Welcome to creepy New York - a land of lake monsters and wild men, of hook-handed killers and flying blob monsters. There's more to New York than just the city - in fact, it's a whole state, and it's full of its share of strange stories. Many of the urban legends from New York have served as the inspiration for novels, movies, TV shows, and even urban legends in other states. This list looks at some of the strangest urban legends and ghost stories from New York State, from the ghostly tales of its original Dutch settlers to the weird science yarns of its modern inhabitants.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
A Hook-Handed Killer Named Cropsey Haunts Staten Island
New York is the birthplace of many of America's favorite urban-legend themes. The night-stalking killer with a hook for a hand? Yeah, that started in New York.
The hook-handed boogeyman of Staten Island's urban mythology is called Cropsey. It used to be said that Cropsey haunted the area at night and would drag wayward boys and girls to their deaths in the ruins of the old Seaview Hospital. Parents would spook their children with tales and warnings about Cropsey: "Go to bed early, or Cropsey will get you" - that sort of thing.
But the Cropsey legend turned all too real in the 1970s when serial killer Andre Rand allegedly began kidnapping the children of Staten Island. Though a suspect in five cases, Rand was ultimately only convicted for two of them, which was enough to earn him 50 years to life in prison.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Ghost Trains Carry Souls across Hell Gate Bridge
Hell Gate Bridge is a vast steel and stone construction that straddles the East River in NYC - and more than lives up to its name as it is haunted by ghostly trains that carry the souls of the dead.
Local legend tells that the trains carry the souls of people who drowned (or had their bodies dumped) in the River. People who climb the bridge will often see strange lights from trains that never actually arrive, or spectral locomotives dragging cars full of lost souls. Mafia victims, old Dutch explorers, and suicide victims all sit next to each other in the carriages, sharing one last ride to the hereafter. Or perhaps their souls are trapped on the trains in a private sort of hell. Either way, the story is no less unnerving for its anachronisms.
