Footprints in the Snow

This urban legend beings with a teenage girl watching the snow fall through the large window in her living room. After only gazing upon the snowflakes for a few moments she saw a man walking toward the large window with deadly purpose. Continuing his alarming stride the man began to pull something shiny out of his coat. Terrified, the teenager dove under her blanket in a fit of terror.

After gaining the nerve to emerge from under the blanket, she dialed the police, who immediately rushed over to the scene to investigate. Upon examining the premises, one of the first things they noticed was that there were no footprints in the snow. At the rate the snow was falling, there was no way they could have been covered that quickly. Puzzled, the officers inspected the residence and noticed wet footprints on the carpet leading straight up to the couch where the girl had been sitting. The officers made the bone chilling discovery that the madman had been behind her the whole time meaning what the young girl had seen in the window was his reflection.

The Chilling Discovery

Most versions of this urban legend being with a young college girl who was up late studying in the library instead of the comfort and safety of her dorm room. Hours had passed when the young girl began to realize she had forgotten something of need in her dorm room. She decided to make the trek back to her dorm to retrieve it. After reaching her destination, the girl opened the door and found her dark room and presumed the lights were off because her roommate was asleep. Not wanting to disturb her roommate’s slumber, she left the light off, grabbed what she needed, and headed back to the library.

After hours of studying, she returned to her dorm room where she found her roommate lying on the floor with a slit throat. Turning on the lights in a panic, the young college girl noticed a message written in lipstick on the bathroom mirror, “Aren’t you glad you didn’t turn on the light?”

Humans Can Lick Too

Much like many other urban legends, this story begins with a young teenage girl living at home with her mother, father and their much loved family dog. Her mother and father left for the night leaving their teenage daughter home alone, thrilled to be spending her first night without the supervision of her parents. After watching several hours of television the girl decided that 11 o’clock would be a suitable time to retire for the night with her trusty dog by her side.

The girl awoke later in the night to a dripping noise coming from the bathroom. The girl lowered her hand down beside her bed to reassure that her dog was still there. She then felt the warmth of his soft tongue as he licked her hand, showing her that he was present. Feeling assured she drifted off to sleep once more. The girl couldn’t stay asleep, each time waking up to the noise and lowering her hand down to her dog, and each time receiving a reassuring lick.

She woke up one last time, still hearing that same dripping noise, she reached for her dog but found he wasn’t there. She went to the bathroom and a horrifying sight met her, the dog had been mutilated and was the source of the dripping noise. She view her dog’s blood slowly falling into a pool of blood. Frantically searching for some source of reason, she looked down and noticed a note written in blood, “Humans Can Lick Too My Beautiful”.

Have a wonderful Halloween filled with horror. The Urban legends were obtained from castleofspirits.com and listverse.com! For the History of Halloween, check out Freedom’s other story, https://fhsrevolution.com/711/entertainment/ghosts-witches-and-werewolves-oh-my/

FSA Connection Questions

1. What does the word suitable mean in the context of “Humans Can Lick Too” in the story?
2. What does the phrase “bone chilling” mean in the opening lines?
3. Can you determine the meaning of Urban Legend from the information in the story?
4. The author seems to offer what connotation of urban legends in general?
5. Select one word from each of the legends that would strike fear in the reader/listener of the story.