyd as a saint, and Barry Obama as a US citizen. Oh, and global warming. Heard a bit about that, too.
Dunno. Lot’s a crazy stuff out there.
In SE Arkansas they had the Boggy Creek Monster
http://weirdus.com/states/pennsylvania/ghosts/midnight_mary/index.php
This story made my hair stand on end as a kid.
One-armed serial killer on lovers’ lane.
Scraping sound on side of car.
Take off like a bat out of Hades.
When you get home there is a pirate’s hook hanging from your door handle.
Dood went tranny. Happens all the time.
The Steps to Hell at the Maltby, WA cemetery is one I’ve heard of, having grown up in that area. The Maltby Cemetery has long been abandoned, but it was a well know kegger location.