15 Unsettling Urban Legends From People's Hometowns That Are Rooted In True Events

Scary stories are all fun and games until you realize they were based on some form of truth. Recently, I asked the BuzzFeed Community to share what spooky local legends they grew up with, and now I'll be thinking about "Bunny Man" for the rest of the year. Here are some of the most spine-tingling hometown urban legends that might just keep you up at night:

1."I witnessed this 'legend' myself and struggled to come to terms with proving to myself whether or not what I experienced was real. In Ensenada, Mexico, at the very far end of the city, up by the mountains, are the remains of an old abandoned castle said to be haunted. Legend has it that the castle was being remodeled into a luxury hotel, but then the architect who'd been working on the designs was found hanging by a pole outside the castle. Since his death, witnesses have allegedly seen a floating candleholder after midnight, said to be his ghost warning people to stay away. My friends and I were curious, so we dared ourselves to go inside..."

2."Growing up on the northeastern Ohio–Pennsylvania border, I heard all about a 'monster' that used to walk the roads late at night that everyone dubbed the Green Man. Everyone would warn you about him, and everyone knew the myth surrounding him. Apparently, he'd climbed onto an electric pole to look into a bird's nest, and he was electrocuted. He fell and ended up losing his eyes, nose, mouth, one ear, and one arm. It wasn't until I was an adult that I found out the legend of the Green Man was real. The myth was based on Raymond Robinson, who was horribly disfigured and blinded from an electrical accident, and who would walk late at night to avoid people."

—Anonymous

3."I was raised in Napa, California, and our urban legend was and still is the 'Rebobs.' They're flying monkey–type creatures that some say are half robot, but they could also be half bat. The story goes that a scientist's experiments went wrong, and thus, the Rebobs were born."

4."I live in an area of Michigan where the 'Dogman' is supposed to come out every seven years. As the name suggests, the creature has the body of a man and a dog's head, and it has a howl that sounds like a human scream. There's a song on YouTube about it; it still creeps me out. They played it one time while I was at camp, and I didn't sleep until like 2 a.m."

—fuzzycaterpillar0

5."When I was little, one of my older cousins told a few of my friends and me about the 'Melon Heads.' I lived in Connecticut, but the legend has some roots in Michigan and Ohio as well. The Melon Heads are supposed to be humanoids with extremely bulbous heads, and they come out at night to terrorize and attack people."

6."There's a strip club on the main road through town that's supposed to be haunted by the ghost of a small child. The ghost child is supposedly from an apartment complex that used to exist in the neighborhood behind it. Apparently, the toddler was killed when they ran away from their parents and into the main road. From other people's accounts, the ghost moves items and hangs out back in the dressing area. There was a small memorial kept on the roadside until the family moved away, so that much I know is true. But that definitely wasn't the first time people have been struck and killed on that part of the road."

—torbielillies

7."I was super young when I was told this story, so I imagine I'm missing some details, but I'm from a town that's close to North Buxton, Ontario. It's a predominantly Black community, and the town is famous because a lot of folks escaped to Canada from the United States using the railway system there. Legend has it that there are two spirits near the railway: a headless soldier who wanders around, and a woman who cries while walking up and down the tracks."

8."There's a creepy, run-down (and now collapsed) house on the property next to my parents' that's been abandoned for around 50 years. I always had memories of being inside the house when it was livable, though it had been vacant and decrepit long before I was born. When I was in my late teens/early 20s, I got up the courage to break in with some friends. We pried open a window, and I had immediate déjà vu — the layout and some of the furniture left behind were exactly as I remembered when I was a child. It was super unsettling, so we didn't stay long. Unfortunately, no one knew the owners, so I was never able to get a story about the abandoned house."

9."I'm from Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and we had a serial killer once who murdered her husband here. Her name was Jill Coit — she'd been married about 11 times, and one of her victims was a Steamboat resident, Gerald Boggs. He owned a hardware store downtown, and it was a big shock when he was murdered because everyone knew who he was. By the time I was in high school, the hardware store had been turned into a cyber café. Well, the internet would go out there all the time. The power would flicker all through October (the month Gerald was murdered), and someone once said that they were shocked in the neck (Gerald had a stun gun used on him before getting shot). Odds were that it was all nonsense and made up by small-town teens...but the computer screens did flicker a lot."

—Anonymous

10."We call him the Bunny Man. In Fairfax, Virginia, there's an old railroad bridge called the Bunny Man Bridge, and one of my friends swore that she saw his face on the walls and heard him walking on the tracks. Basically, the legend goes that Bunny Man was a murderer who had escaped via a train derailing, and he lived off eating bunnies. And supposedly, according to my friend, you can see him with an axe on Halloween."

11."I was born and still live in Uruguay, and since I was little, I've known the story of 'Clara la Loca.' The legend is based on real events: A girl named Clara grew up in a mansion, and she then married. She had problems within her marriage, and she ended up becoming mentally unwell. Instead of being helped, she was locked away in her room, where she died. Today that mansion is the Juan Manuel Blanes Museum, and it's said to be haunted. The room where Clara was locked up remains closed to the public, but in one room, there's a painting of Clara as a child. Many people who've visited, myself included, have felt Clara's gaze in the painting following you as you walk by."

—Nat, 20, Montevideo, Uruguay

12."I once worked at a big-box store that was located in a secluded area and had no nearby buildings. When I started working there, I was told a story about how before, when the store was still under construction, the body of a missing woman was found dumped behind the building. It has since been rumored that she haunts the store, mainly because people would allegedly hear strange noises and see strange things at the back of the store. For example, people would walk into an empty bathroom and see all three sinks running, or objects in the break room that were on a table would just randomly end up on the floor. No one wanted to be in the store when the lights were out, and though it's been quite a while since I've worked there, I'm sure the story persists."

13."I grew up and still live in Brooklyn. There are some wild stories from here, but one particular story about my apartment building has continued to haunt me. Apparently, an old woman in my building once overdosed on fentanyl, and the other tenants say that sometimes she shows up in the rooms where children are and laughs — just laughs and laughs and laughs. Once, when I was a little girl, I woke up, and my parents were just talking and laughing. When I heard the laughs, I remember thinking it was the old woman, and my heart STOPPED. The story still makes me uneasy."

—Laurie, 21, Brooklyn

14."I live in Arlington, Texas, and there's the legend of the 'Screaming Bridge.' This is based on a true story, and you can actually visit the site where it occurred. Five girls had crashed into a riverbank after some hoodlums moved a sign that said the bridge was out. Three of the girls survived the crash, and during the trial, a couple of boys were found guilty. People say that at night, you can hear the screams of the passengers who died. The riverbank is now a railroad ditch. I've ridden my bike there at night, and though I heard nothing, I was spooked as hell."

15.And last: "In the oldest part of my town, there used to be a river that split the town down the middle — one side had a market and was considered the richer part, while the other was considered the poorer part. Connecting the two sides was a small wooden footbridge. The story is that there was a poor little girl named Molly Hawkins, and she was by the market, starving, with no money. She stole an apple, but she was seen and chased by the seller. She tried to run across the footbridge, but she fell and drowned. The river now passes under houses and a road, but there's a small alleyway that's locally known as 'Little Molly Hawkins.' It's close to the location where she died, and some people have reported seeing an apple left on the floor. They say it's Molly trying to give back the apple that she stole."

—chloes4dd2f1b95

I will be staying away from abandoned buildings, spooky-looking bridges, and woodland areas from now on. Is there a spooky urban legend that you grew up with? Let me know in the comments, or you can anonymously submit using this Google form!

Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.