Name that legend
_______ is one of the most famous legendary characters of all time. Although his existence is not clearly verified, he is believed to be an Englishman from medieval times.
It wasn't until 1589 that the first claims of __________ as a thief who stole from the rich to give to the poor began to arise. _______ then became a noble symbol of resistance to tyranny.
The Legend of Robin Hood
Where did it start?
Bigfoot is an internationally recognizable name, and has been spotted all over the country. But, Bigfoot has been spotted the most in __________.
Bigfoot is essentially a gigantic ape-like creature who is either a ferocious beast who attacks loggers and hikers, or a gentle giant who wants to be left alone. Either way, there's something creepy about an undiscovered species of animal wandering around the Pacific Northwest, evading capture.
WASHINGTON: Bigfoot
It is believed that about 9,600 years ago, there was an island called ______. The Ancient Greeks called this place a holy city and believed that it used to lie beyond the Pillars of Hercules. The island was said to have sunk because it was defeated by Athens.
The Legend of Atlantis
An Anglo-Saxon woman and wife of the ruler of Coventry, England. She loved her husband dearly, but always opposed the way he treated his people.
When her husband issued a heavy tax on the local people, _______ begged him to stop this oppressive tax, called a "Heregeld". According to the legend, _____ husband retorted that he would only stop the tax if she rode through the streets of Coventry naked.
And so she did, covering herself only with her hair. Later versions of the legend claim that ________ sent messengers through the city beforehand, warning the townspeople to stay inside and shut their windows, during this act.
Lady Godiva
The Shoshone tribe was first recorded in 1805 and were roaming the Great Plains as early as the 1500s, so it's not clear when exactly this legend originated. But the story goes that the Shoshone experienced an extreme famine, and mothers were forced to drown their babies in the river rather than watch their children starve.
Today, some people claim that if you sit quietly at the river by _______ you'll hear the sound of babies crying. Other stories say that these babies grew gills and fins and survived — and now they seek revenge on their mothers by luring unsuspecting victims to their deaths in the river.
IDAHO: The water babies of Massacre Rocks
A tragic story supposedly took place there, where a boy was cornered by a group of bullies in the bathroom and shoved into a mirror, which shattered and killed him.
To avoid getting caught committing murder, the bullies decided to bury the body underneath the floorboards. Today, people say that if you go inside the school you can see the reflection of the boy if you look in the mirror.
TENNESSEE: The boy in the bathroom at Pine Haven School
Name the legend
Location: Scotland one of the most famous aquatic creatures in the world and whose existence goes back more than 1,500 years.
The Loch Ness monster
An urban legend in which people travelling by vehicle, meet with or are accompanied by a hitchhiker who subsequently vanishes without explanation, often from a moving vehicle.
the Vanishing Hitchhiker
One of the most popular ghosts in the world. But who was she, really? No one actually knows. There are hundreds of legends about this famous legendary character.
Some say she was a widow who killed her children, while some say she was a young child who was murdered and is wandering around her grave. Other tales say the ghost is Mary Worth, a woman said to be a witch who was burned at the stake.
The Legend of Bloody Mary
The________ origin story is gruesome — a father and son were both caught in a house fire and horribly burnt in 1948. After the fire, the son became so mentally unstable that he killed his father. When the police found the son, he was so unrecognizably burnt they didn't realize he was alive, so he ran away before they were able to arrest him for the murder of his father.
Ever since then, the ______ is still spotted wandering the woods surrounding Ojai, occasionally approaching tents of innocent campers, or pretending to be a hitchhiker and then attempting to attack them.
CALIFORNIA: The Char-Man
This started in the 1950s. A young couple driving over the bridge somehow drove their car off the bridge one night and they both drowned. There are two legends associated with it : that if you drive your car out to the middle of the bridge and turn off the lights, the couple will magically appear in your car and leave a wet spot on the seat. The other, which is how the bridge got its name, is the belief that if you drive over the bridge and look over your shoulder halfway through, the scenery behind you turns into a portal to hell engulfed in flames.
ALABAMA: Hell's Gate Bridge
A giant ape-like being, with the body covered in hair, who is hidden in the Himalayas. His legend has been growing due to the testimonies of alleged sightings as well as the discovery of traces and remains, that are supposed to belong to this animal.
The yeti:abominable snowman
A fictional supernatural character that originated as a creepypasta Internet meme created by Something Awful forum user Eric Knudsen (also known as "Victor Surge") in 2009. He is depicted as a thin, unnaturally tall humanoid with a featureless head and face, wearing a black suit.
Slender Man
According to the legend, during World War II the Japanese General Tomoyuki _______ hid treasure in caves and other underground locations throughout the Philippines. The treasure was actually stolen loot, consisting of gold items including bars and some antiques. In 2017, divers allegedly found blocks of gold booby-trapped in an underwater cave. Some hypothesize that this is the missing treasure, but many anthropologists believe that whispers of the hidden loot were only rumors.
The Legend of Yamashita's Treasure
Known as the "Wicked Witch of Monroe," ________ gained a reputation as a witch in the 19th century when her husband died by mysteriously falling off a cliff — and locals reportedly believed that she had bewitched him. People also believed that she would cast spells on people she didn't like.
She lived till the age of 77, but right before she died, she asked to be carried down to the cemetery in her coffin by foot, not wagon. After her death, the people of Monroe tried to wheel her coffin down the hill but were unable — the coffin kept falling off — so they were forced to carry it.
When the townspeople returned to her home, it was found to be engulfed in flames, sealing her reputation of witchcraft. Now, you can visit her real grave in Trumbull.
CONNECTICUT: Hannah Cranna
Throughout the suburbs of Chicago in the '90s, there was a rumor going around elementary schools: There was a creepy man dressed as _________ (yes, from "In Living Color"), driving around in a white van trying to lure kids into it with candy and money.
In some variations he was a kidnapper, in others he was a rapist. But in all variations, ______ left a mark on young Chicago kids in the '90s.
ILLINOIS: Homey the Clown
Where did it start?
In 1966, stories say that _______ was visited by an insectoid flying creature with bright red eyes who resembled both a moth and a man. He was spotted flying around the town of Point Pleasant, along with shining lights and the Men in Black.
Mothman's origins have been claimed as supernatural, alien, or government experiment gone wrong. But Point Pleasant has embraced the monster, erecting a statue, creating a museum, and even dedicating a festival to him.
WEST VIRGINIA: Mothman
The legend goes that ______ was conceived by Uther Pendragon who, with the assistance of the wizard Merlin, had used magic to deceive his enemy's wife, whom he later married. A young _____ succeeded his father to the throne, Excalibur in hand, and married Guinevere. 12th-century texts include tales of the chivalrous Knights of the Round Table and their adventures. Later French texts indicate that one of _____ most beloved knights, Lancelot, was Queen Guinevere's lover.
The Legend of King Arthur
The legend of the_________ tells about a special fountain that contains water with special powers. It is believed that by drinking this water, a person gains eternal youth. Nobody knows where this fountain is. American legends claim that it is somewhere in Florida, while European legends claim it is in Spain.
The Legend of the Fountain of Youth
Cars that are parked in neutral will appear to roll uphill.
Legends say the hill is either the site of a Native American burial ground or an epic battle of a Native American chief against a crocodile.
But the truth is it's actually just an illusion created by the hill's surroundings. While cars appear to be rolling uphill, they are still just rolling downhill.
FLORIDA: The gravity-defying Spook Hill
The legend states that if you go down to ___________ at night, even now, you will hear the loud, anguished cries of the mother who lost her mind.During the 1800s, there was a family who lived down in the canyon. They were very poor, so the father would venture out into the canyon for food for his family. As you might have guessed, one day the father did not return, so his family slowly starved and descended into madness. The mother, unable to bear listening to her children's cries anymore, put on her wedding dress, murdered her children, and then threw them into a nearby river. The next day she succumbed to starvation herself.
ARIZONA: The ghosts of Slaughterhouse Canyon
Name that legend
In 1992, Puerto Rico’s local media spread the news about the massacre of several animals that have been found without blood and with bites on he neck. Due to the similarity of the cases in other countries, the legend spread throughout the world. According to sightings, the culprit is a kind of gray-green, one meter high, and has a reptilian appearance; It is known for its scaly skin and sharp spines on the back. However, other evidence indicates that this is a kind of wild dog.
El Chupacabras
Early European expeditions in South America were driven in part by the search for gold. The legend of _______ originated in modern-day Colombia and was first mentioned in writing by Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo in 1541, who referred to "El Hombre Dorado", a mythical tribal chief who covered his body in gold dust daily. Over time, the lake became a city of gold, then, an entire province.
The legend evolved throughout the centuries, with others claiming that this mythical chief dipped his body in the lake—thought to be Lake Guatavita in Colombia—every day due to the ample supply of gold in his "kingdom", fueling explorers' desire for further gold-seeking expeditions in search of the mysterious "________".
The Legend of El Dorado
_____ was an ancient Phrygian who, according to a prophecy, would become the king of Phrygia. The prophecy foretold that the first man to enter the city with a cart would be the new king. When ______ entered the city with his cart and became the king, he tied his cart to a tree using a special and complex knot.
It was then prophesized that the first man to undo the knot would be the new king. In 333 B.C., Alexander the Great entered the city. After failing to untie the knot, he sliced it down the middle with his sword and became the king.
The Legend of the Gordian Knot
There is a rock that appears to show a normal human footprint, and a cloven hoof. The story goes that a Native American woman murdered a white man, and fled the scene of the crime. While running, she was stopped by another man. She cried out for the Devil to save her, when the man admitted that he himself was the Devil, and stomped his feet on the ground to prove that he had a cloven hoof, which the rock still shows to this day.
RHODE ISLAND: The Devil's footprints