Sedona! The Grand Canyon! Auston Matthews! Sonoran hot dogs!
All great things hailing from Arizona. Largely pleasant and un-spooky things too,
unless you count that whole issue with the security guard and a pair of expensive pants.
But that’s not what you’re here for, right? You don’t want the fun, the safe. You want
the scary and supernatural! Well, ask and you shall receive!
The arid deserts and hot hot heat in Arizona have given birth to many tall tales and spectral
encounters, so let’s take a look at some of the top options.
Hello horror heads, and welcome back to the scariest channel on YouTube: Top5 Scary Videos!
I’m your horror host, Keegan Hughes, and today we’re going to be counting down the
Top 5 Scary Arizona Urban Legends You Won’t Believe!
Before we get started, make sure to give this video a big thumbs up, and subscribe for more
Phoenix freaks! Perfect, let’s get going.
NUMBER FIVE: THE MOGOLLON MONSTER If you’ve ever taken a drive up the 87,
you might have come across a set of very colourful, very large footprints tracked across the highway.
While these particular prints were put there by people, they are in homage to the Mogollon
Monster: AKA Arizona’s answer to Bigfoot. This big beastie lives along the Mogollon
Rim, and has been seen from Prescott all the way to Clifton.
Sightings of this monster date back to as early as 1903, with plenty of reports of video,
tracks, and hair samples appearing since. People claim that the Mogollon Monster is
a bipedal humanoid, towering over most at 7 feet tall, leaving behind 22-inch footprints.
Like most ape-like beasts in the woods, it has crazy strength, and wild eyes.
Some claim it’s covered in long black hair, and others say it’s reddish-brown.
Maybe it changes with the seasons, or maybe there’s more than one!
The Mogollon Monster is also known for smelling really, really bad.
Like dead fish, skunk, BO, peat moss, and snapping turtle musk.
I’d hide out in the woods if people said that about me, too.
Part of the reason that it is so rarely sighted is that it tends to be active at night.
It will hunt and gather all sorts of different foods under cover of darkness, and make little
nests for itself. If you every stumble across one of these pine-needle
refuges, get the hell out of there. This beefy monster is known to be very territorial,
and very violent. It reportedly likes to decapitate deer and
other wildlife before digging in, and if it can pull the dome off a deer, it can pop your
top off like a bottle of Coke. Be careful if you hear any weird noises, too,
because the Mogollon Monster likes to mimic other wildlife.
Birds, coyotes, it even has been reported to shriek like a woman in distress. So don’t
go running off to save the damsel, because you might find yourself face-to-face with
a very hairy hunter. Tie up your supplies if you’re camping,
as the monster also likes to rummage through stuff left out.
NUMBER FOUR: EL CHUPACABRA Ah, the southwest classic.
Such a strange creature, the Chupacabra. Is it an alien? A demon dog? Something else?
Also known as the goatsucker, these cryptids love to feed on livestock, attacking in the
night. Farmers and other animal-owners have often
found their creatures totally hollowed out following particularly dark nights.
Common features of Chupacabra attacks are a complete lack of blood and puncture wounds
in the neck and hindquarters. The wounds are always super clean. No signs
of struggle, or messiness. Sometimes there are weird injuries, too.
Cattle often have their anuses “cored out” and somehow, even with these brutal injuries,
no blood is found. Do the goatsuckers inject some sort of sedative?
Do they have magical powers? We may never know.
One theory is that they have wings, and descend on their prey and drain them before they have
time to react. This would also explain the lack of tracks
that accompany Chupacabra attacks. Although, if they were so quick and clever,
wouldn’t they also attack humans? Maybe our blood just doesn’t taste as good.
Now, this legend didn’t start in Arizona, but it’s now quite prevalent.
El Chupacabra seems to have originated in Puerto Rico, and made its way through Latin
America, eventually spreading to the Southwestern states.
Now you’d be hard-pressed to find an Arizonan without some sort of Chupacabra story.
Tuscon resident Billy Nubian claims that he saw one attacking his goats late one night.
He was startled awake by the panicked sounds of his goats bleating.
Running outside to investigate, he saw a huge rat-like creature pinning one of his goats.
It then turned to face Billy, let out a blood-curdling scream, and ran off into the dark.
Sarah A. has a similar story, where she encountered a half-man half-ape creature crouching frog
style in her yard. Freaky.
NUMBER THREE: SKINWALKERS These Navajo legends have been sighted all
over, but have quite a reputation in Arizona. Medicine men, possessed by spirits, having
to choose between good and evil. Often hermits, having been exiled from their
communities. They take the forms of many animals, and travel
through the wastes. If driving through the arid desert at night
wasn’t unsettling enough, just wait til you hear about what skinwalkers like to do.
Often, they’ll travel alongside lone vehicles in the dark, even if the car is hoofin it.
They will tap on the windows of the vehicle, trying to get the driver’s attention.
If the driver stops to see what’s going on, and gets out of the car, it’s not likely
that they’re coming back. Yeesh.
There are some hotspots that locals try to avoid at night.
Apparently there is a ranch that has been given the nickname Skinwalker Ranch, thanks
to the huge amounts of reports made. San Carlos Reservation is also a place most
will warn you away from at night. Although, most forests at night have their
fair share of spooky denizens. There’s one tale of a man camping alone
that really makes you question whether a little adventure is worth it.
He was hiking along with his dog, and found an empty cave to set up camp in.
As he unpacked his stuff, he noticed some unsettling cave paintings along the walls.
Later that same night, he was woken up by his dog ferociously barking.
As he sat up to see what was the matter, he saw a malformed creature slinking near the
entrance of the cave. Acting quickly, he shot at it with his rifle,
but this only stunned the creature. It called out to him, saying it wanted to
“help.” Sure.
At this point, the man grabbed his dog and high-tailed it out of there, leaving all of
his stuff. He hasn’t gone back since.
Hopefully he didn’t leave anything too valuable behind.
Although, he did escape with his dog and his life, which are valuable enough.
NUMBER TWO: THE HAUNTED ANTIQUE MALL Back to Tucson for more terror and troubles,
there’s an old two-story furniture store that was converted into an antique mall of
sorts. You know the kind, set up like a flea market
with all sorts of independent booths selling their wares.
Well, one day some customers were walking around upstairs, looking at the assorted antiques,
and they heard some clicking noises. One particularly curious antiquer decided
to investigate, and found the source: an old typewriter.
The thing is, nobody was around to operate it.
The customers who had heard the typing were the only people upstairs.
After that, more and more ghostly tales appeared. Furniture that was left neat and tidy at closing
time would be strewn throughout the aisles the next morning.
Radios would increase in volume with nobody around.
Employees found themselves frozen in place from time to time, experiencing a distortion
of time. They would be stuck there as customers passed
by in fast or slow motion. Apparitions would appear all over, sometimes
appearing as a grinning boy, other times as a mischievous looking teenager.
Nobody knows who these wraiths belong to. After hearing loud crashing noises upstairs,
but finding nothing displaced, the owners decided it was time to close down the upper
level. Now, considering that all sorts of people
were bringing in antiques from different sources, it’s possible that all of these ghosts came
from haunted objects. Or it could be that the furniture store itself
is haunted. Nobody’s come up with concrete proof of
the hauntings, but if you ever find yourself antiquing in Tucson, watch out for paranormal
activity. NUMBER ONE: GHOSTS OF SLAUGHTERHOUSE CANYON
I mean, the name of this canyon should be enough to convince you it’s bad news.
Let me say it again: Slaughterhouse Canyon. Come on!
The tale that accompanies the terrifying name comes from the gold rush back in the 1800’s.
A young family moved out to try their hand at striking it rich.
However, this plan did not go very well. Soon, they were hungry and destitute.
The father would often head out for days, searching for food to sustain him and his
family. Tragically, one day he never returned.
Without the father to keep them fed, the family slowly starved.
And as their bodies wasted away, so too did their minds.
Eventually, the mother couldn’t take it anymore; her children’s cries were too much
for her to bear. She donned her wedding dress, and ritualistically
killed her children. Carrying their corpses down to the nearby
river, she wept and screamed. After she dropped their bodies into the water,
she wandered around until succumbing to starvation soon after.
This sad story forever marred the reputation of Slaughterhouse Canyon.
Now if you visit at night, you might be able to hear the pained cries of the murderous,
mad mother. Tragic and terrifying.
OUTRO And there you have it!
Arizonan urban legends to keep you up at night, and maybe inspire you to visit someday.
What did you think of the list? Can any locals give me the nod?
What Arizona legends did I neglect to add? Make sure you let me know down in the comments.
Speaking of comments, let’s take a look at some of your more traditional ones from
the Top 5 Scary Reddit Subreddits You Should Never Visit:
Lucas Gale says “My girlfriend is a special effects artist and knows some sites dedicated
to morgue photos. She looks up different stages of decomposition in the human body when practicing
zombies and deadly wounds” That is fascinating. She’s definitely dedicated
to the craft. I dunno if I could do it. Tyler Keilman says “Immediately went to
these” I mean, I couldn’t stop you if I tried,
no matter how many times we put “SHOULDN’T” in our titles.
K Worldwide says “The true way to get away with murder is to do it with an icicle”
Ah, the old melting murder weapon. A true classic. Tough to get a good, solid grip on
though. Ammar Fakhriy says “Hallo, hallo, hallo
I need likes” Looks like you got one! Dunno if I can help
you otherwise. Ips Insomniac Arts says “Hi. Sirenhead told
me he is going to eat the following people: People who say COVID19 is caused by 5G towers,
people who don’t social distance, people who hoard the groceries, people in general.”
See, that last grouping of people kind of makes me thing he’s just eating people overall,
not really discriminating based on their actions. Still, what do you expect from a giant fleshy
speaker pole with a hankering for humans? And that’s all the time have for today!
Before I stick it to the man without the help of Jack Black, make sure to give this video
a big thumbs up, and subscribe for more desert dreams!
Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time!