Urban Legends
Joel Beckwith February 13, 2001 Urban Legends
In this paper I will explain exactly what an urban legend is,and
give some examples of very popular ones that have been passed by
word of mouth for decades across the United States.
1 " An urban legend is a story that is so bizarre,horrifying,or
unexplainable, that it makes something inside of us want to believe
it." Urban Legends can have traced origins from other countries,
universities, states, or people,that just decided to made up as
incredible story and pass it on to their friends and family members.
Many of these legends were started in the sixties and seventies,
and still continue to be passed on to this day. A good example, is
the horrifying Pop Rocks death. 2"In the seventies ,school kids
passed on the rumor that if Pop Rocks candy was eaten with any
kind of soda,the person's insides would explode". A legend that
eventually forced the candy company company to prove as untrue.
Most urban legends are began with "friend of a friend", which is
a key in realizing that what you are going to hear is probably untrue.
When I was in second grade, a famous legend was passed to
me, the story of the ''well to Hell''. Reportedly, down in Mexico, a
group of men were drilling holes in the ground looking for oil. These
holes were thousands of feet deep, and the men heard horrifying
screams coming from the depths below. Supposedly these
these terrible sounds were coming from Hell. This story caused
much debate among the Christian community, and was repeating
in news letters, and radio talk shows around the country. Eventually,
an urban legend investigator traced the story to a school teacher
who admitted that she made the whole thing up.
As legends are passed from
In this paper I will explain exactly what an urban legend is,and
give some examples of very popular ones that have been passed by
word of mouth for decades across the United States.
1 " An urban legend is a story that is so bizarre,horrifying,or
unexplainable, that it makes something inside of us want to believe
it." Urban Legends can have traced origins from other countries,
universities, states, or people,that just decided to made up as
incredible story and pass it on to their friends and family members.
Many of these legends were started in the sixties and seventies,
and still continue to be passed on to this day. A good example, is
the horrifying Pop Rocks death. 2"In the seventies ,school kids
passed on the rumor that if Pop Rocks candy was eaten with any
kind of soda,the person's insides would explode". A legend that
eventually forced the candy company company to prove as untrue.
Most urban legends are began with "friend of a friend", which is
a key in realizing that what you are going to hear is probably untrue.
When I was in second grade, a famous legend was passed to
me, the story of the ''well to Hell''. Reportedly, down in Mexico, a
group of men were drilling holes in the ground looking for oil. These
holes were thousands of feet deep, and the men heard horrifying
screams coming from the depths below. Supposedly these
these terrible sounds were coming from Hell. This story caused
much debate among the Christian community, and was repeating
in news letters, and radio talk shows around the country. Eventually,
an urban legend investigator traced the story to a school teacher
who admitted that she made the whole thing up.
As legends are passed from