Every town has its boogeyman—the monster under your bed that nips at your toes if they aren’t safely tucked beneath the blanket before you fall asleep. As we get older, the threat of ghouls, goblins, and other malevolent creatures start to fade. But when children began disappearing from one New York borough, an urban legend began to spill into reality.
The Legend of “Cropsey”
In the 1960s and ’70s, the children of Staten Island were haunted by tales of a mysterious entity named Cropsey…
Snatching Children
Cropsey was an escaped mental patient from the now-defunct Willowbrook State School on Staten Island. Legend has it, Cropsey would scour the region for innocent children, and drag them into the crumbling ruins of Seaview Hospital…
More Than A Tall Tale
The legend of Cropsey changed depending on the storyteller. Some claimed he wielded a bloody ax; others believed Cropsey had a hook for a hand, which he used to steal children away in the night. It had also been said that Cropsey was a demon who haunted the nearby woods. However, in this case, Cropsey wasn’t just a scary story…