WITCH OF YAZOO

ORIGIN: Yazoo City, Mississippi.

This urban legend is said to date back to the late 1800s and is about a mysterious old woman who lived on the outskirts of town, deep in the swamps.

Locals tell that she practiced dark magic and deceived fishermen, leading them to their deaths in the murky waters. 

Children were warned not to go near her cabin, as it was believed she could cast spells or curse those who trespassed. 

The turning point of the legend came when townsfolk heard screams from the swamp. 

Worried all able men summoned courage to visit her cabin and on reaching there, they found the bodies of several men tangled in the walls of the woman's home, some in animal traps she had set.

Furious, the townspeople chased her through the woods, so she fled to the swamp but became stuck in quicksand. 

As she sank, she screamed a curse upon Yazoo City, vowing to return in 20 years and burn the town to the ground.

Rather eerily, exactly 20 years later, in 1904, a huge fire consumed much of Yazoo City. 

Many residents believed that is was the witch's curse that had come true. 

To this day, her grave is marked by mysterious chains, to keep her spirit from rising again.