The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs
Encyclopedia
The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs is an urban legend
that dates back to at least the 1960s about a teenage girl babysitting
children while being telephoned by a mysterious man who continually asks her to "check the children". It has been adapted for several movies, including Black Christmas
, When a Stranger Calls
, When a Stranger Calls Back
, Foster's Release
, The Sitter
, and Amusement
. It has also been covered in the television programs Freaky Stories
and Mostly True Stories: Urban Legends Revealed
.
Eventually the girl becomes worried and calls the police, who ask her to wait for the man to call again, and they will trace the call. When he calls again, she manages to keep him talking for a few minutes, and when the police call back, they tell her that the call is coming from a second line inside the house, and to get out immediately, as they have already sent some officers over.
As she runs to the door she sees a man with a bloody axe running down the stairs, and just manages to avoid his blow. She runs outside into the waiting arms of police, who quickly arrest the man. They then search upstairs and find out that he had already killed the children. He was waiting on the girl coming upstairs, as she was his next target.
Urban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
that dates back to at least the 1960s about a teenage girl babysitting
Babysitting
Babysitting is the practice of temporarily caring for a child on behalf of the child's parents. Babysitting is commonly performed as an odd job by teenagers for extra money.-General:...
children while being telephoned by a mysterious man who continually asks her to "check the children". It has been adapted for several movies, including Black Christmas
Black Christmas (1974 film)
Black Christmas is a 1974 Canadian slasher film directed by Bob Clark and written by A. Roy Moore, and largely based on a series of murders that took place in Quebec, Canada around Christmas time. The film's score is by Carl Zittrer. It was distributed by Ambassador Film Distributors in Canada and...
, When a Stranger Calls
When a Stranger Calls (1979 film)
When a Stranger Calls is a 1979 thriller starring Carol Kane and Charles Durning, directed by Fred Walton. The film derives its story from the classic folk legend of "The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs". The original music score is composed by television composer Dana Kaproff.The film ranked #28...
, When a Stranger Calls Back
When a Stranger Calls Back
When a Stranger Calls Back is a 1993 made-for-television horror/thriller film directed by Fred Walton. The original music score is composed by Dana Kaproff.It is the sequel to the 1979 classic When a Stranger Calls.- Plot summary :...
, Foster's Release
Foster's Release
Foster's Release is a short movie of 14 minutes directed by Terence Winkless and released in 1971. It is an exciting retelling of the common story of a babysitter in peril from an intruder. In Illinois the movie is commonly shown to classes in home economics for whom it illustrates the concepts...
, The Sitter
The Sitter
The Sitter is a 1991 made-for-television movie starring Kim Myers as Nell, an unstable baby-sitter, who lives in the reality of romance novels...
, and Amusement
Amusement (film)
Amusement is an American 2009 horror film directed by John Simpson and starring Katheryn Winnick, Laura Breckenridge and Jessica Lucas. The film went direct-to-video in January 2009...
. It has also been covered in the television programs Freaky Stories
Freaky Stories
Freaky Stories is a Canadian television series, which was originally broadcasted by YTV in English and Canal Famille in French...
and Mostly True Stories: Urban Legends Revealed
Mostly True Stories: Urban Legends Revealed
Mostly True Stories: Urban Legends Revealed is a docudrama about urban legends and re-enacting them and researching their credibility. It aired on The Learning Channel from 2002 until 2004. It ran for four seasons. Early episodes were hosted by Natasha Henstridge...
.
The legend
A teenage girl is babysitting at night. The children have been put to bed upstairs and the babysitter is downstairs, busying herself with homework. The phone rings, and she hears at the end of the line either silence, a strange voice laughing, or heavy breathing. She at first dismisses the calls as a practical joke, but as she prepares to hang up, a sinister voice asks her to "check the children." When she asks who it is, the caller hangs up. Rather than checking on the children, the teenager decides to ignore the call and goes back to her reading. The stranger calls back several times, each time becoming more aggressive.Eventually the girl becomes worried and calls the police, who ask her to wait for the man to call again, and they will trace the call. When he calls again, she manages to keep him talking for a few minutes, and when the police call back, they tell her that the call is coming from a second line inside the house, and to get out immediately, as they have already sent some officers over.
As she runs to the door she sees a man with a bloody axe running down the stairs, and just manages to avoid his blow. She runs outside into the waiting arms of police, who quickly arrest the man. They then search upstairs and find out that he had already killed the children. He was waiting on the girl coming upstairs, as she was his next target.
Notable variations
- In some tellings, the babysitter does not receive any phone calls but is disturbed by a hideous clown doll. During the night, the babysitter repeatedly leaves the room and returns, and the clown always seems to be in a different position than before. The babysitter calls her employers asking for her permission to remove the doll from the bedroom, and the mother tells her they do not have a clown doll. This version has made its way into the annals of internet "creepypasta." This is most likely a version inspired by the movie Poltergeist. The film AmusementAmusement (film)Amusement is an American 2009 horror film directed by John Simpson and starring Katheryn Winnick, Laura Breckenridge and Jessica Lucas. The film went direct-to-video in January 2009...
also includes a babysitter troubled by a sinister clown doll.
- The number of children varies in different versions; sometimes one, other times, two or three. Also the children rarely survive in the story, having been murdered by the man before he called the babysitter.
- Sometimes the killer is described to have a weapon in the story like an axe or a sharp knife while in other versions the killer just has something to tie the people in the house down with. Also, the killer is (sometimes) described to be covered in blood; in darker versions he tore the children apart with his bare hands.
- In most versions of the story, the sitter calls the police and they put a tracer on the line. In some versions of the story they arrive just in time to save the sitter (and sometimes the children), but in others they are too late. Another element is that in some forms of the tale, no call is ever made and the child/children are just heard crying or whimpering in sheer terror.