Urban Legends, Folklore and Myths

Urban legends thrive on people's deepest fears -- that our safe world can crack at any moment and a madman will change our lives forever. That alone is enough to give anyone some second thoughts about our everyday routine.

Legends and folklore tales range from the maniacal serial killer to the completely unexplained. Everyone loves scary ghost stories around the campfire or in the Fall, when the days get shorter, the nights get longer -- and imaginations run wild.

Chances are you'll find many versions of these stories as they get passed on from person to person. Children have a tendency to twist the plots and make them fit their particular circumstances. The Halloween season seems to bring out the best of local urban legends, both old and new.

Many of these spooky stories are old classics from years past. They may not be the version you've heard, but that's what makes it fun. With the help of our readers, we've got many variations, some relating to ghosts, the supernatural, and hoaxes. These legends are not suitable for young children or the faint of heart. If you've got nerves of steel, proceed with caution...

Get comfortable, dim the lights and read through some classic as well as modern urban legends, myths and folklore. Did it really happen, or was it just a figment of someone's imagination?

Let`s start right away with this one....(as you wished Draztic... )

The flying Dutchman


The doomed ship that is said to roam the seas forever. Thanks to the movie, "Pirates of the Caribbean", we kind of get the idea of the Flying Dutchman. Though nowhere in the legends, does it say that the captain and his crew are made to look like some kind of half-human, half-fish creatures, but we will just leave that part to Hollywood.

There are many different versions about the Flying Dutchman, one thing that stays consistent is that fact that if another ships has the misfortune of actually seeing the ship, they will have something bad happen to them.

In the year 1641, there was a ship sailing in the ocean, on it's way back home from a trip to the far east. The captain of this ship was Captain Van Der Decken, he is said to have not feared anything. There was a storm brewing and the crew of the ship wanted to go back to port and wait the storm out, but the captain did not want to hear any of that. He was going to sail straight through it no matter what anybody said.

Dark clouds were looming, the storm was getting worse but the captain was not about to turn back. It is said that, just as it seemed the storm was settling down and the skies began to look clearer, the ship hit some treacherous rocks. The ship was now sinking, the storm wasn't over yet, at that moment when the crew had lost all hope for survival, the captain swore an oath to the devil. He said " I will round this cape, even if I have to keep sailing until dooms day." The ship sank off the Cape of Good Hope.

There have been many sightings of the phantom ghost ship by sailors. The most famous sighting has to be that of King George V, while he was a crewman aboard the HMS Bacchante. In 1881 it is said that he seen the Flying Dutchman, it was written down in the ships log, they saw a ship that was glowing red and they could make out every detail of the ship. When the Bacchante sailed closer, the ghost ship vanished, where the ship was at, the waters were calm. Unfortunately the first man on board the Bacchante to notice the Flying Dutchman, died later that day when he fell from the crows nest.

There was another reported sighting of the Flying Dutchman in 1939, the difference with this sighting is that, the ship was sighted by a dozen people who were on shore. In 1942 there was also a sighting of the now famous ship, it is said that the ship entered the Table Bay, right before their very own eyes the ship just vanished into thin air. Mariners used to nail horse shoes to the mast of their ships in order to ward off the curse of the Flying Dutchman.

Even though there have been sightings of the Flying Dutchman, there is still no evidence that the ship really exists. Even though there is no physical proof of the ship, does not mean that this legand can't be real. We as human being believe in things that are not proven, yet we still believe. Just because something is unproven does not mean it isn't true.

awesome story girl....i think it was pittster or draztic that requested this tho cuz i just asked what a flying dutchman was and had no clue! ahahahaha

starchang wrote:awesome story girl....i think it was pittster or draztic that requested this tho cuz i just asked what a flying dutchman was and had no clue! ahahahaha

my bad it was Draztic who asked..lol..i edited it already...

thanks sis and draztic

Ty Mara, the oldest Urban legend from the Netherlands and known around the world.

I've actually known this story for as long as I can remember, don't even know where i learned it from. Thanks for posting it though, good to hear it again properly insyead of the disney version lol

Draztic wrote:Ty Mara, the oldest Urban legend from the Netherlands and known around the world.

atleast something we Dutch folks can do hu...

Power to the dutchpeople

Draztic wrote:Power to the dutchpeople