Creepy Urban Legends from Selected States
Compiled by @sixpenceee | Source - Insider
ALABAMA: Hell’s Gate Bridge
The bridge is located in Oxford, AL
The generally accepted story of Hell’s Gate Bridge starts in the 1950s. A young couple driving over the bridge somehow drove their car off the bridge one night and both drowned.
There are two legends associated with Hell’s Gate Bridge — one, that if you drive your car out to the middle of the bridge and turn off the lights, the couple will magically appear in your car and leave a wet spot on the seat. The other, which is how the bridge got its name, is the belief that if you drive over the bridge and look over your shoulder halfway through, the scenery behind you turns into a portal to hell engulfed in flames.
Potentially to curb ghost hunters and bored teenagers, Hell’s Gate Bridge is closed to cars, and in such disrepair that walking across is strongly discouraged.
FLORIDA: The gravity-defying Spook Hill
The phenomenon that happens at Spook Hill is real: cars that are parked in neutral will appear to roll uphill.
Legends say the hill is either the site of a Native American burial ground or an epic battle of a Native American chief against a crocodile.
But the truth is it’s actually just an illusion created by the hill’s surroundings. While cars appear to be rolling uphill, they are still just rolling downhill.
ILLINOIS: Homey the Clown
All throughout the suburbs of Chicago in the ‘90s, there was a consistent rumor going around elementary schools: there was a creepy man dressed as Homey the Clown (yes, from “In Living Color”), driving around in a white van trying to lure kids into it with candy and money.
In some variations he was a kidnapper, in others he was a rapist. But in all variations, Homey left a mark on young Chicago kids in the ‘90s.
The Black Angel stands over eight feet tall in Oakland Cemetery in Iowa City, and is eerily black due to oxidization. Most likely because of her dark appearance, multiple legends have cropped up around her.
One legend says that a pregnant woman should never walk under her, or she’ll lose the child. Others say that if you touch or kiss the statue, you’ll be dead within six months.
Whether haunted, cursed, or completely harmless, the statue is definitely a somber sight to see.
MASSACHUSETTS: The spirits of Hoosac Tunnel
In the 24-year-long construction of the Hoosac Tunnel in western Massachusetts, approximately 200 men died. Death was so associated with the tunnel that it was actually nicknamed “The Bloody Pit.”
After a particularly gruesome explosion in either 1867 or 1868, 13 miners were trapped inside the tunnel. The other workers assumed that the miners had died, but eventually it was discovered the miners had lived, built a raft to combat flooding, and eventually died due to poisonous gas inhalation.
It’s said that these 13 miners haunted the tunnel for years, moaning and briefly appearing as ghosts.
NEW HAMPSHIRE: The witch of Hampton, Goody Cole
Eunice “Goody” Cole was the only woman in New Hampshire history to be tried for witchcraft — multiple times. Her first charge was in 1656, and was charged again in 1671.
When she died and when her body was recovered, the townspeople were rumored to have to staked her through the heart to prevent her from haunting their town.
People continue to blame Goody Cole for the misfortunes of Hampton citizens for the past 300 years. For example, a boat full of Hampton residents overturned, and everyone on board drowned, even though they were in swimming distance of shore. People blamed Goody Cole for the crash and for cursing the passengers by having them forget how to swim.
ARKANSAS: The Boggy Creek Monster
The Boggy Creek Monster of Fouke is Arkansas’ version of Sasquatch. He’s commonly accepted to be around seven or eight feet tall and covered in hair. Legend says that he roams the creeks of rural Arkansas. He was first spotted in 1834, when people reported seeing a “wild man.”
People still claim to spot the Boggy Creek Monster today, and he has been the subject of five feature length films including 1972’s “The Legend of Boggy Creek.”
