Local Urban Legends

[Spooky Shiba]

Not sure if there's already an old thread on this, but I thought I'd make a newer one. 

Do you have any urban legends you grew up with/recently found out about specific to your area? I'm interested in hearing what local urban legends come to mind for some! I currently live in NJ, and this state has too many weird stories already  

I'll share one of the ones I grew up with:

• 13 Bumps Road - it's said that buried under a stretch of road (now Johnston Drive in Watchung, NJ) are the bodies of 13 witches from the mid-1800s. They were hanged for their crimes in the disappearance/murders of multiple children from Feltville, a now deserted town located in the nearby mountains. When driving on this road, you will feel 13 bumps, and after the 13th bump they say the ghosts of the witches appear and chase your car. No matter how many times the road gets repaved, the bumps always re-emerge. 

It's a fun story, and a lot of teens love scaring each other with this  Of course you would think that if there were bodies buried on that road that they would've been reported and dug up before paving it. There were no reports of missing children at the time Feltville was actually inhabited (I could only find reports of 2 teens drowning in the nearby pond). No idea how this UL even started but this story has been around for some time (even when my sister was a teen in the early 90s).

 

[Piney]

I just remembered this one and never saw it in print. 

The Pine Hill Ghost, a scout story from the Pine Hill Scout Reservation in New Jersey.

A conductor who was struck with a train and heavily disfigured wanders the railroad tracks behind the camping area.

 

[Spooky Shiba]

Ohhhh!! That's a new one. I feel like the Pine Hill Ghost story was told so kids don't play around the track  Either way I would be scared of the conductor appearing!! Thanks for sharing 

[+Desertrat56]

Here is one thread about urban legends.   There are others.

 

[Spooky Shiba]

Thank you @Desertrat56! I did see that post, but I was looking more for personal urban legends people grew up with in their area. The thread is still very interesting though!

[+Desertrat56]

@Spooky Shiba I remember a post like that, but I can't  remember how long ago. 

[rashore]

I grew up in SE WI.  Both in the area and when we got older including NE IL and Chicagoland.  So lots of UL's, other weird stuff too. Bray Road Beast and other weres, BF, large flying critters. Hookmen, killer clowns, pumpkin head types... Death bridges, witches graves and witches running towns. Hell gates, hell rides and other hellish. Ghosts, demons, vampires, BEK's... Vortexes and wee folk, creepy woods and magic lakes. Lake monsters, ghost ships, and a mysterious bermuda triangle in the big lake. UFO's, secret govt sites, strange "abandoned" places, secret societies/cults/ect...  a smattering of "places down the road" where all sorts of nefarious happened. I'm probably forgetting a bunch off the top of my head too. 

It's an area that already had a rich indigenous folklore history, and that got embroidered as different waves of first European and then later other nations peoples came into the area. 

A lot of serial killer folklore growing up too. Considering some of the killers of the area, a lot of legends translated to those odd places down the road. The guy that will skin you, or witch that will feed you to her pigs. Someone knew someone that knew someone that was a nurse killing, or lived in that place after and.... be careful going out, because you might end up laid out in a ditch like those girls or those boys... You just know that clown from the party or that almost too charming bachelor with the too big property or too quiet just has to be up to... As an adult I was able to track those UL's back to their killers. But danged if at the time they weren't really scary UL's for a lot of kids at the time.

A few years back elsewhere I had the most fun UL thing happen. A total debunk! I was working for the summer at a place that had a fun old guy, and we would sit around and chat when it was slow. He was such a gossip, and an accurate one. One day we started chatting about local weird, and I brought up a UL of a man-beast in the area. Sighted years ago, but nothing current. As I told him the tale, he got more giggly. By the time I was done he was flat out laughing for a while. Turned out, it was a prank he and a few friends played on a buddy of his. He had no idea it was still talked about, let alone listed on the internet as a legend

[Piney]

54 minutes ago, rashore said:

A few years back elsewhere I had the most fun UL thing happen. A total debunk! I was working for the summer at a place that had a fun old guy, and we would sit around and chat when it was slow. He was such a gossip, and an accurate one. One day we started chatting about local weird, and I brought up a UL of a man-beast in the area. Sighted years ago, but nothing current. As I told him the tale, he got more giggly. By the time I was done he was flat out laughing for a while. Turned out, it was a prank he and a few friends played on a buddy of his. He had no idea it was still talked about, let alone listed on the internet as a legend

In a Jersey Devil book they talk about a Bigfoot running around Paradise Lake in Chatsworth and scaring a bunch of kids playing ice hockey.

I was one of the kids and it was one of the 20-somethings wearing a Planet of the Apes mask. 

[+Desertrat56]

We have La Llorona, which was a story (a woman went mad and drowned her children in the river and then drowned herself and her ghost haunts large ditches and rivers waiting for children to get too close so she can pull them in and drown them).  We have UFO's, (Roswell the most famous UFO story, people come from all over the world to see this town and it's tiny museum), but many more UFO stories than anything else.  We also have coyote which is a Navajo myth about men who can fool you into thinking you are interacting with an animal. 

[Dejarma]

there's an urban legend in my area= Harold Hill, Romford, Essex, UK:

around 200 years ago a young couple had a suicide pact - took poison & danced until they died.
Apparently Torvill and Dean were driving in the area, see the ghosts of these 2 individuals dancing & got all the moves/ inspiration from this encounter

[XenoFish]

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/south-carolina/9-strange-urban-legends-of-sc/

[Spooky Shiba]

4 hours ago, rashore said:

I grew up in SE WI.  Both in the area and when we got older including NE IL and Chicagoland.  So lots of UL's, other weird stuff too. Bray Road Beast and other weres, BF, large flying critters. Hookmen, killer clowns, pumpkin head types... Death bridges, witches graves and witches running towns. Hell gates, hell rides and other hellish. Ghosts, demons, vampires, BEK's... Vortexes and wee folk, creepy woods and magic lakes. Lake monsters, ghost ships, and a mysterious bermuda triangle in the big lake. UFO's, secret govt sites, strange "abandoned" places, secret societies/cults/ect...  a smattering of "places down the road" where all sorts of nefarious happened. I'm probably forgetting a bunch off the top of my head too. 

It's an area that already had a rich indigenous folklore history, and that got embroidered as different waves of first European and then later other nations peoples came into the area. 

A lot of serial killer folklore growing up too. Considering some of the killers of the area, a lot of legends translated to those odd places down the road. The guy that will skin you, or witch that will feed you to her pigs. Someone knew someone that knew someone that was a nurse killing, or lived in that place after and.... be careful going out, because you might end up laid out in a ditch like those girls or those boys... You just know that clown from the party or that almost too charming bachelor with the too big property or too quiet just has to be up to... As an adult I was able to track those UL's back to their killers. But danged if at the time they weren't really scary UL's for a lot of kids at the time.

A few years back elsewhere I had the most fun UL thing happen. A total debunk! I was working for the summer at a place that had a fun old guy, and we would sit around and chat when it was slow. He was such a gossip, and an accurate one. One day we started chatting about local weird, and I brought up a UL of a man-beast in the area. Sighted years ago, but nothing current. As I told him the tale, he got more giggly. By the time I was done he was flat out laughing for a while. Turned out, it was a prank he and a few friends played on a buddy of his. He had no idea it was still talked about, let alone listed on the internet as a legend

Woah!! So many different states!! Honestly all those UL would probably make me stay inside most of the time as a kid LOOOL (Esp vortexes... like what the heck how can you even avoid that?? )

That's actually pretty awesome you were able to find the origin of one UL!! What are the chances? Thank you for sharing   

[Spooky Shiba]

3 hours ago, Piney said:

In a Jersey Devil book they talk about a Bigfoot running around Paradise Lake in Chatsworth and scaring a bunch of kids playing ice hockey.

I was one of the kids and it was one of the 20-somethings wearing a Planet of the Apes mask. 

What!! Better fact check them  That's actually pretty funny

[Spooky Shiba]

3 hours ago, Desertrat56 said:

We also have coyote which is a Navajo myth about men who can fool you into thinking you are interacting with an animal. 

Woah never heard of this one before. I just looked into it and its suppperrrr interesting! Thank you

[Spooky Shiba]

2 hours ago, Dejarma said:

there's an urban legend in my area= Harold Hill, Romford, Essex, UK:

around 200 years ago a young couple had a suicide pact - took poison & danced until they died.
Apparently Torvill and Dean were driving in the area, see the ghosts of these 2 individuals dancing & got all the moves/ inspiration from this encounter

What! Torvill and Dean got inspo from ghosts?! 

1 hour ago, XenoFish said:

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/south-carolina/9-strange-urban-legends-of-sc/

I've heard of the ghost hound of Goshen! I quite like UL, but the haunted crypt is a really good one too! Thanks for sharing friend 

[Piney]

6 hours ago, Spooky Shiba said:

What!! Better fact check them  That's actually pretty funny

I did. I fact checked both books. 

The screams louder than the swamp loggers' chainsaws was a guy's pet peacock. 

If your into Weird New Jersey, Wayandaga, the Lenape who put the curse on Rt. 55 was my grandfather. 

[Grim Reaper 6]

18 hours ago, Spooky Shiba said:

Not sure if there's already an old thread on this, but I thought I'd make a newer one. 

Do you have any urban legends you grew up with/recently found out about specific to your area? I'm interested in hearing what local urban legends come to mind for some! I currently live in NJ, and this state has too many weird stories already  

I'll share one of the ones I grew up with:

• 13 Bumps Road - it's said that buried under a stretch of road (now Johnston Drive in Watchung, NJ) are the bodies of 13 witches from the mid-1800s. They were hanged for their crimes in the disappearance/murders of multiple children from Feltville, a now deserted town located in the nearby mountains. When driving on this road, you will feel 13 bumps, and after the 13th bump they say the ghosts of the witches appear and chase your car. No matter how many times the road gets repaved, the bumps always re-emerge. 

It's a fun story, and a lot of teens love scaring each other with this  Of course you would think that if there were bodies buried on that road that they would've been reported and dug up before paving it. There were no reports of missing children at the time Feltville was actually inhabited (I could only find reports of 2 teens drowning in the nearby pond). No idea how this UL even started but this story has been around for some time (even when my sister was a teen in the early 90s).

 

Outside St.Louis Missouri, there is a road called Zombie Road that follows the path of the Merrimack River. The area has been populated since the early 1800s, over the years there have been many sittings of shadow people along the road, and on the hillside along the road. There have been many claims that have tried to explain what people claim they are seeing, are they true or false that is for you to decide, or if you are ever in the area check it out for yourself.

http://www.theparanormalguide.com/blog/the-history-of-zombie-road

 

Enjoy

Edited October 4, 2020 by Manwon Lender

[rashore]

10 hours ago, Spooky Shiba said:

Woah!! So many different states!! Honestly all those UL would probably make me stay inside most of the time as a kid LOOOL (Esp vortexes... like what the heck how can you even avoid that?? )

That's actually pretty awesome you were able to find the origin of one UL!! What are the chances? Thank you for sharing   

Just two states, and just a little corner of each state. Maybe around a dozen counties. The vortexes were stable ones, as in they didn't move- so easy enough to avoid getting sucked into the dimensions they were purported to suck one into. The legends didn't keep me inside, though I think the serial killer stuff probably kept me away from strange houses and people. 

[Spooky Shiba]

On 10/4/2020 at 5:19 AM, Piney said:

I did. I fact checked both books. 

The screams louder than the swamp loggers' chainsaws was a guy's pet peacock. 

If your into Weird New Jersey, Wayandaga, the Lenape who put the curse on Rt. 55 was my grandfather. 

Excuse me??? I'm in the presence of a UL fact-checker AND a descendent of a Lenape of a crazy curse in NJ??? Respect 

[Spooky Shiba]

On 10/4/2020 at 5:52 AM, Manwon Lender said:

Outside St.Louis Missouri, there is a road called Zombie Road that follows the path of the Merrimack River. The area has been populated since the early 1800s, over the years there have been many sittings of shadow people along the road, and on the hillside along the road. There have been many claims that have tried to explain what people claim they are seeing, are they true or false that is for you to decide, or if you are ever in the area check it out for yourself.

http://www.theparanormalguide.com/blog/the-history-of-zombie-road

Enjoy

Ohhh!! Thank you for sharing this! Super interesting. One of these days I definitely want to check out places from other states. 

[ThereWeAreThen]

When I was in school, we made up an crappy story about there being psychopaths just outside of school boundary in the near forest, so we went there on our lunch break. No idea why we came up with it but I used to love going there on lunch and after school!

 

Oh and one of my mates claimed there was a Xenomorph nest outside her house. I **** you not.

Not really urban legends but I can't think of any at all in my area.

[ThereWeAreThen]

If anybody can be bothered researching for me, I live in Bridgend, Wales. Highly doubt there is anything though. 

[griss47]

On 10/4/2020 at 4:52 AM, Manwon Lender said:

Outside St.Louis Missouri, there is a road called Zombie Road that follows the path of the Merrimack River. The area has been populated since the early 1800s, over the years there have been many sittings of shadow people along the road, and on the hillside along the road. There have been many claims that have tried to explain what people claim they are seeing, are they true or false that is for you to decide, or if you are ever in the area check it out for yourself.

http://www.theparanormalguide.com/blog/the-history-of-zombie-road

 

Enjoy

I grew up in the area of Zombie Road and still live in the area today.  It's now a bike/jogging path in a County Park.  And, to be a stickler, the river it follows is spelled Meramec.

Edited October 5, 2020 by griss47

[XenoFish]

8 hours ago, ThereWeAreThen said:

Bridgend, Wales

Just add Urban Legends to that and google search it.

[ThereWeAreThen]

1 hour ago, XenoFish said:

Just add Urban Legends to that and google search it.

To be fair I did say I couldn't be bothered.