History of Urban legends

Based on the urban myths class in supernatural and paranormal studies


Urban legends are imaginary and fictional stories that are passed from one person to another person, sometimes even helped along by media, until they become so persistent and well known that they are accepted as true. The origins of urban legends are often undetectable. Many urban legends begin with, "Do you know what happened to a friend of mine?" Stories are passed along in this fashion because that's often how they're received, usually from someone known and trusted.

Urban legends are usually about something that would be hard to disprove, and contain just the right balance of believability and shock to be appealing. Urban legends usually fall into one of a few basic categories, or combination of them: a tale of shock, a cautionary tale, a tale of horror and humor, or a tale of contamination of some sort, usually of food. In other words, they resonate with our fears.

Undoubtedly one of the most well known urban legends of the 1960s, was the myth that Paul McCartney was dead. As the story went, the Beatles were placing clues in their songs and on their album covers for fans to discover 'the real truth'. This sparked many fans to launch a hunt for evidence, yet none existed. One of the more famous clues was the alleged "I buried Paul" line sung by John Lennon at the end of Strawberry Fields Forever. John publicly stated that "cranberry sauce" were his actual words. Yet this is how this urban myth began, and with the telling and retelling of it, it sparked the start of an everchanging urban legend.

Urban legends of horror eventually become ghost stories told around campfires. Nearly everyone has heard the cautionary tale about the young couple that drove to a park to neck. They heard on the radio that a one-handed lunatic was on the loose nearby. Frightened, the young woman wanted to leave, but her boyfriend insisted they needn't worry. The couple began kissing when the girl heard a tapping noise by her door. Alarmed, she made her boyfriend drive her home. When he arrived at her house, he went to open her car door for her, and discovered a bloody hook attached to the door handle.

Some psychologists believe horrific urban legends are a release valve of sorts for society to vent common fears and anxieties, while the tale above, which started in the 1950s, was probably intended to warn teenagers away from premarital sex.
Whatever their purpose, story telling has been a passion of humankind throughout history, and urban legends are nothing new. They are, in a sense, social theater, and are here to stay, good and bad alike. It may be wise to pay a little more attention, however, the next time someone starts a story with, "You know what happened to a friend of mine?"


http://www.snopes.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_legend