Wait, People Actually Believe These Local Ghost Stories?

If you ever find yourself wandering Japan at night, watch out for Kuchisake-Onna. Once a beauty, now she’s rocking a scar from ear to ear. Legend says her jealous samurai hubby did the damage ages ago. Nowadays, she hides behind a surgical mask and loves chatting up solo travelers.

Here’s the kicker: she asks, "Am I pretty?" Say yes? She reveals that scary smile and asks again. Say yes again? You’re in trouble with a slashy makeover to match hers. Say no? Or scream? She’s got scissors ready to send you packing... permanently. Yeah, no happy endings here.

Urban legends are like fairy tales for grown-ups—told as true, set in ordinary places, and packed with mystery. Japan's Kuchisake-Onna mixes ghostly scares with real worries about beauty and betrayal.

Travel over to Fairfax County, Virginia, and you might run into the Bunny Man by the Colchester Overpass. Picture this: a scary rabbit dude who escaped a mental facility in the ’70s, started living in the woods, and started hanging rabbits from trees.

The Bunny Man became a Halloween legend, supposedly still haunting the bridge with his axe, scaring thrill-seekers every year. Official evidence? Nope. But that doesn’t stop the Halloween crowds!

In Nigeria, students dread Madam Koi Koi, a ghost known for her clicking red heels echoing through dorms at night. She’s talked about as a vengeful ex-teacher who lost her job—and her mind—and now haunts the halls, shutting down schools in terror.

London’s Talbot Hotel has a sobbing lady in white (sometimes black) who’s said to be Mary, Queen of Scots. She’s often spotted on a historic staircase, crying her heart out before her execution centuries ago.

When the Talbot Hotel was rebuilt, stones from the original castle—and its spooky stairway—were reused. Guests and staff swear they’ve seen Mary’s ghost taking slow, mournful steps and heard her tears in the night.