LIBRARY BLOG

Six Urban Legends to Keep You Up at Night

Urban legends are “true” stories that are traditionally passed down orally, by popular culture, and, more modernly, via the internet. These are stories that have happened to a friend-of-a-friend presented with some kind of puzzling situation which typically gets resolved by a sudden plot twist abruptly ending the story. There is much debate on the term “urban legend,” scholars bounce back and forth between “urban,” “contemporary,” or “modern” legends, but there is no definite term for these stories. Interestingly, urban legends are not considered to be the same as folklore. While the two types of narratives are quite similar the differences are easy to spot. For example, top urban legends spread quickly and are accepted as true, whereas folklore revolves around superstitions, historic legends, or traditions. Urban legends may also be confirmation of one’s moral standards, or may reflect prejudices, or they may even be a way to make sense of social anxieties.

These are six urban legends as researched by Dr. Jan Harold Brunvand, professor emeritus of English at the University of Utah, in his books the Encyclopedia of Urban Legends (Updated and Expanded Edition) Volumes 1 and 2. These books are located in the adult reference section of the main library. The urban legends are listed here in no particular order and for no other purpose than your reading pleasure. If your interest is piqued and you would like to learn more about urban legends please come visit us!

1. Ants Invade

A woman was lost in the desert in Death Valley, but after her rescue and while in the hospital she began incessantly scratching at her face. She was restrained by the hospital staff so she would not injure herself. After finally dying from a mysterious cause, hospital attendants discovered that her body was completely infested by ants. These burrowing insects were trying to eat their way out through her skin.

2. The Roomate’s Death

Two female college roommates have decided to remain on campus during a school vacation. One girl leaves the room to get some food, use the restroom, and run some errands while the other girl stays behind. The absent roommate returns later that night and tiptoes into the room without turning on the light. She believes her roommate may have her boyfriend in bed with her as she hears some heavy breathing and movement across the room. Thinking nothing of it she falls asleep only to awake the next morning to her roommate lying dead in her bed in a pool of blood. Above the lifeless body the murderer wrote on the wall in blood, “Aren’t you glad you didn’t turn on the light?”

3. The Fatal Cleaning Lady

This story was circulated worldwide on the internet following a series of strange deaths in a South African Hospital. A spokesperson for the hospital finally addresses the situation after several months by saying nurses have been baffled to find a dead patient in the same bed every Friday morning. There were extensive checks to the room and air conditioning system which ruled out any bacteria or infectious substances. A further investigation has revealed the cause of these deaths. Every Friday morning a cleaner would enter the room, unplug the patient’s life support system, plug in her floor polishing machine, and go about her cleaning duties. Once her work was finished, she would plug the life support machine back in not realizing that the patient was now dead. After all, she could not hear the screams and death rattle over the sounds of her floor polishing machine. The spokesperson for this South African hospital concluded the press conference by saying a strong letter was sent to the cleaner in question and that an electrician was called in to add an extra electrical socket to the room so such things cannot happen again.

4. The Licked Hand

Several young girls have gathered for a sleepover. The parents are away, so the girls rely on the family’s large pet dog for protection against any possible danger. Later in the night after all the girls have gone to sleep, the hostess awakes several times to some odd noises in the house. However, each time she wakes her dog comforts her enough to fall back asleep by licking her hand. In the morning she wakes to find all of her friends murdered and her dog’s body hanging in the bathroom next to the message written on the wall, “People can lick, too.”

5. The Hook

The night is warm and the radio is playing romantic music; promise is in the air for a young couple. Parked in a secluded area for a privacy, suddenly a news flash interrupts the soft music. A lunatic has escaped from the local mental hospital. He can be recognized by the horrific hook that he has in place of one of his hands. The girl is feeling extremely nervous and begs to leave the area. The boy, feeling amorous, doesn’t move. She finally reaches out and turns off the radio. There is a sound of a scratch at the door. Absolutely terrified, the girl insists it is time to leave. Furious, the boy drives off with a squeal of the tires. Once they get back home the boy walks around the car to open the passenger door for his girlfriend and promptly passes out. Hanging on the door handle is the bloody stump of the lunatic’s hook.

6. The Sausage Factory

A mother sends her daughter to get some things from the store for dinner. The mother waits and waits, but her daughter does not return. Hoping to run into her daughter the mother makes her way to the store and purchases the items needed for dinner. Not knowing what else to do once she returns home the mother begins to fry some minced meat that she purchased at the store. There, in the meat, the mother finds a small ring and recognizes it as the one she gave to her daughter for her birthday. The mother now realizes why her daughter never came home.