Aren’t you glad you didn’t turn on the lights?

While most urban legend stories are scary, or at the very least, creepy, they also aren’t entirely realistic, either. 

The story, “Aren’t you glad you didn’t turn on the lights?” might be one of the more realistic urban legends ever told. And not too mention, it’s incredibly creepy. 

As the urban legend goes, two female dorm mates in college were in the same class. One girl, Megan, was an excellent student and took extensive notes for a midterm that was fast approaching. Her roommate, Julie, was more of a social butterfly and decided to use the class period to flirt with a boy she had a crush on. 

Before she knew it, the class had ended and Julie hadn’t paid attention at all. But she knew Megan had taken excellent notes and decided not to fret too much about the midterm. 

After class, Julie told Megan that the boy she had been flirting with all period had invited them to a huge party that night. Knowing she only had a couple days to prepare for the big midterm, Megan declined the offer and decided to get right to studying. Julie, on the other hand, figured she could still go to the party and worry about the midterm the next day. 

While Megan stuck her nose in her books that night, Julie got ready for the party and urged Megan to join her. But Megan declined again and Julie headed off to the party. 

After having a great night with her date, Julie started walking back to the dorms but began to worry about the midterm. She figured that when she got back to her room, she’d join Megan for a study session because after all, Megan had all the notes. 

But when Julie got back to the dorms around 2 a.m., the dorm was pitch black. Julie decided not to turn on the lights and instead would wake Megan early so that they could study together. So Julie got changed in the dark, slipped on her headphones to listen to some music and quickly drifted to sleep. 

When Julie woke up, the light was barely shinning through her room, but she could see that Megan was lying on her stomach. While trying to wake her, Julie rolled Megan over only to reveal Megan’s terrified face. Julie quickly turned on the light and saw all of Megan’s books covered in blood. 

Megan had been cut open and slaughtered, and while Julie dropped to her knees in freight, she looked up at the wall. Smeared in Megan’s blood was written, “Aren’t you glad you didn’t turn on the lights?” 

Unlike other urban legends, “Aren’t you glad you didn’t turn on the lights?” doesn’t have a clear-cut message or warning. In some respect, the message could be that life is full of close calls. Another hidden message could be that if Julie stayed home to study, maybe Megan wouldn’t have been killed because the girls would have been safer together. 

Yet another warning or message from this urban legend could be that Megan should have been more well-rounded. Had she gone out to the party and studied later, the intruder would have attacked someone else. 

It appears that the reader or listener is supposed to come to their own conclusions about this urban legend.