Urban Legends and More

Superstitions

Scary superstitions and weird beliefs from around the world. Are you a superstitious person?

1. The Man in the Middle
In Japan, some people believe that if you take a picture of three people, the one in the middle will die soon.

2. Three on a Mirror
If three people look into a mirror at the same time, one of them will die within the year.

3. Whistling at Night
In many Asian countries, it is believed that if you whistle at night, you will be visited by a snake or a ghost.

4. Red Ink
In Japan and Korea, if you write a person's name in red ink, it means they will die soon. This is because when someone dies, his or her name is recorded in the family register and on funeral banners in red ink. It is believed that if the name of a living person is written in red, it attracts evil spirits. Also, in Japan, when your husband or wife dies, your name will be written in red on their tombstone, to signify that you will eventually be buried with them.

5. Death Bell
When someone dies, a bell is rung at the church. This is to ward off evil spirits, because it was believed that they were afraid of bells. However, if you hear a tolling bell and no one else hears it, that means someone you know will die before the week is over.

6. Death Comes in Threes
Many people believe that deaths always come in threes. If there is a death in the family, there will be two more within a short time.

Human beings have always been obsessed with the number 3. There was an old superstition that "bad things come in threes".

7. Three Knocks
If you hear three knocks in the middle of the night, it means someone in your family is dead. This is also known as The Death Knock.

8. Coins on the Eyes of the Dead
Years ago, it was believed that if a dead person's eyes were open, it meant they were looking for someone to take with them. For this reason, coins were placed over the eyes of the dead to keep them closed. Another reason was the long held belief that a corpse needed money to pay their way into the next world.

9. Mirror of the Dead
If there is a corpse in the house, all of the mirrors in the house should be covered or the person who sees himself reflected in the mirror will be the next to die. (This may be why the killer covered all the mirrors in The Villisca Iowa Murder House.)

In China, mirrors must be hidden during a funeral, because the Chinese believe that if a person sees the reflection of the coffin, there will be a death in their family.

10. Mirror in Water
Dip a mirror into water and look into the glass. If your face is distorted, it means you are going to die. (This was a method of divination or fortune-telling used in Ancient Greece.)

11. Shivers Down Your Spine
If you feel a shiver or a chill run down your spine, it means that some one is walking over the place where your grave is going to be.

12. Step on a Crack
Everybody's heard the rhyme: "Step on a crack, break your mother's back. Step on a line, break your father's spine."

Some websites say this came from parents warning their children not to step on old wooden floorboards that weren't properly nailed down. If you stepped on one side, it could send the other side flying up into the air and injure someone.

Other websites say it came from baseball, where many players believe it is bad luck to step on the foul line.

Most websites will try to tell you this superstition has a racist origin and the words were "Step on a crack and your mother will turn black". However, this is nonsense and these websites simply don't know what they are talking about and haven't done their research. The real origin is this: