My parents never scared me into being well-behaved but when I was very small my 2nd big brother used to frighten the life out of me with his "Pendle Witches" tales. We could see Pendle Hill very clearly from the back bedrooms of our house and he used to tell me that "Old Mother Demdyke" made regular sorties out over Whalley, Harwood and into West End - on her broomstick - and would swoop into my room if the window was left open. I believed him and sweated my way through many a Summer night in case she did.
He also told me tales about horrific murders by the Twenty Steps (beside the railway bridge over Blackburn Rd. near Blythe's). I always thought of that spot with horror and, even though it's ridiculous, I still do.
The odd thing is, I'm very close to that brother. He may have teased me but we were, and still are, "muckers".
