Today I am chatting once again about something that’s near and dear to my heart: urban legends.
So I’ve been deep diving into urban legends lately (because apparently that’s what I do for fun now), and I can’t stop thinking about how freaking perfect some of these would be in fantasy novels or movies. I mean, we’ve got vampires and werewolves covered to death, but what about some of the genuinely weird stuff that people actually claim happens in our world? Let me take you on a journey through some of the strangest urban legends I’ve found and how they could totally work in a magical setting.
First up, let’s talk about the Elevator Game. This Japanese urban legend involves a ritual that purportedly sends the participant to an alternate world if done correctly, and involves a mysterious woman. Picture this: you’re in some fantasy city with magical elevators powered by arcane crystals, and there’s this whole underground cult that uses them to slip between dimensions. The woman could be some sort of dimensional guardian or maybe a trapped soul seeking revenge. I’m getting serious Silent Hill vibes here, and honestly, after watching James McAvoy absolutely nail the psychological horror in Split, I think he’d be perfect as someone slowly losing their mind to these elevator journeys.
But wait, it gets better. Have you heard of the Kuchisake-onna? She’s described as a malicious spirit who partially covers her face with a mask and carries scissors, asking victims if they think she is beautiful. Now imagine this in a world where beauty magic is real – maybe she was a court sorceress whose vanity spell went horribly wrong, and now she’s trapped between dimensions, eternally seeking validation while punishing those who can’t see past physical appearance. Think Charlize Theron’s Evil Queen energy from Snow White and the Huntsman, but way more psychologically twisted.
Speaking of Japanese legends, the Kunekune is absolutely fascinating. It’s described as an indiscernible white object, similar to a tall, slender strip of paper that shimmers and wiggles as if moved by wind, even on windless days. In a fantasy setting, this could be some sort of reality tear – a place where the fabric between worlds has gotten so thin that you can see the magic itself trying to break through. Maybe it’s beautiful from a distance but drives you mad if you get too close, kind of like how the One Ring affects people in Lord of the Rings. I can totally see this being used in something like the Netflix series Dark, where reality keeps folding in on itself.
Then there’s the Jersey Devil, which already sounds like fantasy but gets even better when you dig into it. Born as a cursed thirteenth child in 1735, the bat-winged and cloven-hooved creature has been terrorizing New Jersey’s Pine Barrens ever since. This screams tragic backstory for a fantasy anti-hero. Maybe in a world where bloodline magic matters, the thirteenth child of a powerful family is destined to become something monstrous, but they retain their humanity and struggle with their nature. Tom Hiddleston would absolutely crush this role – he’s got that perfect mix of dangerous and sympathetic that would make you root for the monster.
Now here’s something that really got my attention: the Dover Demon. It’s a creature reportedly sighted in Dover, Massachusetts in 1977, and while the legend doesn’t give us much detail in what I found, the name alone suggests something otherworldly that briefly crossed into our reality. In a fantasy context, this could be a scout from another realm, maybe sent to assess whether our world is ready for invasion or contact. Picture something like the creatures from A Quiet Place, but instead of sound sensitivity, they’re testing our magical potential.
But here’s where it gets really interesting – what about legends that are already partially fantasy? Take the Night Marchers from Hawaii. These are said to be spirits of ancient warriors who traverse sacred paths throughout the islands during the night, often accompanied by drums and conch shells. This is already magical, but imagine expanding it: in a fantasy archipelago where the dead don’t rest unless their honor is satisfied, you could have entire armies of ghostly warriors marching eternal patrols. The sound design alone would be incredible – think of how the Nazgûl screams gave everyone chills in the Lord of the Rings movies.
The Wendigo is another legend that’s ripe for fantasy adaptation. It’s a creature of Native American folklore thought to result from cannibalism, where a person transforms into a tall, skeletal, hairy creature with fangs if they resort to eating human flesh. In a fantasy world dealing with famine or war, this could be the ultimate moral choice storyline. Imagine a character like Gollum from LOTR, but instead of being corrupted by a ring, they’re slowly transforming because they made an impossible choice to survive. The horror isn’t just in the monster they become, but in understanding exactly why they made that choice.
Here’s a fun fact that blew my mind: Urban legends about hotel guests discovering dead bodies hidden under their mattresses have actually been confirmed multiple times, with at least a dozen newspaper stories documenting such cases (Mental Floss). Now imagine this in a fantasy inn where the dead don’t stay dead unless properly buried. Guests keep complaining about strange dreams and cold spots, not realizing they’re literally sleeping on top of restless spirits. This could be like a magical murder mystery where the inn itself is the crime scene, and each night brings new supernatural evidence.
The Bloody Mary legend has already been done to death in horror movies, but I think we’re missing the real potential here. Originally, unmarried women would look in mirrors to see the face of their future husband, but if destined to die alone, they’d see a skull. In a world where scrying magic is real, this could be a coming-of-age ritual gone wrong. Maybe there’s a magical academy where students must face the Mirror of Truth to learn their destiny, but sometimes the mirror shows them futures they can’t accept, driving them to try to change fate itself.
What really fascinates me about urban legends is how they reflect our deepest fears about the modern world. The Chupacabra, for instance, first appeared in the 1990s, right when genetic engineering was becoming a real thing people worried about. First reported in Puerto Rico during the 1990s, this mysterious beast allegedly stalks livestock and leaves behind drained carcasses with puncture wounds. In a fantasy setting where magical experimentation is common, this could be a creature escaped from a wizard’s laboratory, representing the fear of magic being used irresponsibly.
I keep thinking about how perfectly these would work in something like The Witcher universe, where monsters are often the result of magical accidents or curses. Henry Cavill’s Geralt already deals with creatures that have tragic backstories – imagine him tracking down a Kuchisake-onna who’s terrorizing a kingdom, only to discover she was once a beloved queen whose court magician’s beauty spell became her curse.
The thing that gets me most excited about these legends is that they’re already doing the heavy lifting of being believable. People actually think these things might be real, which means they’ve got that perfect balance of “this could happen” and “this is absolutely terrifying.” When you transplant them into a fantasy world where magic actually exists, suddenly they become not just possible, but inevitable.
I’d love to see someone like Guillermo del Toro tackle these kinds of stories. He’s got such a gift for making monsters sympathetic while still being genuinely scary. Remember how he handled the Pale Man in Pan’s Labyrinth? That creature was terrifying but also oddly tragic, and that’s exactly the tone these urban legends deserve.
The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that urban legends are just fantasy stories that happen to take place in our world. They follow all the same rules – ordinary people encountering the extraordinary, moral lessons wrapped up in supernatural consequences, and that delicious ambiguity about whether any of it’s really true.
What urban legends would you want to see adapted into fantasy? I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface here, and honestly, I could probably write a whole series just exploring different legends and how they’d work in magical settings.
Until next time, keep your mirrors covered and your elevators ordinary!
