Urban Legend Ladies

[urbanlegendladies]

The Candy Lady

The Candy Lady! One of our faves. Looks like she made it into academia.  http://bit.ly/1Uc2aFM

[historyofclaracrane-blog]

Clara Crane 1871 - ?

Clara Crane was born in 1871 in Texas. She married an older man and they had one child, Marcella. In 1893, her daughter was killed in a farming accident and it was noted that her husband Leonard had been drinking. Clara was devastated and became withdrawn and despondent.

In 1895, it is reported that Clara killed her husband Leonard with poisoned candy, she blamed him for her daughter’s death. She was tried and convicted for murder but plead insanity/grief. She was placed in the North Texas Lunatic Asylum.

In 1896, a Dr. noted that staff found a doll that Clara had made from torn sheets hidden in her room. Other patients told the staff that she would talk and sing to it at night.

In 1899, she was released due to overcrowding at the hospital. She was charming and soft-spoken so even though she had committed murder she was considered a good candidate for release. There was no after care in those days so no one really knows where she ended up.

Around 1903, children near her home town started going missing.  This is where her story seems to cross into an urban legend.

Children in the area told stories of how someone left candy on their windowsills at night. Some said that after they had received the candy for awhile, the person started writing notes to them on the wrappers. Then every once in awhile a child would disappear.

According to the stories, several human teeth were found by a farmer in his fields and an investigating sheriff was found dead with forks in his eyes and candy in his pocket.

The tale of the Candy Lady rose from these stories. Older people in some areas of Texas remember the story vividly as a precautionary tale when they were growing up. Occasionally the story surfaces again. It seems to be fairly localized to Texas, but we’ve heard people from other places in the US refer to the story too.

[urbanlegendladies]

Bloody Mary

Bloody Mary allegedly appears to individuals or groups who ritualistically invoke her name in an act of catoptromancy. This is done by repeatedly chanting her name in a mirror placed in a dimly-lit or candle-lit room. The Bloody Mary apparition allegedly appears as a corpse, a witch or ghost; can be friendly or evil; and is sometimes "seen" covered in blood. The lore surrounding the ritual states that participants may endure the apparition screaming at them, cursing them, strangling them, stealing their soul, drinking their blood or scratching their eyes out.

[urbanlegendladies]

Clara Crane - The Candy Lady

The Candy Lady leaves sweets on the window sills of children while they sleep. Eventually she writes notes on the wrappers introducing herself as the “Candy Lady” and earns the children’s trust. She then invites them to her home where she makes the candy, however, they must never tell their parents. The children who visit are never heard from again.

[urbanlegendladies]

Elisa Day

In medieval Europe, there apparently lived a young woman named Elisa Day, whose beauty was like that of the wild roses that grew down the river, all bloody and red. One day, a young man came into town and instantly fell in love with Elisa. They dated for three days. On the first day, he visited her at her house. On the second, he brought her a single red rose and asked her to meet him where the wild roses grow. On the third day, he took her down to the river—where he killed her. 

The horrible man supposedly waited till her back was turned, then took a rock in his fist, whispering, “All beauty must die”—and with one swift blow, he killed her instantly. He placed a rose between her teeth, and slid her body into the river. Some people claim to have seen her ghost wandering the riverside, blood running down the side of her head, a single rose in her hand.

[urbanlegendladies]

Kuchisake-onna - The Slit-Mouthed Woman

According to the legend, she walks around wearing a surgical mask.

The woman will ask someone, "Am I pretty?" If they answers no, they are killed with a pair of scissors which the woman carries. If the they answers yes, the woman pulls away the mask, revealing that her mouth is slit from ear to ear, and asks "How about now?" If the they answers no, he/she will die. If the person answers yes, then she will slit his/her mouth like hers. It is impossible to run away from her, as she will simply reappear in front of the victim.

When the legend reappeared, the 1970s rumors of ways to escape also emerged. Some sources say she can also be confused by the victim answering her question with ambiguous answers, such as "You are average" or "So-so". Unsure of what to do, she will give a person enough time to escape while she is lost in thought. Another escape route is to tell her one has a previous engagement; she will pardon her manners and excuse herself. In some variations of the tale, she can be distracted by fruit or candies thrown at her which she will then pick up, thus giving the victim a chance to run. She will also be at an advantage to run toward you if she has the chance.[3] Another way is for the child to ask her if the child is pretty; she will get confused and leave.[4]

[urbanlegendladies]

Elizabeth Bathory

According to all testimony, Báthory's initial victims were the adolescent daughters of local peasants, many of whom were lured to Csejte by offers of well-paid work as maidservants in the castle. Later, she is said to have begun to kill daughters of the lesser gentry, who were sent to her gynaeceum by their parents to learn courtly etiquette. Abductions were said to have occurred as well.[19] The atrocities described most consistently included severe beatings, burning or mutilation of hands, biting the flesh off the faces, arms and other body parts, freezing or starving to death.[19] The use of needles was also mentioned by the collaborators in court.

Some witnesses named relatives who died while at the gynaeceum. Others reported having seen traces of torture on dead bodies, some of which were buried in graveyards, and others in unmarked locations. However, two witnesses (court officials Benedikt Deseo and Jakob Szilvassy) actually saw the Countess herself torture and kill young servant girls.[8]:96–99 According to the testimony of the defendants, Elizabeth Báthory tortured and killed her victims not only at Csejte but also on her properties in Sárvár, Németkeresztúr, Pozsony (today Bratislava), and Vienna, and elsewhere. In addition to the defendants, several people were named for supplying Elizabeth Báthory with young women, procured either by deception or by force.

[urbanlegendladies]

Lizzy Borden