Finally I have a urban legend to post, haha!

Sorry if anyone has ever posted about this one before....and the sucky title, I couldn't remember the actual title.

My Grandma used to tell it to me all the time.

There was a guy who was in love with this girl (let's call them John and Jane) and Jane always wore a faded scarlet ribbon around her neck. She always warned John never to take it off of her, that it must never leave her neck. And she always wore it, when she was bathing, swimming, jogging, whatever. Well as time went on John got more and more curious. He wondered if maybe she was hiding a big mole or wart. So he went out and bought her a new choker. It was very beautifull with a red jewel in the middle. John took the choker over to Jane and told her to try it on. However try as he might she refused. John got angry and him and Jane got into a fight, she got so mad at him that she told him to leave and broke up with him. Just before he left, out of spite he tugged on her ribbon and pulled it off, and when he did...her head fell off.

My Grandma was so freaking evil. She would tell this to me on nights when she was riding me to her house in Chestertown and I was in the back of her station wagon with that big back window where I could look into the trees trying to go to sleep. At the end of the story everytime she'd tell me "And if you're not good, she's going to come and get you!" Needless to say I never slept on the way to grandma's, lol.

Lol, Your Grandma sounds cool.


Did it work though? Were you good?

If you call huddled under blankets being really quite trying to make it look like I was sleeping and peeking at the trees through the window every so often good....then yes, I was an angel, lol! XD

dang that gross

Can't say I've ever heard it, but damn. I'd be hiding too. That's a creepy sort of thing.

I read that years ago, in a children's scary stories book. All I can remember is that the girl's name was Jenny. This version was sort of sad, though. He asked if she'd take her ribbon off, and she said, "Someday." Then grew up and got married. She said he could take her ribbon off once she died. Years passed, and she got sick and died. He took off the ribbon to remember her by, and her head fell off.

Clock- I remember that to, but I never heard that version until I grew up. That is a sad version.

Interesting read. I recall a similar story where a man picks up a woman who is sitting on a gallows. This woman is wearing a scarf or necklace, depending on the version. The man and woman go back to the man's apartment, and the man gives the woman his bed for the night. The next morning when the man goes to check on the woman she feels as cold as the dead of winter. The man calls a friend of his who is studying to be a doctor; his friend declares the woman to be dead. They take off the scarf, and her head falls off. For some odd reason I seem to remember this story taking place in Paris.

In the Little Giant Book of "True " Ghost Stories ,by Myers,Rau and Macklin,Illustrated by Jim Sharpe, is the story,portrait of a ghost.
In 1913 an artist named LeBrun,had recently moved to Paris. One day he encountered a woman standing under a street light. She seemed to be in need of assistance.he was struck by her beauty,and asked her to pose for him instead. She agreed, with some hesitationand they went back to his studio.
So he started to set to work.He noticed she had a black band around her neck,and asked her to remove it,but she shook her head no,and appeared to be upset at the request. So,he decided to let it go,and worked on her portrait. When he had finished,she decided to leave, he tried to get her to stay, but she disappeared into the night.The next day his landlady came to collect the rent. She told him what a good likness of Gretel Pederson,who had murdered her parents and husband,her photo being in the paper.LeBrun said he hadn't heard of the murders,nor seen her photo.
He thought perhasp it was over work,or just a trick of the mind,maybe he had seen her photo after all.
Later a friend called on saying he had sen a ghost.He saw this woman with a beautiful face while walking down the street.His friend Julian Sant said the woman was awfully familiar,and it bothered him where had he seen her before/ Well he went to the library and checked the newspaper files and found the
photo of Gretel Penderson.LeBrun said nothing,just pointed to the portrait.That's her alright,and that's not all he said. That last night,the night LeBrun painted the portrait was the anniversary of her death.

This may be the story you are thinking of in regards to Paris.
The custom of wearing a ribbon around the neck I understand came from Paris,as it was a way to remember a loved one or a friend who was guiolltined
back in those days of the regin of Terror in france.

The movie, A Portrait of Jenny starred Joseph Cotton and Jennifer Jones as Jenny. Cotton is an artist in new York,who meets a girl named Jenny when ice skating. She winds up being a model and poses for a portrait for him.Anyhow, it turns out she is actually a ghost,and the film may have been partially based on this story.