re: Creepiest urban legends...

The creator of the original account of the Rake is yet unknown. According to this account, the Rake was written of on four continents, and was first described in the 12th century (1101-1200), but provides testimony from 1691 at the earliest.

"A Mariner's Log: 1691

He came to me in my sleep. From the foot of my bed I felt a sensation. He took everything. We must return to England. We shall not return here again at the request of the Rake."

The next earliest is an account from the 1800s, where it cites a Spanish journal entry, describing "it" as having hollow eyes. Following that is a 1964 suicide note, where the author claims his/her suicide is due to repeated encounters with the Rake, which apparently stalks him/her. She writes that she fears for "Linnie," as the Rake spoke his/her name. This may indicate that the creature stalks a victim over long periods of time, or tortures victims.

A witness "in 2006" provides the most complete tale of the Rake, when she and her husband awake to the Rake sitting at the end of their bed. It scurries to the bed side, stares at the witnesses' husband, and then runs into their children's' room, where it attacks their daughter. It flees as the couple approaches, and their daughter's final words are, "he is the Rake." Her husband and daughter die when rushing to the hospital, driving into a lake. The witness claims having found many more accounts and contacts who are being or have been stalked by the Rake, and that she has heard it speak to her.