If you are looking at the above stories and feeling sickened, I can assure you that, despite being plausible to some, they are not true. These are merely urban legends (UL); made-up stories passed on as fact. As with the examples above, they can range from a small humorous instance of bad luck to a full-blown saga of cannibalism and torture. Most seem to be the latter. So why are we so intrigued with things that play on our most primal fears? What is so fascinating about modern folklore?

American Professor, Folklorist and author of The Book of Urban Legends, Jan Harold Brunvand, believes it stems from a long history of story-telling which started in primitive society. Humans by nature have a thirst for knowledge. One of the defining features of a UL is that it instils a sense of wariness that borders on paranoia, rife in modern society. At least half of car owners said they check their backseat for demented axe-murderers before getting into their car. The other half possibly does too, but just won’t admit it. It’s strange how we forget essential things like keys or wallets every day, but never shake that habit of glancing fearfully behind us.

Of course not all ULs revolve around mental asylum escapees and their unfortunate, car-owning victims. Wouldn’t they just get so tedious that way? Most can be split into one of four categories.

Corporate
Where the UL targets a specific company or brand. For instance, Hubba Bubba bubble gum’s key ingredient is spider eggs. That’s how it gets the soft chewable texture.

Anecdotal
Usually told in the format of an extended joke. Such as the man holidaying in Portugal accidentally sending an email intended for his wife to a recently widowed catholic. The woman fainted when she read “Arrived safely, but it sure is hot down here.”

Supernatural
Probably the most popular variety of Urban Legend told and tested at sleepovers worldwide. After all, what better way is there to stay awake than to summon a vengeful spirit in your bathroom mirror?

Slasher
Always ends with its main character either dead, bleeding profusely or missing body parts. The most common slasher is of a couple parked out in the remote woods. On hearing a noise outside the boy goes to check and never returns. After some time the girl grows anxious about scratching sounds on the roof of the car. It turns out to be her boyfriend, hanging from a tree, his dangling fingers trailing back and forth above her head.

Now you can distinguish between ULs, how did they come to be such a phenomenon? The obvious answer is word of mouth. Like a choice nugget of gossip they spread rapidly from person to person. Some tell them well enough for sceptics to pass on. There has been a clear evolution in folklore since the internet was refined. ULs spread via chain mail like an infectious virus. It is now easier than ever to amass a collection of ULs by inviting people to share their own on the internet.

Countless YouTube videos document teenagers trying to summon Bloody Mary. More often than not these videos turn into parodies. And with the abundance of comments insisting the ritual wasn’t done properly because “You need six candles not three” or “The water’s got to be running”, they offer no evidence as to whether it works or not. Then again YouTube really wouldn’t be the best place for investigation.

One of the most appealing traits of ULs are said to be their irony, which sets them apart from your average haunted house, bleeding walls ghost story and really make us think on what we do in life. In fact they are usually so well-rounded and congruous that whole movie plots can be developed from a story which can ultimately be summed up in a paragraph. And it’s not only films. Books, songs, chain mail and television all borrow from modern folklore. And as nobody can really own the rights to any UL, it’s to be expected. But I love the fact that time and retelling has allowed them to be perfected by people with different imaginations, morals and perspectives. Kind of like the ultimate editing process, but done for free.

Now that you have an insight into urban legends, you could try making up your own! You never know, it could end up being the next Bloody Mary.

By Lois Cuckson




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