The Hook

Two teenage lovers were parked at a local "Make-out" spot when the music on the radio was interrupted by a Special Bulletin. A dangerous Lunatic had escaped from the nearby Insane Asylum, he could be identified by the Hook he had in place of his right hand. The girl insisted she be taken home immediately. When they arrived at her house, the frustrated boy marched over to open her door for her, and hanging from the handle was a bloody hook.

The Killer in the Back Seat

As a woman was getting into her car she noticed a man with a strange look on his face walking quickly toward her. She jumped into the car and drove away, but before long she saw the man was following her in another car. She panicked and drove home as quickly as she could, swerved into the driveway and screamed for her husband. Her husband ran out just as the following man pulled up, jumped from his car and yelled "Lady, there's someone hiding in your back seat!"

see Urban Legend

The Nut & the Nuts

A young woman was driving alone one night near the local Insane Asylum when she heard on the radio that a dangerous Lunatic had escaped. Within minutes she heard a pop and felt one of her tires go flat. She built up her nerve and got out and began to change the tire. Just as she slid the spare on she noticed a man in a plain white uniform staring at her from the bushes. Startled, she dropped the lugnuts and heard them scatter on the ground, as she vainly searched in the darkness for the scattered lug-nuts she heard the man slowly approaching. Terrified, she asked herself in a trembling voice, "What am I going to do now?" and the Lunatic replied "Why don't you take one nut from each of the other wheels and put them on the spare?" She did, and was soon on her way.

The Choking Doberman

A woman came home from shopping to find her Doberman choking on something, she quickly put him in the car and drove him to the vet. The vet told her to go on home while he operated to remove whatever was lodged in the dog's windpipe, and he'd call her when she could pick up her pet. She wasn't home for long when the vet called and told her in an excited voice to get out of the house right now, he'd be by to explain in a few minutes. from her neighbor's window she saw the vet arrive with the police and ran out to see if her dog was alright and what was going on. As the police ran into her house the vet told her what her loving pet had choked on, two human fingers. The police found the escaped Lunatic hiding in the closet nursing his mangled hand.

The Babysitter

A young girl was babysitting some children in a large old house, the children were in bed and she was watching TV when the phone rang. All the voice on the other end did was laugh, she listened for a minute then hung up. A few minutes later it happened again, she was very upset and called the police who told her there was really nothing they could do, but they'd trace the call if it happened again. After she got another call from the laughing voice, she hung up and the police immediately called her and told her to get out of the house immediately, the calls were coming from the upstairs extension, where he'd already murdered the children.

There are many variations of this one, mostly as to what the voice on the phone said or did when he called, it's also been told with two babysitters. The most popular is probably the "Have you checked the Children?" version from the film When a Stranger Calls, see the Movies page for more info.

When a Stranger Calls

The Licked Hand

A young girl was left alone at home for the first time with only her dog to protect her, she heard a bulletin on the radio about a Dangerous Lunatic that had escaped from a nearby asylum, she immediately locked all the doors and went to bed. A dripping sound from the bathroom made it difficult to fall asleep, she reached down under her bed to make sure her faithful dog was by her side, he replied by licking her hand enthusiastically. The next morning when she woke up and went to the bathroom room, she found her dog hanging from the shower nozzle, blood dripping from his torn throat, on the mirror written in blood were the words: "People can lick, too!"

Campfire Tales

The Scratching

A young couple were parked under a tree on a dirt road one night. When the time came to go home, the car wouldn't start so the boy told the girl to lock the doors and he'd go for help. As time went by, the girl's nervousness about her situation grew worse, and by the time she started to hear a scraping noise on the top of the car she was terrified. The police found her the next day, as they took her away from the car they told her not to look back, but she did. Her boyfriend was hanging from a tree limb, his feet scraping the roof of the car.

Also: The boyfriend is hanging upside-down from the limb, his fingernails scratching the roof of the car. The girl often ends up in an asylum from the ordeal.

Urban Legend and He Knows You're Alone

The Roomate's Death

A young coed was lying in her room alone one night, her roomate had warned her she'd be out late, when she heard a gurgling, groan coming toward the room. Frightened, she jumped in the closet and locked the door. The sound came closer until it was obvious it was right outside the door, then whatever it was began to scratch on the door. It didn't stop for what seemed like a long time, and even after the trembling girl was afraid to move, and eventually fell asleep curled up in the closet. The next morning she opened the door to find her roomate lying dead, her throat cut and her fingers and nails bloody from scratching the door for help.

Another Roomate's Death

A young coed was returning from a night out with her friends and she didn't want to disturb her sleeping roomate, so she crept into the room and found her way in the darkness, undressed and slid into bed. The next morning as she awoke and turned to say something to her friend, she saw her mangled body on the blood-soaked bed, and written in her roomate's blood on the wall were the words: "AREN'T YOU GLAD YOU DIDN'T TURN ON THE LIGHT?"

see Urban Legend