Urban legends, also known as contemporary legends or urban myths, refer to widely propagated, unproven stories of odd or peculiar events that typically contain mindful advise or warnings. They often arouse strong emotional reactions such as revulsion, horror, shock, and sometimes humor. The recount of urban legends over time ensures that they become part of public recollection and explains why they are still being told. Even the black eye and disproof do not stop urban legends from resurfacing after fading away for some time.
Psychologically speaking, urban legends provide us a chance to make sense of the world and manage impendence in a safe environment. They can act as proof and corroborate existing beliefs. They can also provide us a source of entertainment, for sharing them is an effective form of social engagement. Passing apparently essential information can make us feel helpful, despite a lack of evidence, too.
Urban Legends in Russia
Urban legends were staples for people growing up in post-Soviet states. These countries offer some much-needed everyday spookiness in their urban legends. While Western urban legends are all popular and widely exposed, Soviet and post-Soviet people are always more likely to freak other people out with red pianos, coffins on wheels, and various shades of curtains. Although they may not be the scariest story you have ever heard, you will still get to enjoy the creep. So, here are 5 most popular urban legends in Russia that still being told. Check it out.
- Napoleonic Soldiers and A Witch
Russian people believe that hundreds of Napoleonic soldiers were buried in the hills of a village in the outskirts of Moscow back in 1812. Some people inspire the piles with mystical qualities, believing that electronics go matted and visitors disappear there. Also, in the Ostankino neighborhood, there is a myth telling that the area was allegedly haunted by the spirit of an old woman who was murdered in the 16th century and that now she roams around the area and predicts disasters and ill events.
- The Red Piano
It is a myth about a little girl who really wanted to play the piano. She got the piano as a birthday present from her parents. As the present was delivered, the store where the parents bought the piano gave them the contact of an old lady, the only person in town who could fix the piano.
The little girl was excited to start playing, but a few weeks later, she started telling her parents that her fingertips hurt. The parents told her that it was probably due to over-practicing and that it was normal. The little girl continued to play but started growing thinner and paler. After a month, the piano broke and the parents called the old lady to fix it. The old lady told the family to stay out of the room while she fixed it and so the piano was fixed.
The little girl went back to play the piano and continued to go thinner and paler, and the piano broke again. The parents called the old lady again, but this time, they peeked into the room while she fixed the piano. They saw her open the piano and produce a glass jar filled with blood and drank it. The parents called the police to arrest the old lady and examined the piano. It turned out that the keys had tiny needles, so small they were almost invisible. The little girl had been suffering from tiny cuts which drained her blood while playing the piano.
- The Black Curtains
It is about a mother who asked her daughter to buy the curtains with a note that she should not get the black ones, but the store the girl went to only sold black ones, so she decided to buy them rather than looking for elsewhere. The mother was mad but still, put up the curtains. Night after night, each member of the girl’s family was strangled. The girl called the police to investigate the murders. The policemen hid in the house as the girl pretended to sleep. Then, the black curtains stretched, reaching for the girl to strangle her. The policemen shot the curtains which started screaming and bleeding as it got shot. Then the curtains fell to the floor, dead, and the girl survived.
- The Corpse Collector
Legend has it that a creepy person named Anatoly Moskvin goes around Russia, hunting for people to abduct. He kills those he kidnaps, preserves their corpses, and then puts their mummified corpses on display. However, the more terrifying event happened in 2011 Nizhny Novgorod resident. Anatoly Moskvin was arrested by the police and then convicted of grave stealing. He exhumed the corpses of 29 women which he brought home to his house. He mummified them, dolled them up, and set them around his house which he shared with his parents who thought that the mummified corpses were dolls.
- Haunted Kremlin
Many people believe that Moscow’s Kremlin is haunted and that former tsars and Russia’s leaders still roam along the corridors. It has been noted that the spirit of late Nicholas the Second foreshadows the upcoming disaster. The spirit of Ivan the Terrible still lurks, too. He is occasionally seen on the bell tower and some people believe that they could hear his footsteps. They also believed that he cannot find peace because he killed his own son, a bad deed that still haunts him even in the afterlife. Lenin has been sighted at the Kremlin, too. Although his spirit was spotted while he was still alive, he was unable to walk and he died a few months after the sighting.
So, those are 5 most popular urban legends in Russia that still being told. Some came with evidence while the others did not. Have you got the creep, yet?