![MN’s Scariest Urban Legend Makes Bigfoot Look Like a Teddy Bear](https://townsquare.media/site/68/files/2019/10/Wendigo-2.jpg?w=980&q=75)
MN’s Scariest Urban Legend Makes Bigfoot Look Like a Teddy Bear
The Wendigo traces back to Northern Minnesotan Native American folklore.
Financial lending company TitleMax took a break from lending and loaning to research each state's scariest urban legend.
"Americans have been seeing odd phenomena and coming up with scary stories and legends to explain them for centuries," Bonnie Gringer says. "We’ve gathered some of the best, most obscure, and creepiest urban legends in the United States to spook your friends!"
Legends listed included the horrifying (Dead Children's Playground in Alabama and The Phantom Hitchhiker of Black Horse Lake in Montana) to intriguing (The Loveland Frog of Ohio and The Bandaged Man of Oregon) to the downright demonic (Annabelle the demonic doll in Connecticut and The Devil's Chair in Florida).
![98.1 Minnesota's New Country logo](https://townsquare.media/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/WWJOFM.png?w=100)
Minnesota's scariest urban legend -- according to Gringer at TitleMax -- is a creature of Native American folklore called the Wendigo, also spelled Windigo.
"This is one of the oldest legendary monsters, dating back to the folklore of Native Americans, who hunted these 15-foot-tall, shape-shifting creatures even into the early 20th century. Anyone who resorts to cannibalism and tastes human flesh will become one."
According to AllThatsInteresting.com, the wendigo was a lost hunter. During a brutally intense winter, his hunger drove him to cannibalism.
"After feasting on another human’s flesh, he transformed into a crazed man-beast, roaming the forest in search of more people to eat."
Today, wendigo sightings have been reported in forests of cold-weather areas like Minnesota and Canada.
Read more about the wendigo here and check out the full list of spooky urban legends below!
See What life Was Like in Stearns County During WWII -- Highlights from the Stearns History Museum's Event
20 Things the World Should Thank Minnesota For
LOOK: Things from the year you were born that don't exist anymore
More From 98.1 Minnesota's New Country
![What You Need To Know About This Weekend’s Firefest Concert](http://townsquare.media/site/65/files/2021/07/attachment-It-Felt-So-Good-to-Be-Back-in-Front-of-This-Stage.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Statewide Alert Issued for Vulnerable Minnesota Man Who Vanished During Trip to Buy Battery](http://townsquare.media/site/669/files/2024/07/attachment-Untitled-design.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Is Minnesota Really the Friendliest State? HAHAHAHAHA](http://townsquare.media/site/66/files/2024/07/attachment-Untitled-design-34.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![New Owners? Could Minnesota’s Top Coffee Company Be Sold Off?](http://townsquare.media/site/65/files/2024/07/attachment-Google-Maps-and-Canva.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Minnesotans Should NOT Eat This Strange ‘Fruit’ If They Find It!](http://townsquare.media/site/65/files/2024/07/attachment-Image-Credit-Abhishek-Kumar-via-Unslpash-Canva.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Morrison County Deputy Hit By Vehicle In 2023 Recognized At Concert](http://townsquare.media/site/67/files/2023/07/attachment-Morrison-County-Sheriff.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Get Ready! Pierz Freedom Fest Announces Its 2025 Headliner](http://townsquare.media/site/65/files/2024/07/attachment-GettyImages-2156415288.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Have You Ever Been To Minnesota’s Famous ‘Halfway There Stop’?](http://townsquare.media/site/65/files/2024/07/attachment-Tobies-Hinckley.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Do You Know What The Most Deadly Home Appliance Is?](http://townsquare.media/site/65/files/2024/07/attachment-shot-by-joe-via-unsplash.jpg?w=980&q=75)