Scary Stories and Urban Legends

Man in the Elevator

There was a 19-year old Korean
girl named Haruko who was
attending university in a large
city. One night, she had to stay
late in the library to finish a
project and it was almost dark by
the time she returned home.

Haruko lived on the 14th floor of
an old apartment building. She
stood in the entrance and pressed
the button to call the elevator.
She always hated coming home
alone so late in the evening. It just
didn't feel safe.

When the elevator came, she
stepped inside and pushed the
button for her floor. Just as the
doors were about to close, a
handsome man came running up.
The man was out of breath and
put out his hand to stop the doors
closing. Then, he stepped into the
elevator and stood beside her.

"You live on the 14th floor?", he
asked, seeing the button lit up.

"Yes", replied Haruko.

"Oh", said the man, smiling. "I live
on the 13th."

As the elevator ascended, he
pressed the button for 13.

Through the windows in the
elevator door, Haruko watched
the floors go by, as they both
stood in silence. She stole a few
glances at the man. he certainly
was handsome. She wondered if
he would ever be interested in
dating her.

When he happened to look at her,
she batted her eyelids and smiled
sweetly at him.

Just then, the elevator stopped at
the 13th floor. The doors opened
and the man stepped out.

"See you later..." he said.

"Yes, see you," replied Haruko.

As the doors of the elevator were
closing behind him, the man
suddenly turned around, pulled a
sharp knife out of his jacket and
said, in a menacing voice, "...
upstairs!"

Then, laughing like a maniac, he
ran towards the staircase.

The girl was terrified, but before
she could do a thing, the doors
shut and the elevator began to
ascend. She began to panic.

Desperately, she hammered the
buttons with her fist, trying to get
the elevator to stop, but it was no
use.

When it reached the 14th floor
and the doors opened, the man
with the knife was already
standing there, waiting for her.

In Korea, people say that this is a
true story. The girl was found
dead, stabbed to death in the
elevator.

People say that the worst part
was not her death itself, but
rather the sheer horror she
experienced in between those
two floors, when she was trapped
in the elevator and knew she was
going to die.

They claim that this is the reason
that all elevators now have a stop
button.