1.The Headless Horseman

The Headless Horseman is rumored to be the ghost of a Hessian soldier who's head was lost to a cannon.

2.Poisoned Halloween Treats (razor apples)

Starting in the mid twentieth century, rumors spread that strangers were tampering with candy. Slipping razor blades into apples or lacing chocolate with poison. Though, it was never confirmed it struck fear into the hearts of people. A night once meant to bring people together now was ruined. 

3.Bloody Mary the Ghost in the mirror

The legend states that if you stand in front of a mirror in a darkened room and chant "Bloody Mary three times" her Ghost will appear. Some say she will scratch you, others say she will show you your future, and some say that she will pull you into the mirror with her. The origins are murky. Some connect her to Queen Mary tudor, some say she was a woman who died tragically and whose spirit was trapped in the mirror.

4. Vampire sightings on Halloween

While being born from European legends, stories of vampires found there way into America and became tied to Halloween. In the 19th century England experienced a vampire panic when people dug up graves, fearing the dead were rising. By the 20th century these tales became commonly told on Halloween. Children would talk about vampires appearing at parties or at cemeteries on Halloween.

5. The Hook

It began appearing in the 1950's, whispered among teenagers as a cautionary tale.The story begins with two couples parked at a quiet spot on Halloween night when a radio warning announces that a dangerous criminal with a hook for a hand has escaped nearby. Nervous, the couples leave, only to find a bloody hook dangling from one of the the car door handles.  This tale mixed romance, danger, and fear. Different  versions spread quickly. In some versions the teenagers actually see the figure, otherwise they drive off narrowly escaping a terrible end. 

6. Stingy Jack and the Jack-o-lantern

Long before Jack-o-lanterns lit the porches of america, people told the tale of Stingy Jack a man so sly he tricked the devil himself. One version tells that Jack invited the devil for a drink but refused to pay. He then convinced the devil to turn into a coin. When the devil did jack slipped the coin into his pocket beside a cross trapping the devil. Jack eventually freed the devil after making him promise not to take his soul. Years later Jack died, but his tricks caught up with him. Heaven turned him away for his wicked life, and hell could not except him because of his bargain he made. Banished from both Jack was left to wander the dark earth for all eternity.

7. New England witches

 In 1692 fear and superstition swept through the Massachusetts town, leading to the Salem witch trials. Neighbors accused neighbors, and before the panic ended, 20 people were executed. Centuries have passed, but, the word Salem still echos with stories of witches. And every Halloween the town is remembered as a place where suspicion and fear became deadly. Out of these trials grew legends of restless spirits said to return every halloween. Some tell of women accused of witchcraft haunting the old gallows hill.

8. Ghost Sightings on Halloween

Halloween has always been tied to the thought of the line between life and death is at it's thinnest. For centuries people have told of strange ghostly figures that appear only on October 31st. Across the United States stories surface of mysterious apparitions, wandering cemeteries, old houses, or lonely roads, returning for just one night before fading with the dawn.Some of the most chilling tales come from small towns where the locals swear the same spirits appear every halloween.

9. Will-o'-the-wisp/ghost lights

For generations, travelers have told of eerie lights appearing in the distance leading them away from safe paths know as will-o'-the-wisps or ghost lights.These glowing lights are said to dance across fields, swamps, lonely roads. In america they became linked to Halloween. Legends often describe the lights as blue, green, or white, floating just above the ground. When followed they seem to move farther away, luring the traveler deeper into the dark.

10. Werewolf sightings on Halloween

 Around the 19th and 20th century stories spread of howls and clawed tracks appearing in small towns after October's first frost. Some claimed these were wolves from the wild. Others swore they were neighbors cursed to transform when the veil between worlds was thin. In parts of the Midwest, farmers told of livestock mauled on Halloween with tracks too large for any natural animal. In new England tales of men with glowing eyes wandering the woods became a staple of late night story telling.