An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of
folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family member, often with horrifying,
humorous, or cautionary elements. These legends can be entertaining but often concern mysterious peril or troubling events, such as disappearances and strange objects or entities. Urban legends may confirm moral standards, reflect prejudices, or be a way to make sense of societal anxieties. Urban legends in the past were most often circulated orally, but now can also be spread by any media. This includes newspapers, mobile news apps,
e-mail, and most often,
social media. Some urban legends have passed through the years/decades with only minor changes, in where the time period takes place. Generic urban legends are often altered to suit regional variations, but the lesson or
moral remains majorly the same.
Origin and structure
The term "urban legend", as used by folklorists, has appeared in print since at least 1968, when it was used by
Richard Dorson
Richard Mercer Dorson (March 12, 1916 – September 11, 1981) was an American folklorist, professor, and director of the Folklore Institute at Indiana University. Dorson has been called the "father of American folklore"Nichols, Amber M.Richard M. ...
.
Jan Harold Brunvand
Jan Harold Brunvand (born March 23, 1933) is a retired American folklorist, researcher, writer, public speaker, and professor emeritus of English at the University of Utah.
Brunvand is best known for popularizing the concept of the urban legend, ...
, professor of English at the
University of Utah, introduced the term to the general public in a series of popular books published beginning in 1981. Brunvand used his collection of legends, ''
The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends & Their Meanings'' (1981) to make two points: first, that
legends and
folklore do not occur exclusively in so-called primitive or traditional societies, and second, that one could learn much about urban and modern culture by studying such tales.
Many urban legends are framed as complete
stories with
plot and
characters
Character or Characters may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk
* ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
. The compelling appeal of a typical urban legend is its elements of mystery,
horror, fear, or humor. Often they serve as
cautionary tale
A cautionary tale is a tale told in folklore to warn its listener of a danger. There are three essential parts to a cautionary tale, though they can be introduced in a large variety of ways. First, a taboo or prohibition is stated: some act, lo ...
s. Some urban legends are
morality tales that depict someone acting in a disagreeable manner, only to wind up in trouble, hurt, or dead.
Urban legends will often try to invoke a feeling of
disgust in the reader which tends to make these stories more memorable and potent. Elements of
shock value can be found in almost every form of urban legend and are partially what makes these tales so impactful.
An urban legend may include elements of the
supernatural or
paranormal.
Propagation and belief
As Jan Brunvand points out,
antecedent legends including some of the motifs, themes and symbolism of the
urtexts can readily be identified. Cases that ''may'' have been at least partially inspired by real events include "The Death Car" (traced by
Richard Dorson
Richard Mercer Dorson (March 12, 1916 – September 11, 1981) was an American folklorist, professor, and director of the Folklore Institute at Indiana University. Dorson has been called the "father of American folklore"Nichols, Amber M.Richard M. ...
to
Michigan,
United States);
"the Solid Cement Cadillac" and the possible origin of "
The Hook" in the 1946 series of
Lovers' Lane murders
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...
in
Texarkana, Texas
Texarkana is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States, in the Ark-La-Tex region. Located approximately from Dallas, Texarkana is a twin city with neighboring Texarkana, Arkansas. The Texas city's population was 36,193 at the 2020 census.
...
, United States. The urban legend that
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlan ...
developed the drink
Fanta to sell in
Nazi Germany without public backlash originated as the actual tale of German
Max Keith, who invented the drink and ran Coca-Cola's operations in Germany during
World War II.
The narrator of an urban legend may claim it happened to a friend (or to a
friend of a friend), which serves to personalize, authenticate and enhance the power of the narrative
[Brunvand, p. 423] whie distancing the teller from the
tall tale. Many urban legends depict horrific crimes, contaminated foods, or other situations that would potentially affect many people. Anyone believing such stories might feel compelled to warn loved ones. On occasion, news organizations, school officials and even police departments have issued warnings concerning the latest threat. According to the "Lights Out"
rumor
A rumor (American English), or rumour (British English; see spelling differences; derived from Latin:rumorem - noise), is "a tall tale of explanations of events circulating from person to person and pertaining to an object, event, or issue in p ...
,
street-gang members would drive without headlights until a compassionate motorist responded with the traditional flashing of headlights, whereupon a prospective new gang-member would have to murder the citizen as a requirement of
initiation.
A fax retelling this legend received at the
Nassau County, Florida
Nassau County is the northeasternmost county of the U.S. state of Florida. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county's population was 90,352.
The county seat and the largest incorporated city is Fernandina Beach. Nassau County ...
, fire department was forwarded to police, and from there to all city departments. The
Minister of Defence for Canada was taken in by it also; he forwarded an urgent security warning to all
Ontario Members of Parliament.
Urban legends typically include common elements: the tale is retold on behalf of the original witness or participant; dire warnings are often given for those who might not heed the advice or lesson contained therein (a typical element of many e-mail
phishing scams); and the tale is often touted as "something a friend told me", the friend being identified by first name only or not identified at all. Such legends seem to be believable and even provocative, as some readers are led in turn to pass them on, including on social media platforms that instantly reach millions worldwide. Many are essentially extended
joke
A joke is a display of humour in which words are used within a specific and well-defined narrative structure to make people laugh and is usually not meant to be interpreted literally. It usually takes the form of a story, often with dialogue, ...
s, told as if they were true events.
Persistent urban legends do often maintain a degree of plausibility, as in the story a
serial killer deliberately hiding in the back seat of a car. Another such example since the 1970s has been the recurring rumor that the
Procter & Gamble Company was associated with
Satan-worshippers because of details within its nineteenth-century "57" trademark. The legend interrupted the company's business to the point that it stopped using the trademark.
Relation to mythology
The earliest term by which these narratives were known, "urban belief tales", highlights what was then thought of as a key property: their tellers regarded the stories as true accounts, and the device of the
FOAF (acronym for "Friend of a Friend" invented by English writer and folklorist
Rodney Dale
Rodney A.M. Dale (28 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was an English author, editor, publisher, and a co-founder and former member of Cambridge Consultants Ltd. He wrote principally on non-fiction topics (biography, technology, computing, jaz ...
in 1976) was a spurious but significant effort at authentication. The coinage leads in turn to the terms "FOAFlore" and "FOAFtale". While at least one classic legend, the "Death Car", has been shown to have some basis in fact, folklorists have an interest in debunking those narratives only to the degree that establishing non-factuality warrants the assumption that there must be some other reason why the tales are told, re-told and believed.
[Adam Brooke Davis]
Davis, Adam Brooke. "Devil's Night and Hallowe'en: The Linked Fates of Two Folk Festivals." ''Missouri Folklore Society Journal'' XXIV (2002) 69–82
As in the case of
myth, the narratives are believed because they construct and reinforce the
worldview of the group within which they are told, or "because they provide us with coherent and convincing explanations of complex events".
Social scientists have started to draw on urban legends in order to help explain complex socio-psychological beliefs, such as attitudes to
crime,
childcare
Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...
,
fast food
Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredien ...
,
SUVs and other "family" choices. The authors make an explicit connection between urban legends and popular folklore, such as ''
Grimm's Fairy Tales'', where similar themes and motifs arise. For that reason, it is characteristic of groups within which a given narrative circulates to vehemently reject claims or demonstrations of non-factuality; an example would be the expressions of outrage by police officers who are told that adulteration of Halloween treats by strangers (the subject of periodic
moral panics) occurs extremely rarely, if at all.
Documentation
The
Internet has made it easier both to spread and to debunk urban legends.
For instance, the
Usenet newsgroup ''alt.folklore.urban'' and several other websites, most notably
snopes.com
''Snopes'' , formerly known as the ''Urban Legends Reference Pages'', is a fact-checking website. It has been described as a "well-regarded reference for sorting out myths and rumors" on the Internet. The site has also been seen as a source f ...
, focus on discussing, tracking, and analyzing urban legends. The
United States Department of Energy had a now-discontinued service called Hoaxbusters that dealt with computer-distributed
hoaxes and legends. The most notable such hoaxes are known as
creepypasta
Creepypastas are horror-related legends that have been shared around the Internet. Creepypasta has since become a catch-all term for any horror content posted onto the Internet. These Internet entries are often brief, user-generated, paranormal ...
s, which are typically
horror stories written anonymously. Although most are regarded as obviously false, some, such as the
Slender Man
Slender Man (also spelled Slenderman) is a fictional supernatural character that originated as a creepypasta Internet meme created by Something Awful forum user Eric Knudsen (also known as "Victor Surge") in 2009. He is depicted as a thin, unn ...
, have gained a following of people that do believe in them.
Television shows such as
''Urban Legends'', ''
Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction'', and later ''
Mostly True Stories: Urban Legends Revealed'', feature re-enactments of urban legends, detailing the accounts of the tales and (typically later in an episode) revealing any factual basis they may have. The
Discovery Channel TV show ''
MythBusters'' (2003–2016) tried to prove or disprove several urban legends by attempting to reproduce them using the
scientific method.
The 1998 film
''Urban Legend'' featured students discussing popular urban legends while at the same time falling victim to them.
Between 1992 and 1998 ''
The Guardian'' newspaper "Weekend" section published the illustrated "Urban Myths" column by Phil Healey and Rick Glanvill, with content taken from a series of four books: ''Urban Myths'', ''The Return of Urban Myths'', ''Urban Myths Unplugged'', and ''Now! That's What I Call Urban Myths''. The 1994 comics anthology the ''
Big Book of Urban Legends'', written by Robert Boyd,
Jan Harold Brunvand
Jan Harold Brunvand (born March 23, 1933) is a retired American folklorist, researcher, writer, public speaker, and professor emeritus of English at the University of Utah.
Brunvand is best known for popularizing the concept of the urban legend, ...
, and
Robert Loren Fleming
Robert Loren Fleming (born November 5, 1956) is an American comic book writer. He is best known as the co-creator of '' Thriller'' with Trevor Von Eeden and for his collaborations with Keith Giffen.
Career
Robert Loren Fleming worked for DC Com ...
, featured 200 urban legends, displayed as comics.
The British writer
Tony Barrell has explored urban legends in a long-running column in ''
The Sunday Times''. These include the story that
Orson Welles began work on a
Batman movie in the 1940s, which was to feature
James Cagney as the
Riddler
The Riddler (Edward Nigma, later Edward Nygma or Edward Nashton) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Bill Finger and Dick Sprang, and debuted in ''Detective Comics'' #140 ...
and
Marlene Dietrich as
Catwoman
Catwoman is a fictional character created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Debuting as "the Cat" in ''Batman'' #1 (spring 1940), she is ...
; the persistent rumour that the rock singer
Courtney Love
Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, her career has spanned four decades. She rose to prominence as ...
is the granddaughter of
Marlon Brando; and the idea that a famous 1970s poster of
Farrah Fawcett
Farrah Leni Fawcett (born Ferrah Leni Fawcett; February 2, 1947 – June 25, 2009) was an American actress. A four-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she played ...
contains a subliminal sexual message concealed in the actress's hair.
Genres
Crime
As with traditional urban legends, many internet rumors are about crimes or crime waves - either fictional or based on real events that have been largely exaggerated. Such stories can be problematic, both because they purport to be relevant modern news and because they do not follow the typical patterns of urban legends.
Medicine
Some legends are medical
folklore, such as the claim that eating
watermelon seeds will result in a watermelon growing in the
stomach
The stomach is a muscular, hollow organ in the gastrointestinal tract of humans and many other animals, including several invertebrates. The stomach has a dilated structure and functions as a vital organ in the digestive system. The stomach i ...
, or that going outdoors just after showering will result in catching a cold.
Internet
Internet urban legends are those spread through the internet, as through Usenet or email
[Chris Frost, (2000) "Tales on the Internet: making it up as you go along", ''ASLIB Proceedings'', Vol. 52 Iss: 1, pp. 5–10] or more recently through other
social media. They can also be linked to
viral online content. Some take the form of
chain letters
A chain letter is a message that attempts to convince the recipient to make a number of copies and pass them on to a certain number of recipients. The "chain" is an exponentially growing pyramid (a tree graph) that cannot be sustained indefinite ...
and spread by e-mail, directing the reader to share them or to meet a terrible fate, and following a recognizable outline of hook, threat, and finally request. Others are
fake virus-alerts, warning people of nonexistent threats to their computers, often appearing as online pop-ups claiming to be giveaways or store
coupon
In marketing, a coupon is a ticket or document that can be redeemed for a financial discount or rebate when purchasing a product.
Customarily, coupons are issued by manufacturers of consumer packaged goods
or by retailers, to be used in r ...
s.
Paranormal
Paranormal urban-legend stories usually involve someone encountering something supernatural, such as a
cryptid
Cryptids are animals that cryptozoologists believe may exist somewhere in the wild, but are not believed to exist by mainstream science. Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience, which primarily looks at anecdotal stories, and other claims rejected ...
—for instance,
Bigfoot
Bigfoot, also commonly referred to as Sasquatch, is a purported ape-like creature said to inhabit the forest of North America. Many dubious articles have been offered in attempts to prove the existence of Bigfoot, including anecdotal claims of ...
or
Mothman
In American folklore, West Virginia folklore, the Mothman is a humanoid creature reportedly seen in the Point Pleasant, West Virginia, Point Pleasant area from November 15, 1966, to December 15, 1967. The first newspaper report was pu ...
, legendary creatures for which evidence is wanting but which have legions of believers. Research shows that people experiencing sudden or surprising events (such as a Bigfoot sighting) may significantly overestimate the duration of the event.
Marketing
Companies have been accused of hiding "secret messages" behind their
logos or packaging, as in the case of the old
Procter & Gamble symbol, supposedly an occult figure that gave panache to the brand. (If the thirteen stars in the symbol were connected a certain way, it would show
three sixes in a row.) Similarly, a video of a Christian woman "exposing"
Monster Energy for using the
Hebrew alphabet symbol for the letter "M" to disguise the number 666 went
viral on Facebook.
Some urban legends have been used intentionally for comic purposes in advertising. The most well-known examples include the use of a
Sasquatch
Bigfoot, also commonly referred to as Sasquatch, is a purported ape-like creature said to inhabit the forest of North America. Many dubious articles have been offered in attempts to prove the existence of Bigfoot, including anecdotal claims of ...
in
Jack Link commercials, known as "Messin' with Sasquatch," and the use of
unicorn
The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead.
In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years o ...
s in
Icebreakers
An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...
ads. Another is the
New Jersey Devils hockey team, named for the state's popular
cryptid
Cryptids are animals that cryptozoologists believe may exist somewhere in the wild, but are not believed to exist by mainstream science. Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience, which primarily looks at anecdotal stories, and other claims rejected ...
, the
Jersey Devil
In South Jersey and Philadelphia folklore in the United States, the Jersey Devil (also known as the Leeds Devil) is a legendary creature said to inhabit the forest of Pine Barrens in South Jersey. The creature is often described as a flying bip ...
.
See also
*
List of urban legends
This is a list of urban legends. An urban legend, myth, or tale is a modern genre of folklore. It often consists of fictional stories associated with the macabre, superstitions, ghosts, demons, cryptids, extraterrestrials, creepypasta, and other fe ...
*
Campfire story
In North America, a campfire story is a form of oral storytelling performed around an open fire at night, typically in the wilderness, largely connected with the telling of stories having supernatural motifs or elements of urban legend. Whereas ...
*
Factoid
*
Old wives' tale
*
Woozle effect
References
Citations
General and cited sources
*
*
Further reading
*
* ''Urban Legends: A Collection of International Tall Tales and Terrors'', ed. by
Gillian Bennett and Paul Smith (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood, 2007),
* ''An Anthology of American Folktales and Legends'', ed. by Frank de Caro (London: Routledge, 2015),
ISBN
The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency.
An ISBN is assigned to each separate edition and ...
978-0-7656-2129-0.
OCLC 212627165.
External links
Snopes - Urban Legends Reference PagesUSC folklore legends archiveInternational Society for Contemporary Legend Research*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Urban Legend
Public opinion