The Soap Lady

 Author: Nyree Hardwick

Imagine you are invited to a popular older woman’s house. Say you have been looking for a job or love and she says she found you someone, but you must go quite a distance away just to meet them. Here’s the kicker, she tells you to promise her not to tell a living soul about where you’re going or what she has told you. All of a sudden… you pass out and then? You’re dead. This was how it was for the victims of “The Soap Lady”

According to many sources and records, Leonarda was both a mother and a wife to 18 children. She had become very superstitious over the years, having believed her mother cursed her and her marriage out of spite since she refused to marry the man who her parents wanted her to. She also believed this due to them not giving her marriage their blessing. After this, she had gotten arrested for fraud and her home was destroyed by one of today’s deadliest earthquakes. 

Now, it wasn’t as bad at first but due to her getting pregnant 17 times, having 3 miscarriages, and losing 10 of her children from a young age. Due to this she went and spoke to a fortune teller in hopes that everything would turn up but instead was told that in her right hand they saw prison and in her left they saw an insane asylum. That didn’t drive her off the edge though, what drove her off the edge was when her eldest and favorite son came to her and told her that he was going to join the war. All her effort to protect her children was going to fail if he went to war so she did one thing in hopes to protect him. Blood sacrifices. 

This was how “The Soap Lady” came to be, she went and collected three women. Managed to trick them and turned two of them into tea cakes while she turned the last one into tea cakes and soap before going on about how sweet they each were. She even went as far as to demonstrate how she did it seeing as the police had begun to assume her son, who she had been trying to protect, was the one who murdered those woman. Just like the fortune teller told her, she was arrested and sent to prison as well a insane asylum for her crimes and died there as well.

Works cited:

Serena, Katie “Serial Killer Leaonarda Cianciulli: Turning People Into Soap” Topic. August 2022. https://thecrimewire.com/multifarious/The-Cannibal-Leonarda-Cianciulli-Famous-Female-Serial-Killers. Accessed 29 Oct. 2023.

M, Pilar. “Serial Killer Leonarda Cianciulli: Turning People into Soap” The Crime Wire. August 12, 2022. Accessed 29 Oct. 2023.

The Infographics Show. “Leonarda Cianciulli AKA The Human Flesh Soap Maker” Youtube. May 4, 2018. Accessed 29 Oct. 2023.

Eniqma. “Leonarda Cianciulli | True Crime Story of the Soapmaker of Correggio” Youtube. July 30, 2022. Accessed 29 Oct. 2023.

Rowlatt, Justin. “Sodium: Getting Rid of Dirt – and Murder Victims.” BBC. May 3, 2014.  Accessed 29 Oct. 2023.

Links for Further Research:

1.      The Crime Wire, https://thecrimewire.com/multifarious/The-Cannibal-Leonarda-Cianciulli-Famous-Female-Serial-Killers, A clear view of ‘The Soap Lady’ and how she killed and used her victims as well as her reason for doing such things.

1.      Museo Criminologico, The Correggio soap-maker - Mucri - Criminology Museum (archive.org), It gives you the quotes of what Leonarda said about each of her victims when she was on trial.

1.      All That’s Interesting,  Meet Leonarda Cianciulli, Italy's Infamous Female Serial Killer (allthatsinteresting.com), It gives more of an insight on her backstory.

The Bunny Man of Fairfax

 By Evan Natale

In Fairfax county, there is an urban tale that likes to spring up every October, that being of The Bunny Man. Most variations keep the similar theme of a man in a bunny suit threatening people who come to his bridge, a railroad overpass near Clifton, Virginia, typically with the weapon of choice being an axe. Usually the backstory of the Bunny Man is that either he is an escapee from a local mental asylum, or that he is the spirit of a patient from an abandoned mental asylum. In another rendition, the reason why he is attracted to that bridge is because that is where a bus on its way to an Asylum crashed, causing either him to escape and ‘hunt’ in that area or that is where he died and now is haunting that area. In either case, rabbit corpses would occasionally appear, dangling from the nearby trees.  

The origin of the urban legend stems from two news stories that were written in October of 1970 in the Washington Post. The first story was an Air Force cadet telling about how he and his fiance were attacked while trying to park their car. They claim that a man in a bunny suit came out of nowhere and flung an axe into their windshield. Following this a week later, a police officer saw the Bunny Man on top of a newly built house, hacking away at the roof’s support, then when the officer turned his back, he ran away. 

The legend would grow to a point that in 2011 a direct to dvd indie slasher movie that was made called “Bunnyman.” that the director would go on to make 2 sequels. In these movies The Bunnyman would proceed to go on to kill a group of teenagers. In 2014, a local band from Fairfax, Mantua Finials, made a rock opera album based off of the story entitled “The Legend of the Bunnyman”.

Works Cited:

Pugh Kari. “Bunny Man Bridge: The scary truth behind an infamous urban legend” Insidenova, https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/bunny-man-bridge-the-scary-truth-behind-an-infamous-urban-legend/article_a27c7000-dca4-11e8-ad84-af51d935cbcb.html, 30 October 2021,

 Conley Brian A., “The Bunny Man Unmasked” Fairfax County Library, https://research.fairfaxcounty.gov/local-history/bunnyman, 22, October 2022

Kelly John, “With ‘Legend of the Bunnyman,’ a local band celebrates a quirky urban myth” Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/with-legend-of-the-bunnyman-a-local-band-celebrates-a-quirky-urban-myth/2014/06/02/0252e9e6-ea65-11e3-93d2-edd4be1f5d9e_story.html, 2 June 2014

Links for Further Research: 

https://research.fairfaxcounty.gov/local-history/bunnyman

Killer in the Backseat

Author: Elizabeth King

This Can of Mystery may have captured your attention due to its terrifying title. The Killer in the Backseat is a very well-known and chilling urban legend. As I was doing research on this tale, I even had my hair stick up on the back of my neck. The tale goes like this: In the Beginning, in 1967, a woman who is driving and she was being followed by a weird car. The mysterious car flashes the high beams, gets super close to her and sometimes even slams the car into her vehicle. This on its own sounds absolutely horrific but it gets worse. She realizes that the driver was trying to warn her that there was a strange man hiding in her back seat! She decides that she just needs to keep on driving as the man behind her kept screaming “Lock your doors and call the cops!”

Thats when she realizes that the man behind her was helping her. Each time the man sat up to get to the woman, the man behind used the high beams to scare the killer in the womans car which causes him to duck down. So, the man who was ramming her car was not the killer and he was trying to warn the lady. Though out the years plenty of variations of the tale as said in this article if you would like to read more. The articles tells another story with the same idea as the original.

I read up on a true story may have been the inspiration for this urban legend and this honestly made the legend more scary. It was based off an incident in 1964 in New York City. A escaped killer hid in a backseat of a car. But, the car ended up belonging to an police officer who ended up killing the man hiding in the backseat. Which just sounds like bad luck on the killers side. The police officer ended up shooting him and that was the end of it. There are obviously some differences between the two stories but they also have the same ideas. I just found it interesting that it is based off of an actual event. The Killer in the Backseat is one of those tales that sounds realistic enough that it gives you a heavy feeling. I quite enjoyed tale about this story and I hope you have as well. Always remember to check your backseat.

Works Cited:

Brunvand, Jan Harold. “TALE OF BACKSEAT KILLER IS SIMILAR TO NEWS STORIES.” Deseret News, 13 Dec.1991.

“History/Origin.” The Killer in the Backseat: An Urban Legend, killerinthebackseat.weebly.com/historyorigin.html.

Laws, Katherine. The Killer in the Backseat, 22 Oct. 2012, canofmystery.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-killer-in-backseat.html.

Maykr, Khan. “The Killer In the Backseat.” Villains Wiki, 2011, villains.fandom.com/wiki/The_Killer_In_the_Backseat.

Schlosser, S.E. “ Urban Legends.” Urban Legends at Americanfolklore.net, 2002, americanfolklore.net/folklore/urban-legends/.

Links for further research:
The Killer in the Backseat
http://www.snopes.com/horrors/madmen/backseat.asp
Articles of different places from which the urban legends “The Killer in the Backseat” was founded.

American Folklore
http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/urban-legends/
A website that contains all kinds of urban legends and different types of folklore.

5 Ridiculous Origins of Famous Urban Legends
http://www.cracked.com/article_19800_5-ridiculous-origins-famous-urban-legends.html
More Information of the origins of different Urban Legends and American Folklore.

The Axe Man of New Orleans

Author: Musa Kareem

Hell, March 13, 1919, Esteemed Mortal of New Orleans: The Axe Man.They have never caught me and they never will. They have never seen me, for I am invisible, even as the ether that surrounds your earth. I am not a human being, but a spirit and a demon from the hottest hell. I am what you Orleanais and your foolish police call the Axe Man.

This is a supposed quote from the infamous murderer known as the Axe man of New Orleans. If this is a genuine quote, it pretty much sums up the type of person we are dealing with here. Even if this quote isn’t genuine, the events that happened in New Orleans, 1918 through 1919 are creepy enough.

It’s the night of May 23rd, 1918; a couple named Catherine and Joseph Maggio are in their home,419 Magnolia St.and in that night, they became known as the first victims of the Axe Man.The story is the Axe Man crept through the darkness of the Maggio home, knocked the couple with an axe andcuttheir throatswithone of Joseph’s straight razors.Catherine was found almost entirely decapitated, while her husband suffered from multiple severe injuries.Their bodies were discovered by joseph’s brother, who lived with the couple.When the attack was investigated,the only leads that were found was a missing panel from the kitchen door and a bloody axe.This break-in was abnormal because no valuables or money were.The Maggio attack is only beginning of the many disturbing attacks supposedly committed by the Axe Man, some more gruesome or disturbing than others.

On March 10th,1919, the Cortimiglia family was attacked.Charles attempted to protect his family by engaging in a fight with the Axe Man. Charles Cortimiglia would lose that fight and the Axe Man would go on to attacking Charles wife Rose and their two-year-old daughter, Rose. Charles and Rose would survive the attack, but their daughter tragically didnot.Like all the other Axe Man attacks the only thing police found was the bloody axe the attacker used.The attacker was described as dark, tall,heavy-set, wearing a dark suit and a black slouch hat.Three days later, on March 13th, 1919, the letter quoted up above was sent to a New Orleans newspaper called The Times-Picayune.In the letter he would go on to threaten and insult the police.The most sinister thing about this letter is threat aimed towards the citizens of New Orleans.

Undoubtedly, you Orleanians think of me as a most horrible murderer, which I am, but I could be much worse if I wanted to. If I wished, I could pay a visit to your city every night. At will I could slay thousands of your best citizens (and the worst), for I am in close relationship with the Angel of Death.

Now, to be exact, at 12:15 (earthly time) on next Tuesday night, I am going to pass over New Orleans. In my infinite mercy, I am going to make a little proposition to you people. Here it is:I am very fond of jazz music, and I swear by all the devils in the nether region that every person shall be spared in whose home a jazz band is in full swing at the time I have just mentioned. If everyone has a jazz band going, well, then, so much the better for you people. One thing is certain and that is that some of your people who do not jazz it out on that specific Tuesday night (if there be any) will get the axe.

This letter put fear in the hearts of the New Orleans citizens. On the Tuesday mentioned in the letter the people of New Orleans blasted jazz music in their homes and those who didn’t have a record player poured into local jazz clubs, just to stay clear from the Axe Mans wrath.What is interesting is the fact that no one was attacked on that night.The letter would also go on to spark the creation of a jazz song called“Don’t Scare Me Papa,” also known as the mysterious Axe Mans jazz.

October 27th,1919 was the last time the Axe Man attacked someone.He attacked and killed a man named Mike Pepitone. Mike was bashed in the head eight-teen times. He initially survived the attack but died only two hours later. After this the Axe Man seemed to just vanish from the city of New Orleans. He was never caught or even identified.

Work Cited:

BuzzFeed Multiplayer. “BuzzFeed Multiplayer: The Terrifying Axeman of New Orleans.” YouTube,2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrMGIqecu0Y&t=456s.

Kelly, Meghan. “The Axe Murderer Who Loved Jazz.” Wbur.com, 2018. https://www.wbur.org/endlessthread/2018/06/22/the-axeman-serial-killer-new-orleans

For more information check the links below:


The Axeman of New Orleans.
https://www.legendsofamerica.com/la-axeman/2/.
This article is essentially a timeline of the Axe man’s murders and other important events related to the Axe man.

The Legends of History: The Axe Man of New Orleans (Serial Killer History Explained). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9iHBtN0DaE.
This video goes in detain of each murder done by the Axeman and his possible motivations.

“Criminal Profiles: The Axeman of New Orleans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8XX7k5Jt84
In this video the narrator goes through each one of the Axe man’s murders and attacks. He mentions the important dates in the story that is the notorious Axe man.

Stories of Kidney Heist

by  Ariyah Edwards

There are two main types of stories about kidney thefts. One story involves a businessman who sees a beautiful woman at a bar which wakes up drugged and wakes up with a missing organ. The other story involves poor people from third world countries that is forced to give up their organs. Kidney heist is an example of a interesting horror story that people would love to read.

For one example, there was a story about a doctor named Amit Kumar from India that was arrested because he was accused of being the leader of a “Kidney Theft Ring” which took up five hundred kidneys from donors over the past nine years. Many rumors were told to other people saying that many children and adults were forced to give up their organs at gunpoint. A victim named Mohammed Salim Khan in India had the experience of his kidney getting stolen. He woke up in an unfamiliar house with a man with a surgical mask ang gloves looking down at him. Mohammed couldn’t move so he asked the man what happened to him and he answered, “Your kidney has been removed”. From that point on Mohammad was wondering how he would live. The purpose of this story is to persuade readers that this story is true. I chose this source because it has a lot of information and details in the story. This story makes you want to learn more about kidney heist. This source is helpful because it shows that kidney heist is not just a myth, it happens in real life.

There was another story that was talking about a traveling businessman going to a bar and seeing a beautiful lady there which poisoned him that night and stole his kidney. A man named Jonathan was sitting at the lounge, he saw very attractive girl that offered to buy him a drink. Not knowing it was a potion, Jonathan drunk the drink and passed out. When he woke up he was in a tub filled with ice. He the noticed there was a tube in his back and his kidneys were gone. The purpose of this source is to entertain a certain audience. I chose this source because it gave me many details in just one paragraph. This source is different because it’s a fiction story. This source reveals that kidney heist is just another fiction horror story.

Works Cited:
 Humes, Lindsey.Magazine spread ideas for the Urban Legend "The Kidney Heist.” Cartoon. N.d. Behance.net. Web. 19 Oct. 2013.

“The National Kidney Foundation Dispels Rumors About Illegally Harvested Kidneys.” Kidney.org.

National Kidney Foundation. 2 Apr. 2000. Web. 9 Oct. 2013. “Sonata for Solo Organ.” Law and Order.Dir. Fred Gerber. NBC. 2 Apr. 2001. Television.

“You’ve Got to Be Kidneying.” Snopes.com.N.p., 12 Mar, 2008. Web. 9 Oct. 2013.

Links for further Research:
Urban Legend
http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Urban_legend.html
This web source, from Princeton University, gives you information on how Urban Legends have played a role in shaping into what it is today.

Debunking the Kidney Heist Hoax http://www.transplantliving.org/community/newsroom/1997/02/debunking-the-kidney-heist-hoax/ This web source provides information on the origin of the rumor.
The Washington post ran a story about The Kidney Heist in 1991. A rejected movie script inspired the story written by The Washington Press.

Kidney Heist -- And Other Urban Myths It`s Really The Truth, We Swear It:
Another Urban Legend Is Born.
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1991-04-08/features/9101170939_1_story-legend-kidney-heist
This web source provides insight from Jan Brunvand, a folklore professor at the University of Utah.
Brunvand feels the story is an American version of cases where kids in 3rd world countries were kidnapped and killed for their organs.

The Queen Mary

Michael Dunbar

The Queen Mary 

TheQueen Mary  ship is a museum and also a hotel now is located in Long Beach, California known for its grand size along with its number of rumored hauntings on the ship. According to Chavdar Chanev of the online articles RMS Queen Mary the Queen Mary has a twin sister ship named Queen Elizabeth which both were commissioned by the Navy to oppose the ocean liners built in Germany and France during the World War II period. The ship which was built and sailing in the 1930s was known to be bigger than the great Titanic. In 1967 the ship was withdrawn from service with thousands of transatlantic voyages then turned to a maritime museum and hotel located in Long Beach, California. During the ships time under ceased service during World War II gave shelter too over 800,000 troops and was known for carrying the most people ever on a floating vessel which was 16,683 according to Kathy Weiser from Legends of America. Along history The Queen Mary’s hotel guests had bad life ending accidents while staying on board which made the ship their last living place on earth. This would create a great amount of reporting’s from residents on board the ship of unexpected interaction with spirits during their time spent there. Information from Planet Paranormal portrays that the rumors of ghost are true because this source provides evidence such as audio and visual evidence that has been captured on the ship by investigators. Background information from Kathy Weiser on some of the ghosts that are still haunting the vessel that have been encountered is a little girl named Jackie who drowned in one of the second level pools during the ships sailing days and to this day her spirit refuses to move on. Other sightings such as in the ship’s first-class lounge, a beautiful young woman in an elegant white evening gown has often been seen dancing alone in the shadows of the corner of the room. Also while researchers who would investigate the lower part of the ship heard horrid screams and sounds of colliding ships. Further research from Tom Crawford of Ghost Source and Portal to the Paranormal provides insight that Queen Mary collided with a smaller British ship, the H.M.S. Curacao, causing the ship and its three hundred passengers to sink. Some investigators would say that the screams and hauntings are being created by the three hundred men who were killed. Many more sightings, accidents, and activity has happened along Queen Mary voyages. This is why it’s one of the top tourist attractions known today.

EVP VIDEOS: 

Queen Mary pool Female voice say's "Mommy who ist it"? and then "mom or Bob."

Queen Mary First Class Pool - Female singing)

Works Cited

Bob Davis from Planet Paranormal, Nightwatchers . 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5iXfeDpZkdw

Chanev, Chavdar. RMS Queen Mary.  Queen Mary 2 Cruises 2016, written on November 29, 2015. http://www.queenmarycruises.net/rms-queen-mary/ 

Crawford, Tom. The RMS Queen Mary. Ghost Source and Portal to the Paranormal. 14 Nov.2009. http://www.ghostsource.com/hauntings/hauntings-the-queen-mary-ship.php

Hipmunk. The Queen Mary Ship. https://assets.hipmunk.com/assets/hotel_image/v1/563526d88f3484588f865ed9.jpg

Irsay, Steve.” Queen's Haunted History Highly Documented”. Grunion Gazette, The/The Downtown Gazette (Long Beach, CA) (Published as Downtown Gazette, Long Beach, CA. October 4, 2004 http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/105B054F90F5AF7A?p=NewsBank

Joe and Vici Ruffulo, Investigators. Nightwatchers .13 November 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fBzArvj8gBc

Planet Paranormal. Welcome to QueenMaryShadows.com. Planet Paranormal 2014. http://www.queenmaryshadows.com/history.html 

Peter James, Bob Davis and Brian Clune. Nightwatchers. 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GX1UtYA1_mE

Ramiro Ramirez, Producer. The Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA. Ramirez Films, 2010.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Gv3epRoxzkE

Sergio Ramirez, Editor. The Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA. Ramirez Films, 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Gv3epRoxzkE

Weiser, Kathy. Ghosts of the Queen Mary in Long Beach. Legends of America, March 2013. http://www.legendsofamerica.com/ca-queenmary.html.

Links for Further Research:

Queen Mary Talking Ghost Child Jackie Speaks to Bob Davis and Brian Clune of PLPI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GX1UtYA1_mE

The link above directs you to ghost investigations on board Queen Mary by Bob Davis and Brian Clune of PLPI.

The Queen Mary: Ghost Investigation (Part 1)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Gv3epRoxzkE

This link provides one of the first investigations of the Queen Mary accused hauntings.

History Behind the Queen Mary

http://www.queenmaryshadows.com/history.html

This link will allow you to receive further knowledge behind Queen Mary’s history throughout the world.

Slender Man

Ryan Wells

    Since 2009, Slender Man has been out in the public across the world, and is a topic of discussion.  In that year, his existence started on a Photoshop contest blog, Something Awful (NY Times). It contained a picture of a well-dressed man, in black suit and tie, hovering over a young child.  And it is said that he closely follows children. Whenever out in the woods at night, people keep their eyes open for this horrifying creature.  But according to his legend, that is the last thing you would want to do.  This is because he would put you in a trance like state, and lure you in the woods to your death (Creepy Pasta).

His existence has been popular since the thread, but even more so since June of 2014, when he was associated with a stabbing of 13 year old girl.  Two other pre teens, in Waukesha, Wisconsin, felt that they were obligated to kill her for “Slender Man”.  Even though they stabbed the girl 19 times, she ended up surviving and even making it to the court appearance. But, why do this for Slender Man?  In the interrogation tapes, they are even saying that they saw “Slender” while exiting the woods.  What gave them the reason to believe that they were doing right, by committing such an awful crime?  Maybe, it is the effect that people have on everything in society.  Making everything bigger than it actually is to start with.
 
Even though he is said to have been born on 2009, his appearance ties him in with other legends, of different countries.  For example, “The Dark Man” in Scotland or the “Tall Man” in Germany (Creepy Pasta).  Egyptian Hieroglyphics also have presentations of what are thought to be him. Different markings of all kinds of cultures have something that is comparatively similar.
After all of these “attacks”, they have even made video games based off of his appearance.  In these action-packed games, you walk around looking for papers, with a flashlight.  Eventually, if you come up face to face with Slender Man, and don’t get all of the papers, you meet your demise.  So it is safe to say, society makes everything bigger.



Works Cited:

Dewey, Caitlyn. “The complete, terrifying history of ‘Slender Man,’ the Internet meme that compelled two 12-year-olds to stab their friend.”  Washingtonpost.com Washington Post, 3 June 2014. Web. 7 Oct. 2015.

Manjoo, Farhood. “ ‘Slender Man’ story and the New Urban Legends.” Nytimes.com. NY Times, 9 July 2014. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

“The Slender  Man.” Creepypasta.com. Creepy Pasta. Web. 12 Oct. 2015



Links for Further Research:

“Slender Man.” Slenderman.com. Slender Man. Web. 12 Oct. 2015
http://slenderman.com/
This link goes to the game in which slender man is in.  The downloadable site.

“Who is Slender Man?” YouTube. YouTube, 2 Feb. 2015. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxtIyzWrFyM
This link is a more concrete look at Slender Man, in an ABC 20/20 setting.

Goldstein, Jack. 10 Amazing Slender Man Stories. Andrews UK Limited, 2013.Google Book Search. Web. 12 Oct. 2015. 
https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1783331828
This link has 10 stories of Slender Man.  Also, biblical views as a whole.

The Hook Man

 Caitlin Baxter

The Hook
 

The “Hook Man” story, is an urban legend that started as a belief in the United States around 1950’s and spread worldwide. The urban legend spread from United States to England, Scotland, and to other countries around the world. This urban legend is just a cautionary tale or horror story for entertainment other than a believable story that actually happened in reality. The Hook by David Emery, states that the moral message of the “Hook Man” is to convince young teens to believe the quote: “Sex is naughty. Bad boys and girls will be punished!” Warning teenage couples to not let their hormones lead them to a deserted area, where they realize they have made a mistake in the end.
The original tale starts off with a teenage boy, who takes his date to Lovers’ Lane to make-out. Lovers’ Lane was considered a dark and deserted area, which was a perfect spot to make-out with no interrupts. He turned on the radio to play some music to set the mood, while making out with the girl. All of a sudden, the radio announcer said that a mentally ill patient escaped from the mental institution, and is known as a convicted murder with a hook instead of a right hand. The girl is frightened, and wants to leave immediately because the institution he escaped from was close to Lovers’ Lane. The girl started to hear creepy noises outside of the car, however the boy figured she was just running wild with her imagination. The boy kept insisting for them to stay, but the girl wanted to leave right away. In anger, the boy sped off taking the girl home. When they arrived at the girl’s house, the boy went to open her door, and froze in a state of shock. A bloody hook was hanging on the door handle on the girl’s side of the door. One version of the tale, states that the car would not start, so the boy left the girl in car to find help. The girl kept hearing noises on top of the car. After a long time of waiting, she notices that her boyfriend has not returned yet. The next morning, a state police trooper rescues her and told her not to look back, however she looks back anyway. She looked back to see her boyfriend’s body dangling upside down from a tree over the car.
The legend of “The Hook” has spread worldwide, but the interpretation of the legend is often inconsistent. The tale is known to always include a hook and an automobile. As published in Encyclopedia of Urban Legends, this urban legend is believed to warn young teenage couples not to park in unknown areas, dangers of a mental ill or disabled person, and an example of why parents’ are concerned about their children going out by themselves.

Works Citied:
"The Boyfriend's Death". Encyclopedia of Urban Legends. JanHaroldBrunvand. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2012. Credo Reference. Web. 11 Oct 2015.

"The Hook". Encyclopedia of Urban Legends. JanHaroldBrunvand. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2012. Credo Reference. Web. 12 Oct 2015.

Emery, David. “The Hook” Urbanlegends. about.com. N.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.

Emery, David. “The Hookman’s Hook” Photograph. Pinterest. Web. 21 Oct. 2015
Wilson, William. “Hook Man (Urban Legend)” Byu.edu. Brigham Young University. 15 Jan. 2014. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
Links for further research:
Cruel, Kevin. “The Hook Man” YouTube. YouTube. 6 Jan. 2014. Web. 19 Oct. 2015https://youtu.be/L2oZN5jzXkY
This link above talks about the original story of the hook man in Pennsylvania.

Idealsoft Blog.it. “Campfire Legends - The Hookman (free full game)” YouTube. YouTube.
6 May. 2012. Web. 21 Oct. 2015https://youtu.be/eWg6pP69Hms
This link above is a video of the video game based off the Hook Man.

S.E. Schlosser. “The Hook” Americanfolklore.net. 13 Dec. 2014. Web. 21 Oct. 2015http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2009/10/the_hook.html
This link above gives a descriptive story of the Hook Man.

The Bell Witch Project

Author: Bradford Roberts

Ghost stories are inherent with any culture. After all, who doesn’t love a good scare? There is, however, one story that stands out in American folklore. This story is of the spirit that plagued a family, shattering it, driving it across the country to seek refuge, only to dash its hopes yet again and leave the family a tattered ruin. This story is that of the Bell Witch.

As the legend goes, in the early 1800s there lived a man that went by the name of John Bell. He owned a plantation with slaves in old, old, North Carolina. One day, he killed one of his overseers over the his terrible and abusive treatment of Bell’s slaves. Then, that year, and the next, and the next, the crops were complete and horrible failures. His stock and cattle died by the droves to diseases the doctors had never seen and couldn’t begin to cure. Facing catastrophe, he sold all of his land and all of his slaves but one, an old woman, and moved with his family far away to Tennessee, not too far from where the retired Andrew Jackson was living, in fact.

Not long after the move, odd things began to occur, strange things. The children were often thrown from bed during the middle of the night, for no reason. The old woman said that it was the spirit of the overseer that had been killed, superstitiously. Then, supposedly, the old woman was attacked by the spirit in the dead of night, terrifying the family

Word got out, and, according to a site dedicated to the Bell Witch,  even Andrew Jackson, a contemporary respected citizen of Tennessee and the eventual 7^th president of the Union, heard about it and paid a visit:

 After enduring much, the Mr. Bell suggested they move to Mississippi, to escape the witch. But then Mrs. Bell asked “What is to stop the witch just from followin’ us.”

“Nothin’, and if you leave off for Mississippi you would wish you hadn’t!” quipped a suddenly audible corner chair.

According to the Journal of American Folk Lore, these constant interjections into the Bell’s family life never ceased. But, however, when the family decided against moving to Mississippi, the witch became, tolerable, even friendly. It was almost as if it had taken to them since they decided not to move away. Even almost as if it was rewarding them.

However, since Mary, Mr. Bell’s daughter, had adamantly demanded the move to Mississippi, the witch was rough on her, going so far as to torment her in the night and ruining her hair when she was about to go out. The witch even plagued and harassed Mary’s romantic pursuers, driving them away from the Bell house.

With one, however, it was different. His name was Gardner. He and her were mighty set to one another, as the Journal stated it. The witch, in the form of a tree, stopped him, demanding that he leave and never to come back, or die.

“Why?” Gardner asked.

“You might have guessed from all that’s happened round here. I’m in love with her myself. It’s going to be hard to get her consent and it may be harder to get the old man’s. But she’s not going to marry you, I’ll see to that. If you open your mouth about it tonight, you’ll be dead as a door-nail before morning.”

He left, never to return or write. Some think that it was due to the fact he was terrified to wit’s end. That would not be too outlandish, to say the least.

Now, this is where the tale begins to fork. Eventually, the Bell’s, driven by crop failure, did move to Mississippi out of desperation. It did not take long for the witch to find them. It was chasing Mary. In the dead of night, it asked Mr. and Mrs. Bell for Mary’s hand in marriage. John Bell vehemently refused to allow a stack of dust and wind to marry his daughter. The ghost ignored his refusal, outright.

Almost immediately, there was a change for the worse in Mary. She got up later and went to bed earlier every day, increasingly so. She stumbled around, lost and confused looking. She seemed as if she was looking for something far off that she couldn’t quite grasp. Then, one day, she didn’t get up at all, for she had come down with fever. She became raving mad. The witch, in its unending devotion to her, actually got a doctor there, somehow, even though the witch told them, straightforwardly, that it would do no good.

A month went by, and she only got worse, and worse. The family,  utterly helpless, merely waited and watched their daughter fade away before them.

In the words of the legend, one day, as Mrs. Bell sat with her, Mary sat up and said, “Mamma, I see him… at last… and I think… I’m going… to love him.”

She immediately expired, with an expression of happiness that they had not seen upon her face in months. Some believe that she went on to live with the witch, becoming a ghost herself. But, regardless, death is death.

This is the legend of the Bell Witch, or rather, the Mississippi legend. The differences between the states are in that one favors the witch being the caring yet obsessive lover of Mary, rather than her tormentor, torturer, and persecutor until her death. The former is the one most would rather believe, if any that is.

Works Cited:

Bell Witch Legend’s Sign. Photograph. n.d. http://blaine.org/jules/bw2.jpg. Blaine.org. Web. Oct. 19, 2013.

The Bell Residence. Photograph. n.d. Mentalfloss. Web. Oct. 19, 2013.

Iwanttobelievexfiles. “President Andrew Jackson encounter with the Bell Witch.” Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, Aug. 4 2006. Web. Oct. 19 2013.

"Bell Witch." Bell Witch. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct ’13.<http://mtskeptics.homestead.com/BellWitch.html>.

Carrington, Hereward, Nandor Fodor, and August Derleth. "Haunted People: Story of the Poltergeist down the Centuries." Western Folklore 11.4 (1952): 296-97. JSTOR. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. <http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1496242?uid=3739896&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21102732366441>.

Fitzhugh, Pat. "The Bell Witch Haunting." The Legend of the Bell Witch of Tennessee. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2013.

Knight, W.F. Jackson. "Origins of Belief." Folklore 74.1 (1963): 289-304. JSTOR. Web. 15 Oct. 2013.

Palmer, Arthur, Pete McCarter. “The Bell Witch of Tennessee and Mississippi: A Folk Legend” The Journal of American Folklore , Vol. 47, No. 183 (Jan. - Mar., 1934), pp. 45-63. Web. 9 Oct. 2013.

LINKS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH:

http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4118

Attempts to debunk and challenge the folk tale.

http://paranormal.about.com/od/trueghoststories/a/aa041706.htm

An in depth overview of it, via a historical record.

http://www.bellwitchcave.com/

Devoted to the myth of the witch and the cave associated with it. 

The Kidney Heist

Author: Rasheda A. Cobb

Original image by Lindsey Humes 

 Since 1991, there have been rumors of people who wake up with their kidney(s) stolen, as the name of this tale suggests.   As described by Jerry Mayfield in You’ve Got to be Kidneying Me, business travelers fall prey to organ- harvesting criminals.  Although there are reported variations of the nature of these incidents, the scenarios are normally as follows:  Jonathan, a pseudonym for this article’s sake, took a business trip to Las Vegas, ironically known as Sin City!   After a very exhausting, long day of work, Jonathan went to a lounge to relax.  Just as Jonathan was about to order a drink, an attractive brunette walked up to him and began to flirt.  She told Jonathan she noticed that he looked tired and offered to buy him a drink.  As anyone would, Jonathan took the offer.  He had no recollection of anything past his first sip of the “potion!”

            Jonathan woke up in a hotel with his body submerged in a tub filled with ice.  He then noticed a note on the wall that instructed him not to move and call 911.  Jonathan reached for the phone on a nearby table and dialed 911.  As he began to explain his emergency, he noticed that the operator seemed familiar with his case.  The operator told Jonathan to feel his lower back to see if there was a tube protruding from his back, and there was.  The operator told Jonathan that his kidney had been stolen!  She then told him not to move and she was sending paramedics to the hotel.  

            I can only imagine that the victims of the kidney heist wake up frightened to death, as an actor portrayed on an episode of Law and Order.  When the victim from the episode (Sonata for Solo Organ) was rushed to the hospital.  The doctor expressed that criminal had sewn the victim back up well.  Meticulousness is evident at that point.  As stated in You’ve Got to be Kidneying me,  “The story went with a well- financed, highly organized gang operating in various major U.S. cities was drugging business travelers and making off with the kidneys to sell on the organ transplant black market.”  This statement also supports the many claims that the criminals were sophisticated and meticulous.

According to Fred Hubert, Chairman of the National Kidney Society, the effects of the rumor, The  Kidney Heist  are detrimental in that it keeps people from becoming kidney donors.   According to Hubert in THE NATIONAL KIDNEY FOUNDATION DISPELS RUMORS ABOUT ILLEGALLY HARVESTED KIDNEYS, “…more than 68,000 Americans are awaiting life-saving organ transplants and 13 to 14 people on the waiting list die each day.”   So, obviously, this tale is not helping the betterment of the world.  Dispelling this rumor is key and attainable with research.   Research can go in so many other directions for this topic such as the origin of the tale, or even comparing the kidney (renal) transplant done by the thief and an actual surgeon.  For even more leads than this article provides visit:    

Other References for Research:

Urban Legend  

http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Urban_legend.html

This web source, from Princeton University, gives you information on how Urban Legends have played a role in shaping into what it is today. 

Debunking the Kidney Heist Hoax 

http://www.transplantliving.org/community/newsroom/1997/02/debunking-the-kidney-heist-hoax/

This web source provides information on the origin of the rumor.  The Washington post ran a story about The Kidney Heist in 1991.  A rejected movie script inspired the story written by The Washington Press. 

Kidney Heist -- And Other Urban Myths It`s Really The Truth, We Swear It: Another Urban Legend Is Born.

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1991-04-08/features/9101170939_1_story-legend-kidney-heist

This web source provides insight from Jan Brunvand, a folklore professor at the University of Utah.  Brunvand feels the story is an American version of cases where kids in 3^rd world countries were kidnapped and killed for their organs.   

Works Cited:

 Humes, Lindsey. Magazine spread ideas for the Urban Legend "The Kidney Heist.”  Cartoon.  N.d.  Behance.net. Web.  19 Oct. 2013.       

“The National Kidney Foundation Dispels Rumors About Illegally Harvested Kidneys.”  Kidney.org. National Kidney Foundation. 2 Apr. 2000. Web. 9 Oct. 2013.

“Sonata for Solo Organ.” Law and Order. Dir. Fred Gerber. NBC.  2 Apr. 2001.  Television. 

“You’ve Got to Be Kidneying.” Snopes.com. N.p., 12 Mar, 2008. Web. 9 Oct. 2013.

The Killer in the Backseat

Author: Katherine Laws

Image of Urban Legends Wallpaper

You can’t crack open a can of mystery without talk to the urban legend entitled, “The Killer in the Back Seat”. While legends can be told many different ways, with every way comes the identify bone chilling response to the story. This legend is one that audience are thrown off by but at the same time find themselves checking their backseats every time they get into a car. With Halloween quickly approaching spooky stories fill the air so it’s only appropriate to offer insight on one urban legend that grabs my attention. Better that it grabs my attention than my life from the back seat.

Different stories from MY Media Forum, Including “The Killer in the Backseat”

According to many sources and from what I myself have been told the legends goes something like this. One night a woman hurried to her car after a night out with the girls. After making her way to her car she headed home by path of a deserted highway. It wasn’t long until she saw a pair of loan lights approaching her quickly. The car put n it turn signal with what seemed like intentions of passing her but then quickly changed its mind. After the car behind her began to distractingly taunt her with its blinkers and bright lights the women became frightened. With her exit insight she hoped she would soon lose the weird stranger, but he followed her through every turn. Before reaching her destination she had already analyzed her options and gathered that making a mad dash for the door was her best option. When she did so the stranger quickly followed with the same actions but also instantly yelled, “Lock your doors, call the police!” Come to find out the stranger following her was merely trying to save her life and was not near as scary as the killer whom had been camping out on her backseat. 

An image of the published visual of the urban legend “The Killer in the Back Seat”

In a website created by David Emery readers are provided with an example (as told by Emily Dunbar) of the urban legend “the killer in the backseat”. The analysis of the article David Emery writes provides a summary that the moral to the story is to “always check the backseat”. The purpose of this website is to analyze the story and for the author to voice his opinion of what he learned from this urban legend. This source is unique because it tells the story of the common tale "The Killer in the Backseat." This website not only provides you with the story but it also gives you an analysis of another person’s perspective of the urban legend. The article and analysis on this web site is aimed at an audience that is interested in urban legends.

As I said before this urban legend has been told many different way but its identifying features prove that the story did occur at one point in time. Whereas this story is meant as a thriller, it has many benefiting factors to its listeners. So I strongly urge you look into the stories heard throughout this time of year and grasp from it something other than its horror.

Works Cited:

"Don't Believe Everything You Read: 10 Driving Urban Legends." National Motorists Association. N.p., 2 Mar. 2010. Web. 13 Oct. 2012.

Emery, David. "The Killer in the Backseat." About.com. N.p., 2012. Web. 11 Oct. 2012.

"Killer in the Backseat:Urban Legend." Halloween Web. N.p., 2003. Web. 13 Oct. 2012.

"Urban Legend Killer in the Backseat." ScaryForKids.com. N.p., 18 Dec. 2007. Web. 11 Oct. 2012.

Zeller, Bob. "Urban Legends." Car And Driver. N.p., July 2004. Web. 13 Oct. 2012.

Links for further research:

The Killer in the Backseat

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/madmen/backseat.asp

Articles of different origins from which the urban legends “The Killer in the Backseat” was obtained.

American Folklore

http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/urban-legends/

An Informational website that contains many different urban legends and different types of folklore.

5 Ridiculous Origins of Famous Urban Legends

http://www.cracked.com/article_19800_5-ridiculous-origins-famous-urban-legends.html

Additional Information of the origins of famous Urban Legends and American Folklore.