A teenage boy drove his date to a dark and deserted lover's lane for a make-out session. He turned on the radio for mood music, leaned over to whisper in the girl's ear, and began kissing her. Minutes later, the mood was broken when the music suddenly stopped mid-song. After a moment of silence an announcer's voice came on, warning in an ominous tone that a convicted murderer had just escaped from the state insane asylum — which happened to be located within a half-mile of where they were parked — and urging that anyone who notices a man wearing a stainless steel hook in place of his missing right hand should immediately report his whereabouts to the police. The girl became frightened and asked to be taken home. The boy, feeling bold, locked all the doors instead and, assuring his date they would be safe, attempted to kiss her again. She became frantic and pushed him away, insisting that they leave. Relenting, the boy peevishly jerked the car into gear and spun its wheels as he pulled out of the parking space. When they arrived at the girl's house she got out of the car, and, reaching to close the door, began to scream uncontrollably. The boy ran to her side to see what was wrong and there, dangling from the door handle, was a bloody hook.

Other Versions

1. The couple drive through an unknown part of the country late at night and stop in the middle of the woods, because either the male has to relieve himself, or the car breaks down and the man leaves for help. While waiting for him to return, the female turns on the radio and hears the report of an escaped mental patient. She is then disturbed many times by a thumping on the roof of the car. She eventually exits and sees the escaped patient sitting on the roof, banging the male's severed head on it.

2. Another variation has the female seeing the male's butchered body suspended upside down from a tree with his fingers scraping the roof.

3. In another version of this variation, he's hanging right side up and either his blood is dripping on the roof or his feet are scraping against the roof. He is suspended by a tree branch. Other times the branch itself is banging on the car.

4. The man does return to the car only to see his date brutally murdered with a hook embedded in her.

5. The woman gets out of the car when her date doesn't come back, only to see his mutilated body (either on the car's roof, nailed on a tree, or just a few short steps way). But as she starts to panic, she runs into the maniac and she too gets killed.

6. The male leaves the vehicle to investigate while the woman waits nervously in the car. A police cruiser finds her and announces they will escort her to safety. The police say "whatever you do, do not look behind you and to look straight ahead." She follows instructions until she reaches the safety of the police, then turns around to see her boyfriend murdered, hanging on a tree branch. This variation is often told as an urban myth on it's own called "The Boyfriend's Death". In other versions of this story, the girl's hair turns white upon seeing her dead boyfriend. This legend is so similar to the hookman I decided to include it.

7. Their car breaks down (either from running out of fuel or a malfunction). The man then decides to head off on foot to find someone or somewhere to help with the problem while the woman stays behind in the car. She then falls asleep while waiting and wakes up to see a hideous person looking at her through the window. Luckily the car is locked so the person can't get inside. But to the woman's horror, the person raises both of his arms to reveal that they are holding her date's severed head in one hand and the car keys in the other. The fate of the woman is never revealed.

Folks have been telling the hook-man story since the 1950s, and indeed the implicit moral message — "Sex is naughty; bad boys and girls will be punished!" — seems more appropriate to that simpler, more naive era. Just as this message has come to be parodied in recent horror films (whereas, once upon a time, it was delivered with morbid solemnity), its "bygone" relevance has taken the teeth out of the cautionary tale.

Remarking on the improbable tidiness of the plot of "The Hook," folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand observed that "most tellers narrate the story nowadays more as a scary story than a believed legend." Small wonder. Given its exploitation by Hollywood in popular genre films like Candyman and I Know What You Did Last Summer, most people under the age of 30 probably assume the story was invented by screenwriters.

Folklorists of a more Freudian bent find meaningful sexual overtones in the imagery of the tale. The boy, who wants to get his "hooks" into the girl, is not only frustrated by her unwillingness but afraid of his own lustful impulses — a fear heightened by the stern "voice of conscience" emitting from the radio — and has to "pull out fast" before a deadly sin is committed. The tearing off of the madman's hook symbolizes castration. Proponents of this type of psychological interpretation find the sexual apprehensions of both boys and girls represented in the legend.

It’s possible the roots of legends like The Hook and The Boyfriend’s Death lie in distorted memories of real life Lover’s Lane murders. There were actual cases of kids who’d gone necking coming back in pine boxes. The residue of news stories about those events would likely remain around for a while, mutating into cautionary tales with the addition of bloody hooks and scraping sounds on the roof of the car. Real life roots or not, The Hook has been a legend for almost as long as anyone can remember. The key to this legend is the boyfriend’s frustrated response to the girl’s demand to end the date abruptly. Almost invariably, he is said to have gunned the engine and roared away. This behavior is essential to explain how the hook became ripped from the killer’s arm, and to underscore the moral of the tale. The boyfriend’s frustration stems from sexual denial. His girlfriend’s insistence on getting home right away puts the kibosh to any randy thoughts he’d been hoping to turn into reality that night, and he’s some pissed about it.

“The Hook” is a cautionary tale about teenage sexuality. Unspoken in the story is the realization that if the girl hadn’t said no, hadn’t insisted upon leaving right away, the couple would have been killed. Two close calls are averted that night: the fatal encounter with the killer, and “going all the way.” Refusal to do one saves the pair from the other. Urban legends are often little morality plays designed to instill an important lesson about societal mores. “The Hook” is clearly one such tale, and its message is clear: teens shouldn’t have sex. Moreover, it’s up to the girl to apply the brakes. Though her boyfriend might be upset at the time, not long after he’ll understand the wisdom of her refusal and thank her for it. Or at least so says the legend.

Wherever and however this story is told, the injunction not to look back is a constant. Taboos like this are always broken in folklore, whether in fairy tales or in modern urban legends. The girl in this story is perceived as helpless and incapable of venturing away from the safety of the car (no one ever suggests she accompany her boyfriend), whereas her male companion immediately dons the mantle of midnight adventurer and seeker of help. The stereotyped roles of frightened female and fearless male are strictly adhered to. His job is to do battle with the unknown whereas hers is to obey orders, staying with the car no matter what until rescued. Not even thumps, bumps, or scratching noises incite her to attempt to save herself. Interestingly, the heroine in a 1998 version does disobey the boyfriend’s orders. This lone exception in the 30-plus years of this legend’s history leaves the vehicle without being instructed to do so. Even then, it’s not to go looking for help or to find out what happened to her companion, it’s to dispose of an annoying branch which is tapping on the car, disturbing the tranquility of her long wait to be rescued. Well, at least it’s a start.

Society has a formula for romance where sexual activities should be repressed until formal commitment has been made. Deviation from the norm resulted in danger or risk. Although not explicitly stated, it may be inferred that the Hookman is targeting couples as young lust is likely a touchy subject for a serial killer. This might be the most popular urban myth of all time synonymous with a campfire. It even made it's way into the Shrek universe where the characters told each other campfire stories.