Urban legends2 by Eternal_Knight 2011/09/09 12:34
Urban legends or myths are usually contemporarystories believed to have happened in reality. Even though there is no evidence to sustain the tales, they circulate from mouth to mouth, changing form and acquiring new endings ordetails as they spread. Today, many contemporary legends get popular faster as they are propagated by means of the internet. Believe them or not, here is a list of some ofthe most popular urban legends out there.
1. Lady Gaga is intersexual
Lady Gaga had been rumored to be intersexual for months before a video showing alittle more than the star most likely intended tooappeared on the internet. This is when the rumor took its place among the urban legends. Even though the quality of this video is too poor to tell for sure that lady Gaga is partially a man, the thousands of viewers had no doubt. The video was followed by a hoax statement of lady Gaga in which she admitted that she was intersexual:â€Yes. I have both male and female genitalia, but I consider myself a female[...].†Today, we know for surethat both the quote and the video are nothing more than a myth.
2. The spider bite legend
This is a story which wasfirst heard in the 1970s.It usually features a woman who gets bitten by an exotic spider whiletaking a sunbath during her vacation in a foreign, tropical country. The bite ( usually located on the cheek) gets bigger and bigger and she immediately goes to the doctor. After the doctor incises the huge boil, hundreds of small spiders come out of her cheek. The story also mentions thatshe never recovers fromthe shock. Having its roots in the famous story of the bosom serpent, this legend is also born from people’s fear of foreign, unknown locations.
3. The killer in the back seat
This is one of the most common urban legends in the United States, as well as in the U. K and it dates from the late 60s or early 70s. The legend tells the story ofa woman who, while driving, notices that sheis being followed by a car. The suspiciously looking driver flashes hishigh beams at her, in some variants even hitting the car. The scared woman finally arrives home only to discover that a killer or arapist was hiding in her back seat.
4. Bloody Mary
Bloody Mary is considered the spirit, or the ghost of a young woman who lost her children. As the legend goes, if called 3 times by a person who is looking into a mirror, she will appear to the caller. The various versions of this legend include time settings (atmidnight) or special movements (spinning around or rubbing the eyes). However, they all predict that awful thingswill happen to the one that called her, such as dying a horrible death or being hunted for the rest of his/her life.
5. The Alligator in thesewer
This is one of the most popular urban legends out there. It tells the story of some baby alligators who were flushed down the toiletsby their owners. According to the legend,not all of them died. Thesurvivors thrived under the city (New York City) and reproduced, forminghuge colonies of giant, albino alligators. This unbelievable myth was started by Robert Daley,in 1959, by means of his book, “The World Beneath the Cityâ€. However, there is no truth in it. Experts tell us that an alligator couldnot even survive in the cold, polluted sewers; needless to say they would not be able to breed.
6. Walt Disney is cryogenically frozen
This is again a long lasting legend, as it started with the death of Walt Disney. The legend talks about Walt Disney’s unusual request: to be cryogenically frozen so that, with the help of future technology, he might be brought back to life someday. It is a true myth which was probably created upon his death, because of the secrecy surrounding the funerals.
7. The kidney Theft
The urban legends featuring organ heist is also not new and traveled around the entire USA as well as abroad. Regardless of the variant one hears , the main theme is always the same: a man who journeys to anothercity for business (and pays a prostitute one night) discovers in the morning, after experiencing severe pains in the lower back, that one of his kidneys was gone and that he had undertaken surgery that night.!
8. Humans can lick too!
Known as “the licked hand†or “the doggy lickâ€, this is one of the urban legends which are mostly kept alive by teenagers. A horror story, it usually implies a girl who is home alonewith her dog. When going to sleep, the girl takes the dog with her and lets it sleep under her bed. During the night , she hears a dripping sound in her room but she is too afraid of the dark to getout of the bed. Instead, she puts her hand down to feel her dog’s comforting licking. Afterrepeating this action several times, she falls asleep only to wake up in the morning and see her dog dead, hanging from the ceiling light and still dripping blood from a huge wound on the stomach. The message “humans can lick too†is written with the dog’s blood on the wall.
9. The killer with a hook
This is a classic urban myth which goes as back as 1950s. It tells the story of a couple driving in the middle of the night. They stop in aforest (why should it always be a forest?!) and the man gets out ofthe car in order to try tofind help. After a while, the woman becomes concerned about her partner’s long absence and about the strange pounding on the roof of the car. All the versions also include a radio message stating that a mad man, having a hookinstead of the hand has escaped from a nearby institution. When she decides to get out of the car and take a look ,she discovers the mad criminal hitting the roof of the car with the man’s decapitated head.
10. Funny : Charlie Sheen’s death
This is a brand new urban legend which features the famous comedy star Charlie Sheen. Sadly, he woke up in the morning of July 13, 2011, to find out he had died(!). Despite his attempts to correct the rumor, his fans seemed more eagerto believe that his ghost was using the social networks, or that he became a zombie, than that he was actually alive.
Urban legends or myths are usually contemporarystories believed to have happened in reality. Even though there is no evidence to sustain the tales, they circulate from mouth to mouth, changing form and acquiring new endings ordetails as they spread. Today, many contemporary legends get popular faster as they are propagated by means of the internet. Believe them or not, here is a list of some ofthe most popular urban legends out there.
1. Lady Gaga is intersexual
Lady Gaga had been rumored to be intersexual for months before a video showing alittle more than the star most likely intended tooappeared on the internet. This is when the rumor took its place among the urban legends. Even though the quality of this video is too poor to tell for sure that lady Gaga is partially a man, the thousands of viewers had no doubt. The video was followed by a hoax statement of lady Gaga in which she admitted that she was intersexual:â€Yes. I have both male and female genitalia, but I consider myself a female[...].†Today, we know for surethat both the quote and the video are nothing more than a myth.
2. The spider bite legend
This is a story which wasfirst heard in the 1970s.It usually features a woman who gets bitten by an exotic spider whiletaking a sunbath during her vacation in a foreign, tropical country. The bite ( usually located on the cheek) gets bigger and bigger and she immediately goes to the doctor. After the doctor incises the huge boil, hundreds of small spiders come out of her cheek. The story also mentions thatshe never recovers fromthe shock. Having its roots in the famous story of the bosom serpent, this legend is also born from people’s fear of foreign, unknown locations.
3. The killer in the back seat
This is one of the most common urban legends in the United States, as well as in the U. K and it dates from the late 60s or early 70s. The legend tells the story ofa woman who, while driving, notices that sheis being followed by a car. The suspiciously looking driver flashes hishigh beams at her, in some variants even hitting the car. The scared woman finally arrives home only to discover that a killer or arapist was hiding in her back seat.
4. Bloody Mary
Bloody Mary is considered the spirit, or the ghost of a young woman who lost her children. As the legend goes, if called 3 times by a person who is looking into a mirror, she will appear to the caller. The various versions of this legend include time settings (atmidnight) or special movements (spinning around or rubbing the eyes). However, they all predict that awful thingswill happen to the one that called her, such as dying a horrible death or being hunted for the rest of his/her life.
5. The Alligator in thesewer
This is one of the most popular urban legends out there. It tells the story of some baby alligators who were flushed down the toiletsby their owners. According to the legend,not all of them died. Thesurvivors thrived under the city (New York City) and reproduced, forminghuge colonies of giant, albino alligators. This unbelievable myth was started by Robert Daley,in 1959, by means of his book, “The World Beneath the Cityâ€. However, there is no truth in it. Experts tell us that an alligator couldnot even survive in the cold, polluted sewers; needless to say they would not be able to breed.
6. Walt Disney is cryogenically frozen
This is again a long lasting legend, as it started with the death of Walt Disney. The legend talks about Walt Disney’s unusual request: to be cryogenically frozen so that, with the help of future technology, he might be brought back to life someday. It is a true myth which was probably created upon his death, because of the secrecy surrounding the funerals.
7. The kidney Theft
The urban legends featuring organ heist is also not new and traveled around the entire USA as well as abroad. Regardless of the variant one hears , the main theme is always the same: a man who journeys to anothercity for business (and pays a prostitute one night) discovers in the morning, after experiencing severe pains in the lower back, that one of his kidneys was gone and that he had undertaken surgery that night.!
8. Humans can lick too!
Known as “the licked hand†or “the doggy lickâ€, this is one of the urban legends which are mostly kept alive by teenagers. A horror story, it usually implies a girl who is home alonewith her dog. When going to sleep, the girl takes the dog with her and lets it sleep under her bed. During the night , she hears a dripping sound in her room but she is too afraid of the dark to getout of the bed. Instead, she puts her hand down to feel her dog’s comforting licking. Afterrepeating this action several times, she falls asleep only to wake up in the morning and see her dog dead, hanging from the ceiling light and still dripping blood from a huge wound on the stomach. The message “humans can lick too†is written with the dog’s blood on the wall.
9. The killer with a hook
This is a classic urban myth which goes as back as 1950s. It tells the story of a couple driving in the middle of the night. They stop in aforest (why should it always be a forest?!) and the man gets out ofthe car in order to try tofind help. After a while, the woman becomes concerned about her partner’s long absence and about the strange pounding on the roof of the car. All the versions also include a radio message stating that a mad man, having a hookinstead of the hand has escaped from a nearby institution. When she decides to get out of the car and take a look ,she discovers the mad criminal hitting the roof of the car with the man’s decapitated head.
10. Funny : Charlie Sheen’s death
This is a brand new urban legend which features the famous comedy star Charlie Sheen. Sadly, he woke up in the morning of July 13, 2011, to find out he had died(!). Despite his attempts to correct the rumor, his fans seemed more eagerto believe that his ghost was using the social networks, or that he became a zombie, than that he was actually alive.
EpIcInCoGnItO 2011/09/09 13:33
Nice article. Worth reading. Remember i had this bloody mary stuff when in school
.
Nice article. Worth reading. Remember i had this bloody mary stuff when in school
.
#34 Myth&Mystery
For discussion of mythologies, ancient cultures, the supernatural, mysticism and folklore. Explore the darker mysteries of life here.
For discussion of mythologies, ancient cultures, the supernatural, mysticism and folklore. Explore the darker mysteries of life here.