The Clown doll (also known as the Clown statue) is an urban legend somewhat based on "the babysitter and the man upstairs" legend, due to the similar concept of a babysitter being attacked by an intruder (here being a murderer disguised as an inanimate clown doll).[22][23][24]
Cow tipping is the purported activity of sneaking up on any unsuspecting or sleeping upright cow and pushing it over for entertainment, supposedly popular in rural farming communities.[26]
Cropsey is a folklore legend that describes a boogeyman-like figure, before segueing into the story of Andre Rand, a convicted child kidnapper from Staten Island through the 1970s–80s.[27]
Crybaby Bridge is a nickname given to some bridges in the United States. The name often reflects the belief that the sound of a baby can be, or has been, heard from the bridge.
The Crying Boy is a mass-produced print of an allegedly cursed painting by Italian painter Giovanni Bragolin. This was the pen-name of the painter Bruno Amadio. It was widely distributed from the 1950s onwards.
The Cucuy is a folklore legend that describes a mythical ghost-monster, malevolent and equivalent to the bogeyman of Latin American countries.
The curse of the Bambino was a superstition evolving from the failure of the Boston Red Sox baseball team to win the World Series in the 86-year period from 1918 to 2004. While some fans took the curse seriously, most used the expression in a tongue-in-cheek manner.
The cursed memorial of Jonathan Buck is an obelisk featuring a stain in the shape of a woman's boot or stocking-clad foot located in Bucksport Cemetery, Maine.[28]
Shotgun Man is an urban legend of organized crime: as an assassin and spree killer in Chicago, Illinois in the 1910s, to whom murders by Black Hand extortionists were attributed.[88] Most notably, Shotgun Man killed 15 Italian immigrants from 1 January 1910 to 26 March 1911, at "Death Corner," the intersection of Oak Street and Milton Avenue (now Cleveland Avenue) in what was then Chicago's Little Sicily.[89] In March 1911, he reportedly murdered four people within 72 hours.[90] However, a check of the Northwestern University website on "Homicide in Chicago" shows shotgun killings in Chicago – but none in Jan–March 1911 – and only one killing at Oak and Milton Streets between 1900 and 1920 (reference only).
Showmen's Rest is a mass grave where phantom elephants buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Forest Park, Illinois, are said to trumpet late at night.
El Silbón (also known as the Whistler) is a folklore legend that describes a spirit found in Venezuelan legends. He was a former farmer who become a damned soul after he killed his father.
Skeleton in a tree is an urban legend alleging that years after the defeat of St. Clair in 1791 at Fort Recovery, Mercer County, Ohio, the skeleton of a Captain Roger Vanderberg was found in Miami County, Ohio inside a tree, along with a diary. However, no one of this name was a casualty of the 1791 battle; the story originated in 1864 from a Scottish novel.[91]
Skinned Tom is an urban legend from Walland, Tennessee about a young man named Tom and a bogeyman-type figure who came to a grisly end.[92]
The skunk ape (also known as the swamp ape and Florida Bigfoot) is a folklore legend that describes an ape-like creature that is purported to inhabit the forests and swamps of the southeastern United States, most notably in Florida where sightings have been reported from as far north as the Georgian border, south to the Florida Keys.
Slaughterhouse Canyon (or Luana's Canyon) is a valley in Arizona and has an elevation of 3,428 feet; the myth takes place during the Gold Rush.[93]
The Smith sisters is an urban legend about two young girls who were murdered anonymously while they slept in their bedroom.[94]
The Snarly Yow is a folklore legend that describes a mysterious giant black dog that has been sighted at various spots on West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia.[95]
Snuff films (footage of actual murders and other depraved acts of cruelty being created for profit and/or personal entertainment) have been rumored for decades within the American film industry, with one of the first known films to be accused of the practice being the 1976 exploitation horror film Snuff.
El Sombrerón (also known as the Goblin and sometimes Tzipitio and Tzizimite) is a folklore legend that describes a legendary character and one of the most infamous legends of Central America.
The Spider Bite (or The Red Spot) is a modern urban legend that emerged in Europe during the 1970s. It features a young woman who is bitten on the cheek by a spider. The bite swells into a large boil and soon bursts open to reveal hundreds of tiny spiders escaping from her cheek.[96]
The Spiteful Mermaid of Pyramid Lake is a man from the Paiute tribe claimed that he fell in love with a mermaid in the lake who cursed the lake in her vengeance.[97]
Spook Hill is an urban legend that describes a gravity hill, an optical illusion in Lake Wales, Florida, where cars appear to roll uphill.
The Spooklight is a legend that is a ghost light reported to appear in a small area known locally as the "Devil's Promenade" in Missouri and Oklahoma.
Springfield pet-eating hoax surfaced in September 2024 when a Facebook post reported that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating neighbors’ pets. The baseless charge went viral and was taken up by right-wing groups and repeated by presidential candidate Donald Trump and his vice-presidential running mate JD Vance.
The Vanishing Hotel Room a.k.a. Vanishing Lady: During an international exposition in Paris, a daughter leaves her mother in a hotel room; when she comes back her mother is gone and the hotel staff claims to have no knowledge of the missing woman. It is later revealed that the mother was dying of plague and, fearing for the negative impact on the hotel's public image, the staff just disposed of the mother, redecorated the room and pretended as if nothing had happened. This served as inspiration for the movie So Long at the Fair, and was based on a turn-of-the-century Philadelphia newspaper story.[102]
W
Walking Sam (or Tall Man) is an urban legend that describes a 7-foot-tall specter whose job it is to collect the souls of suicide victims and stalks lonely, depressed adolescents.[103]
Walt Disney's Cryo Chamber is an urban legend claiming that after his death in December 1966, Walt's body (or in some versions just his head) was placed in a cryostasis chamber located somewhere beneath Disney World or Epcot.[104][105]
The Water Babies of Massacre Rocks (originates from Idaho) are a Native American legend that are found in a couple of different places in America, but most famously in Pocatello at the Massacre Rocks State Park.[106] They are said to be mischievous or malevolent baby- or dwarf-like creatures, with some tales placing their origins as drowned Native American babies during a famine.
The Well to Hell legend holds that a team of Russian engineers, purportedly led by an individual named "Mr. Azakov" in an unnamed place in Siberia, had drilled a hole that was 14.4 kilometres (8.9mi) deep before breaking through to a cavity. Intrigued by this unexpected discovery, they lowered an extremely heat-tolerant microphone, along with other sensory equipment, into the well. The temperature deep within was 1,000°C (1,832°F)–heat from a chamber of fire from which (purportedly) the tormented screams of the damned could be heard.[107][108][109]
↑ Nicolaisen, WFH (1997). "The Baby Train and Other Lusty Urban Legends by Jan Harold Brunvand". Folklore . 108 . Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of Folklore Enterprises, Ltd.: 134– 135. JSTOR 1260739 .