#1 - Kuchisake-Onna
There are plenty of terrifying monsters in Japanese folklore, one of which being Kuchisake-Onna, the Slit-Mouthed Woman. Kuchisake-Onna is the ghost of a woman who was wounded by her envious husband. Often wearing a surgical mask, she approaches travelers (usually children) and asks them if they think she is beautiful. If the victim says yes, she pulls off her mask and mutilates his face to look like hers. If the person says no, she dispatches her victim with a pair of scissors. Stories of this murderous yokai originated in the Edo period, but sightings occurred in the late 1970s.
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#2 - Goatman
American folklore is steeped with scary tales, and few are as spooky as the the Maryland Goatman. According to urban legend, this menacing creature was a scientist carrying out an experiment involving goats. Unfortunately, there was a side effect. Goatman is often blamed for killing dogs, but he is especially notorious for attacking and preying on young couples in cars. His weapon of choice is an ax, which he uses to slash tires and dispatch his prey. Keep your eyes peeled when going out for a drive, because if you don’t, you’re in for a rough night.
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#3 - The Waving Clown
There was once a babysitter taking care of a baby while the parents were out. The first time she went upstairs to check on him, the baby had a scratch on his cheek, but she thought nothing of it. She also saw a clown waving from the neighbor's house, and she waved back awkwardly. About 20 minutes later, she went upstairs again and the baby had another scratch on his cheek. She found a pin near him and threw it in the dustbin. The clown was outside again, waving at the babysitter. She went back downstairs, but after a few minutes, she became paranoid and went back to check on the baby. This time the baby was dead. She looked out the window again, and saw the clown right outside holding the pin. As she spun around to call the police, she realized the window was actually a mirror, and the clown was inside the entire time.
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#4 - Colette's Doll
One night, a little girl named Colette woke up to someone singing, 'Colette, I’m in your sister’s room, I’m in your sister’s bed, and now she’s dead.' Colette ran into her sister’s room to find her dead with a doll on top of her. Her parents threw the doll away, but the next night, Colette was awoken again: 'Colette, I’m in your parents’ room, I’m in your parents’ bed, and now they’re dead.' She ran into her parents’ room to find them dead with the doll sitting on top of them. She threw the doll away again, but the next night, she was awoken again: 'Colette, I’m in your room, I’m in your bed, and now you’re dead.' And she felt something poke her neck, and she died."
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#5 - The Truck
The terrifying story of a woman driving along on a road at night and a huge truck behind her flashing and gesturing to her. She is frightened so she doesn’t stop, carries on driving until the truck catches up with her and forces her off the road into a petrol station - fearing for her life she exits the car and runs into the shop - the truck driver goes to her car and pulls out a man hiding on her backseat - he has a ‘kill kit’ with him.
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#6 - The Sweet Man
This urban legend began doing the rounds in the 80s, and involved an entire gang of boys who went missing after performing a ritual they found details of in an old sweet factory that had abruptly closed and then been left abandoned.
The legend occasionally popped up here and there, but then seemed to disappear until it resurfaced around 2001 when the most well documented case occurred. Another little boy went missing, despite living 100s of miles from the original sweet factory site, after his sister stumbled across an online forum that explained how to perform the ritual, leaving out sweets to entice a demon called "G" and then using a creepy mask, and a torch to summon them.
One particularly terrifying part of the ritual describes how you must place your face against the window while chanting “G G come to me, my eyes are open I want to see”. Thinking it would be funny to prank her two brothers, the girl encouraged her 11 year old brother to be the one to perform this part of the ritual, and then slipped outside, planning to jump up at the window and scare him. However when she reached the other side of the window her brother was gone. Racing back inside she found her 3 year old brother now alone, and all he could say was“The sweet man took him”. Police also found a note that read “The monster inside has been fed”. The little boy was never seen again.
The ritual involves a creepy “G” mask, sweets, slime, a torch and chanting to invoke the character ‘G’. Full details of the chant can’t be found in its entirety anymore. Despite still being alive, the boy’s sister has refused to speak of the ritual, and only implores people to take the warning seriously, and not to perform it. Obviously, this just makes us want to try it even more!
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#7 - LA LLORONA
Yours truly grew up with this particular folktale, which originates in Mexico and is about a mother named Maria (aka La Llorona) who threw her children into a river upon realizing that her husband was unfaithful. She immediately regretted the impulsive act, and so legend says that if you lurk around rivers or arroyos after dark, you might come across her wailing spirit. La Llorona wears a highly haunting all-white lace outfit, and laying eyes on her will bring you death and doom so RUN THE HELL AWAY.
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#8 - Chupacabra
Tales of the mysterious blood-sucking beast first emerged in Puerto Rico in the late 1990s.
They described a monster with large eyes, spikes down its back and long claws and it was blamed for killing and draining the blood of livestock.
Its first attack took place in 1995 when eight sheep were slain - their blood sucked through three puncture holes in their chests.
More animals began being bled dry - causing the Chupacabra to earn its name, which means "goat sucker" in Spanish.
Eyewitness accounts have spread between Maine in the US and Chile - although it has also been spotted as far as Russia.
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#9 - The spider bite
Possibly one of the more "believed" urban myths, this one tells the tale of a young person, often a traveller to a far-flung location, who is bitten by a spider and/or an ant. On returning home, the victim experiences a "hatching" whereby parasitic baby spiders and/or ants burst out from under their skin.
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#10 - Bloody Mary
Perhaps the most famous modern myth, this tale suggests that if you are to look in the mirror and say "Bloody Mary" a specified number of times, something will happen. It's the what that legend disagrees on. In the earliest versions, an unmarried woman would see the face of her future husband in the glass or a skull if she were destined to die before being wed.
This evolved into something more gory – groups invoking a bleeding spirit or witch called Mary. Some links have also been made to Queen Mary I as she suffered multiple miscarriages during her reign.
The story has been hugely influential. Mirrors and reflections, a regular fixture in uncanny literature play parts in Clive Barker's The Forbidden, which went on to be the film Candyman, while Ringu, by Koji Suzuki, substitutes a mirror for a television set. The X Files and Supernatural directly tackled the Mary myth on screen.
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