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Once again you find yourself sitting in front of the campfire with friends.
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You told yourself that after the sleepless nights from your last encounter with urban legends,
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you would be sure to steer clear of any more scary stories. Everything is going according to plan,
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you've been roasting marshmallows and eating s'mores all night long without a scary story
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in sight. Then suddenly the person next to you does the unthinkable. “Let's tell some
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more urban legends!” they exclaim. You try to interject, but another friend breaks in,
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“And let's make them even scarier than last time! I'll start.”
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“Last time we talked about Bloody Mary,” says your friend. “But have you all heard of the Candyman?”
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The Candyman legend goes back all the way to the 1800's. A black man was haneously killed for
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impregnating his white lover. Years later a group of kids was playing around an abandoned building.
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It was run down, with graffiti all over the walls, and decaying garbage in the hallways. The kids
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made their way into one of the apartments; all the windows had been covered with newspaper so
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it was almost completely dark. The kids went into the bathroom and looked at the mirror.
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“Bet you won't say his name five times,” says one of the children. “Don't do it,”
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says another. But the third child looks directly into the mirror and says,
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“Candyman, Candyman, Candyman, Candyman, Candyman…” On the fifth saying of the name,
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the undead corpse of the black man who was murdered in the 1800's comes crashing out
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of the mirror. He has a hook for a hand and bees swarming around him. The kids all run,
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but the one who said his name is snatched by the hook and murdered by the Candyman.
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Oh man, you think. Now I won't be able to look into a mirror for a while. “That was pretty good,”
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one of your friends says. “But listen to how terrifying this urban legend is.”
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This is the legend of the Bunny Man. His name might sound cute at first, but the legend is
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anything but. There once was an escaped mental patient who roamed the woods. He broke out of
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an asylum, but was never caught by the police. All the authorities could turn up were the corpses of
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brutally murdered bunny rabbits. They knew it must be the escaped patient, but he kept eluding them.
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He was given the name “Bunny Man” for his affinity for killing the furry creatures in terrible ways.
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Eventually the Bunny Man started getting even more gruesome. People
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would walk through the forest on nature hikes and come across an old bridge.
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Hanging from the bridge were the mutilated bodies of bunnies. A group of kids was curious,
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and wanted to see the bunnies that were strung up under the bridge;
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so late one night they snuck out into the woods. They came across the bridge, and sure enough,
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there were bunnies hanging under it. However, when they looked on top of the bridge they saw
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a man in a white suit, wearing bunny ears on top of his head. The children shrieked in terror.
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The next night a search party was sent out to try and locate the children who
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had never returned home. The party came to the bridge where the bunnies were normally hanging,
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except this time it wasn't just rabbits…
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“That's awful!” you cry. “We're in the woods, and we definitely crossed under some bridges to
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get here.” Your friends laugh because they think you're joking, but you're not. “I've
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got a good one!” declares another member of your group. “This one's called The Beijing
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Ghost Bus. After you hear it, you probably won't want to ride public transportation for a while.”
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It is late one dark and stormy night. A bus driver is making his rounds.
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Around midnight the bus driver spots three men flagging him down. He is hesitant to pick them
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up because they are not at a bus stop, but he figures that since the weather is so terrible,
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he'll give them a break. The three men enter the bus without a word and head to the back. The bus
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driver notices they are dressed in clothing that looks like it's from a hundred years ago.
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The men are very pale, but the bus driver just assumes the men are actors from some show.
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The other passengers on the bus slowly disembark at the next few stops until
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only a handful of people remain. The three oddly dressed men are standing in the back of the bus.
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Someone pulls the cord to signal they will be getting off at the next station.
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The driver pulls up, and the bus hisses to a stop. The man who pulled the cord hurries
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off the bus. Once on the sidewalk he turns around with a frightened look on his face.
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“Those men in the back of the bus are floating above the floor,” he says.
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The bus driver gives him an odd look and closes the door in the crazy man's face.
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The bus drives off with only the driver and three floating passengers in it.
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That was the last time anyone ever saw the bus or the bus driver.
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“Ghosts on a bus!” you shout. What will they think of next, serpents on a jet?
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Everyone laughs and you shake your head. “I think that's enough scary
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stories for tonight,” you say. But one of your friends stands up. “Wait! I am about
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to tell you the most eerie urban legend of all… and it involves a vintage video game.”
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Back in the 80's people would flock to arcades to get their fill of coin operated video games.
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One game in particular was addictive, but had an ominous side to it. The game was called
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Polybius. Whenever someone would drop a coin into the game, and begin playing, they would
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feel disoriented. But this feeling eventually passed, and the person would continue on.
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They would become addicted; always thinking about Polybius, always wanting to go another round on
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the video game. Sometimes men in all black suits would come in and open up the Polybius cabinet,
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as if they were extracting some kind of information from it. Then they would close
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the cabinet up and let the line of eager players back at the game. Then something
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even more strange began to happen. The people who played the game started to get amnesia.
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They couldn't remember who they were, or where they were from, only that they wanted to play
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Polybius. This odd behavior would culminate in the unexplained death of the player.
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When this happened the Polybius video game would disappear, but only for a time.
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Eventually the all black cabinet would reappear in another arcade,
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somewhere far away where the legend of the Polybius video game had not yet been heard.
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“Well thanks a lot, now I'm afraid to play my own video games,”
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you say as the fire flickers and cast shadows onto the forest trees around you. One of your
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friends rubs his hands together. “You've all heard of the genie in the magic lamp right?
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But do you know the urban legend of the jinn, which is what the genie is based off of?” You look
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at your friend. “You're not going to ruin Aladdin for me are you?” you ask. Your friend just smiles.
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Deep in the Arabian desert a man has lost his way. He runs out of water, and is severely dehydrated.
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The man collapses from exhaustion and falls face first into the sand. He manages to pick
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his head up to look around. In front of him stands a beautiful woman. She holds a jug full of water.
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The man scrambles to his feet and takes the water from her. He drinks until he almost throws up.
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“How can I ever repay you?” asks the man. The woman removes her face covering to reveal a mouth
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full of serrated teeth. She contorts her body, and changes from a beautiful woman into a terrifying
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monster, with horns coming out of its head and smoke filling the space around it. The man screams
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and pleads for mercy. The jinn opens its gaping maw and consumes the man whole. Then it transforms
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back into the beautiful woman, and waits for the next unsuspecting victim to cross its path.
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You shudder at the thought of the friendly genie from the Disney films being a man eating monster.
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“Don't be such a scaredy cat,' one of your other
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friends says. “Besides if you think that was bad, wait until you hear this one.”
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Everyone has nightmares about something under the bed. But The Body Under the Bed legend is
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said to be true. It goes like this. One night a couple is on vacation. They are having the
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time of their life and fall asleep after a long day of fun activities. In the middle
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of the night they are awoken by a horrible smell. It reeks as if something, or someone,
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has died in the room. They try to sleep through it, but can't get past the smell.
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The couple calls down to the lobby and informs the concierge of the odor.
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The hotel staff come up to the room and check everywhere for the source of the smell,
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but they can't find it. The hotel is completely booked, so they do a quick
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cleaning of the room and spray air freshener. The smell seems to have subsided for now.
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The next day the hotel crew takes apart the room looking for the source of the smell.
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They clean under the bed and all around the hotel room. The smell still lingers.
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The hotel crew takes the mattress off of the bed and unzips the mattress cover.
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They slide the cover off to unveil a dead body within the mattress cover.
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The couple had been sleeping on top of the dead body the entire night.
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“That's gross,” says everyone around the campfire. “Oh I'm not done yet,
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says the storyteller. Things are about to get so much grosser.”
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This one is called The Licked Hand. One night a young girl awakens to the sound
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of dripping water. It is the first time her parents have left her all alone at night,
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while they enjoy a weekend away. However, the girl has her faithful dog to protect her.
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The night is cloudy. The wind howls. From the bathroom down the hall the little girl hears
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a dripping noise. It sounds like the sink hasn't been turned off all the way. She cautiously gets
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out of bed and makes her way to the bathroom with the dog by her side. She enters and is
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startled by something moving. She slams her hand against the light switch on the wall,
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and when the light comes on, she laughs at herself. It was only her reflection in the mirror.
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The girl checks the faucet, but it's not dripping. She shrugs, turns off the light, and heads back to
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her room. The girl climbs into bed and tries to fall back asleep, but the dripping sound
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continues. She curls up under the covers and slowly drifts off. The girl is awakened later
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that night by a nightmare. She reaches down to pet her faithful dog who licks her hand reassuringly.
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The dripping sound seems to have gotten louder. The girl squeezes her eyes shut and wills the sun
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to rise. Eventually, due to the intermittent licks of her trustworthy dog, she falls back asleep.
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In the morning the girl wakes up and decides to do a more thorough sweep of the house.
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She steps out of bed and notices her dog isn't there anymore. She calls for him,
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but the dog doesn't come. The girl walks down the hall to the bathroom. The door is shut.
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She turns the handle and slowly opens it. When she turns on the light she screeches in horror.
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In the bathtub lies the remains of her mutilated dog. It has been slaughtered during the night.
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On the bathroom wall, written in blood, are the words: “humans can lick hands too.”
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“What is wrong with you people?” you shout. “I'm never going to be able to sleep again.”
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Everyone laughs and reassures you that they are just urban legends, and none of
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it is real. But you can't help but feel that all urban legends originated from somewhere.
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You know that behind every legend, there is a hint of truth.
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Now check out “Scary Urban Legends That Will Keep You Up At Night.” Or watch
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“Terrifying Urban Legends That Turned Out To Be Real.”