The Wizard of Oz Suicide Legend
The Wizard of Oz is one of the most well known movie classics of all time. Almost everyone has seen it, so of course there are bound to be rumors. One, in particular, is the hanging theory -- the urban legend that either a midget or stagehand hanged themselves on film. The question is, what really happened? While most agree that it is in fact false, some still argue that the hanging was real.

 

The suicide scene allegedly takes place when Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man head down the yellow brick road, on their way to Emerald City (after the Wicked Witch leaves.) Deep in the background, a dark figure can be seen.

 

Some say that a distraught munchkin hanged himself. The story says that he was upset because the female munchkin that he loved didn’t feel the same way for him. He then decided to kill himself right on set. Others say that it was a clumsy stagehand who accidentally fell out of a prop tree onto the set, getting caught in a cable of some sort, and was strangled to death.

 

Legend has it that the figure in the forest clearly takes a wooden block, stands on it, hangs himself, and then kicks the block out from underneath. On the other hand, critics argue that it was an exotic bird which was placed on set to give the movie a natural and realistic atmosphere. The moving figure was simply a bird, most likely a crane, flapping its wings and pecking at the ground.

 

The rumor started after the movie came out on VHS tape, which enabled people  to replay the scene over and over. On the small screen, things appear much differently. With the picture being so small, the image wasn’t clear and this lead people to start the rumors. Supposedly, on the big screen it is undeniably a bird.

 

If it really was a suicide, why would they keep it on the final movie? Why not just redo the scene? Some conclude that it was “too expensive” and they were short on money. And why wouldn’t someone notice what had happened? After all, the three actors didn’t react to it or even seem to notice what happened.

   I heard a story about a guy who was driving down a dark country road on his way home from work. He was driving along and he saw a young girl, about 17 or 18 years old, standing on the side of the road. He pulled over and picked her up. He asked her what she was doing out there all alone, and she said she needed to get home very quickly before her parents got upset. So the man took her home, watched her go inside and then he left.

 

As he drove off he noticed that she had left her sweater in his car, so he figured he would bring it back to her tomorrow. He drove home and went to bed. The next morning after breakfast, he went to return the sweater. When he arrived, he knocked on the door and a old woman answered the door. He held out the sweater and told the lady that the girl had left it in his car the night before. All of a sudden the lady started crying and saying, "There is no way she could have left that in your car, she has been dead for 40 years!"

 

The story of the young lady goes this way.....She was on her way home from a high school dance when her boyfriend and her got in to a car accident and died instantly. The ghost of the young lady hangs around, getting men of all ages to pick her up and take her home - always leaving something behind. I have heard this story many times over the years, one
time it was a cop that picked her up, the other times it's just some
tired man driving home from work.

The babysitter story is truly an unforgettable urban legend, told at slumber parties everywhere. The tale has different variations but the spooky and downright terrifying elements remain the same.

 

As the story goes, a teenage girl is hired by a young couple to baby-sit their two small children. They go out to a dinner party and leave the girl to tend to the kids in a somewhat isolated, large house at the end of the block.

 

When the hour gets late, she puts the children to bed and sits down to watch some late-night TV. The phone starts ringing and startles the half-asleep teenager. When she answers it, she hears heavy breathing and a man tells her he is "coming to get her." While she is somewhat scared, she dismisses it as a prank phone call.

 

About 15 minutes later, the phone rings again. When she answers it, the man starts laughing and tells her that he is closer. The baby sitter is truly frightened now and calls the police.

 

They tell her that it's probably just a prank phone call, but they will try to trace the call -- so she must keep him on the line as long as possible if he calls another time. She once again settles down on the couch, not sleepy at all.

 

The phone rings a third time and the man tells her he has come for her and it's only a matter of time. He continues with some heavy breathing until the babysitter is so terrified that she hangs up the phone again.
She quickly decides to get the children and flee the house when the phone rings again. This time it is a policeman on the other end and he tells her frantically "GET OUT OF THE HOUSE NOW!" THE MAN IS INSIDE THE HOUSE AND IS CALLING FROM THE UPSTAIRS EXTENSION!"

One of the most famous, ghostly hitchhikers is Chicago’s Resurrection Mary. Reports and eyewitness accounts attest that beautiful, blonde, Mary was sighted on numerous occasions near Resurrection Cemetery wearing a long, white, flowing gown.

 

The first claims began back in 1930, after young Mary attended a dance at the O'Henry Ballroom (now called The Willowbrook Ballroom) and subsequently had an argument with her boyfriend. Mary fled the scene of the fight and hitchhiked down Archer Avenue on that cold winter night when she was tragically killed in a hit-and-run accident.

 

She was then buried in Resurrection Cemetery, which utilizes heavy bars on the front gate. Witnesses claim that Mary did not pass into the other world because they have seen her ghost haunting both Archer Avenue and the ballroom at which she danced that fateful night.

 

Several things remain common to those who encounter Resurrection Mary. She is a young blond-haired, blue-eyed girl, simply stunning to look at. Her attire has always been a long ball gown and dancing shoes. Her skin is cold and clammy to touch to those who have contact. If she was picked up by a driver, she disappears through the car or asks to be let off when they pass the cemetery.

 

In 1976, a passerby called the police after noticing a woman who appeared to be locked inside Resurrection Cemetery. When the police arrived, the woman was nowhere to be seen but there was physical evidence that the bars on the gate were bent apart. Not only that, her handprints were embedded into the bars.

 

It's unknown just who Resurrection Mary is and exactly what occurred the night she died. Nonetheless, she will remain one of Chicago's favorite ghosts because apparently, she does not want to be forgotten.

Very frightening and extremely intriguing, is the legend of doppelgangers, who prey on their human counterpart. So what is a doppelganger? The term originated in Germany, meaning a "double walker," or "ghostly double" of a living person.

 

Although there is no evidence or solid proof, there are many theories. One theory is that everybody has a body double. Of each, one is good and one is exceptionally evil. Assuming you are the good one, the other one is probably evil, and can be just an apparition trapped in another time or dimension.

 

Urban Legend
Legend has it that if you come face to face with your doppelganger, it's an omen or warning of death -- for both you and your twin. Because of this, if you see a replica of yourself, run for your life. If you keep seeing your doppelganger, chances are that your days are numbered, because you'll soon see your demise.

 

There are many stories regarding encounters with doppelgangers, none of them pleasant. Often, a person does not actually see their own doppelganger, but someone else does. Can you be two places at once? No, but it's a very strange feeling when someone who knows you very well insists that they saw you just thirty minutes ago -- and you were nowhere in the vicinity. Imagine this happening time and time again and you'll soon go insane.

 

Hence, the myth that a doppelganger will precede the arrival of the real person. Many stories explaining their experiences with these apparitions have this in common. Perhaps he's one step ahead of you?

 

 

This urban legend takes place after a school dance, like Homecoming or Prom. It's late at night and the girl gets in her car and starts to drive home. A guy pulls out right behind her and begins to follow.

 

She doesn't think anything of it until she pulls onto a slightly deserted road and he is still behind her. Every so often, the guy flashes his bright headlights, so she begins to be scared.

 

She turns onto an old dirt road (the one she lives on) and starts panicking because he has pulled onto the road right behind her. He still flashes his brights from time to time, still following.

 

She pulls into her drive and jumps out of the car and runs to the house. She yells "Dad, call the police. This guy followed me home all the way from the school!"

 

Before they get a chance to call the police the guy says, "I saw a guy get into your car before you got in and so I followed you home -- trying to warn you. I was flashing my brights because every so often he would reach up with a knife and try to stab you!"

As with any urban legend, the stories are similar. They stray off a little from each other, and add it's own elements of surprise. This makes it very difficult to know which one was the original.

 

A teenage couple drove to Lover's Lane and were making out when the music was interrupted with a special bulletin. The radio announcer said that there was a mass murderer who had just escaped from the local insane asylum and was on the loose. The announcer then urged everyone to "be on the lookout" and stay indoors.

 

Immediately, the girl was frightened and she urged her boyfriend to take her home. He insisted that everything was okay and continued to kiss her. She heard a strange thumping noise, pulled away, and insisted they leave. Although he was irritated, he realized that the mood was broken and drove her on home.

 

When they arrived at her house, her door was stuck and wouldn't open. When the boy walked around to her side of the car to let her out, he was shocked to find a hook lodged in the door handle. Needless to say, they were very lucky that night.

 

Another "Hook" Story
The man with a hook-hand who is stalking young lovers seems to have taken on a life of it's own. Or is that a death of it's own? Sometimes the boyfriend isn't so lucky... Take this one for example:

 

Two young teenagers are totally involved with each other at a wooded area, near a lonesome highway. Suddenly, a special announcement alerts them to the fact that a convicted killer had escaped from the local prison and was armed and dangerous.

The idea of a cursed videotape has been in existence for a very long time at my home in New Orleans, LA. It is a different version from both movies, The Ring, and it's Japanese predecessor, Ringu...

 

I heard the legend of a videotape that will kill you within forty-eight hours after watching it at a bonfire when I was younger. The story behind the legend is that these college girls are having a slumber party and go to rent a video at a local dealer. The girls cannot agree on a film, so one of them asks for help. The clerk states that she has just the thing and disappears into the back room.

 

Meanwhile, one girl sees a box-less tape laying on the counter and reaches toward it. Just then, the clerk comes out from the back and tells her not to touch it and hands her an older film. The girl asks about the first tape, and the woman tells her that it is just a home movie. The girls agree to rent the tape that the woman suggests. While they are checking out, the girl who asked for help swipes the "home movie" tape.

 

Back at their house, the girl tells the others about the tape she swiped and they laugh, telling her that she is dumb for stealing some woman's home movies. Still, they ask her to play the tape. She puts the tape in and then the power goes out -- but the television stays on.

 

The video starts playing and shows a black woman being burned for practicing witchcraft and hoodoo. She utters a curse that all who witness her death will face the same fate in two-days time. The VCR begins to make skipping sounds and then cuts off. As promised, the girls died forty-eight hours after watching the tape. They all met their demise in unrealistic places such as the pool or ice rink.

 

As the story goes, the old highway here in Southeast Texas which is called Sara Jane Road by local residents, is haunted by the ghost of Sara Jane and her baby. Legend has it that in Civil War times Sara Jane's husband was fighting in the war and it was just herself and her newborn that lived in a house out in the woods on this highway along the Neches River.

 

Word got to her that Union soldiers were on their way to her house, so she placed her baby in a wicker basket and set the basket under the wooden bridge that was near her house. She then returned to the house and hung herself from a tree out front.

 

If you stand on the bridge at midnight you can see a light flickering out in the woods that looks like a light of an old lantern and you can hear Sara Jane's moans & hollers, as she is looking for her baby that she left under the bridge. Some people say that on certain nights like Halloween or Friday the 13th you can actually see the ghost of Sara Jane wandering the woods with her lantern in search of her baby.

 

This is not an urban legend. It is a true story about a young woman in Bavaria, Germany who was thought to be possessed by evil spirits and went through a grueling exorcism. Sadly, Anneliese Michel (aka: Emily Rose) did not survive and the controversy regarding her exorcism remains to this day.

 

Anneliese Michel was brought up in a hard-working, faithful catholic family. She was a typical girl who moved to a big city after receiving a scholarship. Not long after starting classes, this 19-year-old college freshman began exhibiting bizarre behavior, typical to those who were thought to be possessed.

 

Distraught, Anneliese then seeks medical advice and the doctor tells her that she experienced a grand-mal seizure and that she has epilepsy. Anneliese then turns to her priest who believes that she is possessed by an evil force.

 

As time passes, it is clear to the priest and her parents that an exorcism must be performed to save her. It was approved by the diocese and began, strangely enough, on Halloween. Lasting for several months, the procedure took it's toll on Anneliese, the priests, and her family.

 

Anneliese was often violent and her behavior was what "normal" people would find repulsive. She engaged in self-mutilation, attacked family members, ate insects, was verbally abusive, and destroyed religious symbols. This all takes it's toll and Anneliese dies a tragic death in 1976, embarrassing the church and outraging others.

 

Forensic evidence concludes that Anneliese starved to death and subsequent investigations into her untimely death leads to arguments as to whether Anneliese was really possessed by evil spirits or had epilepsy. Two priests and her parents (who truly believed that she was possessed) were accused of negligent homicide and later found guilty of manslaughter.