Urban Legends (Great Stories: High Beginner): Great Stories

By David Bohlke

"This is a true story! It happened to a friend of a friend of mine …"

 

Do you know the story of the silver hook? The mysterious hitchhiker? The babysitter who gets some troubling phone calls? How about the story of Hanako-san, a Japanese schoolgirl who some say appears in school bathrooms? These are all examples of urban legends: creepy stories that people have told – and retold – to their friends.

 

Urban Legends features 16 scary stories. Some seem like they really happened. Others have a supernatural element to them. All are easy to read and enjoy, with simple grammar and vocabulary.

 

Improve your reading speed and skills in a fun and easy way. The Great Stories readers help you learn English while you enjoy interesting stories.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wayzgoose Press
• Release date: Aug 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393766124

Book preview

Introduction

Why do people like to read? There are many reasons. When you read a story, you find parts of yourself in it. You learn about yourself. Maybe a character has to make a hard choice, and you ask yourself what you would do. Then you think a little longer and imagine making another decision. Many people find reading relaxing. It’s also a way to visit another place—real or imaginary! Through stories, we celebrate being human and understanding the world just a little better.

Great Stories brings high quality storytelling to language learners. You’ll meet interesting people and experience their adventures along with them. You’ll explore, think, take risks, and experience the world through their eyes.

In this book, you’ll read some popular urban legends. These are stories that people have told – and told again and again. The storyteller always insists the urban legend is true. Each story sounds as if it happened to a friend – or a friend of a friend. Usually, people tell urban legends orally, but now people also share them through email, chat rooms, and social media. These stories are memorable because the reader or listener sees each story as possible. Indeed, many of the legends may have some truth to them. But it is nearly impossible to find out where an urban legend started. This book’s urban legends are scary, creepy stories that teach us about our fears and anxieties.

While you read these urban legends, you are developing your language skills. More than 90 percent of the words in this book are among the most common 2,000 words in the English language. These are called high-frequency words. You’ll meet high-frequency words over and over again when you listen and read.

You might think it’s easy to learn high-frequency words, and it is true that many words are easy. Words such as tree, house, eat, drink, and blue put a picture in your mind. These words are things you can see and name. These types of words often have one meaning and you can understand them easily. However, other high-frequency words have multiple meanings. For example, right can mean correct, as in You have the right answer. Or right can mean a direction, like Please turn right at the corner. The context or the situation decides a word’s meaning. Reading Great Stories can help you use context to understand more high-frequency words.

Part I

CREEPFEST

The urban legends in this unit will give you a creepy feeling. The hair on the back of your neck might stand up. You might feel a chill go down your back. These stories may even unsettle you because they might seem familiar but unusual at the same time.

It is up to you to decide if these urban legends are true… and what choice you would make in each situation.

1

Don’t Stare!

Late one night, a woman got on the subway. There weren’t many empty seats, but she quickly found one. She sat down and held her bags in front of her. Her feet hurt from walking around the city all day. Her brother came into the city and they spent the day together. They visited some museums, went shopping, and then ate dinner. She enjoyed her day, but now she just wanted to get home. She only had five stops to go before she got off.

The woman looked around at the other passengers in the subway car. No one paid any attention to her – or each other. Some people read, some people listened to music, and some people studied.

The woman looked at the passenger directly across from her. He was an older man with short, gray hair. He was well-dressed in a dark suit and tie. A briefcase lay in his lap. He was looking directly at her. She looked away.

She checked her phone quickly. No new messages. She sent her brother a quick text, thanking him for the fun day.

She looked at the old man again. He was still staring at her. She smiled at him. But he didn’t smile back. She turned her head away again.

Why is he staring at me? she wondered. Does he know me from somewhere?

She looked at him again. She didn’t recognize