There was no yellow press in the Soviet Union, let alone the Internet. However, urban legends existed at that time. People believed in pretty creepy things - maybe they had every reason for it.
Gloomy stories were told to each other by word of mouth, in lines and in whispers in kitchens. Someone somewhere heard scraps of information, she went further - a real damaged phone.
However, some of the stories did have some foundation. For example, the widespread legend that a dead rat was found in a huge kvass barrel actually turned out to be true: in 1974 a similar incident happened in Petrozavodsk. Of course, the case was quickly hushed up.
Others do resemble modern horror films. People eagerly believed in wild stories about convicts being walled up in the pillars of bridges at BAM construction sites, supposedly for some kind of satanic ritual.
The fate of Gagarin is still being discussed by conspiracy theorists. Nobody wanted to believe in the death of the hero-cosmonaut: he was (sort of) seen in a psychiatric hospital, where the pilot was unable to stand what he saw in space.
The most common legends at that time can be seen in the video:
Promotional video:
However, all these invented stories cannot be compared with the real secrets hidden in the KGB archives. This is where there really is a lot to think about.