Random Creepy Urban Legends About Hitchhikers (10 items)

(#1) The Legend Of Catherine Near Bangor, ME

Local Maine folklore tells of a woman called Catherine - named after a nearby mountain - who wanders Route 182 between between the towns of Franklin and Cherryfield. Like many phantom hitchhikers, Catherine perished in a car accident along this stretch of road and is now cursed to walk its length for all eternity. But there's a twist to this iteration: the poor young woman is said to have been decapitated, and some who see her spirit insist she walks without a head.

And that's not the only terrifying aspect of Catherine's tale. The legend goes, if you do not stop to help the ghost, Catherine will hex you and bring about pain, suffering, or even death. Some tell of an incident involving a motorist who refused to stop for Catherine, only to glance in his rearview mirror and see her severed head resting in his backseat, causing him to crash his car and suffer the same fate as she did.
(#2) The Post-Pearl Harbor Fortuneteller

Snopes writer David Mikkelson shared this hitchhiker tale that became popular in America during WW2:

In the wake of the anxiety rumors that swept the nation immediately after Pearl Harbor came a pipe-dream rumor [that] was undoubtedly the most popular of all: the weird tale of the man who picked up a strange woman in his car. Arriving at her destination, his passenger allegedly offered to pay the man for the gas he had used. But the man refused to accept the money, so the woman offered to tell his fortune. And, as the rumor went, mysteriously she told him, “There will be a dead body in your car before you get home, and Hitler will be dead in six months.”

Supposedly, then, on the way home the man had seen a serious automobile wreck and had taken one of the victims into his car to rush him to the hospital. But the injured person died en route, which left the hopeful implication that Hitler would therefore be dead within the following six months.
(#6) Lydia The Phantom Hitchhiker

Somewhere near High Point, NC, a young woman named Lydia is said to roam the streets, looking for a ride home. As with countless other versions of the phantom hitchhiker legend, Lydia disappears when she arrives at an old railroad passover now known as Lydia's Bridge.

Printed reports of Lydia go as far back as 1924. Some researchers believe the tale may have originated with a fatal car crash in the area in 1920, though the deceased woman in this instance was named Annie Jackson.
(#4) The Black Horse Lake Hitchhiker

In Cascade County, near Great Falls, MT, people say a phantom hitcher like no other in the nation roams there. Drivers on an isolated back road have reported a Native American man who at first seems to be hitchhiking. But as those behind the wheel approach, the man appears to fling himself onto the hood of the car and roll over the windshield, as though he's been hit.

The driver pulls over to check on the man, but of course, he is nowhere to be found, and their car shows no sign of damage.
(#5) The UBC Hitchhiker

Phantom hitchhikers aren't exclusive to American folklore. The University of British Columbia in Vancouver boasts its own version of the legend. Originating in 1966, the story involves a couple who have an argument while driving to the campus library. The fight becomes so heated that the women storms out of the vehicle, only to be struck by oncoming traffic.

Travelers of University Boulevard have since reported seeing a troubled woman seeking a ride, with some accounts indicating she is drenched from rain. If picked up, the woman will, of course, vanish, leaving behind a piece of paper with the library's address written on it.
(#9) Resurrection Mary

Resurrection Mary is a particularly notable example of the vanishing hitchhiker. Many people have reported seeing her in Justice, IL, a town outside Chicago.

Those who have seen her have mostly been men. They report seeing a young, blond hitchhiker in a white dress standing on Archer Avenue between Willowbrook Ballroom and Resurrection Cemetery. Her attire indicates she'd been attending some kind of party or dance. Mary is quiet during the drive and will ask to get out of the car near the cemetery. When she exits, she will disappear in the cemetery or simply vanish from the car.

Some have attempted to attach the Mary story to two women who were killed in car crashes in the 1920s and '30s, Mary Bregovy or Anna "Marija" Norkus.

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