Myths and legends have been around since the first humans sat around a campfire and spun tales of the things that lurk beyond the firelight. History has no shortage of malicious serial killers, demented madmen, and nightmarish creatures, and when legends and killers come together, you get some pretty creepy stories. We hear it from the day we're born: Don't trust strangers. And as humans, we instinctively fear the things that lurk in the dark, because we know that that's where the predators hide.
从人类第一次围坐篝火，轮流讲着隐于火光背后的神秘故事后，神话传说就遍布各地、深入人心。这些故事不乏连环杀手、恐怖疯人和可怕怪物，当传说遇上杀手，就成为令人毛骨悚然的恐怖故事了。我们出生就听人说：不要相信陌生人。当我们长大成人，便不自觉地害怕黑夜，因为怪物就藏在夜色里。

10.Footprints In The Snow
10.雪地里的脚印

This urban legend involves a teenage girl who was home with her little sister while their parents were out on the town. After watching some television together, she sent her little sister to bed and then went back downstairs to watch more TV. Eventually, she got bored with what she was watching and turned it off, then curled up in a blanket on the couch and watched the snow fall through the large sliding-glass window in the living room. She had only been watching for a few minutes when she saw a man walking toward the sliding glass doors with deadly purpose. He started to pull something shiny out of his coat and she dove under her blanket in terror.
这个故事开始了：父母外出，小女孩和她的妹妹就自在家。一起看了会儿电视后，小女孩照顾妹妹睡觉，然后返回楼下继续看电视。终于，她感到疲倦，于是关掉了电视机，然后裹着毛毯蜷缩在沙发上，透过客厅的滑动玻璃窗看飘落的雪花。仅仅几分钟之后，她看见一个男人不怀好意地走向滑动玻璃门。看见他从大衣里掏出亮晃晃的东西后，小女孩害怕得藏进毯子里。
After a while, she pulled down the blanket and found that the man was gone. She called the police, who immediately rushed over to the scene to investigate. Upon examining the premises, one of the first things they noticed was that there were no footprints in the snow. And with the rate of snowfall, there was no way they could have been covered that quickly. Puzzled, the officers inspected the residence and noticed wet footprints on the carpet leading straight up to the couch where the girl had been sitting. The madman had been behind her the whole time and what she had seen had been his reflection in the window.
过了一会儿，小女孩钻出毯子却发现男人不知所踪。报警后，立即就有警察去那儿进行调查。在调查前他们注意到雪地里根本就没有脚印。而且根据降雪的情况，脚印也不可能如此快地被掩盖掉。令人疑惑不解的是，他们检查了房子却发现地毯上的湿脚印一直延伸到小女孩正坐着的沙发那里。结果发现，是那个疯子一直跟在小女孩后面，而小女孩在窗户上看到的其实是那个疯子的影子。

9.The Chilling Discovery
9.让人不寒而栗的发现

There are multiple versions of this story, and most of them start with a young college girl who was studying late, and thus was spending a lot of time in the library instead of her dorm room. During a late night of studying, she realized that she had forgotten something in her dorm room, so she decided to make a trip back to go get it. When she opened the door she found the room dark, but figured that her roommate was either asleep or out studying like her. Not wanting to disturb her in case she was asleep, she left the light off, grabbed what she needed, and went back to the library.
这个故事有很多个版本，但大多数都是这样开始的：一个年轻的大学女生总是学习到很晚，因此她大部分时间都在图书馆而不是宿舍。一天晚上，她想起有些东西忘在了宿舍里，便决定回去拿。开门后，她发现宿舍里漆黑一片，她不知道她的室友是睡着了还是像她一样学习到很晚。考虑到室友可能正在睡觉，她没开灯，拿到需要的东西后就回到了图书馆。
Upon returning to her room, she found her roommate lying on the floor with a slit throat. But the worst part was the message written in lipstick on the bathroom mirror that read simply, "Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light?"In another version of the tale, there is a woman who lives alone in an apartment with her puppy. She was fast asleep one night when she was awoken by a strange noise. To reassure herself, she reached down to where the pup slept beside the bed and felt it lick her hand. Satisfied, she drifted peacefully back to sleep. The next morning she discovered that the dog had been hanged in the shower. On the floor beside her bed was a note that said, "Humans can lick too."
再回到宿舍，她发现室友躺在地板上，喉咙初有一道口。但是，最令人恐惧的是那用口红写在浴室镜子上的留言，"你没有开灯，难道你不高兴？"还有另外一个故事版本。传说，有一个女人住在一所公寓里，和她的小狗相依为命。有一天夜里，她正睡得酣然，突然有一阵怪异的嘈杂声惊醒了她。她心理感到很恐惧，就靠近睡在床边的小狗。小狗舔了舔她的手，她感到很安然，就这样她又进入梦乡。可是，第二天一大早，她就发现小狗被挂在浴室喷头上，死了。而在靠近床边的地板上有一则留言："人类也可以添手指。"

8.The Unfortunate Coat Incident
8.不幸的大衣事件

This urban legend begins on a cold winter day with a young couple who were having a christening party in their home for their new baby. The guests started to arrive out of the cold, and as they were welcomed by their hosts, they tossed their coats onto a bed that was near the main living room. It just started with a coat or two, but once someone saw one coat, everyone began adding to the pile.
故事是这样开始的，在一个寒冷的冬季夜晚，一对年轻夫妇为了给他们刚出生的孩子洗礼在家举行派对。客人们冒着严寒纷纷而至，受到主人的热烈欢迎。他们脱下大衣，放在靠近主卧室的一个床上。一开始床上只有一两件大衣，可客人们看见后都纷纷把大衣放在床上。
Before long, all the guests had arrived and everything was in full swing. The parents decided that it was time to show off their new baby to the guests—after all, he was the guest of honor. So the mother walked over to the bed where she had left the baby—only to scream in horror when she found that her little bundle of joy had been accidentally smothered under the towering pile of coats.
不久，高朋满座，晚会如火如荼。这对父母觉得展示他们宝宝的时机到了——毕竟，宝宝是今天的主角。于是，妈妈走近放宝宝的床边——却发出恐惧的尖叫，因为她看到，襁褓中的心肝宝贝已经在堆积如山的大衣中意外窒息死亡。

7.The Gas Station Attendant
7.加油站服务员

It was late and a young woman was driving through an unfamiliar area deep in the country. Her car was old and ureliable, and soon she realized that she'd have to stop for gas soon if she didn't want to start walking. As luck would have it, she came across an old gas station a little farther down the road. It was an old-fashioned station, the kind with an attendant who comes out to pump the gas, and something about it set the alarm bells ringing in her head. But she knew that she couldn't get much farther without refueling, so she reluctantly pulled into the gas station and asked the attendant to fill up the tank.
深夜，一个年轻的女人开着车，行驶在一段陌生又偏僻的乡间小道上。她的车又破又旧，很快她意识到如果不想走路的话，就必须给车加油。幸运的是，在路上开了很远后，她找到一个老旧的加油站。这是个老式的加油站，有一个服务员走出来泵油。周遭的一切让她非常警惕。但是，她知道，不加油的话，车走不了多远。无奈之下，她只好把车开进加油站让服务员加油。
The attendant seemed nervous as he filled up her gas tank, but eventually he finished the job and came over to the driver's side to get the payment. She gave him a $20 bill and he examined it carefully, then told her that it was counterfeit. At this point the alarm bells weren't ringing any more—they were rioting. The attendant explained that he would have to take her back to his office and call his manager, because the counterfeit would have to be reported to the bank. Once he had convinced her to come with him, he explained that the bill wasn't actually counterfeit—he'd gotten her out of the car because there was a man with a hatchet hiding in the backseat.
这个服务员加油时看起来很紧张，但最终他加完油，来到这个司机旁收钱。她拿出20美元给他，他仔细检查后说，这钱是假币。此时，她心里的警钟不再响起——心头却完全混乱。服务员说，他必须带她到办公司并告之经理，因为假币必须要报告给银行。他成功地劝说她跟他走后，服务员解释道，钱其实不是假的——之所以把她叫出车，是因为车后座有一男子，手持斧头藏匿在那里。

6.The Wily Home Invader
6.狡猾的民宅入侵者

While the specific stories of this urban legend are just myths, there is a chilling undertone of truth to it, since home invaders have been documented using tactics similar to this to get into people's homes. According to the stories that have circulated, someone is home alone late at night with very few lights on—just enough to indicate that someone is home and awake, but that there aren't many people around. Someone comes up and, in the dead of night, just starts banging on the door and yelling to be let in. When the homeowner gets close to the door and calls out, the calls become even more insistent, yelling that someone is trying to hurt them.
尽管都市传说大都是虚构的，但也不乏有令人毛骨悚然的真实故事，因为民宅入侵者使用相似的手段进入受害人家中。据有些广为流传的故事说道，有些人在夜晚独自待在家里并只开着几盏灯——这足以说明有人在家并且未眠，但是附近并没有太多人。在死寂般的夜晚，有人出现，敲着门，叫喊着让他进去。当主人靠近门，问谁在门外时，这叫喊声变得更加急切，囔着有人试图伤害他。
In one story, a woman was at home by herself when she heard a woman banging on her door and shouting to be let inside the house. When she asked who it was, the woman outside began yelling that she was being attacked by a man and needed to get somewhere safe. When the homeowner listened closely, she indeed heard a male voice, but he was talking normally as if he was simply having a conversation with the woman. The woman outside was covering the peephole, so the homeowner peeked out the window beside the door. She could see a woman dressed in black, and from somewhere nearby, the man's voice continued to talk softly to the woman. Eventually they both left, but it left the storyteller chilled to the bone. It's hard to imagine what would have happened if she had let them in, but it probably wouldn't have been pleasant.
其中一个故事是这样的。一个女人夜晚独自在家，听到有一个女人敲着门，囔着让她进去。当她询问是谁时，门外的女人叫喊着，有一个男人要伤害她，她需要安全的地方躲避。房主靠近听时，的确听到有男人的声音，但是他语调正常，就像和这个女人只是简单的交流一般。门外的女人遮住了猫眼，所以房主只好从门旁边的窗口窥探。她看到一女子，身着黑色衣服，靠近的某个地方，依然传来那个男人温和的声音。最终，他们都离开了，但是这让讲故事的人毛骨悚然。很难想象，如果让他们进门会发生什么。但总之不会是让人高兴的事。

翻译:夏久梅 来源：前十网