Iowa’s Rotting Remains of Uncle Charlie in Urbandale

Urbandale, IA–It’s actually a horror trope in films nowadays when somebody takes a picture and comes back to it days later to find a horrible figure lurking in the background. Like Stephen King’s 1990 novella “The Sun Dog,” one only witnesses the changes in hindsight. As it relates to Uncle Charlie of Urbandale, if one wants to see him, then they may only catch a glimpse in pictures.

Undead Uncle Charlie sightings

Though Iowa has a great many strange and supernatural stories to its name, one stands out as being relatively, well, creepy: Uncle Charlie. The ghoul, as it were, appears in the forests of Urbandale, Ioway. There, he photobombs people’s pictures, but only after somebody takes the photo, which adds to the eeriness factor. He doesn’t look at all pleasant either: his face is ghostly pale and he is bloodied and mutilated. 

“ … people have seen him hanging out in the corners of the pictures,” writes Lillian Schmid for Tiger Hi-Line Online. “Deep in the night, people report sounds of running in the woods, along with high-pitched screams.” 

According to some sources, an elementary student spotted Uncle Charlie staring into her bedroom window. Though questionable, it’s still spooky. Likewise, and because he invisible to the eye (but not photo lens), one may feel his cold hands on them when they are wandering alone. Meanwhile, some claim that their bedsheets have ripped off of them for no apparent reason. Uncle Charlie at it again, one can only imagine. 

Publisher Micahel Swanger wrote in the Iowa History Journal that stories like Uncle Charlie is kept up in the community because it’s both “colorful” and because such things are “reinforced” during the fall season. In speaking about these stories, he writes: “They tend to appeal to our natural curiosity that perhaps, just perhaps, such unsupported notions truly exist,” and later, “You can choose what you want to believe depending on your belief system, but keep your wits about you when sorting fact from fiction” (Swanger). 

As to who Uncle Charlie of Urbandale actually is–we may never know. If you happen to have more specific details, please put them in the comments!

If you would like to read more about ghosts and spirits, read about Ohio’s Rogues Hollow here.

Sources

Shmid, Lillian. “Iowa’s oldest haunts: Check out the ghoulest ghost stories.” The Tiger Hi-Line Online, Cedar Falls High School Journalism, 28 Oct. 2016. 

Swanger, Michael. “Publisher’s Perspective: Urban myths, legends and folklore abound during the Halloween Holiday.” Iowa History Journal, vol. 15, issue 5, Oct. 2023.