As a genre, the urban legend was recognised and named only in the mid-1970s. This book brings together a rich variety of these tales which continued to flourish and circulate, classified under different headings for ease of reference, and linked together by the author's narrative. Uncle Joe's ashes baked in a cake (Delicious!); Granny's corpse stolen along with the family car; sewers alive with alligators...all these alleged occurrences - and many, many others - are the stuff of urban legend: the extraordinary things that you're told happen to that elusive 'friend of a friend' (foaf); someone whom you can never pin down, however hard you try.
317 “The Philanderer's Porsche” most popular example incorporates the revenge theme in which a wife gets back at her estranged or philandering husband. Variations of this legend have been widely passed in oral tradition and published by ...
The patients in the third hilarious accident story are a male and female skier just brought down from the slopes on ... Well, he saw this bare-bottomed woman ski by and he laughed so hard that he collided with a ski-lift tower.
To help you find your favorite, Brunvand has arranged the tales thematically. "Bringing Up Baby" is full of episodes of child-rearing gone wrong, including the grisly tale of the drugged out baby-sitter who mistakes the kid for a turkey.
The Corpse on the Tube and Other Stories Scott Wood ... The London Compendium (London: Penguin, 2004) Halliday, Stephen, Amazing and Extraordinary London Underground Facts (Cincinnati: David & Charles, 2009) Hart, Edward J., 101 London ...
An anthology of some of history's most unsettling urban legends includes the tales of a coed who is followed by a mental hospital escapee, the classic hook-man campfire story, the "Saved by a Cell Phone" tale, and more.
Presents descriptions of hundreds of urban legends and their variations, themes, and scholarly approaches to the genre, including such tales as disappearing hitchhikers and hypodermic needles left in the coin slots of pay telephones.
In this book Nick Harding sets out to describe a host of Urban Legends suggesting that we should not dismiss them purely as nonsense nor accept them as gospel truth but by striving to understand their underlying meanings we begin to see ...
Recounts several popular urban legends, from Bigfoot to Bloody Mary.
... Legend . " The North Texas Skeptics 17 ( 11 ) : 3–5 . Barry , Dan 2008. " In the Wilds of New Jersey , a Legend Inspires a Hunt . " New York Times , September 8 . http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/08/us/08land.html ( accessed June 3 , 2011 ) ...
Modern ghost stories are created from truly creepy myths and rumors. Read this book to discover some urban legends that will make your skin crawl.