8 Urban Legends From Around the World

Urban legends have been spread around for generations. From one person to another, to one generation to the next. There’s absolutely no shortage of them. Today, we take a look into some of these terrifying legends from around the globe.

1. Kuchisake-Onna (Japan). Also known as the slit-mouthed woman, there are numerous versions of this legend. Across multiple legends, it is stated that her mouth is cut at the corners, making it look like she is smiling. She is said to walk around streets at night with a surgical mask, or similar one at least, on her face. She will approach people, typically those who are by themselves, and ask them if she is pretty. If the person says yes, Kuchisake-Onna will then take off her mask and ask again. You better say yes again, or she’ll cut your mouth in a similar fashion to hers. Although, I have heard some variations of this urban legend that seem to say that something bad will happen to you regardless of what you say.
2. Hanako-san (Japan). Hanako-san is also known as the bathroom ghost. Yet again, this is one that has variations to it, but one thing that seems to be common is the fact that it centers around a young girl around elementary school age who haunts the bathrooms. According to one variation that I’ve heard, she was bullied endlessly at school and decided to take her own life. Since she spent a lot of time hiding in the girls’ bathroom, that’s where her spirit stays. To summon her, you have to say, “Let’s play, Hanako-san.” She will then respond with, “Yes.” She will either drag you into the next stall and kill you or the door to the stall will open and reveal Hanako.
3. Gloomy Sunday/Hungarian Suicide Song (Hungary). It is said that this song is linked to 18 different suicides including that of the composer after his 69th birthday. The melody is haunting and the artist talks about suicide and depression. Which led people to believe that this song makes people commit suicide.
4. Babysitter and the man upstairs (US). This one is one of the more famous ones in the US. A girl goes to babysit some kids who are sleeping the whole time. She gets a call from a mystery person who asks, “Have you checked the children?” The person calls a few more times before the babysitter decides to call the police, who then tell her to keep the man on the phone long enough for them to trace the call. When they do, they call the girl back and tell her it’s coming from inside the house. Now, how it ends varies. Some say that the kids and babysitter are killed. Others will tell you that either the kids or the babysitter got out, but not the other. And still others will say they all got out.
5. Humans Can Lick Too. Not many urban legends still terrify me as an adult, but this is one of, if not the only one, that still does. Basically, a young boy hears strange noises at night while in bed. He, of course, gets scared and wants to go and investigate. But before he does, he puts his hand down the side of the bed where his dog usually sleeps. His hand is licked, so he feels comfort and goes to sleep. However, upon waking up, he makes a gruesome discovery. The young boy goes to the bathroom and is greeted by his dog, dead in the bathroom, with “Human can lick too” written on the wall in (presumably) in the dog’s blood.
6. Hanging Munchkin. This one is a cross between an urban legend and conspiracy theory. When some watched The Wizard of Oz, they thought they saw the outline of a munchkin hanging in the background on one of the tree branches. This led to many others picking up on this as well. However, this was quickly debunked. The movie was filmed indoors, but the crew allowed birds to hangout on set. So disbelievers explained away this shadowy figure as just a bird spreading its wings. Another plausible explanation - a sandbag dropped down, but didn’t make a complete landing, so what we’re seeing is that bag just caught on one of those prop trees.
7. Black Ambulance (Romania). In Romania, there’s a legend of a black ambulance that would go around kidnapping kids. After capture, the mysterious people behind this operation would harvest the organs of these children and dump the bodies in abandoned fields. When the bodies are found, there always seems to be money to help cover the cost of the funerals.
8. Kuldhara (India). Kuldhara is a ghost town in India that seemed to be abandoned overnight. There are buildings that date back to the 13th century and no one has lived there since 1825. Or at the very least, there’s no evidence of anybody living there since then. According to the lore, apparently 1,000 villagers left without warning and without leaving a trace. There was no apparent reason. However, some believe there are a few theories as to why it’s now abandoned. Theories include poisoned wells, higher taxes, and the water supply kept dwindling. But then why did 1,000 people leave so suddenly? That’s explained by a curse - one placed on the land by the village chief. According to the curse, anybody who tries to live there will die.