A lot of us went to camp when we were younger, not me personally, but I’ve watched enough
movies to see what it’s like. From Friday the 13th, to...well, pretty much that. Camp
seems like the best time, until it's not. Until a headless horseman comes riding into
town, or Jason emerges from the lake seeking revenge on his bullies. So today on Top 5
Scary Videos, I’m going to be counting down our list of the Top 5 Scary Summer Camp Urban
Legends. Before we begin though, be sure to stick around until the end of the video where
I’ll be responding to some of your comments, and with that, let's jump in.
5 Headless Hattie Headless Hattie is a ghost that is said to
haunt the camps in Ohio. She was an old woman who lived in a house on the hill. The townsfolk
suspected she was a witch. Classic. One night, four men went up to her house and dragged
her out, they took her down to the railroad and tied her to the tracks. They then heard
a loud whistle in the distance and the tracks began to rumble, with the train heading straight
for her. As this was happening, she let out a blood-curdling scream, and as the train
thundered past, its wheels sliced off her head. The men then hid her body in a hollow
tree and they tossed her head into a flooded pit. Not too long afterwards, strange things
began to happen around the town and people were afraid to leave their homes. One morning,
they found the door of a man’s home broken in and he had disappeared. A few days later,
they found his mangled body on the train tracks -- he was one of the men who had murdered
Hattie. Every year, one of the men who had killed Hattie would be found dead under strange
circumstances. Today, the town no longer exists, but they say Headless Hattie still haunts
the area and every year some unsuspecting camper is carried off and beheaded. According
to the legend, she appears on nights when there is a full moon, riding on a horse, carrying
a scythe and wearing a belt around her waist with the heads of her victims hanging from
it.
4 Old Man Clutch at Camp Schmidt Another story that comes to us from Scary
Kids, this urban legend tells the story of Old Man Clutch, a spooky tale that comes to
us from Camp Schmidt in Prince George’s County, Maryland. According to the legend,
the camp was built on an old plantation owned by the Clutch family. It is said that Old
Man Clutch used to grow tobacco. He was a mean and cranky old man, and had an extremely
disfigured left leg that caused him to limp. He also had 7 children, but two of them died
and their gravestones are there at the camp. They say the headless ghost of Old Man Clutch
still haunts the camp. He kidnaps and decapitates children who stray into the woods nearby.
I quote: “When I went to Camp Schmidt 14 years ago, I heard the legend about the ghost,
but I really didn’t believe in them. One night, when the counselors left us alone in
our bunks, we decided to sneak out into the woods. There were six of us -- 4 girls and
2 boys. Taking our flashlights, we went deep into the woods. Everything was eerily quiet.
We were laughing and joking, but suddenly we heard a loud noise. It was like a dragging
sound. In the darkness, we could make out the shape of a man walking toward us. He seemed
to have a bad limp and he was holding something in his hand and dragging it along behind him.
It was too dark to see, but as he came closer, we realized that he didn’t have a head.
We all screamed and began running away. He was following us and all I could hear behind
me was the sound of my friends screaming and crying in terror. When we eventually made
it back to the counselors’ cabin, one of the girls in our group was missing. We told
the counselors what happened and they organized a search, but the girl was never found. The
next morning, her bracelet was discovered lying in front of the cabin. They say Old
Man Clutch still wanders those woods near Camp Schmidt waiting for his next victim.”
3 Camp Kiwanee This one comes to us from Scary For Kids,
I quote: “I went to Camp Kiwanee every summer, and there were some stories about girls being
murdered by the mental hospital escapees, guys at a camp across the lake and the guys
that worked in the kitchen and their bodies were found in the Carbnerry Bogs behind the
camp. At night the counselors would all go up to the lodge to hangout and leave us in
those cabins until the wee hours. I was only 8 years old and I used to lay awake scared
to death until my counselors would return.” Now, there is some history to this story.
This specific urban legend is about Alice, her uncle was the one who lived in the lodge.
She was all set to marry the town doctor, but on her wedding day, she was found hung
in her room. They think it was one of the workers at the lodge who did. Supposedly,
he loved Alice and was jealous that she was going to marry a doctor, and on the day of
her wedding, he confronted her about the entire thing and told her he loved her. When she
didn’t say it back, he strangled her and hung her from the ceiling. The worker disappeared
after that, however some say he committed suicide by jumping out the window of the lodge
and falling into the lake. Others say that when Alice didn’t show up at the church,
the people went up to the lodge to look for her. The worker tried to escape by jumping
out of the window but he fell into the lake and drowned. However, his body was never found.
Years later, a boy was swimming there and his foot got caught in something, it turned
out to be a rib cage. So now, people claim that Alice’s ghost haunts her old room in
the lodge. The door is kept boarded up, but if you go up there, you can see the rocking
chair moving on its own and you can hear screams.
2 Anson Miner at Camp White Pine Anson MIner is a story from Camp White Pine
in an undisclosed location. According to this urban legend, a farmer named Anson Miner owned
land beside the camp. One day, his tractor broke down and as he was repairing it, the
engine suddenly started up, and his leg was sucked into the thresher, injuring the man
so badly that his leg had to be amputated. Anson Miner survived the incident, but it
left him with a wooden leg and a horrible limp. Unable to do much else, he fell into
dire financial straits and ultimately lost his farm. He carried his lantern into the
barn, climbed up a ladder and hung himself from the rafters. The sheriff discovered his
body dangling in the greenish glow of the lantern. After he cut down the body, the sheriff
went back to his car to report the news to his station. However, when he returned to
the barn, he was shocked to find that the body and the lantern had completely disappeared.
Ever since then, his ghost supposedly haunts the camp, and a strange glow can be seen late
at night. Curious campers who dare venture into the woods at night may often hear the
ominous “stomp-stomp-drag” of his leg. Then, they will see him limping and moaning
as he emerges from the trees.
1 The Summer Camp Stalkers - Eli Roth Now, this urban legend comes to us from none
other than horror legend, Eli Roth. The man behind such films as Cabin Fever, Hostel,
The Green Inferno, and Death Wish. So saying that, you know you’re in for a horrifying
treat with this one. So, let’s begin. I quote: “Summer camp was always the best
place to start, share or grow an urban legend. Growing up, I spent my summers at sleepaway
camp in Casco, Maine where the legend of “Three-Fingered Willy” ran rampant. By age 12 I had seen
pretty much every slasher film ever made, and Three-Fingered Willy was said to be a
camper who had been left for dead and came back to haunt the woods of Casco, killing
unsuspecting campers. I was never scared of him, but there were some kids who were, and
a good portion of the summer was spent terrifying these younger campers. Running into their
bunk with your head covered in ketchup claiming that Three-Fingered Willy had just attacked
you -- and that he was coming for this bunk next -- was a favorite stunt. A few years
later, I was a camp counselor at a day camp in Weston, Mass, in charge of a group of about
35 10- and 11-year-old boys. I loved it; by the end of the summer I had an army who dressed
like me and did whatever I said. Twice a summer, the group would have a sleepover at the camp.
Campers packed tents, they'd be treated to an extra swim at the end of the day and we'd
all barbecue — and of course, we’d tell ghost stories at night. Somehow, the entire
camp became infected by the story of "The H-Man." I don't know how The H-Man started,
or why he was called The H-Man, but, according to legend, he was also a former camper who
had been left for dead. On the night of the sleepover, it was said that The H-Man would
come back to seek his revenge — to kill campers by ripping their chest cavity open.
This gory detail was very specific to the legend (and provided lots of inspiration during
art class). In the weeks leading up to the sleepover, all the campers were using woodshop
to make weapons to combat The H-Man, and one camper even planned to hold a seance that
would hopefully resurrect him so we could kill him before it was time for him to kill
the campers. By the night of, what had started as a sleepover had devolved into an all-out
panic of kids running around screaming that they saw The H-Man, and that he was trying
to kill him. Kids called their parents and went home because they were too scared to
sleep, and I even confiscated a number of very, very sharp weapons the kids had snuck
in. All of this of course only grew the legend further, and the next year kids were so scared
because of all the "attacks on campers" the previous summer, which were of course confirmed
by all the kids who had “survived” the sleepover. I often wonder if The H-Man lasted
beyond the summer of 1990 which was my last year there … because I was certainly one
of the main perpetrators of spreading the myth to the next wave of petrified campers.
Whether it’s The H-Man or Three-Fingered Willy, the summer camp stalker is always out
for blood every year. Campers beware…”
Well, there we have it! Do you guys agree with our list? Were there any summer camp
urban legends that we missed? Leave us all your thoughts and feelings in the comments
down below and perhaps we can do a part 2. Before I go though, I just want to respond
to a few of your comments from one of our last videos, Top 5 Scary Dystopian Futures
In Horror Movies.
Adam Jenks said: “I was always a fan of the original Mad Max, if that counts as a
film portraying dystopian future.” ---
DonPandemoniac said: “The Purge: Anarchy is vastly superior to the first movie. Dystopian
futures in video games next?” ---
Metalmom 41 said: “The Handmaid's Tale - I didn't really like the film but the series
and book is disturbing af, horrifying stuff in my opinion.” ---
Trayton Vanderecken said: “Escape From New York isn’t a horror movie.” ---
Robert Miller said: “Never question the Pale Queen! All hail Queen Lucy!” ---
And on that note, if you haven’t already, be sure to give this video a big thumbs up,
subscribe, and turn on notifications so you never miss another Scary vid. And until next
time, see ya later.