But, plenty of these classic myths are actually true — and the truth is often more ghastly and macabre than the fiction. Even more interesting is how some of these fables originated. Myths have to start somewhere, and oftentimes it's a dark chapter in history or a strange effect of our own minds. Sometimes, the boogeyman is real. Sometimes, those campfire stories and old wives tales were right to scare the bejesus out of you. You may have had some sleepless nights over these spooky tales, but your nightmares were not in vain.
And, that face you saw in the bathroom mirror? You weren't imagining it.
Bloody Mary
The Myth: Turn off the lights, light a candle, and stare in the bathroom mirror chanting "Bloody Mary," and her ghostly specter will appear.
The Origin: This type of "mirror witch" legend goes back centuries, but is largely associated with Queen Mary I of England. Often called "Bloody Mary," she was a staunch Catholic who put many Protestants to death under her reign. One version of the Bloody Mary mirror trick claims the ghost appears holding a dead baby. This is likely another reference to Mary I, who never had children but suffered from false ("hysterical") pregnancies in her desperation to produce an heir to England's throne.
So, why is she showing up in our bathroom mirrors?
The Truth: The answer is less to do with chanting her name and more about turning off the lights. The Caputo Effect is a spontaneous reaction that happens to our brains in this kind of sensory deprivation. Psychologist Giovanni Caputo, put subjects in a dimly lit room and directed them to stare in a mirror. After about a minute of staring, they began to see a facial apparition in the reflection.
The truth is, we're just seeing a distorted version of our own faces, but our imaginations, but the illusion is so startling that the imagination can instantly fill in the details. So, why are you seeing an evil queen? Because that's what you want to see.
The Dead Body In The Mattress
The Myth: A motel guest complains of an overwhelming stench in the room only to discover a dead body in the mattress.
The Origin: Snopes dates the emergence of this legend back to 1991, when folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand investigated a report of such a gruesome discovery in a Las Vegas hotel. That particular case turned out to be false, but this is one case where truth is grosser than fiction.
The Truth: This happens SO much. You would not believe how many reports of dead-body-mattress-stashing turn out to be completely true. You could quite literally create a Law & Order: Mattress Edition and never run out of headlines to rip from. I don't know if this is a motel maintenance issue or if the Travelodge is fronting for an organized crime syndicate. But, if you've got a body to bury, just check hotels.com.
Lightning & The Telephone
The Myth: People routinely get killed while talking on the phone during thunderstorms.
The Origin: Lightning legends have probably been around as long as lightning. But, this one emerged when telephones became a common household item in the late 19th century. You probably grew up with your mom reminding you to get off the phone when thunder started rumbling. Listen to your mother!
The Truth: Lightning is no joke. Every year, 1,000 people are struck in various ways, and many of those people are killed by it. Getting struck via telephone isn't as likely as being hit outside, but it happens approximately once a year. Do yourself a favor and stay away from corded electronics, concrete walls or floors, windows, and plumbing (yup, the shower myth is true, too). Just sit down and read a book, why don't ya?
Cropsey
The Myth: An escaped mental patient haunts an abandoned institution, sneaking out at night to trawl suburban neighborhoods, murdering children.
The Origin: A decades-old legend throughout the Northeast, "Cropsey" was just the boogeyman du jour. True, the backstory behind this specter fits the traditional boogeyman bill, but the history behind it is darker than any camp tale.
The Truth: Andre Rand was not a patient but an employee at the Willowbrook State School on Staten Island — essentially a dumping ground for New York's disabled children.
The place was exposed for its monstrous abuse and neglect of patients and eventually shut down in 1987. That's when local residents reported seeing someone lurking on the abandoned grounds. The local Cropsey legend emerged from this place and as more and more children began to go missing on the island, many suspected it had something to do with Willowbrook and this mysterious lurker. One year later, Rand was arrested for the kidnapping and murder of an 8-year-old girl. He was later convicted in another girl's disappearance, and though never brought to trial on further cases, he is suspected of killing many more.
It's a strange and complex story, further explained in the In 2010 documentary Cropsey. Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio made the film about growing up terrified of this boogeyman and learning the truth about his identity.
Dead Bodies Mistaken For Halloween Decorations
The Myth: In the age of over-the-top Halloween decor, trick-or-treaters often mistake actual dead bodies for decorations.
The Origin: This rumor likely got its start as a spinoff of the old munchkin-hanging-in-The-Wizard-of-Oz myth. The only difference is, this one (eventually) came true.
The Truth: On at least two recent occasions, passersby have mistaken the dead for the fake-dead. In one instance, a 75-year-old California man was shot on his patio and left there for FIVE DAYS before anyone realized what had happened. "He looked fake,” his neighbor told The New York Times. "It looked like somebody had thrown a dummy over the back of a chair." Come ON, people!
People Have Had Arms Ripped Off In Tug-Of-War
The Myth: Get too zealous with this field-day game and you may lose hands, fingers, or even and arm.
The Origin: Uh, I imagine the first time this happened. See an arm ripped off and you're probably going to tell someone.
The Truth: Absolutely true, completely terrifying, and so disgusting. Do not Google this. OMG, you Googled it didn't you? Welp, good luck sleeping, pal!
Multiple news items report adults and children losing appendages in this game, particularly when using the old wrap-the-rope-around-your-wrist trick to make it easier to pull. Sounds far-fetched but makes complete sense when you think about the force of friction and strength of 10 to 20 people actively trying to yank a rope out of your hands.
Actual question: Why are we still playing this game? Does anyone even like it?
Halloween Candy Tampering
The Myth: Razors in the apples, needles in the cookies, poison in the candy bars, yadda yadda yadda.
The Origin: Parental panic is nothing new. The general consensus among moms and dads is "don't take candy from strangers," but that all changes on Halloween. This particular concern still exists today but truly swept the whole nation in the late '70s/early '80s.
The Truth: Which is odd, because most reported cases of actual candy tampering happened years earlier. Citing Jack Santino's book, Halloween and Other Festivals of Death and Life, Snopes lists several reports of tampering before laws were changed in 1968, mandating prison terms for this kind of "boobytrapping." For the record, in all such cases, no children died. The caveat with this true-ish myth is that far more cases are reported than actually happen. There are even a handful of cases where children accidentally ingested a parent's drugs (or been purposefully poisoned) and candy tampering was used as the excuse.
In reality, your kids are probably fine, but it doesn't hurt to check their jack-o'-lanterns for unwrapped goodies. I mean, how else are you going to take your cut of their candy?
Shoelaces + Escalator = Chopped Off Feet
The Myth: "Tie your shoelaces or else the escalator will eat you feet/suck you in/chew your shoes off," depending on what kind of mom you had.
The Origin: Legitimate fear of modern technology. In our hubris and sloth, we created stairs we don't have to actually climb. This is our punishment.
The Truth: Seems like manufacturers might build in some kind of safety feature that would, oh, stop it at the point of consuming human bodies. But, no! Every year, nearly 10,000 children go to the ER for escalator-related injuries, including mangled limbs and the occasional amputation.
It doesn't just stop at shoelaces either. Fabric, high heels, hair, and fingers, can also be caught in escalators, even if you're just reaching down to pick something up.
Bottom line: Just take the stairs, forever.
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