Page

iv

Copyright © 2001 by Jan Harold Brunvand

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval sytem, or transmitted, iny form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission
in writing from the publishers.
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Brunvand, Jan Harold
Encyclopedia of urban legends/ Jan Harold Brunvard; artwork by Randy Hickman
p. cm.
includes bibliographical references and index
ISBN 1-57607-076-X (hard : alk. paper) — ISBN 1-57607-532-X (e-book)
1. Urban Folklore—United States—Encyclopedias. 2. Legends—United States—Encyclopedias. I.Title
GR105.34 .B78 2001
398.2′0973′091732—dc21
2001000883
06 05 04 03 02 01 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an e-book. Visit abc-clio.com for details.
ABC-CLIO, Inc.
130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911
Santa Barabara, California 93116-1911
This book is printed on acid-free paper
 Page v

Contents
Preface, xxi
Introduction, xxv

A
Academe, Legends of, 1
“The Accidental Cannibals,” 3
“The Accidental Stickup,” 3
Accidents, 4
“The Acrobatic Professor,” 5
“AIDS Harry,” 5
“AIDS Mary,” 6
“The Air-Freighted Pet,” 7
“All That Glitters Is Not Gold,” 8
“Alligators in the Sewers,” 8
Amusement Park Dangers, 9
Analysis and Interpretation, 11
Animals in Urban Legends, 13
“The Animal’s Revenge,” 14
Ants or Termites Invade the Body, 14
Architects’ Blunders, 15
Argentina, 16
 Page i

Encyclopedia of Urban Legends

 Page iii

Encyclopedia of Urban Legends

Jan Harold Brunvand

Artwork by Randy Hickman

Santa Barbara, California

Denver, Colorado
Oxford, England
 Page vi

“The Arrest,” 17
Atrocities, 18
“The Attempted Abduction,” 19
Australia, 20
Automobiles, 22
“The Avon Flasher,” 24

B
Babies, 25
“The Baby-Roast,” 26
“The Baby Train,” 27
“Baby’s Stuck at Home Alone,” 27
“The Baby-sitter and the Man Upstairs,” 28
Backward Buildings and Statues, 29
“The Bargain Sports Car,” 30
“The Barometer Problem,” 30
“The Barrel of Bricks,” 31
“The Bedbug Letter,” 32
Belgium, 32
Belief Legend, 33
Big Cats Running Wild, 34
“Bikers Versus Smokers,” 35
“The Bird-Foot Exam,” 36
“The Blind Date,” 36
“The Blind Man,” 37
“The Blood Libel,” 37
“Blue Star Acid,” 38
“The Body in the Bed,” 39
“The Body on the Car,” 40
Bogus Warnings, 41
“The Bosom Serpent,” 42
“The Bothered Bride,” 43
“The Boy Who Played Superman,” 44
“The Boyfriend’s Death,” 44
“Bozo the Clown’s Blooper,” 45
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“The Brain Drain,” 46

“The Bug Under the Rug,” 48
“The Bullet Baby,” 49
“The Bump in the Rug,” 50
“The Bungled Rescue of the Cat,” 50
Bungling Brides, 51
“Buried Saint Sells Property,” 51
Business Legends, 52
“The Butcher’s Prank,” 53
“Buying Tampax,” 54

C
“The Cabbage Patch Tragedy,” 57
Cadavers, 58
Campus Rumor Scares, 58
“The Can of Snakes,” 59
Canada, 60
“Car Stolen During Earthquake,” 62
“Career Decisions,” 63
“The Cat (or Dog) and the Nude Man,” 64
Celebrities, 65
“The Celebrity’s Car Breakdown,” 66
“The Celebrity’s Telephone (or Phone Card) Number,” 67
Child Ballad, 68
Children, 68
Chinese Restaurants, 70
“The Choking Doberman,” 71
Church’s Chicken Rumors, 72
Cigar Insurance (“Cigarson”), 73
Classifying Urban Legends, 73
“The Clever Baby-sitter,” 76
“The Climax of Horrors,” 77
Cokelore, 77
“The Colander Copier Caper,” 78
Collecting Urban Legends, 79
 Page viii

“The Colo-Rectal Mouse,” 81

“Come and Get It!,” 81
Comics and Urban Legends, 82
Communal Re-creation, 83
“The Communist Rules for Revolution,” 83
Companies, 84
Comparative Approach, 85
Computers, 86
Conspiracies, 88
“The Contaminated Comforter,” 89
Contamination, 90
Contemporary Legend, 91
Contemporary Legend (Journal), 92
Context, 93
“The Corpse in the Car,” 95
“The Corpse in the Cask,” 96
CPR Annie Legend, 96
The Craig Shergold Legend, 97
Crime, 98
“Cruise Control,” 100
“The Crushed Dog,” 101
Culture-Clash Legends, 101
“Curses! Broiled Again!,” 102
“The Cut-Off Finger,” 103
“The Cut-Out Pullman,” 104

D
“The Daughter’s Letter from College,” 105
“The Day Trip,” 106
“The Dead Cat in the Package,” 106
“The Death Car,” 107
“The Death of Little Mikey,” 108
Decapitated Riders and Drivers, 109
“The Deer Departed,” 110
“Define ‘Courage’,” 110
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Definition of “Legend,” 111

Denmark, 114
Dental Death, 115
“The Devil in the Dance Hall,” 115
“Dial 911 for Help,” 116
“The Dishonest Note,” 117
Dissertation Legends, 117
“Do You Know Who I Am?,” 118
“The Dog in the High-rise,” 119
“Dog’s Corpse Is Stolen,” 119
“The Dog’s Dinner,” 120
“The Dolly Parton Diet,” 121
“Don’t Mess with Texas,” 121
“The Dormitory Surprise,” 122
“The Double Theft,” 123
Drug Horror Stories, 124
“Drugged and Seduced,” 124

E
Earthquake Stories, 127
Earwig Stories, 128
“The Eaten Pets,” 128
“The Economical Car,” 129
“The Elephant That Sat on the VW,” 130
Elevator Accidents, 131
“The Elevator Incident,” 131
Embarrassment, 132
England, 133
The Escalating Medical Problems, 136
Exploding Animals, 136
“The Exploding Bra,” 137
“The Exploding Butane Lighter,” 137
“The Exploding Toilet,” 138

F
“The Failed Suicide,” 141