In this paper I will explain exactly what an urban legend is, and .
give some examples of very popular ones that have been passed by.
word of mouth for decades across the United States.
1 " An urban legend is a story that is so bizarre, horrifying, or .
unexplainable, that it makes something inside of us want to believe.
it." Urban Legends can have traced origins from other countries,.
universities, states, or people, that just decided to made up as .
incredible story and pass it on to their friends and family members.
Many of these legends were started in the sixties and seventies,.
and still continue to be passed on to this day. A good example, is .
the horrifying Pop Rocks death. 2"In the seventies ,school kids .
passed on the rumor that if Pop Rocks candy was eaten with any .
kind of soda, the person's insides would explode". A legend that .
eventually forced the candy company to prove as untrue. .
Most urban legends are began with "friend of a friend", which is .
a key in realizing that what you are going to hear is probably untrue.
When I was in second grade, a famous legend was passed to .
me, the story of the ''well to Hell''. Reportedly, down in Mexico, a .
group of men were drilling holes in the ground looking for oil. These .
holes were thousands of feet deep, and the men heard horrifying.
screams coming from the depths below. Supposedly these .
these terrible sounds were coming from Hell. This story caused.
much debate among the Christian community, and was repeating.
in news letters, and radio talk shows around the country. Eventually,.
an urban legend investigator traced the story to a school teacher .
who admitted that she made the whole thing up.
As legends are passed from person to person the stories are.
modified and changed until several versions of the story actually.
exist.
A good example of a mixed story is the classic urban legend.
of the vanishing hitch hiker.