Hanging Woman

• The story goes that one Halloween night, trick or treaters walked by a Halloween decoration of a lynched person dangling beneath a tree and paid it no mind. Over time, however, it would be realized that the lynched woman was in fact not a Halloween decoration, but real -- she had committed suicide on Halloween night, and no one was the wiser. According to Cracked, the urban legend is based on the true story of a 42-year-old woman in Frederica, Del. who hanged herself before Halloween night and managed to hang there until the next day.
  
  

Imitated Hanging

• According to the legend, a few small-town teenagers put on a Halloween show when one of the cast members pretended to hang himself in front of the audience. This imitated hanging, however, accidentally turned into a real hanging, and the teenager died. This urban legend, unfortunately, is also true and has been recorded in local newspapers such as the Michigan Daily.
  
  

The Hook

• This tale is a classic example of a Halloween urban legend, first referenced in the 60s and retold through pop culture (referenced in the movie "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and spoofed in an episode of the TV series "Daria," as just two examples). The tale begins with a teenage couple parked in a car at Lover's Lane in the middle of Halloween night. The couple stop when they hear a screeching sound against the car and they quickly leave. When the guy gets out of the car, he finds a hook and arm attached to the car door. Other variations of this tale describe a breaking news story playing over the car radio, announcing a serial killer with a hook for a hand had escape the local mental institution.
  
  

Bloody Mary

• The story and ritual of Bloody Mary is arguably one of the oldest urban legends of Halloween. The legend claims that an evil woman will appear if, on Halloween, you stand before the mirror in almost complete darkness and chant the words "Bloody Mary" three times. The story varies from three times to one hundred times. This tale has no root in fact, and the origins of Bloody Mary remain largely unknown.