Gahan Wilson once did a hilarious series of cartoons about childhood myths. My favorite: “If you make a face at someone and get slapped on the back, your face will freeze with that expression for the rest of your life.”
My myth: there were strip mines in the hills around our town in NE Ohio and the excavators worked around the clock, their engines making a noise like galloping. That was the Headless Horseman riding through those hills and he would snatch any kid whose nightstand light was on, right out through the window. I read my comic books with a flashlight under several blankets, for months.
;^)
Speaking of childhood myths, I actually chased birds around the yard with a salt shaker.
I was hospitalized for a tonsillectomy, and was very upset about the idea of surgery. They told me I would be asleep and wouldn’t feel it.
They came and got me, strapped me to the gurney and I disappeared down the hall screaming “BUT I’M NOT ASWEEP YET I’M NOT ASWEEP YE-E-E-ET!!!” Took three shots to knock me out, lol.