According to Merriam-Webster, the first known use of "urban legend" was in 1968, though it was Jan Harold Brunvand, professor of English at the University of Utah, who popularized the term in a series of books she began publishing in 1981.

Bloody Mary allegedly appears as a corpse, witch or ghost and can be friendly or evil depending on historic variations of the legend.

Doomed to walk the earth in search of her children after she drowned them, La Llorona or the "Wailing Woman" is said to take children and drown them in the river.

In this legend from Japan, Kuchisake-onna or the "Slit-Mouthed Woman" is a malevolent figure with a partially covered face, carrying a sharp weapon. She asks potential victims if they think she is attractive. If they respond "no", she kills them. If they say "yes", she will reveal that the corners of her mouth are slit from ear to ear, and she will then repeat her question. If the individual responds "no", she will kill them and if they say "yes", she will cut the corners of their mouth in such a way that resembles her own disfigurement.

The legend of the Jersey Devil states that in 1735, finding out she was pregnant with her 13th child, Mother Leeds cursed the child crying out that it would be "the devil". Born a normal child, the 13th child changed to a creature with hooves, a goat's head, bat wings and a forked tail. Growling and screaming, it beat everyone in the room with its tail, then flew up the chimney and out into the forest. Prior to the early 1900s, it was known as the Leeds Devil or the Devil of Leeds and later became known as the Jersey Devil.

As the story goes, a child ate several bags of Pop Rocks and drank soda. The two substances combined in his stomach and exploded, "killing him horribly". However, Pop Rocks generate less gas than half a can of soda and ingesting them could induce nothing worse in the human body than a hearty, non-life-threatening belch. Today, the same rumors circulate about Diet Coke and Mentos candy.

"A Night with the Jersey Devil" was released as a "Halloween treat" in 2008 by Bruce Springsteen. He included a note for this single that read: Dear Friends and Fans, if you grew up in central or south Jersey, you grew up with the "Jersey Devil." Here's a little musical Halloween treat. Have fun!--Bruce Springsteen

The story of the choking dog generally involves a protective pet found by its owner gagging on human fingers lodged in its throat. As the story unfolds, the dog's owner discovers an intruder who is suffering from blood loss from his torn off fingers.

In this urban legend, a man will pick up a female hitchhiker who subsequently vanishes without explanation, often from the moving vehicle.

In 1935, the Commissioner of New York City's Sewers, Teddy May, reported that several inspectors had spotted alligators in the city's underground tunnels and set out to rid the city of the gators. No sightings were filed during the campaign, and he declared the sewers "safe" once again. In the 1950s, stories began to resurface, involving families who flushed pet alligators down the toilet when they got too big. The alligators would grow to enormous sizes from eating sewer rats and garbage and become albino due to the lack of sunlight. No actual proof of alligators in the sewers, albino or otherwise, has ever surfaced.