Growing up, urban legends were staples of spooky stories that were told around campfires or over Skype to freak out friends. These terrifying tales often revolved around common fears such as the boogeyman, haunted houses, and the dangers of wandering off alone. While they used to be reserved for telling on stormy nights with a flashlight under your chin, urban legends have become more accessible over time with books, TV shows, and movies dedicated to bringing these scares back into our lives. These modern retellings of well-known folklore have brought back classic creepers like Mary and led us down new paths such as Slenderman and Tubers. With so many different takes on these classic tales floating around, we’ve decided to cover some of the most memorable ones that keep you up at night.

Bean Baby:

When you’re a kid, you’re often told to eat your veggies—but according to the legend of the bean baby, you should do it the right way or risk having a creature come to life inside you. The story goes that if you eat a baked bean and don’t chew it well enough, a bean baby will sprout inside your stomach. While the story has become more common thanks to its inclusion in a few TV shows, the idea of a freakish creature growing inside of you definitely has a place in this urban legend list. The story is so believable that it has been used for decades as a warning to children about the importance of chewing their food. However, it may not be as harmless as it seems. While the bean baby has been a staple of spooky stories for decades, there were a few recorded cases of people actually experiencing a bean baby growing inside of them. The earliest account was in 1898 when a German woman reported a strange lump growing inside of her. Doctors removed it and found that it was a large bean that had been growing inside her for years.

Slenderman:

Slenderman is one of the most well-known urban legends thanks to the popular online game and even a movie that has been released recently. The story revolves around a thin, terrifying creature that lives in the woods and keeps children away from civilization. The creature was inspired by an online story that was posted in 2009 and has since become a terrifying internet legend. Some people have even said that they have seen the creature in real life, leading to theories that the internet story has somehow caused the creature to come to life. While the internet has become littered with pictures of the slenderman, the legend has also been featured in a few movies.