Non-Americans Share Their Local 'Bigfoot' And 'Area 51' Equivalents
Of course you do. It's an American cultural legend. Almost a ghost story--it's a clear cover-up by the government with no true explanation. Only theories. It's almost fun to stew on. But every country must have something like this, right?
ekrgekgt asked Reddit:
Non-Americans of reddit, what is the "Bigfoot" or "Area 51" equivalent of your country?
Here are some culturally diverse urban legends.
Dahut
In france we have a mythical creature in the mountain regions called a "dahut". What's funny is that it supposedly has shorter legs on one side, either left or right, to accomodate the slopes he lives on. So if you encounter one, you just have to shout, which causes him to turn around, thus falling down because the long legs are now on the top side of the slope... That flaw makes them a rare sight and an endangered species.
Ghost Train
In Stockholm (Sweden) we have a half finished metro station that you just pass through. It is rumored that there is a ghost train called Silverpilen (the silver arrow) traveling to that station. If you accidentally board that train your die and your ghost is trapped on the train forever.
Missing
Slovakia here - There's a myth of Bermuda triangle like phenomenon in mountains (or perhaps hills) of Tríbe?. It is nothing but few hills, forest and it is really hard to get lost there, because of its small size in square kilometres, but few people went missing there and were never found.
Sirens
Grew up in a rural part in the south of Norway. When I was a kid my parents and other adults would tell us stories about "Nøkken". A water creature that would lure you to the water and drown you. I remember the dad of my bestfriend telling me they could come through the toilet and drag you through to your death.
Méxicante
Mexico has "La Llorona" (the crying woman), who's basically a Mexican banshee lady who lives in the countryside.
Also, el Chupacabra, a beast said to suck the blood of farm animals.
Abandonment
In the Netherlands we have a bunch of military bases, which you can all look up on google maps and see the satellite pictures of, but there's this one area of a military school they felt the need to scramble. [link].
I've been in that area once (you can just walk to it, it's about as secure as a regular school), and there's nothing interesting there. It seems like a leftover they forgot to 'undo' when in the past they blurred every military area, but many people in the area think they train special marines there, which I highly doubt.
Unidentified Flying Mountain
Oh boy, I was waiting for this question to be asked.
I live in a small city in Serbia, Zaje?ar. About 35 km away from me is a pyramid shaped mountain called Rtanj . And why that mountain is popular, besides that strange shape is because there are rumors that aliens land there. But, the fun part is, there were lots of UFO sightings over Rtanj and over my home town too. Even I saw a couple of UFO's flying over the mountain. Scientists have gathered a couple of times to investigate what is happening over there. And the only thing they have said is that the UFO's might be lightning balls, although they don't know why they're forming on the mountain.
Now, I will try my best to describe them. My whole family has seen them, since our balcony is directly facing the mountain , and all of them behave and look the same way. Small circles that are moving extremely fast in similar patterns, their paths are usually like geometrical shapes. They also change color, and after travelling for a couple of minutes, they disappear into thin air, sometimes they can even reappear in a different place. Note: the sky was always clear, no clouds were near those things
Ogopogo..ie?
We've got the Ogopogo in Okanagan lake in B.C. Canada. It's kinda like the Loch Ness monster except... wait no there's pretty much no difference
Ghosts
Lots of them in Galicia, Spain. The one that scared me the most as a child was the myth of the "Santa Compaña":
The common belief is that of a procession of the dead (or a procession of souls that are in torment) that wander through the village paths of a parish beginning at midnight wearing white, hooded cloaks. The procession is led by a living person carrying a cross or a cauldron of holy water (sometimes he carries both), followed by several of the souls of the dead holding lit candles. The living leader of the procession is compelled by a supernatural force (in this case, a mysterious curse) to go out every night and walk by towns, villages and forests; but having no recollection of it the following day. By the same token, because the living person is unaware of what he is doing, there is no chance that he will renounce his duty in leading the Santa Compaña as the curse that forces him to lead the procession puts him into a trance every midnight.
The region of Galicia is pretty similar to Ireland, they even share to a certain degree some Celtic traditions. My parents told me that the rainy weather, the fog, etc... was the origin of such stories.
More Than The Yeti
India
We have Yeti, a snowy figure which is rumored to live in the Himalayas.
There are many equivalents of Area 51, mainly:
- Pokhran Test Ranges. Pokhran TR is secured by more than 5 Indian agencies working independently or in tandem with other agencies. The outer perimeter is secured by special BSF commandos while Indian Army secures the facility. Overall security Is maintained by RAW and MI officers. There is also a COIN team to check any leak of information from within. Various ISI spies have been caught trying to get soil or nail samples of the scientists working there. A CIA agent too was rumored to be caught.
- Wheeler's Island. India's missile testing base. India's strategic nuclear missiles and tactical missiles, all are tested here. From Agni 5 to BrahMos, everything takes shape here.
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Of the 572 islands in AANI, only 34 are open to public. AANI also hosts India's top secret Tried Service command.
- Trishul Airbase. Trishul Airbase in Bareilly is the largest underground airbase in Asia. This facility was so secure that it housed the MiG-25 fox bats which were bought under complete secrecy. The acknowledgement of Foxbats happened only on the day they were retired. Imagine an airbase so secure that you don't see which fighter jet flies out of it.
Iceland-Consonants, AND Monsters
Iceland, we have a few. I'll skip the elves, ghosts, trolls and dwarves for now.
- Nykur - a water demon that lures you to your death masquerading as a horse
- Lagarfljótsormurinn - cousin of Loch Ness Monster
- Yule Cat - it will eat the naughty children at Yule (called Christmas in some places these days)
Kareful Of Kappa
In Japan, it would be kappa. A human like green creature that lives around river.
The Fictional City
The city of "Bielefeld" in Germany.
If you look it up on any map, or even on Google, you'll find nothing except a normal looking city.
Except that city does not exist. No one is completely sure why it shows up on almost every map, but it has always been that way. There are some theories, that "Bielefeld" was created by a map maker a few hundred years back to check if anyone copys his maps and after some people did that, Bielefled has become some sort of easter-egg for map designers.
Some guys will argue that they are from Bielefeld, but thats just an old running joke in germany.
A Million Ways To Die
UK.
Instead of UFOS abductions our folklore has a lot of faerie/fairies abductions. People being tempted and drowned in lakes by Kelpies. People stepping into faerie circles/rings and dancing at a party for a few minutes but when they leave its been hundred years and someone see's them dissolve into dust. Fairies stealing babies and swapping changelings in their place. People destroying a fairy fort and getting cursed, even in modern day link and link some of these stories are still heard, but not so much in the abduction side.
Hasn't been a sighting for years but spring heeled jack is an old one.
There's always sightings of big black cats or hounds England) in the countryside and I've had one of these experiences myself. Saw a black cat in a field when I was a passenger in a car but it didn't look right like for the size and distance it was. Something didn't match up. Either a perspective illusion or it was a big cat.
Lot and lots of haunted places. Every town seems to have a good few ghost stories.
Secret societies and what they get up to. Freemasons being linked to jack the ripper (if you read they all love jack) or demon summoning if you follow they are based around king Solomon myths. Funnily Illuminati used to be a real but less sinister group and it sounds like most of the fears about them come from their rivalry with the freemasons. Though in most cases these societies and freemasons seem to be glorified gentlemen's drinking clubs and not that sinister nowadays. There's also Aleister Crowley and his former group the Golden Dawn too.
Tee Hee
In Portugal there's the "Honest Politician". No one has seen any in ages, our parents swear they were a real thing a couple decades ago, but it's been so long since anyone's seen any, that it pretty much became a mythical creature.
The Most Canadian Bigfoot
Aboriginal Canadian... Also Bigfoot. We call him Sabe and he is a tender manitou (spirit creature) of the forest that teaches us honesty. Arguable you could also include the windigo and our various sea serpents, some of which other people living in Canada also believe in.
Also a local Rez has a story about Monkey-Dog, half monkey and half dog that causes mischief. It's not my Rez so I don't know too much about it. I can only assume a white man brought it over to inconvenience them.
A Hot Place
Aussie here. I can't think of anything which fits the bill. Aboriginal people have plenty of legends, but nobody thinks they might be true. The Thylacine is believed to be extinct but if it was found in the wild, nobody would be totally surprised.
There is a story I heard of the Black Dac. Basically a DC4 Dakota painted totally black which is seen flying over the outback from time to time. Most of the stories have it passing over a campsite at 50 feet or so.
But I have never met anybody else who knows that story so it doesn't really qualify.
Evil Mountain
It's not my country, but Russians have Metro 2. It is/was a secret metro system buried deep enough under Moscow to withstand a direct nuclear attack. It was made to help ferry government officials from place to place and act as a nuclear shelter as well. Supposedly it has lines that stretch beyond Moscow so they can flee the city if necessary, but it also has living quarters and offices if they need to stay. Like Area 51, it's existence is confirmed, but there are many legends about what goes on in it, and nobody knows if it is still operational.
They also have Mount Yamantau, which is their closest Area 51 analogue. The mountain itself literally means "Evil Mountain" in the Bashkir language, and the Russians have been constructing some kind of massive facility there. Tens of thousands of workers are housed there but the Russian government has been tight-lipped on what is going on there. They've refused to give the US even a hint of what Mt. Yamantau might be used for, and the speculation is endless.
Tikoloshe
In South Africa, there is a Zulu folklore about a little dude that basically looks like a dwarf/ water sprite/ gremlin type, and he just causes mischief wherever he goes. A lot of Zulu families until this day still put their beds on bricks because they believe that it's too high up for the gremlin to reach. He's known as the Tikoloshe. Zulu shamans created him back in the day to scare people off if they offended the shaman. Apparently he can do all sorts of things; from stealing to killing. The folklore says that the Tikoloshe mostly targets schoolchildren.
Space Dust
The Tunguska Meteorite.
The year was 1908, late June. For several days, in several locations in the Northern Hemisphere strange lights were seen in the sky. Mainly in Western Siberia, but also as far as Bristol in England. Then, on June 30th, an enormous ball of flames flew over Siberia. A giant explosion was seen and heard hundreds of kilometers from the crash site, with observatories all over the world detecting a shockwave from it. Glass was shattered within a radius of a few hundred kilometers, and a wave of hot air was reported by several people living far away from each other. Reports closest to the epicenter of the explosion say that the heatwave was so devastating that dry grass bust into flames.
The force of the explosion is estimated to be up to 50 megatons, equal to the power of the Soviet thermonuclear weapon, the Tsar bomb. The explosion was heard from 800 km and the seismic wave was detected all the way in Germany. For almost the entire month after that, lights in the sky kept appearing.
The year was 1927. A meteorite researcher named Leonid Kulik went on an expedition to find the crater from the supposed meteorite. Having gathered several witness reports in 1921, he determined where the epicenter should have been. He never found the crater. Not even after he photographed 250 square km of land from a plane in 1938. To this day, no crater was found, and consensus is, no crater ever existed. The meteorite exploded several kilometers from the ground. Yet, even now, nobody knows for certain what exactly it was.
The strange lights in the sky were actually easy to explain, it was ice from the meteorite. But it wasn't pure ice, and what caused it to explode before hitting ground is unknown. It's still a mystery, and it caused many science fiction writers to incorporate it into their stories. To this day it is used as a source for alien technology in fiction, with a video game Crysis 2 being a good example.
Image by Yerson Retamal from Pixabay |
I am in awe of the hearing impaired. They don't allow anything to stop them. They live their lives to fullest in complete silence. We have a lot to learn from them.
I know I hear myself differently from how my voice actually sounds. So what do they hear? Is it even explainable? Let's ask...
Redditor u/Turmixolt-teveszar wanted to hear from the deaf community about the language in their minds by asking... People who born deaf. How's your inner voice sound, or you just speak sign langue in your head?One of my dreams is to learn sign language and when I do I want to authentically ask a deaf person about their thoughts. In my mind I sound sexy. On a recorder I sound like I sniff helium. It's weird. I wonder if they all hear themselves in sexy?
Good Vibrations
I asked my niece this. She said she had an inner voice but it was more a feeling than a voice. She described it as feeling the vibrations from loud music. When she had her surgery, and she heard voices for the first time, her inner voice adapted.
Me and Myself...
Not deaf, but my brother is. I remember when we were in our teens on a family vacation and I caught him signing to himself when he was bored. The first time I saw it I thought he was telling me something but I noticed he wasn't making eye contact and it made no sense, that is when I realized he was thinking to himself. After that, my family and I wouldn't watch when we noticed him doing it since we figured it wasn't fair to know what he was thinking at times when the same couldn't be said for him.
silence...
For the first 5 years of my life i was technically Deaf, i couldn't hear anything.
i remember thinking by closing my eyes and imagining the thing i wanted to think. so i would close my eyes and see my own imaginary world.
i can still do it but only in complete silence.
It's a trait i will forever hold but i'm not mad at it. it can be very helpful in some situations!
edit- a lot of people are wondering so i'll put it in the post, my eardrums collapsed during birth so when i was around 5 i had a surgery to "fix" them. not sure how they did it or if the doctors are still doing it on people but i'm grateful they did it to me.
Voices
A Neurologist named Oliver Sacks wrote a book called Seeing Voices. It was prescribed reading when I studied South African Sign Language. It might give some insights to your question.
In a related tangent, schizophrenia among deaf people is different than for hearing persons.
That's really interesting! Thank you. I remember reading about how auditory hallucinations with schizophrenia present differently depending on cultures. Some have negative critical voices, some have positive reassuring voices.
Hey Mom
My mom is profoundly deaf and I asked her this same question (totally not a stupid question!) She said she thinks in ASL. I have caught her signing to herself just like I sometimes talk to myself.
Fascinating. It's always amazing to learn and connect to another person who's experience is vastly different from our own. Once we realize, that when we all close our eyes, we're all left to our own thoughts, and that sound is universal.
Hallucinations
Not deaf but have studied psychology. People born deaf who also suffer from "auditory" hallucinations tend to not hear voices, they rather see floating hands speaking to them in sign language
I just remembered this fact because of your post...
Which part of the World
When I was young I asked a relative if she thought in English or Spanish because she was Spanish but had lived in England for a very long time, she couldn't understand what I was asking her and ended up getting very upset with me thinking that I was saying she couldn't speak English. She had no idea that people had an inner voice and I had no idea that some people didn't!
Pay Attention
A deafie here - naturally we can't even describe what it sounds like as we don't really understand sound in the way you do. Maybe the basics like deep and high pitches but the difference between notes or octaves are something only understood through theory (i.e. reading about them).
We don't understand what makes a singer good but we for sure know how to tell if it's a good beat (provided it's loud enough to feel).
As such, speaking for myself here - my inner voice is more literally like thinking. A mixture of instinctual understanding and the words that describe the meaning I want to express.
I am a writer so words are quite colorful to me. They convey a myriad of imagination. I also am a philosopher so I admire and observe closely the metaphysics at play here.
Words can occasionally come out in English as it is best expressed through English. Some come out as sign language as there are sayings that only make sense in sign language. It's a blend of both as well as the raw emotional output that form my thoughts.
Also, there is the silence in between the thoughts. Depends on how much you pay attention I suppose.
be cool
Was born profoundly deaf. Wore hearing aids from 6 months old and replaced it with a cochlear implant at 15. I only have one, don't hear out of the other ear unless I opt to get another one for bilateral hearing. I was never taught how to sign. I was raised in a hearing world. People don't even realize I'm deaf most of the time until they see the implant.
I'm a bit of an outlier I guess. I'm not involved in the deaf community though I do have a couple of deaf friends who both talk and sign.
My voice sounds a lot cooler in my head than what it really is, probably the same for most people lol.
Deep Thought
I recently learned that deaf people (at least in my country) often speak sign language as their first language and do not appreciate the assumption that sign language is just "a signed form of the country's language". The two languages usually have different grammars and morphology.
I think your question is very interesting OP, I just wanted to add to it, maybe this helps understand that not everyone has an acoustic language as their inner voice. I think it's hard for a hearing person to grasp this concept because language is so bound to sound for us but as Steven Pinker said: we shouldn't make the mistake of mixing up thought and language, most of our thoughts are more diffuse than language.
As writers we have to find ways to learn about something we know nothing about. I can't imagine as a deaf person trying to wonder what sound sounds like. But clearly people find a way. Through vibration, through dreams, sound finds a way.
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Making a real-world connection while dating is one thing, but doing it digitally brings an entirely new set of challenges.
Reddit user, u/SXC365, wanted to hear how you filter through the scrubs when they asked:
You're online dating and read someone's bio, what's an immediate turnoff?
Crimsons Flags On Their Profile Header
The easiest red flag to spot across enemy lines is the one they fly at their highest point: the header of their dating profile. Sometimes, it's innocuous, hidden among some cute descriptors about what their obvious careers or hobbies are. But it's there, waiting to be ignored.
What Are You Trying To Hide?
Having literally no personal information about themselves besides their name, age, and a half dozen emojis. Please, ma'am/sir I would like to know who you are besides what your body looks like.
Profile: Denied!
Likes: laughing, smiling, living <——— wtf yeah most people like the opposite..?
OR
Likes: ask me 😏 Dislikes: ask me😏 Work: ask me😏
Advertising Something Else
'Follow me on instagram! /ic3cr3amnut69'
Alternatively, if their only written info is their Snapchat handle.
I know what you're about.
What's Underneath The Hood?
On the other hand, maybe it isn't so obvious at first glance. These types take a little more digging through their About section to truly understand what they're about.
And it's not good. Not good at all.
Setting Your (Dumb) Standards
When they have requirements like height, weight, and so on.
This is what I came here to say. Having preferences in terms of physical features and personality are one thing. We like what we like, and we dont like what we dont like. That's fair and fine, but to have a bulleted list of requirements in order to even speak to someone is crass and shallow.
"I'm A Bad Boy 4-Lyfe!" - This Person, Probably
When they're flipping off the camera. WHY? Why are you flipping me off?
FINALLY, someone says it! I can't get behind this, never could.
So many people go hiking or enjoy long walks. Why can't I just find someone who wants to spend their Sundays never getting dressed properly and watching TV all day?
Don't worry, as someone that is an enthusiastic, serious hiker, I've found that 80% of OLD profiles that claim to like hiking and long walks mean they like 3-5 mile walks occasionally.
For me that's disappointing, but you might be able to work with it.
Terrible Slogans To Keep An Eye Out For
Fortunately, the most obvious people to avoid online are those who have some sort of motto or lifestyle creedo, blazoned across their header right under their name. It won't be inspiration, motivational, or reasonable, but they'll think it is. Which is all the more reason for you to swipe left and get out before it's too late.
Take Your Time Back
"Don't waste my time"
This one, I just immediately swipe No, like theres your precious time bro
Wearing Their Awful Flag Proudly
Any time someone describes themselves as an "a--hole"
I think it's meant to be cute and cheeky but why would I wanna spend time with someone who freely admits they're a jerk?
Point Is, It's A Bad Quote
"If you can't handle me at my worst you don't deserve me at my best"
I remember a stand-up having a great response to this quote.
"This statement was made by Marylin Monroe, who killed herself. That, or she was murdered by the government. All we know is that at least one person really couldn't handle her at her worst."
Except there's no proof she ever said it.
Have your standards, have your prerequisites, and know what you want in a potential partner. Above all, never feel bad for declining someone because they feel the need to let you know their a d-ck.
Keep your dignity.
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Forming a connection with someone is a challenge.
And then there's these folks, who felt the need to call it quits over something that, honestly, didn't even matter that much.
Reddit user, u/High_Sleep3694, wanted to hear why you turned someone down when they asked:
What was the pettiest reason you refused to date someone?
Loud, Observable Traits
There are some traits people carry with them like a sad, old piece of rotting luggage, flopping it down on the table for everyone to gawk upon before the appetizers re served. You either are okay with it or, as these people quickly decided, bail out before it gets you.
That Would Irritate Any Decent Human
My mom stopped dating a guy because he unfastened and refastened the velcro on his shoes throughout an entire movie.
What A Dummy. Everyone Knows They're Limes.
When I found out that he thought lemons were unripened oranges
I Guess I Don't See A Big Problem With This One
All The Words In Every Text He Sent Were Capitalised. Trust Me, It Got ANNOYING.
Learn Something!
He was awful in a trivia game we were playing. I mean, really bad, like it was his first day pretending to be a human on Earth and the aliens hadn't briefed him sufficiently.
The Littlest Things Can Turn You Off
Some stuff you can overlook, like maybe the way they hold their spoon and fork.
Other things are impossible to overlook, like...the way they hold their spoon and fork.
Goes both ways.
Her Name Is Anne, Guys.
Everytime I touched her, I would smell of egg. Like holding hands, egg.. Hug her, my shirt would smell of egg.
Strangest bit was, she didn't smell like that whatsoever.
Also, when I broke it off, the egg smelling stopped. So IDK.
Just. Let. Me. CHEW.
Every time I took a bite of food he asked me a question, after which he stared at me while I finished chewing.
The date went on like this for an hour, he had a supernatural sense of poor timing.
Wearing Your D-Bag Flag
He wore a Bluetooth piece in his ear. The constant blue light blinking from the side of his head was too much for me. Another guy would text "dame" instead of "damn". It wasn't a typo either, it was every time.
The Pettiest Of The Petty
Then there's these reasons, where the person must have been having a bad day or maybe they hadn't had dinner yet, when they looked at what the other person was saying or doing or existing and thought, nice and loud in their mind, "Nope."
Just FINISH Your Thought
Every single text of her ended with '...'
I just couldn't do it man
Look At That Shimmer
His hair was prettier than mine.
Now THIS is petty. Love it.
You Can Never See Past The Name
She had the same name as my mom.
I went out with someone who has the same name as my cat. I brought him back to my house and the second I got home I greeted my cat and the guy looked at me and I knew right then and there that I couldn't do this.
Keep it up.
You'll find your true partner someday.
And don't ever feel bad if you break up with them over something silly or petty. People need to fix how they hold their spoons and forks, anyway.
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There's nothing quite like a good urban legend to put a chill into your bones. One of my favorites? The story about the babysitter and the man upstairs. You know the one. The creepy phone calls begin. The words, "Have you checked on the children?" Unnerving stuff. It's that story that gave us movies like Black Christmas and When a Stranger Calls. I still get a chill up my spine when I think about that story.
It's not just murderers either. Monsters, spirits... Urban legends––and folklore as a whole––have for time immemorial been a part of our consciousness.
After Redditor BeardedDragonzRMine asked the online community, "What monster/urban legend is in your town?" people shared their stories.
"When I was in middle school..."
The Jersey Devil. When I was in middle school my grade went on a trip to a camp in the Pine Barrens where the jersey devil presumably is. I cried when my parents said they didn't want me to go.
The Pine Barrens is a freaky place.
Don't believe me? Watch that one episode of The Sopranos.
"She's the mistress..."
La Llorona. She's the mistress of a Spanish conquistador. When he left her to return to his wife, she went mad from grief and drowned the two children she had out of wedlock with him and killed herself. She arrived at the entrance to Heaven and God asked her what she did with her children. She lied and said she didn't know. So God doomed her to forever wander the Earth looking for their bodies.
This one is a classic.
And there has yet to be a good movie made about her.
"If you're canoeing..."
We have a river that's popular for canoes and paddle boats. Some kids stole a paddle boat one night from the rental place, flipped it over, and drowned.
If you're canoeing on the river and see what looks like an abandoned teal-colored paddle boat with a boat rental decal stuck in the weeds on the river bank, don't approach it. If you report the sighting to the boat rental place they won't bother sending someone out to recover it, because they know the boat won't be there when they arrive.
"He grew up in the Everglades..."
My hometown has the Skunk Ape. A distant cousin to the Sasquatch. He grew up in the Everglades and had long matted, moss-covered fur. Stinks like a skunk. Has been seen crossing back roads in the middle of the night and disappearing into the darkness
Not something I'd want to run into at night.
I've seen enough horror films to know that the one rule is to keep driving.
"All of my neighbors..."
I live in West Africa near a rainforest. All of my neighbors believe there is a "giant pangolin" that lives in the forest (bigger than a man). There have even been some cryptozoologists that have come out to try to find it.
"Rumors of a murderous faceless man..."
Charlie No-Face.
Rumors of a murderous faceless man roaming the streets at night were based on a real-life person who'd suffered an extreme accident that destroyed his face. He wasn't, as it turns out, a murderer; he walked at night because he wanted to get fresh air and be left alone.
Well, that ended well.
No reason to spread a rumor about the guy if all he wanted was to enjoy a walk by himself!
"People that cross the bridge..."
I live in St. Petersburg, Florida and the urban legend here has to do with the Skyway Bridge. There have been about 200 suicides. People that cross the bridge claim to see a blonde woman standing in the middle of the road and even sitting in the backseats of their cars. Caring people that got out of their car to help the woman claim that she vanished into thin air. I have crossed the bridge a couple of times and have not seen any sort of thing. I guess she was one of the people that took their own lives by jumping off the 200-foot drop into the water or died when the bridge collapsed ages ago.
"A headless French soldier..."
A headless French soldier from the Napoleonic time is said to ride in our local forest at night. It is an older legend.
"Here in southern Wisconsin..."
Here in southern Wisconsin, we have the Beast of Bray Road, a large canid/werewolf creature that's been sighted several times.
This one has had a crappy movie about it.
The SyFy channel is great like that.
"Years and years ago..."
The White Lady. Years and years ago this woman's daughter got kidnapped by a man and disappeared into the woods of one of our parks. She went out with her dog, searching and searching but never found her. Eventually, the White Lady disappeared as well. For hundreds of years, people claimed to see her ghost and the dog's ghost wandering the park at night. And any man would get chased into the lake by her ghost. Four years ago we had a major windstorm that did a lot of tree damage and this actually happened Scary coincidence?
Creeped out yet?
If not, get to reading. The Dúllahan, a scary headless creature from Irish folklore, beckons. I personally wouldn't want to run into the berbelangs, vampirish creatures that feature in Filipino culture and that are said to dig up graves to feast on corpses.
Have some of your stories to share? Feel free to tell us about them in the comments below!
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