I grew up in Waco, Texas, and as young people everywhere, we enjoyed telling scary stories, the more outrageous, the better. As teenagers, one of our favorites was The Hook. Cameron Park was an ideal place for parking and making out, the perfect backdrop for this heart stopping tale.
As the story goes, a young couple parked one night at Lover's Leap, a well-known cliff where supposedly Indian lovers from two warring tribes, jumped to their death rather than be parted. As the teenagers make out, the young woman is nervous, says she hears a noise, like scratching. The boy insists she's imagining things. Suddenly a face appears at the passenger window. The girl screams, the guy starts the car, throws it into reverse and they roar from the parking lot.
They arrive at her home shaken. When he exits the car and rounds the vehicle to help her out, he finds a hook hanging from the door handle. The parents call the police and they learn the man with the hook for a hand preys upon teens. He kills the boy and rapes the girl before killing her.
As an adult, I've learned most every town with a park has a similar story. But at the time, it scared us witless and we loved every shiver.
How about you. What scary story do you remember from childhood?
Linda
Linda LaRoque ~Western Romance with a Twist in Time~ A Law of Her Own, Forever Faithful. Desires of the Heart, 3-9, My Heart Will Find Yours, 5-9, Flames on the Sky, Investment of the Heart coming 5-9, When the Ocotillo Bloom 7-9.
www.lindalaroque.com/ http://wwww.lindalaroqueauthor.blogspot.com/
17 comments:
The one I remember is the White Lady.
A man drives down the road and passes a cemetery. Just past the entrance is a young woman in a white dress. He stops and asks if she is okay. The woman says yeah, her car broke down and could he give her a ride home. The man hesitates and then says sure. They have a quiet ride to her house. He gets out of the car and rings the bell to make sure someone is home. He tells them, he found their daughter along side the road and points to the passenger side of his car. Which is now empty. The couple tell him that their daughter has been dead for 20 years. She'd been killed by a man who'd stopped to 'help' her after her car broke down. But every year on the anniversary she still tries to come home.
Oh, my, gosh, Beth. We heard that one too. Last night while writing this I couldn't remember the entire story, but it had to do with a car and a woman in a white dress.
Small world.
Thanks for commenting.
Linda
I had a book when I was in elementary school that had all these urban legends in it. Both the White Lady and The Hook were in it.
I remember the game Bloody Mary. You would go into a darkened room with a mirror and turn out the lights. You'd close your eyes and say Bloody Mary so many times while turning in a circle. When you opened your eyes you were supposed to look in the mirror and see Bloody Mary.
Hi Linda - I studied urban legends in college and the Hook is the most famous of them - probably known around the world. My story is true - it's called Denton Lights - in Detroit where I grew up there was an empty dirt road in the rural remote part of the region where, if you drove down it on a foggy night, a wavery, single light would follow you down the road, said to be a murderer I think. At 18 a bunch of us went to Denton Road on a foggy night and REALLY SA THE LIGHT! Screaming we took off and never went back again - lynn romaine
Should I admit I was afraid of Bigfoot?
Hi all. I have heard all these stories and love them all. The one about the lady in the flowing white gown was on Lifetime, one of those mystery hours. Now here's a real one from Pittsburgh. When we were kids, my brother, sister and me went to a friend's. It began pouring down rain and we went to the basement to play games. One of us lit a candle and we had a seance. And when someone tapped on the window and pressed his or her face on the window, all distorted, we all screamed bloody murder. Our friend leaned down and blew out the candle and caught her hair on fire!
Hi Emma,
I'd like to see that book. Still love to read that stuff.
I remember hearing about Bloody Mary, but not the specifics. Thanks for telling us.
Linda
www.lindalaroque.com
Lynn,
What a great story. Did you ever figure out what the light was or do you truly think it was a ghost?
In Marfa, Texas, they have what they call the Marfa Lights. Have a roadside park along Hwy 67 where you pull off and watch for them. It was featured on Unsolved Mysteries, too.
Linda
www.lindalaroque.com
Shkye,
I think if I ever saw Big Foot, it'd scare the bejeebers out of me.
Linda
www.lindalaroque.com
LOL, Sharon. I hope she wasn't hurt. Never tried the seance or the Wiji (sp) Board. But my daughter and her friends did. Kids are so much fun.
Linda
www.lindalaroque.com
I had a real scary experience with the Ouiji board as a kid.
It said it was possessed by a spirit.
And one nite we hear paper tearing. In the morning the paper on the top of the board was torn half off. It also predicted some things that came true. So we stopped using it. I still think that spirit is following me sometimes!
Yikes, Mary. That's scary.
Linda
www.lindalaroque.com
Well, growing up where it was okay to be intuitive and where my parents believed you when you said you saw a ghost or knew something, you kind of got used to seeing things. Add to that an aunt who read tea leaves and a grandmother who read tarot, some intersting things happened.
Good for your family, Gina. I know I saw a ghost in our house when we lived in the Fort Worth area.
Bet you can tell some awesome stories.
Linda
www.lindalaroque.com
I have chills remembering all those great haunting stories. The one I remember best the made a movie. It's the one about the babysitter getting menacing calls and when the police trace the call they find out it's coming from in the house. It's an old one but it is still unsettling. Great blog!
Angelica Hart and Zi
Oh, yes, the hook story always made me shiver! I've never heard the lady in a white dress story. I have heard similar hitchhiker stories. Either the driver is a ghost or the passenger.
I always loved to tell ghost stories when I was at a sleepover.
remember the old "creature feature" show that was on Saturday afternoons? it always had stuff like "the blob" or "little shop of horrors" then the show like "twilight zone" or "night gallery" were terrific. EErie enough to give you shivers but not gross.
A really cute movie is "monster squad" its like a beginners guide to grade B horror movies.
Enjoy!
Jen
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