31 Days of Halloween | Day 13: The Hook — America's Most Famous Urban Legend
Haunted American HistoryShow Notes
In November of 1960, a teenage girl wrote a letter to Dear Abby warning other teenagers about something she'd heard.
A young couple had been parked on a deserted road when their radio interrupted the music with a frightening announcement.
A dangerous man had escaped from custody.
And where his right hand should have been, he had a hook.
The couple fled, but when they reached home, they discovered something hanging from the passenger-side door handle.
For generations, Americans have told some version of this story around campfires, at sleepovers, and in the back seats of cars.
But where did the Hookman come from?
Tonight, we're tracing one of America's most famous urban legends, from its earliest documented appearance to the real-life Phantom Killer who terrorized Texarkana in 1946, the folklorists who argued over its meaning, and the horror movies that introduced it to new generations.
And before the night is over, there's one more story to tell.
A girl waiting alone in a stalled car.
A strange scratching sound on the roof.
And a warning not to look back.
Welcome to Day Thirteen of 31 Days of Halloween.
More from Haunted American History
In the winter of 1590, an elderly Scottish healer named Agnes Sampson was brought before King James VI of Scotland.
In 1967, the RMS Queen Mary arrived in Long Beach, California, after more than three decades crossing the Atlantic.
In Savannah, Georgia, ghost stories are everywhere.
On November 13, 1974, a young man ran into a bar in Amityville, New York, shouting that his parents had been shot.
In 1907, a wealthy Boston businessman named Thomas Lawson published a novel called Friday, the Thirteenth.