We’ve been sharing spooky Monday Myths almost every week on our email newsletter and Instagram for an entire year now! How cool is that?
Out of all the crazy spooky urban legends out there, we’ve narrowed it down to our top 5 favorites…
1. Botan Doro
The Botan Doro is one of Japan’s spirits of seduction. Legend tells of a samurai named Ogiwara. One summer night, he saw a beautiful woman carrying a lantern walking down the street. They became lovers, and he spent many nights in the mysterious woman’s embrace.
An elderly neighbor, suspicious of the girl, peeked into Ogiwara’s windows, and to his horror, saw that the samurai was locked in an embrace with a skeleton. He warned the samurai who then placed charms around his house to protect himself.
But, the woman sang to him that night. Unable to resist, Ogiwara went out to greet her. She led her to his house: a grave in an old temple. In the morning, they found the samurai’s body still intertwined with the woman’s remains.
2. Bunny Man
Legend has it that in the early 20th century there was an insane asylum near Fairfax Station. When it closed, a bus carrying its residents away ended up crashing and they tried to escape. They were all caught… except one. Douglas Grifon. When they searched for him, all they found was a trail of half-eaten, gutted bunnies hanging from the Fairfax Station Bridge.
Grifon was never found.
As the story goes, one Halloween night, a group of teenagers hanging out under the same bridge were attacked… facing the same fate as the bunnies. To this day, the legend states that if you’re at the now-called Bunny Man Bridge on Halloween night, you’ll share their demise.
Other sightings were in 1970 when a couple sitting in their car reported a man dressed in a white suit and bunny ears appeared, screaming at them as he threw a hatchet at their car. Two weeks later the Bunny Man was seen again, chopping wood at an unoccupied house. He threatened that he would bust people’s heads open if they kept trespassing here.
3. Deer Woman
In many Native American traditions, the Deer Woman is a shape-shifting woman—a supernatural being distinct from spirits or gods. In Cherokee tradition, these beings are called Nunnehi (“the People Who Live Anywhere”) or Ani Yunwitsandsdi (“Little Men”). These supernatural beings are similar to the European concept of fae, in that they can be both benevolent or mischievous, and sometimes downright murderous.
The Deer Woman is often portrayed in myths to be the spirit of a mortal woman, who was savagely slain by a lecherous man. As she lay dying, a fawn from the forest came down to lie next to her, so that she would not die alone. The Nunnehi (or sometimes the gods, and other times the deer themselves) granted the woman’s wish for justice and gave her a new life as a half-woman, half-deer.
Often the Deer Woman appears as a beautiful young woman. In this form, she lures her attackers out of the village and trampled them to death. From then on, the Deer Woman has become a sort of avenging spirit, who continues to punish lecherous men, and those that might prey on the innocent.
4. Namazu
According to Japanese mythology, deep, deep in the earth, swimming through the underwater seas and rivers there, lives a giant catfish called Namazu. Namazu is thought to be subdued by the thunder god Takemikazuchi-no-mikoto, who restrains the giant Namazu with an equally gigantic stone.
The story goes: Takemikazuchi-no-mikoto (aka Kashima Daimyojin) places the kaname-ishi, or the “pinning stone,” on top of the catfish’s head. And it digs down into the earth and pins him down, limiting Namazu’s movements and the intensity of the earthquakes but when left unattended, the catfish squirms and thrashes causing large, more devastating earthquakes on land.
5. Yellow Ghost Car
Don’t drive on the most dangerous road in Malaysia… the driverless yellow Volkswagen might make you crash! The legend of the yellow phantom car originates in the Karak Highway. Many who have driven here at night have claimed to have had various paranormal encounters.
One of the more popular ones is the yellow ghost car that is said to mysteriously appear and block your path on the freeway at an agonisingly slow pace. And when you manage to pass the yellow Volkswagen Beetle, you will see there is no driver. And if that’s not spooky enough, the car will appear in front of you again! Sometimes, going straight at corners and sharp turns that will make you crash if you’re not careful.
And that’s our top 5!
Which is your fave urban legend? Comment below and let us know.
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