Ask Mike: Print the Legend
Hey Guys,
What does a psycho killer with a hook have in common with Mikey from the Life cereal commercials? Both are the subjects of classic urban legends.
Urban legends, those bizarre stories that could possibly be true but probably aren’t, are extremely popular on Yahoo! Answers. Just about every campfire story you’ve ever heard is represented. As I was reading them, a question struck me. Are urban legends ever true?
I did a search on “true urban legends” and discovered that I’m not the only person to wonder. One community member asks if all urban legends stem from the truth but get distorted as the story moves from person to person.
Well, maybe, maybe not. That’s the maddening thing about urban legends — they’re plausible enough to be believable even if your better judgment is screaming, “Yeah, right!”
So, how do you prove or disprove these scary stories? Snopes.com specializes in rumors, gossip, and urban legends. Just about every urban legend you can think of is addressed. In fact, the site disproves one story that has spawned dozens of questions within Yahoo! Answers. You know the one about the guy who was drugged at a party and woke up in a bathtub full of ice and had both his kidneys missing? Not true.
Of course, that’s not to say that urban legends aren’t fun to speculate about. Do you have a favorite story that you “swear” is true? Leave me a note and share it below. Oh, and by the way, Mikey from the Life cereal commercials is alive and well. The guy with the hook? He’s standing right behind you.
Thanks for reading,
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I live in S.E.Kent England and part town and part country. The countryside where I live is a little quiet at most times,and I wanted a bit of excitement. I took a train ride to a rural village called Pluckley which in the past had a history of ghost hauntings and poltergeists. There are a couple of woods that are haunted also,and I wanted to go into one to collect ferns. An old rustic told me that it was haunted by a highwayman. I just laughed and went in and collected a couple of ferns,but I did not see the ghost of the highwayman. Maybe he only appeared on foggy days.
OMG that was cool. Isn’t the guy with the hook from the move, “I Know What you Did Last Summer.” Those movies are cool. How do you find the urban Legends because I’m addicted to like horror scary type things and I would love to know which stories I tell are true and are not true.
Well, both kidnies missing is clearly false. He wouldn’t be waking up anywhere if he’d had both kidnies out…
i really look behind me…
My favorite urban legend is the one about Yahoo! Answers. You know, the legend that says, “Chances are, someone could benefit from your knowledge, opinions, or personal experiences.” Only thing is, when people offer opinions, they get violation notices.
there are things that have happened, (in my life time while i was there, standing or ducking for cover) that are weird.
in iraq, a rocket came down about 1 mile from me creating a squat orange black fireball that i could both see and then have th windows flex under the blast. moments later, a rocket came down less than 60 feet from where i was standing with 11 others (we were moving equipment inside) and i neither heard it or felt a blast. it was the next morning when i learned how close it was.
while snoopes does a good job of documenting things, until recently rouge waves were considered to be fictious by scientist, but in my navy days i knew them to exist, and many other things that science says does not exist, i have lived through.
we have a long way to go to explain all the strange things that happen on earth. such as the destruction over siberia, comet, meteor(ite) or tesla, who can say.
the voyage of the Fram, the Challenger, and many other ships, like the Terror, we do not have all the proof of what they recorded to know if it is true or poetic expression
I think you need more education about the philosophy of science.
Actually I prefer to think all these scary urban legends are true. Much more fun that way! LOL
I learned a long time ago that on a True or False quiz, if the question sail “All” it was False. Therefor, I think the answer to all urban legends being true would be false.
They are fun to read and think about, though.
Unfortunately, I can’t remember any.
I’ve seen some wierd things, and heard some wierd things. Spent alot of time out in the woods. In the sections that I’m not sure even God sees. Wierd things.
It is fun to read this story,but I hv no story to share with others.
For the nonce, my favorite is the one about the guy who was dead at his desk for five days before anyone noticed. Supposedly, he had always been the first to arrive at work, the last to leave, and had been a hard worker who didn’t socialize much.
I first became aware of this story when I ran across an article debunking it. Five days later, an official-looking news article with the original legend appeared posted at the end of my row of cubicles . . .
Here is a story that could be a legend,but it’s up to you to decide.
The year is 1692,and 13 people had been hanged for witchcraft in Salem,Massachusetts. It was a matter of cocern to Colonel Bucks,of Bucksport Maine,that his own village should be just vigilant in stamping out witches. He raised the question repeatedly at town hall meetings. Shortly his one-man crusade produced a victim.
There was a public accusation of a bent and withered old lady who looked every inch a witch. Historians disagree as to her name and age,but one them calls her Comfort Ainsworth and is sure she was more than 90 years old.
Because of her frailty,the old lady went on trial without torture or pricking with needles to find “the witches mark”. But the crowds that surged into the courtroom knew her guilt had been predetermined by Colonel Bucks himself,who sat within whispering distance of the magistrate. When witnesses took the stand against her,without exception they looked to Bucks for approval.
One woman said she heard had heard the old woman muttering something that sounded gibberish. But when she reached home and her ears started bleeding,she knew it had been a curse.
A man swore he’d seen a black garbed figure ten feet tall-obviously the devil or one of his henchmen-standing in Comforts doorway. The jury quickly returned a verdict of guilty. Quoting the text ,”Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,”the judge announced Comfort Ainsworth and sentenced her to hang next day.
No one was prepared for the scene that followed. Because she had not been permitted to testify in her own defence,people had assumed that the toothless old woman would remain mute.
Before the bailiffs could stop her,she got to her feet and pointed a bony finger at the colonel. “In all my life,”she screamed “I have cursed no other being! But i’m capable of laying a curse on you sir,because you and your toadies have lied me to the gallows!
“Then mark you this,and mark it well-when you go to your grave,which will be soon,I pledge you I shall leave the print of my foot on your gravestone. And the print,Colonel Bucks,will be there forever so that the world can never forget this day”.
A bailiff clapped his palm over her mouth and carried her from the courtroom. But her words left the village uneasy,and there were few spectators when she was hanged next morning. Even Colonel Bucks failed to appear.
Three months later,he died of a “wasting disease”,and the colonel’s heirs found he had written a new instruction into his will. His headstone must be of the most flawless marble,incapable of being stained or besmirched”.
But in a few days the relatives were secretly approached by a terrified cemetary worker. He had found a womans footprint in the marble ,and no amount of sanding could remove it. A stone cutter was sworn to secrecy. Working in the dead of night he cut a replica of the first. The old stone was buried secretly and the new one raised.
Ten days later,theheirs saw crowds of frightened people moving in and out of the cemetary. Joining them,they found that the trick had failed.The shape of an old woman’s narrow stockinged foot was clearly visible in the new stone.
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When I was a little girl,my parents use to tell us stories about the “Cline ave” Witch (located in East Chicago,IN). This was suppse to be about a couple whom had just got married on Halloween day,back in the 1960’s. That night,they were traveling South on Cline ave.,drunk,and were having a heated arguement. Suddenly,the groom veered of the road and crashed into the terrain below. The bride’s body was found,but not the groom. As time went on,the groom was declared legally dead. Legend has it,that every Halloween night the bride can be seen; still wearing her wedding gown,at the bottom of the terrain,searching for her dead husband.
It SEEMS that there have been MANY “stories”; these “stories” (”Urban Legends”!?; some of which are “local legends” —-and therefore have ppl. (”USUALLY” whoever; the first person that tells you!; “swears” that it’s “TRUE”. Some of these stories SOUND believable AT FIRST; they can be lent credence by the person that tells you!; But; for the MOST part; these stories “USUALLY” are “proven” false!
This has HAPPENED with me; (TO me?) more than; Once!
So No matter how much you “trust”; Almost; ANYBODY; what they’re telling you; is (MOST LIKELY!) FALSE!
AND; IT “SHOULDN’T” MATTER; HOW MANY TIMES; YOU’VE HEARD IT! AND; FROM HOW MANY; DIFFERENT PEOPLE; CHANCES ARE; IT’S “STILL” FALSE! “UNLESS”; you have it; “on” ABSOLUTELY “IMPECCABLY”(SP.?) GOOD AUTHORITY; it’s (PROBABLY!?) FALSE! ——Todd Friedman.
best horror storeis are true beacuse some of the scariest things are happenig inreality but people are to preocupied in what isnt/half truths to care.
if you guys like urban legends then watch the tv show supernatural, almost every storyline in the show is based on an urban legend and the hook man is actully one of the shows.
Season 1, Episode 7: Hookman
Original Air Date: 25 October 2005
you can watch the show at surfthechannel.com if you are interested.
I actually looked behind me :/
One urban legend I know of is from ‘ Southern Fried Rat and Other Gruesome Tales’ by Daniel Cohen. As the title suggests, a person who bought a chicken dinner at a famous franchise got a little something extra in the box.
The story dates back to the 1970s, and I have no idea if it has any roots in reality.
The best-known urban legend is probably ‘The Vanishing HItchiker’, variations of which predate the automobile.
Kudos to you for referencing the line from John Ford’s masterpiece The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance in your title. I love that.
Some of the above urban legends I’ve heard, some I haven’t. I think the most famous one is about a couple who were out on a date. They were sitting in the boys car, in a secluded spot, under a tree. They heard a noise and he told her to stay in the car and lock the doors while he checked out the noise. When he didn’t return and she got no response from calling out to him she got frightened. She finally fell asleep and when she woke up she heard a thumping, scraping noise on the roof of the car. She found the courage to leave the car to see what was making the noise. When she looked at the roof she saw her boyfriend, dead, swinging from a tree limb.
The OTHER thing that Mikey has in common with a psychopathic killer with a meat hook…
They like it.
My aunt told me a story when I was younger. She told me that this man was hung for something we weren’t sure of and he was too tall to be hung from the usual place that was used to hang people. So they dug a hole so he could be hung there. And now his ghost lives there and whenever someone tries to fill the hole, it won’t stay full. Someone supposedly filled it with concrete and slept on it and woke up in the hole.
Another one my aunt told me was that somewhere in Montgomery you can drive on the highway and go under 13 bridges but if you were to turn around and go back under them, you can only count 5. I’m not sure of the validity of either of those stories but I was very fascinated with both of them as a younger teen.
@ catluver42
——————
all forms of death are deadly: T or F
=P
oh yeah, this too: How is the kid from the cereal commercial an urban legend? he’s a kid…in a commercial…what gives?
There is that one (and I have heard man variations) about the man/woman that has a lump on their face that keeps growing. One day they accidently bump it and a whole bunch of little spiders run out.
Also the one about the guy with the dreadlocks that has been having severe headaches. Finally he goes to the hospital where the nurse finds a family of redbacks (or other highly poisonous spiders) living in his locks.
An urban legend that sadly did actually come true later was that steve erwin have been killed by a snake, later he did die but by a sting ray!
I would have to say that there are many different legends are out there…. Some of them could be true, yet some are false. It could be from the different circulation methods as well. I woul have to say that it is very interesting ho people are trying to prove these legends ture. Aren’t they called legends for they are supposed to be myths to begin with? Who am I to know…. I just have to say this is definately an interesting topic to talk about…. I will have to ask the direction of the International Paranormal Researching Network… They have found some evidence supposedly in some of the cases and even said that they proved Candyman to be real for themselves…. I hope you will contact me on more if you have any more questions….
Yours Truely,
Argent
I’m just curious as to how much long Yahoo’s going to be around…I mean, a $5 drop since yesterday? Yang should have taken M$’s first offer.
I am sorry, but this blog is like completely oblivious to everything that matters.
Why arn’t you blogging about Yahoo!’s current crisis? The seemingly inevitable take over from Microsoft? Just because they have withdrawn, does not mean the war is over…
I somewhat pride myself on being able to know an urban legend when I hear (or read) one.
They proliferate like rabbits.
I don’t know how many times I’ve had to respond to friends and relatives to set the record straight (the Organ Harvester one, for example, to which you alluded, Mike).
I’d recommend any of Jan Brundvand’s collections of urban legends for anyone interested in researching them.
Just remember the dead giveaway in most urban legends: it’s almost always third hand or more. Apparently these things only happen to “a friend’s cousin,” “a friend of my friend’s cousin,” or “a friend of a friend.” Actual, concrete names are rare, unless a celebrity of some sort is involved.
Oh, and let’s not forget Carmen Winstead!!!
ok