My parents had warned me to never pick up hitchhikers. It was like the older version of their warning, never talked to strangers.

But telling me not to do something was like a dare, and I could never turn down a dare.

I'm not saying that I had the best judgment at 16. No, I had terrible judgment. I was completely

reckless and had that ignorant feeling of invincibility that most teenagers have. I had never

picked up a hitchhiker, and wouldn't you know it? The first time I did, it was late at night and the road seemed to be empty,

except for me and this mysterious stranger.

My judgment is better these days, and I might actually be invincible now, but I no longer

drive down the roads alone at night, or pick up hitchhikers.

Instead, I stand on the side of the road every night, when the moon is high and the hour is late,

waiting for someone to have pity on me, like I did him.

Welcome to Freaky Folklore, the podcast where we discover horrifying legends across the world

and tell terrifying tales of monsters both ancient and modern.

This week we are discussing ghost

rides, the ever-popular and evolving urban legends based on hitchhiking horror stories. This show is

part of the Eriecast Podcast Network. Find more terrifying tales at eeriecast.com, such as Destination

Terror. You can listen to a new episode

every week as I take you to horrifying destinations both real and mythical. Be sure to follow us on

Spotify or your favorite podcasting service. You can leave an honest review on iTunes too. The more we get, the more we grow, and hopefully the more monsters we can explore.

You can now find Freaky Folklore videos on YouTube as well.

If you would like to submit an encounter or suggestions for future episodes,

you can email them to Carmen Carion at gmail.com. That is, C-A-R-M-A-N-C-R-I-O-N at g-mail.com.

You can also follow me on Twitter or Instagram for information on future episodes.

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