25 Creepy Legends, Folklore and Creatures of North America

While North America may not have a long history of mythologies compared to other cultures, each state has its own folklore legends, mythical creatures, monsters, and cryptids that have captivated generations.

Every area of the world has its own stories passed down through the ages, twisted by decades of retelling and reimagining.

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Here are 25 most famous folklore, legends, cryptids, and creatures from each state of North America. Though most of the legends are myths but with the associated folklore and considering if perhaps some of the witnesses of these legends may in fact be telling the truth.

25. Dead Children’s Playground, Alabama

The disembodied sound of children’s laughter and creepy-as-all-heck playgrounds will surely make anyone’s blood run cold.

Locals say that’s exactly what you’ll hear at the small playground connected to the Maple Hill Cemetery outside of Huntsville, Alabama.

Some believe the spirits of dead children play on the swings as often as the visitors. Many claim to have seen the swings moving on their own, the telltale orbs of spectral inhabitants, or even the apparitions of the child ghosts themselves.

Local lore gives two backstories: Either the children buried in the cemetery haunt these grounds or, even more unsettling, the bodies of children abducted in the 1960s were buried where the playground now sits, and their restless spirits entertain themselves.

24. La Llorona, Arizona

The story of La Llorona goes like this: A long time ago, a woman named Maria married a rich suitor and bore him two children. Driven into a rage when she discovered he’d been unfaithful, Maria drowned her children.

She was overcome with regret almost immediately and drowned herself as well. Her spirit was denied entrance into heaven and was sentenced to walk the Earth as a restless shade in search of her children.

If children pass by a body of water at night, it’s said La Llorona will drag them in and drown them like she did her own.

Some say she does the same to cheating husbands. All in all, it’s best to avoid her in general, just in case.

23. Kushtaka, Alaska

Alaska legend says there are creatures known as the Kushtaka inhabiting the state’s waters.

These beings are said to be shapeshifters who often appear as otters and mimic the sounds of women and children in distress in an effort to lure unsuspecting fishermen to their demise. The older version gets even darker.

The original legends told by the indigenous Tlingit peoples say the Kushtaka would search out lost or drowning people within their hunting grounds and either turn them into Kushtaka, rip them to pieces, or simply take away their immortal soul, preventing them from continuing the cycle of reincarnation and sentencing them to an eternity of oblivion.

22. Highway 365, Arkansas

Legend has it that the figure of a young woman is sometimes seen walking along an eerie stretch of Arkansas Highway 365.

Passersby are more than willing to give her a lift to the house she always seems to be going to, but once they arrive, the woman vanishes into the chilly night air.

The house is said to be that of her mother, who will gladly explain her daughter’s death and her periodic hitchhiking home to anyone who knocks on the door.

Reportedly, one person who’d given this girl a ride home handed her his jacket to help warm her after her walk in the crisp rain.

Like always, she disappeared, he knocked, and the mother explained. Afterward, he visited her grave, only to find his jacket hanging on her tombstone.

21. Char-Man, California

It was the summer of 1948 when a large fire blazed a remote part of California, says this eerie legend. The area was extremely isolated, and some households were forced to wait days for assistance.

One such place was a small cabin where a father and son lived alone. The building was devoured by the fire. The father was killed by the flames, leaving the badly burned son as the sole survivor.

Something more than his flesh was changed by the heat, the smoke, and the pain he endured, though. A piece of his mind was broken, and it transformed him.

As a testament, when the police arrived on the scene, they found the corpse of his father hanging, skin flayed from his body, from a nearby tree.

It’s said the Char-Man, the creature the son became, still terrorizes the Ojai Valley and will attack unsuspecting hikers and campers so he can collect their skins like he did his father’s.

20. Phantom Jogger, Colorado

The 11-mile stretch of road running between Thornton and Brighton, Colorado, is said to be one of the most haunted roads in the United States.

It’s thought to be so haunted, in fact, that some believe the actual gates of hell are somewhere along its winding curves.

The most prominent urban myth about this road has to do with a phantom jogger who attacks traveling and parked cars alike.

The jogger is said to be the spirit of a poor soul who became the victim of a hit-and-run. The restless shade now travels the road at night banging on the sides of traveling cars, or pounding on the doors and windows of parked cars.

Anyone unlucky enough to let the specter reach the driver’s door might just join him in the in-between.

19. Melon Heads, Connecticut

Hidden away in the woods of Connecticut are a group of people you’d never want to meet. The Melon Heads, as they’re called by the locals, live down thin country roads on the outskirts of towns where the woods get thick.

While they rarely ever come out of hiding, they’ll reportedly toss rocks at any car that comes too close to their land. And that’s far from the worst these people will do.

There are several theories about where the Melon Heads come from: Some stories say they’re escapees from a mental institution, while others claim they’re a group of lost colonizers, or possibly a family banished from a nearby town for the crime of witchcraft.

Ultimately, no one knows for certain. These people are said to be small but with giant heads and a hunger to match.

They’ll eat anything from small, crawling critters to the flesh of people. Supposedly, they have a taste for teens and are often blamed when a teenager or a hiker disappears in the woods.

“I could hear it breathing. It’s almost like it was excited it was terrifying me.”

18. Swamp Trail, Delaware

This story says that during the 19th century, a young girl ran away from a bad home situation to seek refuge in the woods around Lums Pond, an area that’s now the Swamp Trail.

Unfortunately, what looked like a wilderness sanctuary turned out to be the haven of someone more sinister than the young girl meant to encounter.

The girl ran across a man who attacked, sexually assaulted and killed her. Her body was found shortly after, but the killer was never captured.

It’s rumored that the inconsolable shade of the young girl is still wandering the trail. Her cries can be heard echoing through the trees, sending a chill down the spines of even the most courageous.

17. Bloody Bucket Bridge, Florida

This Florida legend starts with a woman who was once kept as a slave before having been freed, after which she moved to Wauchula and served as the town’s midwife.

From here, the story goes different ways. The woman was either distraught that her own child was taken from her when she was in bonds, was concerned for the food supply, or couldn’t have children herself.

Regardless, she began smothering babies after delivering them. The woman would put the remains of the newborns in buckets, carry them to the river, and dump them off the bridge.

Before long, the locals began to notice that more babies died under her care than anyone else, and she was soon banned from her job.

The woman became haunted by her deeds, revisiting the river over and over again. One night, she fell in and drowned. Legend has it that anyone who stands on that bridge under a full moon will still see the river run red with blood.

In case you need some more scares in this one, the locals call the place Bloody Bucket Bridge.

16. Lake Lanier, Georgia

In Georgia, there’s a 50,000-acre man-made body of water known as Lake Lanier. To build this monstrosity, hundreds of families, town buildings, and cemeteries had to be ushered out to new locales.

Much, though, was left behind — including the souls of those who used to live there. The lake is creepy enough on its own, and a disproportionate number of deaths on the lake is the fuel that powers the myth.

Boating accidents, drownings, and cars careening off the road to land in Lanier’s waters add to the lake’s mystery.

It’s said that the ghost towns below the water’s surface are the reason behind lakegoers’ misfortune, as the spirits trapped within reach up and pull those unfortunate souls down to the depths.

The argument then becomes whether it’s ghosts or a curse that made this lake so unlucky.

15. Kasha, Hawaii

In the city of Honolulu, there’s one house believed to be the home of a creature so terrifying that few dare enter the building: the Kaimuki House.

This home is rumored to be inhabited by a ghoul known as a Kasha, a ghost from Japanese folklore that’s only called up when a person commits an impressive number of evil deeds in their lifetime.

Upon their death, the ghoul drags their sinning souls to hell. But this legend seems to have a bit more to it. The creature is said to feast on the flesh of humans, and there have been several reports attesting to the horrid nature of this building’s inhabitants.

Locals have been talking about it for decades, as is made clear by the police reports reaching back to the 1940s.

That’s when the couple living there claimed the creature tried to kill them.

14. Water Babies, Idaho

Idaho’s creepiest myth begins with a local indigenous tribe, at a time when famine plagued the state. Fearing having too many mouths to feed, they decided to put the young ones out of their misery and drowned the infants in the nearby river.

The story is known to differ between sources, but the idea remains the same: Babies were drowned in the Snake River at Massacre Rocks. Some people think the ghosts of the infants now inhabit the waters, while others believe they sprouted gills and became some sort of monster.

Regardless, it’s said you can hear the babies crying at night from the Snake River, and if you get too close, they’ll drag you down with them.

13. Gateway to Hell, Illinois

It’s the town of Collinsville, Illinois, that’s at the center of an urban legend dating back around 40 years. The story claims this area has an elaborate mechanism that allows one to open a gateway to hell.

Surrounding the town are a series of old railroad trestles – seven to be precise – all rumored to have been the spots for lynchings, satanic rituals, meetings for the KKK, and all sorts of other nasty things.

Today, these trestles are covered in graffiti and look fairly derelict, but don’t be mistaken. As the legend states, if you were to drive through the seven trestles, hitting the final one at exactly the stroke of midnight, you’d open a portal to the devil’s realm.

Hellhounds will come bounding out from the rift and drag you straight to eternal torture.

“They’ve moved my desk four times already this year, and I used to be over by the window, and I could see the squirrels, and they were married, but then they switched.”

12. Green Monster, Indiana

The date was August 21, 1955. A couple of women wanted to enjoy a nice day soaking up the sunshine during a swim in the Ohio River near Evansville, Indiana.

Mrs. Darwin Johnson and Mrs. Chris Lamble hit the water expecting nothing unusual to happen that day, but a green beast with clawed hands had a different idea.

The beast rose from beneath Johnson, locked its claw around her leg, and pulled her violently beneath the waterline.

Johnson, fortunately, was able to fight her way out of the creature’s grip and make it back to the surface. The creature grabbed her again, but this time she lunged for Lamble’s raft, making such a ruckus it scared the beast away.

11. Black Angel, Iowa

There are several different stories surrounding the statue of the Black Angel in Iowa City’s Oakland Cemetery, and all of them are miles from coming close to the truth.

The myths say a husband placed the bronze statue over his late wife’s grave, but the statue darkened to black because he was unfaithful.

Officially, a woman named Teresa Feldevert commissioned the statue — but other stories say she was a sinner or a witch whose evil deeds caused the bronze to tarnish.

However the origin story unfolds, other myths about the statue remain the same. Locals believe if you kiss the angel, you’ll be asking for an early death, and some think women who walk beneath its blackened wings while pregnant will miscarry.

However you look at it, the myths make her out to be one nasty statue.

10. Hamburger Ghoul, Kansas

Anyone who ends up near the sand hills outside of Hutchinson, Kansas, best to leave as quickly as possible, because Hamburger Hill is home to a ghoul that’ll turn anyone into paste.

The legend has been around since at least the 1950s and goes something like this: A being known as the Hamburger Man stalks Hamburger Hill looking for unsuspecting hikers.

When he comes upon one, he’ll attack, drag them back to his little shack, and kill them with a sharp hook before turning them up into hamburgers.

The origin of the being isn’t quite known, and it’s debated whether he’s a man or a ghost: It’s not important, though, since all the sources say if you meet him, there’s only one way your story ends: served for dinner.

9. Pope Lick Monster, Kentucky

Kentucky is reportedly home to a mysterious creature called the Pope Lick Monster, located in the greater Louisville area.

It’s a creature that has caused the deaths of numerous people, regardless of the truth of the myth. The place that the creature calls home is the Pope Lick Trestle Bridge.

The half-man, half-goat being waited for people to come by, and then he’s said to use some form of hypnosis to lure people on his bridge.

The Pope Lick bridge isn’t decommissioned by any means — it’s very much an active trainway. Under the goat-man’s spell, his victims walk the tracks until a passing train runs them over.

There are other stories about this that claim he jumps down from the bridge to land on cars passing by.

Whatever the case may be, people have died at the Pope Lick bridge from accidents while trespassing on the train way.

8. Grunch Road Dwarves, Louisiana

Somewhere back in the bayou, down a lane formerly called Grunch Road, lives a group of dwarfs and albino folks, according to a popularly told tale.

It’s said that these people were hassled all the time by residents, while the group wanted nothing more than to live in peace.

Avoiding the world and the jerks that made their lives hell, they became more and more secluded until inbreeding left them barely looking human.

Area pets started disappearing, and when people began to go missing, too, everyone knew to leave them alone.

There’s also a rumor claiming these people hired a type of beast to protect them and drive off anyone coming too close to their territory.

Others say they made a deal with the devil. One thing’s certain: You wouldn’t want to meet them at the end of Grunch Road.

7. Catherine, Maine

The story goes that the woman who gave her name to the state’s Catherine Mountain was Catherine Downing, and she was killed in a tragic accident in 1892.

What type of accident it was is lost to history, but she was buried in a nearby cemetery. At least, her physical form.

Some have claimed to have seen the spirit of Catherine, wandering near the 1,000-foot mountain that shares her name.

Those who come across the spirit have a choice to make: Help her or flee. Kindness is always the best option, as those who choose not to help the lost soul will be cursed with the sort of bad luck that sends vehicles uncontrollably swerving off the road.

The Demon Truck that’s believed to inhabit Ellicott [EL-ih-kut] City’s

6. Seven Hills Road, Maryland

Seven Hills Road is one of the weirder haunting myths around. Instead of this legend surrounding the human spirit, it’s said that the ghost of a truck is what plagues the pavement of Seven Hills Road.

The road itself winds around seven large hills, hence the name, and if the locals’ claims are correct, it seems to be fairly dangerous.

Many in the area believe the accidents caused on this road aren’t due to some drivers’ daredevil speeds but are caused by the phantom headlights said to appear behind vehicles and drive them off the road.”Curtis!!”

5. Pukwudgies Demons, Massachusetts

The very old legend of the Pukwudgies is alive and well in Bristol County, where some locals believe these 2-foot-tall humanoid demons haunt the woods.

Once believed to be helpful creatures in the days before the United States, the Pukwudgies are now said to cause a number of disturbances, ranging from messing with hunters in their woods and throwing stones to abducting people who trespass on their land.

People still claim to see these creatures roaming about, but their appearance seems to have been influenced by European myths of nasty little folk, like gnomes and trolls.

Whatever they look like, their message is clear: Leave the land you’ve ruined alone.

4. Torch Lake Monster, Michigan

Torch Lake is one of the most gorgeous inland lakes in the United States, Michigan and the myth of the Torch Lake monster persists thanks to the generations of storytelling at the nearby summer camps.

Somehow… that makes it even creepier. The monster is believed to be some weird cross between a lizard and a mountain lion and gets blamed by locals for the drownings that occur in the lake.

The creature is said to rise out of the water at night to feed on stragglers still within the lake’s boundaries.

With Torch Lake being a fairly impressive tourist attraction, stories of mysterious drownings without known causes are less than rare, so the myth lives on through those tragedies.

3. Wendigo, Minnesota

In Minnesota, one of the most terrifying legends of the Indigenous peoples is said to roam the thick forests that cover the northern portion of the state.

The Wendigo, one of the most feared man-hunters in all of mythology, has been reported in the state as far back as the end of the Civil War.

The beast feasts on the flesh of humans, but the creepiest part of this myth is that the Wendigo is said to have once been a human itself.

The legends claim men who turned cannibalistic were transformed into creatures 8 to 15 feet tall, covered in white fur, and cursed to yearn for the meat of their former species for the rest of their days.

“It’s in the house… “It’s in the house.”

2. Mercritis, Mississippi

A mythical disease called Mercritis was believed by some to have infected the population of Mississippi in the 1950s. It supposedly caused men to emit a body odor after ingesting massive amounts of lead, oftentimes from paint.

“When was the last time you drank paint?”

“Have you been drinking paint?”

“No.”

When a woman smelled this odor, it would drive her into violent and often murderous insanity. There are even rumors of a riot occurring due to the spread of this mythic sickness.

A book published about the incident claims that the smell men were emitting affected every woman on “a hormonal level,” but only the quote, “pretty women” are the ones who become killers.

It’s highly unlikely the most dedicated researcher won’t find evidence of any of this, though, since believers claim the government covered it up.

1. Zombie Road, Missouri

In Wildwood, Missouri, Lawler Ford Road, or as the local folk call it “Zombie Road,” is a short drive, but within that minuscule stretch of pavement, there’s enough reported paranormal activity that it’s considered one of the most haunted streets in the county.

The stories of Zombie Road are plentiful, from the rising of spectral Indigenous spirits and Confederate soldiers to child ghosts and the lost souls of industrial workers.

Still, the most chilling myth is the tale of a terrifying man who lives in a shack by the road. The locals call him the “Zombie killer,” and he’s said to attack couples who are looking for an inconspicuous location to… get to know each other a little better.