RICHARD'S SCI-FI GALAXY
For Fans of Science Fiction, Horror, Fantasy, Angels & Paranormal Phenomenon...
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. 
BLOODY MARY LEGEND
WHO CAN FORGET THE SCARY STORY OF BLOODY MARY, THE EVIL SPIRIT WHO WILL SCRATCH YOUR EYES OUT WHEN SUMMONED?
MOST PEOPLE HEARD THE BLOODY MARY LEGEND WHEN THEY WERE CHILDREN, LISTENING TO SPOOKY GHOST STORIES AROUND THE CAMPFIRE. THE TALE IS STILL TOLD AT SLUMBER PARTIES, CAMPOUTS, AND LATE-NIGHT BONFIRE PARTIES. THE LEGEND CLAIMS THAT THE EVIL WOMAN CAN BE SUMMONED BY CHANTING "BLOODY MARY" INTO A MIRROR ANYWHERE FROM THREE TO ONE-HUNDRED TIMES IN A DARKENED ROOM LIT ONLY BY A CANDLE. THE BATHROOM IS THE MOST POPULAR SETTING TO TEST OUT THIS LEGEND, BUT OTHER DARK ROOMS SEEM APPLICABLE. AFTER THE GIVEN AMOUNT OF CHANTS, THE SPIRIT WILL THEN APPEAR IN A MIRROR AND CLAW YOUR EYES OUT AND DEATH WILL FOLLOW. OTHER VARIATIONS HAVE HER DRIVING YOU INSANE OR PULLING YOU INTO THE MIRROR, NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN.
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The Cursed Videotape
I was told this story by a friend of mine and her mother when I was about eight years old. My family was somewhat new to town and my friend asked if I knew the story of "Sara Jane Road." 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. I have been out there many times as a young kid, about 18-20 years ago, with slumber parties and such, and have never seen any lights or ghosts. My friends' parents said they had seen these themselves when they were teenagers. I'm not even sure if there ever was anyone with the name Sara Jane that lived in this area. 
EMILY ROSE
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 (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-mall 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 she was really possessed by evil spirits or had epilepsy. Two priests and her parents (who believed she was possessed) were accused of negligent homicide and later foiund guilty of manslaughter.
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Sara Jane Road Legend
URBAN LEGENDS, FOLKLORE My great-great grandmother, who had been ill for some time now, finally passed away. My great-great grandfather was devastated beyond belief. She was his one true love and they had been married for over 50 years. They had been married so long it was if they knew each others thoughts. Even after the doctor announced her dead, my great-great grandfather still insisted that she was not. He had to literally be pried away from his wife's body so they could prepare her for a burial. Back in those days they had simple backyard burial plots, without the body doing through any preservation. The body was simply committed to the coffin and buried. Throughout this process, my great-great grandfather protested so much that he had to be sedated and put to bed. His wife was buried, and that was that. That night, he woke to a horrific vision of his wide hysterically trying to scratch her way out of the coffin. He phoned the doctor immediately and begged to have his wife's body taken out. The doctor refused. He continued to have this nightmare every night that week, and each day after begged the doctor to remove his wife from the grave. Finally, the doctor gave in, and with the local authorities had the coffin removed from the ground and pried open. To everyone's horror and amazement, my great great grandmothers nails were bent back, and there were obvious scratches on the inside of the coffin.
AND MYTHS
URBAN LEGENDS THRIVE ON PEOPLE'S DEEPEST FEARS - THAT OUR SAFE WORLD CAN CRACK AT ANY MOMENT AND A MADMAN WILL CHANGE OUR LIVES FOREVER.
THAT ALONE IS ENOUGH TO GIVE ANYONE SOME SECOND THOUGHTS ABOUT OUR EVERYDAY ROUTINE. LEGENDS AND FOLKLORE TALES RANGE FROM THE MANIACAL SERIAL KILLER TO THE COMPLETELY UNEXPLAINED. EVERYONE LOVES SCARY GHOST STORIES AROUND THE CAMPFIRE OR IN THE fALL, WHEN THE DAYS GET SHORTER, THE NIGHTS GET LONGER - AND THE IMAGINATIONS RUN WILD. CHANCES ARE YOU'LL FIND MANY VERSIONS OF THESE STORIES AS THEY GET PASSED ON FROM PERSON TO PERSON. CHILDREN HAVE A TENDANCY TO TWIST THE PLOTS AND MAKE THEM FIT THEIR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES. THE HALLOWEEN SEASON SEEMS TO BRING OUT THE BEST OF LOCAL URBAN LEGENDS, BOTH OLD AND NEW.
MANY OF THESE SPOOKY STORIES ARE OLD CLASSICS FROM YEARS PAST. THEY MAY NOT BE THE VERSION YOU'VE HEARD, BUT THAT'S WHAT MAKES IT FUN.
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Buried Alive
