Published: October 23, 2005 12:58 am         

Revealing classic urban legends

As kids and even as adults, many of us were and are captivated with urban legends. An urban legend is an oral narrative (a rumor if you must) told as a true story. Details are often changed to fit the audience. These stories are much like folktales often containing a touch of irony and a supernatural element.

Bloody Mary

Mary Worth, who lived in Massachusetts in the 1800s, had a hideously disfigured face. Children called her Bloody Mary.

During one of the colony witch trials, she was accused of worshipping the devil and was hanged.

One night a group of children decided to call her forth by chanting "Bloody Mary" in front of a mirror. On the 99th time, she appeared more hideous than ever, her hands (now claws) reaching through to scratch off the children's faces.

Now some say you have to spin around and say it just 13 times and she will appear.



Death on lover's lane

A high school football star and his girlfriend drive to secluded spot along a country road. While making out, they hear a thump or tap or scratch on the roof of the car.

Usually the boyfriend assures the girl it will be OK and he will get out of the car to assess the situation. She locks the doors, afraid of what is out there. He never comes back and she can't get away because he took the keys.

Variations are she falls asleep or lays on the horn until a law enforcement officer appears. He tells her to stay inside until help can arrive. The girl doesn't listen and when she gets out, she screams at the discovery of her boyfriend. He either is hanging from the tree or is sprawled on the car roof with his heart ripped out.



Taking a girl home

A young man or two men are driving home after a party and see a young woman stranded alongside the road. It is cold and she is shivering. The guys offer her a ride and she accepts.

One of the men offer her a jacket for warmth or the girl already has a coat on, but accidentally leaves it in the car. She says little other than to give directions to her house. They drop her off then realize they are missing a jacket or she forgot her coat. When they return to the young woman's house and knock on the door, a parent answers.

It is then the guys are informed the girl has been dead for so many years. Sometimes one of the guys goes to the cemetery to visit her grave and finds his jacket neatly folded on top of it.



Ear bug

A woman is sleeping and a bug burrows its way into her ear. She complains of an earache later and her husband eventually takes her to the doctor.

After an initial exam, the physician insists on an X-ray. He reads the film and delivers the news -- a bug is making its way to the skull. Eventually the bug will crawl out of the ear and everything will be fine, he tells the woman.

Two weeks later the bug drops out of the ear, but the doctor wants another X-ray to determine all is well. However, all is NOT well. The bug was pregnant and laid its eggs in the skull. The doctor gravely informs the woman she will die because the baby bugs will eat her brain when they hatch.



The bouffant

In the 1960s, women prided themselves on their bouffants, a hairstyle of high proportions. Hair stiff with hairspray and sometimes piled almost two feet tall, women rarely washed their bouffants except when appearing for an appointment at a beauty salon.

Such was the case with this woman. A college student, her bouffant brushed a spider web hanging from a tree and she never noticed. Three weeks later, while in class, she noticed blood trickling down her face. She collapsed and was rushed to the hospital.

The emergency room doctor ordered his nurses to cut her hair so he could get to the head wound. At the first snip of scissors, spiders spilled out of the bouffant and scurried around the ER. Once the infestation was finally cleared, the medical personnel found the woman dead. They continued cutting off the rest of her hair only to find a hole in her head where the spiders had eaten through her skull to her brain.



Infected needle

There are many variations of this urban legend. An unsuspecting person reaches into a pay phone coin return slot, coke machine or vending machine and is pricked by a hypodermic needle. Sometimes the victim sits on a needle buried in a seat at the local theater. In any case, he or she usually shrugs off the incident until illness strikes. Upon a visit to the doctor, the person is informed he or she has HIV.



AIDS Mary

A lady named Mary, who was from Seattle, set off for a vacation in the Caribbean. While at a resort, she was seduced by a handsome cabana boy. As she prepared to leave for the United States, the front desk attendant approached her and asked her if she had slept with the cabana boy. Mary was offended by the question but listened to what the attendant had to say -- the cabana boy had AIDS and spent his days infecting lovely tourists.

Mary immediately visited her doctor in Seattle who informed her she was indeed infected with HIV. Angry, Mary slept with every man she could. She would leave in the middle of the night while he was asleep after scrawling "Welcome to the world of AIDS!" in lipstick on the bathroom mirror.



Headlight murderers

To be initiated into a gang, the newbies must drive around one night with their headlights off. The first car that flashes lights at them becomes the target. The would-be gang members then kill the driver and any passengers.



Ankle slasher

After spending all day at the mall, a holiday shopper was ready to go home. She walked out to her car, burdened by packages and fumbling for her keys. She finally popped the trunk and unloaded all her finds before reaching for the driver's side door.

Suddenly, from beneath her vehicle a hand shot out, brandishing a knife. The man slashed her ankles and rendered her immobile. The man then robbed her of her purse, keys and car. In some versions, the robber is teenage gang member who rapes the shopper in her car first before leaving her to bleed to death.





Written by Ruth Ann Replogle with a little help from www.snopes.com and Thomas J. Craughwell's "Alligators in the Sewer."