Most urban legends are simply legends. But some eerie tales later became ingrained in popular culture. These stories of urban legends are unsubstantiated stories of terror that allows us to use our imaginations to fill in some horrifying details. Psychologists believe that we respond to these tales because we have a gruesome fascination with the disgusting. Maybe that's the reason that many psycho-killing books and movies are popular.
Urban legends often come with a dose of doubt. But what if these stories and legends become true? Read to know more about the spooky events that happened over time.
Terrific Urban Legends
The Killer in your Attic
We have seen many thriller or horror movies, where there will be a house alone in the street. And there live a family peacefully until one day a killer shows up. This leads to the death of the family. But this is a fictional story, right? right?
Does any of us think that this would happen in the real life? Yes, it happened in Germany. This tale is as old as time. We all have heard or seen movies about a killer who was living in the same house or the basement. He comes down to us when everyone is sleeping. But what if it is real, what if there is a man who was living in our attic for a long time?
In 1922, a farm owner named Andreas Gruber noticed that some of his things started going missing or being misplaced. Even his family also heard some footsteps while Gruber found footprints in his house. A few weeks later, the entire family was slaughtered in their home. The identity of the killer is still unknown till now and the case became unsolved.
The Night Doctors
We have some eerie thriller movies, where a doctor experiments on people illegally. But those are done because of some scientific experiments. In America, there was a doctor called Dr. John R. Brinkley conducted experiments on people because of discrimination. Yes, this happened in the African American community in America.
The Night Doctors were also known as Night Riders and Ku Klux Doctors. They were called the boogeyman in African American folklore. These doctors wait for the victims and lurk in the dark to kidnap them so that they can do experiments on them.
The Ku Klux Klan is a group of white supremacist hatred people who were African Americans and other minority groups in America. They have a presence in the medical community with some doctors as members of the clan.
At that time it is often believed as a rumor spread by whites who were trying to prevent the former slaves from moving to the north. Unfortunately, they have some factual basis. In the 19th century, doctors performed experiments on members of the African American community. White farmers used this scare tactic, a technique picked up by the Ku Klux Klan after the civil war.
These Night Doctors were known to refuse to treat white patients and even participated in forced sterilization and other eugenic practices. The main aim is to minimize their population growth. These Ku Klux doctors are a dark stain on the medical profession and a reminder of the ongoing struggle for equality and justice in America.
Also read: What happened to the Las Vegas of Ancient Rome?
The Alice Killings
In Dhoom 2, the hero places a card with the letter A after every robbery. In the same manner, some killings happened in Japan. Between 1999 and 2005, a series of killings happened. The victims had no relationship with one another, and the killings seemed unrelated in every way.
There was a haunting similarity with every case that was: a single playing card was found by each body with the word "Alice" written in the victim's blood. The killings were named Alice Killings that occurred between 1999 to 2005 in Japan.
The murders involve young girls of age between 5 to 9 years old. The killer's name is Tsutomu Miyazaki aka "Otaku Murderer." The name came because he was obsessed with anime and manga. Miyazaki had a troubled childhood and suffered from abuse and bullying that make him mentally unstable.
Miyazaki's first victim was a 4-year-old girl whom he kidnapped, killed, and dismembered. He started his killing spree with this murder. He lured young girls to his car, sexually assaulting them, and killing them. He often sent letters to the families of his victims, taunting them and confessing to his crimes.
Miyazaki was arrested and eventually convicted of the murders. He was sentenced to death, and his execution was carried out in 2008.
The Legend of Cropsey
The creepy tale of Cropsey happened at the Willowbrook State School children. You may think who was this creepy man? What did he do to the children? How did he do to children? What is the reason behind it? This urban legend has many versions, some say that Cropsey was an axe murderer and some say a monstrous boogeyman.
The common point between these stories is hunting for lost children. The real name of this urban legend is Andre Rand. He was a janitor at the Willowbrook State School before it shut down in 1987. After the school got shut down, he lived on the school ground. After that he began to prey on children, luring them into the woods with promises of candy and toys.
Over time, Cropsey became a feared and legendary figure. Some even saw him lurking with children in the woods. The story gained notoriety in the 1970s and 1980s when a series of disappearances of young children were attributed to Cropsey.
After that, the Legend of Cropsey became a part of New York folklore. However, the true origins of these urban legends remain unclear. It became multiple combinations of multiple urban legends and actual crimes that occurred in the area.
The Bunny Man
The Bunny Man is a legendary figure in American folklore, especially in the North Virginia area. In 1904, there was a Bunny Man that haunts Virginia, USA, and the surrounding areas. The story says, a bus transporting patients from a mental institution crashed, killing everyone but 10 patients. A search began for them, and they found 9 people out of 10. That's the beginning of carcasses of bunnies that were found hanging from a nearby bridge.
Despite the lack of concrete evidence, the legend of the Bunny Man persists to this day. Many people claimed that they have seen a figure in a Bunny costume wandering near the Virginia bridge. This figure inspired many people, and many books, series, and films came about this urban legends story.
Later it became even scary, a man's body was found hanging similarly. People say that the Colchester Overpass in Clifton, Virginia, is considered haunted. They also even named the bridge: The Bunny Man Bridge. Inspired by this incident, a person wore a rabbit costume and threatened people with an axe in 1970.
