When I was in elementary school, I heard one of the most terrifying urban legends called “People Can Lick, Too.” This urban legend scared me so much, I made my mom look under my bed every single night. I even made sure I pet both dogs before heading upstairs to sleep. The story is as follows:

One beautiful day, a young woman was walking home from school. As she was reached her house, she passed a rustling bush. As there was no wind, she thought this was curious and decided to investigate, thinking it would be a little squirrel or a cat. When she looked into the bush, however, she saw nothing. Thinking nothing of it, she crossed the street and continued into the house.

The girl’s parents were out of town, but her golden retriever greeted her happily at the door.

After spending her evening relaxing, the girl decided to go to bed. The dog had disappeared awhile ago, but this was normal. She went through her usual routine before turning out the lights and climbing into bed. She let her hand fall over the edge of the bed so the golden retriever could lick her fingers, like he did every night. A tongue lapped at her fingers, like usual.

The girl tried to fall asleep, but something was bothering her.

An incessant dripping sound was coming from the bathroom. Annoyed, the girl climbed out of bed, went into the bathroom and turned the faucet knobs as tightly as she could. She went back to bed, let her hand fall over the edge and felt the tongue lapping at her fingers once more.

Twenty minutes passed. She was almost asleep, but the incessant dripping permeated her mind. With a loud sigh, she got up, once again to turn off the faucet. The girl entered the bathroom, keeping the light off, and twisted the knobs as hard as she could. The sound persisted. It wasn’t coming from the sink.

It was coming from the shower.

She drew the curtain and saw something hanging from the shower head. She flipped on the light and let out a scream when she saw it was her golden retriever, his throat cut, with blood dripping from his paws into the bathtub. She averted her eyes quickly, her gaze falling on the mirror.

There, written in blood, were the words, “People can lick, too.”

Good luck sleeping tonight.