The month of October is for horror movies, Halloween decorations, and spooky stories.
Behind the masks, eerie decor and horror movie plots lay urban legends that gave this month a creepy vibe. Here are the six most famous ones.
1. The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs
It starts off like any other quiet Halloween night: a babysitter, two kids who are sleeping, and a phone that simply won’t stop ringing in the middle of the night.
Someone unfamiliar keeps asking, “Have you checked on the kids?” At first, she laughs it off, but as the calls get more threatening, she calls the police. The twist is? The calls are coming from within the house.
This mythology has haunted sleepovers for decades, playing on our innermost fear: being watched while we believe we’re safe. Even though it’s been told over and over, the fear and the creepiness never go away. Every creak in the dark makes it feel like it may happen again, even when your parents are downstairs.
2. The Hook-Handed Killer
Two teens park on a quiet road one night in October. The radio is playing quietly when a breaking news alert interrupts: a killer has escaped from a local asylum and is missing a hand, which has been replaced by a steel hook.
The couple gets scared, drives away quickly, and later finds a bloody hook stuck to the handle of their car door. People have been telling this story since the 1950s, yet it never gets old.
The “hook man” became a sign of terror and temptation, a warning that danger is always close by, ready to strike when you are not looking.
3. Bloody Mary
People tell each other the story of Bloody Mary at sleepovers and dare each other to say her name in the bathroom mirror. It is a story that crosses the boundary between game and ritual.
People say that if you say her name three times in front of a mirror, she will show up, enraged and covered in blood. People say she scratches your face, while others believe she pulls you into the mirror itself.
The myth has been around for hundreds of years, combining mythology and superstition, but every Halloween, people still try it out. It could all just be fun, or maybe mirrors do respond to your wishes. No matter what, no one ever laughs or sees Halloween the same way after trying it.
4. The Candyman’s Curse
Halloween is supposed to be fun, but in the 1970s, a real-life terror ruined that. After stories circulated about poison, razor blades, and needles hidden in Halloween candy, the mythology of poisoned sweets began.
Parents were scared and checked every piece before letting their kids eat it. The fear became so strong that it became an urban legend in its own right: “The Candyman.”
The narrative lingered, turning one of the best nights of childhood into a ritual of suspicion, even though true incidents were rare. Even now, a lot of parents still inspect every package because they are afraid that something bad could be hiding beneath something so normal.
5. The Black-Eyed Children
They look normal at first, but then you see their pitch-black eyes. People say they come out at night and knock on your door or walk up to your car and ask for aid.
Their voices are calm, their features are dull, and they sound weirdly courteous. But something seems wrong. People say that once you let them in, awful things happen, like being sick, dying, or being haunted.
The first modern reports came out in the 1990s and spread like wildfire on the internet. The idea of kids with empty eyes coming up on your porch is enough to make anyone keep the lights on, whether they’re ghosts, extraterrestrials, or something completely unknown.
6. The Disappearing Hitchhiker
It all begins when, one night, a driver picks up a young woman on a dark road, usually close to a graveyard. She is courteous, quiet, and pale. The driver turns to ask her something, but she’s gone.
They find out later that she died years ago in a car accident on the same route. There are versions of this story all across the world, from the U.S. to Japan.
The belief that spirits come back not to haunt but to be seen again is a classic all horror fans love. Every Halloween, drivers said they saw her again, walking under the fog and street lamps, waiting for her final ride home.
Born and raised in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ever since I was a little girl, my imagination knew no bounds. I remember vividly how I’d scribble down short stories, each page bursting with adventures and characters conjured up from the whimsy of my mind. These stories weren’t just for me; they were my way of connecting with my friends, offering them a slice of my fantasy world during our playtimes. The joy and excitement on their faces as we dived into my fictional realms motivated me to keep writing. This early passion for storytelling naturally evolved into my pursuit of writing, turning a childhood hobby into a fulfilling career.