Urban Legends Unmasked

25 year old George Corwin was the sheriff that oversaw the Salem Witch Trials.  He developed a reputation for being a tough investigator- and by tough, I mean cruel.  Nicknamed "the Strangler" for some of his techniques, he cut a terrifying path across history.The foundation of his home now resides below a hotel in Salem called the Merchant- one of the allegedly most haunted houses in Massachusetts.  Is The Strangler back for more victims- or are his victims back for vengeance?

A lonely woman lives in the woods of Maryland in 1697.  When a cruel winter strikes, the community blames this Moll Dyer of being a witch and bringing the catastrophe down upon them.  She escapes their clutches, but is found frozen to death on a rock.  A rock, which legend holds, bears her handprint as a reminder of her tragic- and falsely accused- death.

Would you drop a friend down a well?What if doing so changed the friend- horrifically?And what is the metaphor here? Loss of innocence?Or maybe it's no metaphor at all.  

We will explore the beginnings of our modern tradition of Halloween, from the Celtic Samhain rituals to Stingy Jack and how they make our October 31st so creepy.  The only question is, do you think the costumed kids are the only ones out for mischief on All Hallow's Eve?

When a mysterious man claiming to be the Devil Man is arrested in 1938, his presence sets New Orleans off on an urban legend spiral.  He is seen- and heard- everywhere.  But what causes these mass hysterias? And perhaps more importantly, how should we treat the mentally ill that are often at the root of these legends?  Do we seek to help them or do we just enjoy the ride?

It's another stretch of dark road that has more than its share of eerie twists and turns and paranormal legends.  This time it includes ghost babies, time warps, and even a dark hearse that might just run you off the road.

In the season five finale of Supernatural,  the Winchester brothers face down Michael and Lucifer in a rough little cemetery in Kansas, called Stull Cemetery.Turns out, it is a real place.  And it has legends about the devil, too.  That he comes on Halloween to dance, that it is a gateway to Hell.  And a litany of other legends.  That's enough to peak my interest, but are they just small town spooky stories, or is there more to the legend than meets the eye?

Haunted hospitals- and especially haunted mental hospitals- seem to hold an inordinate amount of our horror attention span.  In Iowa, one such hospital may be haunted, but it is also a working mental health facility.  We will talk about how they pull that off, and evaluate just why we might be more primed to see ghosts and ghouls in empty hospitals than anywhere else.

Urban legends occur all the time, but to have two occur on the same day, an hour and a half away from each other?  Even that is causes me to have questions.We will look at the Green Clawed Monster of Evansville Indiana and the "Little Alien Men" from just down the road at Hopkinsville, KY.  Was their occurrence just a coincidence, or was there a deeper story?

It's the fall of 1991 and there are sightings of Homey the Clown all over Chicago.  No, not the Damon Wayons version, the version that kidnaps kids and puts them in a white van.  Kids feared that they were being hunted by a killer clown, but there is no proof it ever happened.  Why do we fear clowns?  What is it about white vans that terrify us?  Are these cultural fears, or does it perhaps touch on something more deeply psychological and primal in our minds?Or are clowns just inherently creep?

The tale of two young lovers who choose to take their own lives when they are not allowed to be together is a tale older than time.  In Spirit Lake Idaho, this legend comes with mournful cries and possibly a phantom canoe.Why are we drawn to the tragic romance in stories like this or Romeo and Juliet?  Perhaps we love the passion and impulsivity, or maybe we enjoy seeing young love fail (you heartless monsters).We will look at the tragedy of love on this week's Urban Legends Unmasked.

On a dark night in Hawaii, one might hear the beating of drums, and sees the glow of torches.  If you do, the locals warn you to take cover- the Night Watchers are coming.  And if they lay eyes on you, they will take you to wherever they are marching in the afterlife.  This urban legend is more than a cautionary tale or possible tourist bait- it is a celebration of a culture and way of life from centuries past.  Whether they are ghostly guards or pure fiction, they will certainly capture you in their intriguing tale.

Legend holds that a spurned evangelist in the 1800s placed a curse on a pillar in Augusta, Georgia.  Denied the ability to speak in town, he cursed that only the pillar would withstand a great wind that was to come.  And local legend holds that a tornado destroyed the entire market area shortly after.  All, that is, except the pillar.  And attempts to remove it from that time forth were met with death and horrific accidents.  Is it a curse, or just bad luck and coincidence?  Are curses even real?Find out on this episode of Urban Legends Unmasked.

The 135 mile stretch of road between Tampa and Orlando is the deadliest stretch of road in the United States.  Between 2016 and 2019, there were 150 fatalities on the highway, an average of 1.2 deaths per mile.  Maybe it is just a dangerous stretch of road because people drive too fast, or there are lots of construction areas.  Or maybe, the reason is more...supernatural.  Locals explain that early settlements in the area may have buried their dead on the land that now plays host to the interstate. They cite the high death rate as evidence, as well as the occasional spectral hitchhiker or strange radio static that often occurs in the region.  But is the highway a supernaturally charged area, or are the legends just what we tell ourselves to comfort us from the harsh and violent truth that life- and death- is random?

Legend has it that a former caretaker haunts Long Cemetery in Frankford, Delaware.  Aside from that, it is said that in life, the caretaker had a catlike appearance he retains in the afterlife.  Is he still truly keeping an eye on the dead, or is it just a legend to keep teenagers from doing dumb stuff among the gravestones?

In Northwest Connecticut, there is a gate barring entry to what remains of Dudleytown.  A community that sprang up in the 1740s, saw modest growth into the mid-1800s, then disappeared by the 1930s.  Local legend holds that it is from a curse, placed on an English ancestor of the Dudley's that settled there for his role in trying to kill King Henry VIII.  That the curse will bring death or harm upon his descendants, and all who set foot in Dudleytown.  Or it might be economics.But what is it about ghost towns that draws us into their web of interest?  Find out on this episode of Urban Legends Unmasked.

On a somewhat winding stretch of road just outside of Thornton, Colorado, a little north of Denver, is one of the (allegedly) most haunted roads in America.  With no less than eight different legends along the blacktop, Urban Legends Unmasked will look at each of them, and ask the question why would such a relatively small area have so much creepiness?  Is it local chamber of commerce ingenuity, a group of people trying to keep the terror alive, or is it really just one of those places that oozes evil?

In the winter of 1873-1874, six miners seeking fortune and gold in the San Juan mountains of western Colorado disappear in to a winter storm.  Only one survives- Alferd Packer. Packer tells several stories of how he came to be the sole survivor before ultimately confessing to succumbing to cannibalism to survive.  But did he merely feast on the bodies of those who died of exposure, accidents, or malicious intent from the other miners?  Or was Packer himself a crazed murderer?  The legend of the Colorado Cannibal may be one of the darkest mysteries in western American history, and we will explore it today.

High in the San Lucia Mountains of California, for 300 years, hikers have claimed to be observed by the Dark Watchers.  These ten-foot tall black-robed figures don wide-brimmed black hats and sit upon ridges.  You see them, then they are gone.  Some legends say that they are benevolent protectors, others that their intentions are more sinister, and getting too close means you disappear...forever.  Continuing on our journey through the legends of all fifty US states, we will explore the Dark Watchers as legends, and perhaps, simple tricks of the eye.

There is a legend of a well outside Fayetteville, Arkansas that you can hear the pleading cries of a mother and baby, doomed to perish at the hands of a drunken husband and father.  We will explore the deeper social issues in this legend from the 1930s, as well as how it might be a legends all the more potent in today's current climate.

Imagine driving down the highway at 60 miles an hour, hearing a tap on the window next to you, and you turn to see a human, wearing an animal pelt, and matching your speed.  It cackles maniacally, then runs off into the night.  You are terrified, but you got off lucky- the skinwalker you just encountered could have just as easily killed you.If the urban legend is true.Find out more about Arizona Skinwalkers on this episode!

As many as 20,000 people have disappeared in the area known as the Alaskan Triangle.  Is it a time rip, a vortex, a supernatural creature, or just bad luck and a few bad people?  

In Huntsville, Alabama, there is a playground situated near the oldest cemetery in town.  Legend has it that the ghost of children buried there haunt the playground, and there may be even darker spirits that take a ride on the swing.This is the first in a series looking at the creepiest urban legends in each state.

Exploring the legend of the murderer hanging out in some girl's back seat, and the gruff, terrifying savior she at first ignores.  Looking at how the legend has evolved, different iterations, and modern legends that owe their birth to this terror of automobile homicide.

As a teen, I heard legends of the haunted Hope Cemetery near my hometown of Mart, Texas.  This is the story of the night my friends and I visited it, and the sociological reasons we tell stories about haunted cemeteries.  And death in general.

We all have a story from our youth that terrified us.  One that terrifies and grips our minds  in such a way that we develop a deep and abiding morality that can trace its roots to that campfire, or movie, or night that our father sat us down to tell us about the Hookman.That last one was my story.  The story of my father telling me the gory story of a murderer with a hook for a hand.  And today, I am a happy, well-adjusted horror writer and high school teacher.  Who still loves scary stories.  This first episode of Urban Legends Unmasked tells the well-known story of the Hookman, but looks at the impact the story has had on our collective morality as a society.  And me as an individual.Share your favorite urban legends or local stories and future episodes might dive into the deep dark secrets of your home town!