Whether you live in a tiny village or New York City, chances are that someone has told you or emailed you a scary, unbelievable, or funny story that was told to them by "a friend of a friend" that they really believe is true, but that nobody is able to confirm or deny with any conviction. Some are adapted from true events and others are completely fabricated, but they all fall under the category of urban legends which are the modern versions of folk stories. Read on to hear about some of the most common urban legends.

The Hook

There are many different versions of the hook legend, but all of them feature a pair of lovers on a dark road at night and an escaped mental patient or serial killer with a hook where one of his hands should be. In some versions, the couple sees or hears something and high tails it back to their property assuming they're imagining things, only to find a hook somewhere on the car. In other versions, one or both of the lovers are killed by the hook man after leaving the vehicle.

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High-Beams

This urban legend fooled many law enforcement departments in Canada and the United States enough that they thought to warn their citizens. In this legend, gang members or other criminals (sometimes serial killers) drive around with their headlights off. When a contentious driver on her way home from an appointment flashes her brights at him, he chases her down and kills her, usually on a deserted road.

Licking Dog

In this legend, a single person (usually young and female) or a group of girls having a sleepover are unsupervised in the house while their parents leave a dog to watch over them. Despite hearing sounds in the night, they are lured back to sleep when the dog licks their hand. In the morning, or after being awakened by a steady dripping, the girl finds the dog (and the rest of the sleepover members) gruesomely murdered, along with the message: "humans can lick too" written in blood.

Killer in the Backseat

This urban legend sometimes bears resemblance to older morality tales. In it, a lone person (usually a woman) is tormented (usually on a dark road) by an erratic driver who is flashing his brights and attempting to ram her. When she pulls off at a rest stop, a person (sometimes a sketchy looking person she is inclined to mistrust) informs her that there is someone in her backseat and that the person behind her was keeping him from killing her.