Every ghost story on Earth, checked against the record.
570 legends. For each one we separate what the documents actually say from what people tell each other after dark.
Bibi-Khanym: The Kiss Legend That Birthed the Veil
She kissed a stranger through her veil, and the mark it left is why, legend says, Central Asian women started covering their faces. That is the…
The Veli: Fiji’s Hairy Little People of the Forest
Fijian villagers still leave a plate of food at the treeline when someone new arrives, and old hunters still refuse to whistle after dark in certain…
Foolhudhigu Handi: The Maldives’ Umbilical Cord Monster
Foolhudhigu Handi doesn't crawl or lunge. It digs. A creature trailing its own umbilical cord, scooping mud and sand over its body with a human skull,…
Dab Tsog: The Hmong Nightmare Spirit Blamed for 117 Deaths
Dab Tsog doesn't knock, and it doesn't need a door. It comes while you sleep, sits its full weight on your chest, and presses the breath…
Kanaima: The Guyanese Sorcerer Legend That Killed a Scholar
Deep in the highland interior of Guyana, people speak of a kind of sorcerer called a kanaima (also spelled kanaimà), said to carry out slow, ritualized…
The Wawa con Bigotes: Bolivia’s Mustached Baby Legend
The Wawa con Bigotes (Quechua/Spanish for “the baby with a mustache”) is a Bolivian urban legend from Sucre, in the Chuquisaca department, about a creature that…
Ali: The Shapeshifting Forest Demon of Georgian Folklore
Deep in the beech forests of the Georgian highlands, herders still warn each other not to answer if something calls their name near a riverbank at…
Umm al-Subyan: The Shapeshifting Jinn Blamed for Yemen’s Infant Deaths
She never shows up looking like a monster. Umm al-Subyan first appears as your mother, your wife, or a cousin you trust — and only afterward…
Not on Wikipedia yet
Legends famous in their own language that English reference sites haven't caught up to. We write them first.