15 Small-Town Myths and Legends That Make the Jersey Devil Look Like Snuffleupagus

The USA is enormous. Enoooooormous. And there are so many goddamn places in it. Think about it — even if every state only had 10 places worth knowing about, that would still be 500 places. But there are so, so many more than that — tiny-ass hamlets, big-ass cities, giant-ass woods, enormous-ass canyons and everything in between.

Places need stories. They’re what turn somewhere from a geographical feature to somewhere you can come from. It’s no wonder, then, that a lot of these too-many places have developed myths and legends — tales of cryptids, tragedies and murderers eternally tied to specific spots. 

Most of them are almost certainly nonsense, but if you find yourself in an overgrown forest at night, engine spluttering, shadows taking on unsettlingly predatory shapes, they don’t necessarily feel it…