Urban legends make small towns go round. Some places put their unique spin on a popular tale of terror, while other towns possess their own legends inspired by the area’s horrific history. We tell these stories on the darkest of nights, around a campfire or during sleepovers with friends. While urban legends are rarely factually true, they do reveal important truths about our deepest, darkest fears.
With bonfire season on the way, now’s the perfect time to perfect your eerie tales. Here are 10 of America’s scariest urban legends guaranteed to rattle your bones.
1. The Grave of Lillian Gray
- Photo Credit: Find a Grave
This urban legend has captured the imaginations of the people of the Salt Lake City, Utah for years—not because the tale is horrifying, but because the mystery can be witnessed with your own eyes. In a nondescript cemetery in Salt Lake City, a gravestone marks the burial spot of Lilly E. Gray who died in 1958. Nothing seems out of the ordinary, until you read the last line “VICTIM OF THE BEAST 666.” The truth behind Gray’s chilling epitaph remains a mystery, and has inspired more than a few eerie tales about a woman possessed by evil. According to hospital records, she died of natural causes.