Gravity Hills: Optical Illusions? Or Urban Legends?

 Author: Anonymous

Around the world there seem to be these types of hills that you can drive down to the bottom, put your car in neutral, and then your car will slowly seem to move backwards. As Elizabeth Borne said on (“What are Gravity Hills?”) “A gravity hill is a place where gravity seems to be working against itself; where gravity seems to temporarily not work as it should”

There are reported dozens of gravity hills around the world including in the US, UK, Australia, Brazil, Ireland, and Italy (“These Gravity Defying Hills Are One of The Strangest Natural Phenomena We’ve Seen.”) Gravity Hills are optical illusions. These hills are optical illusions, the illusion is that there is no horizon to been seen due the landscape. This illusion confuses the brain to make us think that the slope is going a different way than it is (“These Gravity Defying Hills Are One of The Strangest Natural Phenomena We’ve Seen.”)

Some people believe that these hills could work because of the urban legend that surround them. One of these hills in Lake Wales, Florida there is an urban legend of a huge alligator was harassing a native tribe. The tribe sent out their great warrior chief to kill the alligator. Following the chief’s death in battle, he was buried on the north side of the hill. Years later pioneers noticed while they were hauling goods for the army trail, they noticed the horses strained at the foot of the hill, even though it appeared to be going downhill. (“The Legend of Spook Hill”) 

Another legend that is said about these gravity hills is, a hill located in Arcadia, Michigan. The legend says that it is an old church “pulling sinners in” to explain the way the cars are being pulled uphill towards the buildings. (“Gravity Hills: Spooky Optical Illusions of Roads”) 

There is another legend of these gravity hills. This one is located in Altadena, CA, the legend says that many years ago a bus broke down trying to go up the hill, the bus driver was seeing what was wrong with the bus and the kids inside got bored. The kids started exiting the bus, the started playing outside not realizing what was coming next. The bus driver was distracted, and a car comes speeding up the hill, the car goes through the crowd of children, killing the majority of them on impact. Legend says that the kids bunch together and push cars up the hill because they think they are scary. (“The Ghostly Tragedy of the Altadena Gravity Hill”) 

Gravity hills are an optical illusion. That makes people wonder “did I really just go up a hill backwards?”. Either using ghost stories or the way there is no horizon this make you wonder, Ghost Story? Or Optical Illusion?”

Works Cited:

Borneman, Elizabeth. “What are Gravity Hills?” Geography Realm, 12 March 2016. https://www.geographyrealm.com/what-are-gravity-hills/

Bec, Crew. “These Gravity Defying Hills Are One of The Strangest Natural Phenomena We’ve Seen.” Science Alert, 6 March 2017. https://www.sciencealert.com/gravity-hills-physics-defying-optical-illusion-car-drifts-uphill

Palo, Peyten. “The Legend of Spook Hill” Visit Central Florida, Accessed 25 October 2022. https://visitcentralflorida.org/blog/the-legend-of-spook-hill/

Smith, Lauren. “Gravity Hills: A Spooky Optical Illusion of the Roads” Jerry, 27 April 2022. https://getjerry.com/insights/gravity-hills-optical-illusion

“The Ghostly Tragedy of the Altadena Gravity Hill” Backpackerverse, Accessed 25 October 2022. https://backpackerverse.com/altadena-gravity-hill/

Links for Further Research: 

https://getjerry.com/insights/gravity-hills-optical-illusion

https://urbanlegendsonline.com/gravity-hill-spook-hill/

https://exemplore.com/paranormal/Urban-Legends-And-Haunted-Places-the-series-Washington-Edition

Cry Baby Bridge

Carolyn Padgett

Urban Legends  have been around for many centuries. Most people think that urban legends can only be scary stories, but truth is, urban legends can be anything from funny to sad or just plain weird (S.E. Schlosser). However, the one thing that they have in common is the fact that they all have a little bit of fiction and mystery in them. Since urban legends have been around for so long, each one has different versions somewhere out in the world. It’s hard to tell which stories are true and which stories are not. It’s up to the audience to figure out which version is the most believable. For instance, Cry Baby Bridge.

Cry Baby Bridge is an urban legend that many believe originated in Ohio (Cry Baby Bridge Tour).  Eventually, the legend spread into many different states, and it became complicated to tell which story was actually true. No one even knows where it started at in Ohio because there are nearly 24 different cry baby bridges in Ohio alone (Cry Baby Bridge Tour).  All of the stories that have been created revolve around a mother and her baby. It really leaves you wondering which story is true and which story is not. Going into further research, all that is on the internet is the many different stories that have been created all across the United States.

In Columbus, Georgia, it is said that a farmer and his wife just had their newborn baby (Roberto). The farmer did not want the baby, so he talked to the doctor and asked him to get rid of it (Roberto). The doctor agreed and told the mother that the baby did not make it (Roberto). Later on that day, he took the baby to a nearby bridge and threw it over into the creek where the baby quickly drowned without the mother ever knowing what happened (Roberto). They say that if you go to this bridge, park dead in the center, sprinkle some baby powder around your car, and get on top of it, you will soon hear the baby’s helpless cries (Roberto). When you get off the top of your car, you will see the baby’s footprints in the baby powder (Roberto).
 
There is also another story told in Woodbridge, New Jersey about a farmer and his wife (Abbey). When they had their baby, they loved it very much (Abbey). However, after a while, the farmer grew jealous that the wife paid more attention to the baby than to him (Abbey). One night, after a long night of the baby’s cries, he grabbed it out of its crib, took it to the creek, and threw it over the bridge (Abbey). He then went back and killed the mother (Abbey). Rumor has it that if you go to the bridge, you will hear the baby’s miserable cries, and the mother will push your car off of the bridge (Abbey).
There are many more stories on Cry Baby Bridge. Though, no one will really be able to tell the true legend, it will always live throughout the many stories that have been spread from state to state. There may be some truth in all of the creative mix of stories, but where exactly did it all start?

Works Cited:
Abbey. “Cry Baby Bridge Ghost Story”. Angels and Ghosts, Charles, Louis. N.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
 
“Crybaby Bridge Tour”. Dead Ohio. N.p., N.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2015. 

Dalemccartney. “Cry Baby Bridge, Egypt Rd.” Photograph. Wikimedia Commons. Wikimedia Foundation, 9 Nov. 2010. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
 
Roberto. “Cry Baby Bridge in Columbus Ga”. Read-legends-and-myths.com SBI!, N.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2015.
 
S.E. Schlosser. “Urban Legends”. Americanfolklore. S.E. Schlosser, 13 Dec. 2014. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
 
Shane. “Cry Baby Bridge”. Your Ghost Stories. N.p., Mar. 28, 2007. Web. Oct. 8, 2015.
 
Further Research:
Your Ghost Stories
www.yourghoststories.com/real-ghost-story.php?=4058. This source is helpful because it helps see what other stories about Cry Baby Bridge are out there. In this case, it’s about Cry Baby Bridge in Mississippi.
 
About Entertainment
http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/horrors/tp/top10scariest.html. This site is helpful because it shows 25 other scary urban legends that the viewers may be interest in.
 
Love to Know
http://paranormal.lovetoknow.com/Really_Scary_Urban_Legends. This website is useful for further research on scary urban legends.

Tags: urban legends, scary, crybaby bridge, mystery, mother and baby.

Suicidal Roommates/Straight A’s

 Rachelle Jackson


There are many stories that are told to you as you go through high school getting ready for college. Some are known to be truthful and some are known to be false. For example The Legend of the 4.0 myth. If your roommate dies, you will receive straight a’s for that semester. Surprisingly I had never heard of this rumor until now


No one knows exactly where the myth originated from or how it even got started. It has spread across the country from college to college. Many colleges have different versions of this myth. It goes form if your roommate dies you get straight A’s till if a parent or close relative. It has many scenarios too. In one incident a male committed suicide in class why taking an exam. He shoved a pencil up his nose and then bang it on the table. All the students got credit for the exam, however, they did not, nor did his roommate receive straight a’s. Although the myth is proven to be false a movie has been made about the rumor called The Dead Man on Campus.



Works Cited
Aiello John. “The Legend Of the 4.0” Vanderbilt.edu. 14. Sept. 1998.Mon 12. Oct. 2015

“Grade Expectations.” Snopes.com/college/admin/suicide.asp. Snopes.com. 11 June. 2011. Mon. 12.Oct. 2015

The Dead Man on Campus. Dir. Alan Cohan. Tom Everett Scott. 1998. Film

“Lead By the Nose” snopes.com/college/exam/pencil.asp. Snopes.com 11
June. 2011 Mon. 19. Oct.2015


Further Research Links

A blog post written by a student letting you the myth has no accuracy
http://canofmystery.blogspot.com/2013/11urban-legend-suicidal-roommate.html

Describes a professor not knowing anything about the legend of the 4.0 myth but his student claiming it to be true
http://freakonomics.com/2011/12/07/straight-as-if-your-roommate-dies/

This blog post was written to inform you on how there are many different urban legends and how the author thought they suicidal roommate legend was accurate, how him and his roommates joked about later found out there is no truth to the myth
http://canofmystery.blogspot.com/2013/11/urban-legends-suicidal-roommate.htm
 

Killer in the Backseat

Martina Miller

The urban legend, Killer in the Backseat, originated in the year of 1967 as a caution to check our surroundings and our backseats. The prezi given by Abigayle Schuls and article by David Emery, states that the urban legend might have been provoked in New York  in 1964 when an escaped murderer hid in the backseat of some ones car, but not just some one. The car belonged to a police, the police that shot the man. There is some difference in this story than in the legend stories. According to the urban legends told it is usually a female driving the car, the scene is usaully at a gas station. There was one about a girl headed home from having a few drinks with her friends told in the article by Emery. The most common one is the story of a female at the gas station, the girl pulls up to the gas pump and pays at the pump, as she finishes and gets ready to leave the attendant comes over the speaker and asks her to come inside. The attendant demands something is wrong with the transaction. The girl is confused but comes inside angry from the threats made by the attendant. He explains to her it was an emergency and that while she was pumping gas a man crawled into her backseat. She looked out the window to see her door opened while the man crawled back out.
Unlike other Urban Legends this one has no record of actual murders, though the title is "Killer in the Backseat" no killings take place in the story.  Other Urban Legends include violence and murders, this one is only used to caution women to check their surroundings and to always lock the doors.
The creation of this warning of the Urban Legend was believed to be gang related. Barbara Baker states that gang members were told to come back with either the women or the woman's car. They would jump in their backseats, or hide under their cars, or just attack them in mid day jumping in their cars. The gang members often raped these women.
Works cited:
"Urban Legends- Check the Backseat." Urban Legends-Always Check the Backseat. Urban
 Legends- Another Variation of Killer in the Backseat. Web. 7 October 2015. http://www.urbanlegends-myths.com/checkthebackseat/checkthebackseat.html.

"The Killer in the Backseat." Urban Legends. Web. 7 October
 2015. http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/horrors/a/killer_backseat.htm.

Other references: https://prezi.com/vbkygvffdryq/the-killer-in-the-backseat/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy.
This Prezi presentation describes the Urban legend, its origins, and an analysis chart.
http://www.snopes.com/horrors/madmen/backseat.asp.
This article has information about the most common story of this Urban Legend, the girl at the gas station. It also touches base on the gang relation.

Urban Legends: Suicidal Roommate / Straight A’s

Author: Hal Pierre Livingston

An urban legend is a humorous or horrific story or piece of information circulated as though true. Usually the one purporting around, telling the story, has no clue or is vaguely related to the person who originally told the story. There are thousands of urban legends out in the public right now, some true some false. Some examples of urban legends are Bloody Mary, the belief that Walt Disney’s body isn’t dead and is frozen, and the myth that alligators inhabitant the sewers of New York City.
        According to the Bloody Mary myth, if you turn off the lights and say Bloody Mary three times in a mirror, you will summon the spirit of Mary Worth. Mary Worth was a woman who was said to be killed execution style, for being a witch. The myth about the sewer gators states that several alligators who were brought up from Florida to be kept as pets in New York City, grew too big and violent and escaped into the sewers where they now live freely. This myth dates back to the 1930’s, and has been proven false but is still being circulated around the United States.
The Urban Legend I chose was Suicidal Roommates/ Straight A’s. This myth says that if somehow your roommate or suitemate dies, you receive a 4.0. Prior to this research assignment, I would have argued to the end that this was absolutely true. Coincidentally my suitemates and I were talking about it at the beginning of the year and were making jokes about one another saying that we better watch our back. I personally thought this was a well-known rule. This Urban Legend have been proven false but different versions are still being told to this day. Depending on where you from, the stipulations may be different. Not all versions of the myth specify that the roommate has to die. Some versions actually say that the death of a parent, or other close relative, or anybody who is important in the student's life, also qualifies. Some say that if your roommate commits suicide in front you then you get a 4.0, but if you didn’t witness it then you only receive a 3.4. This just proves how easily things can be manipulated and taken seriously by society.


Work Cited
• http://www.snopes.com/college/admin/suicide.asp  
• http://www.collegebound.net/content/article/college-urban-legendslies-students-love-to-tell/19214/. 
• www.Akorra.com 
• Brunvand, Jan. “The Truth Never Stands In The Way Of A Good Story”. Chicago, Illinois. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data. Year 2000. Web.13 Oct. 2013.
• http://list25.com/25-most-popular-urban-legends-still-being-told/ 

Further Research
http://www.snopes.com/college/admin/suicide.asp - the website gives the most information about the urban legend of getting a 4.0 if your roommate commits suicide specifically.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_legend - Wikipedia gives the initial origin behind urban legends in general.
http://akorra.com/2010/03/04/top-20-urban-legends - This websites gives a variety of urban legends to read and look into.

Am I Safe From “The Hook Man”?

Author: Eduardo Alarcon

"The Hook"

The Story:

“The Hook Man” is a consequential urban legend for teenagers not to have sex. According to Mr. Emery, the legend says two teenagers were on “Lovers’ Lane” listening to the radio preparing to have sex. All of a sudden, a news reporter interrupts the media saying that a maniac escaped out of the “state insane asylum,” and warns everyone to be on the lookout (Emery). After hearing this, the girl is afraid, hallucinates, and requests to go home. The boy, however, attempts to act masculine, and suggests that their situation is absolutely under his control. The boy locks the doors anyway so that the girl may feel safe. The girl then resists while the boy urges to continue. In his persistence, he foolishly “jerked the car into gear and spun its wheels” (Emery). After being frightened, the boy drives the girl to her home to drop her off. Once they safely arrive at the girl’s house, the girl gets out of the car and screams. When the boy runs to her side to see why she screamed, he notices that her scream was because there was a bloody hook on the car door (Emery).

According to Ms. Brunvand on page 200, “The Hook Man” originated in South Africa. The place known as “Lovers’ Lane” in the legend, originally took place at Naval Hill, Bloemfontein, South Africa (Brunvand 200). As a moral lesson, generations seem to have slowly developed the story to the United States in the 1950s to prevent a labor increase. Of course, the same message gets across to the audience. It’s just the interpretation of the legend that changed (Perry). In this manner, the message is less intimidating because people in the 21^st century expect legends to be scary stories rather than a “believed legend” (Brunvand 95).

The Scary Reality!

The Scary Reality: 

There are several cases where men had been convicted for murdering young couples. For example, Richard Hirschfeld   , Charles Howard Schmid, Jr. , John A. Ber, and Kenneth Barnes are all relative cases. The closest to the legend, however, is Edward Wayne Edwards. In 2009, Edward Wayne Edward was convicted after admitting to a "double homicide" (Falcon). Edwards’s story relates to the legend because he murdered two young couples. One in which Edwards had a sexual intercourse with. 

The Confessions!

 

The Good News: 

There are no reports of anyone who went by the serial killer name “The Hook Man”. Also, the closest criminal to this legend, Edwards, did not murder any of his victims as the legend portrays “The Hook Man” went about murdering. Edwards actually knew his victims, and killed his victims by gun, not a hook. The legend is nothing more than that, a legend. Even in Mr. Berthold’s review on Matt Clark’s Hook Man Speaks, page 349, does he reveal that Mr. Clark attempts to make the legend to “an imaginative embodiment…and a contemplation of Hook Man’s ‘place’ in American ‘culture and history.”

My point is, there is no reason to be afraid of this urban legend. The closest man to this legend, Edwards, died in 2011. Unless you are one of those people who believe that Edwards’ damned soul will come back from the dead to leave a bloody hook on someone’s car door, you have nothing to worry about. Yes, there are serial killers out there, and you should be cautious of these serial killers. Especially when murderers are capable to camouflage themselves into society such as the ALICE AND GERALD UDENhttp://www.cnn.com/2013/10/02/justice/wyoming-cold-case-arrests/ case. Otherwise, if you cannot scare your grand-kids, son, daughter, niece, or nephew with this legend, safe sex should be strongly advised.

  

Works Cited

Berthold, Michael. Fictionalizing the Folkloric: Matt Clark's Hook Man Speaks. The Journal of American Culture, 31: 349–360. Print.

Brunvand, Jan. “The Hook”. Harold Encyclopedia of Urban Legends. Ed. Linda Deigh. California: ABC-CLIO, 2001. 199-201. 199-201. Print.

Brunvand, Jan. Too Good to Be True: The Colossal Book of Urban Legends. New York: W.W. Norton, 1999. 94-95. Print.

Emery, David. "The Hook." About.com:Urban Legends. About.com, n.d. Web. 8 Oct. 2013. <http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/horrors/a/the_hook.htm>.

Geauga Maple Leaf, username. “EXCLUSIVE (PART 1): Edward Wayne Edwards on Dannie Boy Edwards murder.” YouTube. YouTube.com. 22 April 2013. Video. 17 Oct. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCA9DEIRdZI>.

Geauga Maple Leaf, username. “EXCLUSIVE (PART 2): Edward Wayne Edwards on Dannie Boy Edwards murder.” YouTube. YouTube.com. 22 April 2013. Video. 17 Oct. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhiLdHzqDks>.

Geauga Maple Leaf, username. “EXCLUSIVE (PART 3): Edward Wayne Edwards on Dannie Boy Edwards murder.” YouTube. YouTube.com. 22 April 2013. Video. 17 Oct. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoBM_PHmlaQ>.

Map. n.d. “BLOEMFONTEIN Search by Map, Free State.” www.sa-venues.com. Web. 9 Oct. 2013. <http://www.sa-venues.com/include/images/maps/fs-bloemfontein.gif>.

Perry, L. “Hook Man” (Urban Legend). World History & Culture. n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2013. <http://sites.lib.byu.edu/worldhistory/folklore-william-a-wilson-folklore-archives/popular-search-topics/hook-man-urban-legend/>.

Real Life Mysteries, username. “Urban Legends: The Hook.” YouTube. YouTube.com. 8 Feb. 2011. Video. 18 Oct. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuKMVFl_uSk>.

Links For Further Research:

http://www.nbc15.com/home/headlines/40929997.html?site=full

This site provides more information on the Edward Wayne Edwards case from NBC news.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/05/04/ohio.slayings.confession/

This site also provides more information on the Edward Wayne Edwards case from CNN news.

http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2009/10/the_hook.html

This source provides information on the hook man retold by Schlosser.

Legendary Bloody Mary

Author: Khadijih Robinson 

When I was little, many young girls liked to play games like “Bloody Mary”. The girls would stand in front of a mirror with the lights turned off repeating the name “Bloody Mary” over again. After you call Bloody Mary, she is supposed to appear in the mirror and claw your face, steal your soul, or just appear with blood all over. The game Bloody Mary has been played throughout time and there is no true story of Bloody Mary.  The legend has multiple stories to be told, and the game is played in different ways. The story of Bloody Mary ranges from history of a tyrannical queen, to myths of the witch in the woods, as well as, a drink for a recovering hangover.

Written on American Folklore, There was a witch in the woods, by the name of Bloody Mary. No one went near her home, but when little girls started going missing, everyone was questioned in the village even the witch. When the townspeople went to the witch’s home to question her, but the people noticed she appeared younger and more beautiful. One day a little girl left her home in the middle of the night. The little girl’s parents tried to stop her, but the little girl kept going. Her parents started calling on the townspeople for help. The people saw a low glow light and ran towards it. The light was the witch holding a wand chanting a spell, but Bloody Mary ran as she seen the people yelling after her and one of the men shot her in the hip. The townspeople grabbed her and took her to a field where they had made a bonfire and threw her in it and as the witch burned she casted a spell on anyone that chanted her name in a mirror. The townspeople went to the witch’s home and found the graves of the missing girls in her backyard.

            The tyrannical Queen Mary I, “Bloody Mary” started out being nothing but the same name. The Queen killed many people that tried to dethrone her. Many of the people killed were based on religious persecution. There are similar references connecting the Queen Mary I to the Elizabeth Bathory story. Elizabeth Bathory is known to be the “Blood Countess,” which she killed many young girls,  but still no one knows the story of the Legendary Bloody Mary. Neither of the stories connects to the legend of the lady standing in the mirror, clawing your face out.

            There is a cocktail drink called “Bloody Mary,” that people drink occasionally. A bartender by the name of Fernand Petiot started out putting a twist to an already known drink called the “the Red Snapper.” When Petiot put the twist to the old cocktail it became the “Bloody Mary.” Fernand made this drink in the 1920’s working at a bar in Paris; he then brought the new refined drink to New York. It is said that the drink is known for drinking when one is attempting to sober up.

             As stated before, I once played the game Bloody Mary, but I never followed through with the game. I have always been the scared one, so while writing this article I was scared to research this topic, or look at any pictures. I have never known anyone to see the infamous “Bloody Mary,” but this could be because this is a story you tell a slumber party of girls to scare them to sleep or dare them to be the courageous one. Bloody Mary Stories, Here is a few stories that real young girls have told about their Bloody Mary experience.

Works Cited:

Curtis, Wayne. “Behind the Drink: The Bloody Mary.” Liquor.com.17. Dec. 2010. Web. 23.Oct.2012

Dube, Ryan. “Bloody Mary Legend.” Love To Know. Love To Know Corp. Web. 12 October 2012.

Dundes, Alan. Bloody Mary in the Mirror: Essays in Psychoanalytic Folkloristic. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi,  2002. Print.

“I Believe in Mary Worth”. Encyclopedia of Urban Legends. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2001. Credo Reference. Web. 12 October 2012

Paramore_riot. “Bloody Mary.” Photograph. Fanpop, 2009. Web. 23.Oct. 2012

Ramsland , Katherine. “Lady of Blood: Countess Bathory .” Crime Library. Tuner, A Time Warner Company, ND. Web. 13 October 2012.

Ridley, Jasper. Bloody Mary’s Martyrs: The Story of England’s Terror. New York. Carroll &

Graf  Publishers, 2001. Print.

Schlosser, S E. “Bloody Mary.” American Folklore.  S.E. Schlosser 1997-2020, 18.Oct. 2012. Spooky Pennsylvania . Web. 13 October 2012.

Links for Further Research:

Queen “Bloody” Mary

http://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/queen-mary.html

There is information on Queen Mary I telling the story with details on her life.

Bloody Mary

http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2009/10/bloody_mary.html

More information on Bloody Mary legend and the game.

Lady of Blood: Countess Bathory

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/bathory/countess_1.html

There is a website on crime stories and unsolved mysteries. 

The Hookman

Author: Seth Mathis

The Hookman’s hook

The Hookman is a classic example of an urban legend. Hookman legend is an urban

legend that began to be told and circulating in the 1950’s. There are many versions or variations

to the legend but the basic story is the same in all stories of the hookman. It begins when a

teenage boy takes his date out to Lovers’ Lane for a make out session. While there, they hear a

report of a murderer who has escaped from a nearby insane asylum; the newscaster says

everyone should be on the lookout for this crazy man, who has a hook in place of his right hand.

            According to Credo references, most teenagers and adults remember there high school

days and fears, will recognize this story that is summarized in a 1990 collection of urban legends

from South Africa. The Hook is also a favorite of folklore scholars; there are no less than 33

references to it in the standard bibliography of urban-legend studies published in 1993. The

urban legend has been corporate into comic strips, films, and TV programs to such a degree that

the very image of a hook dangling from a car-door handle is enough to suggest for most people

the whole genre of urban legends. Although the image of the hook destroys the suspense of the

urban legend version, it highlights the fact that the hook is known now days as a simple scary

story rather than something that really happened. Best known claim is Alan Dundes’s Freudian

interpretation; it explains the hook as a phallic symbol and its amputation as a symbolic

castration. Other scholars have been content to see the story more literally as an warning against

parking, a dramatic example of the reason for parental concern for their children, an expression

of fear of the handicapped, or depiction of the danger possible from a rampaging antisocial

person.

            According to several sources including, from about.com article on the hookman. People

have been telling the legend since the 1950’s; it sends a moral message “Sex is naughty and bad

boys and girls will be punished!” it seems more appropriate in the modern era. Jan Harold 

Brunvand has observed that most story tellers narrate the urban legend nowadays as a scary story

then as a believable legend. Most people under the age of 30 assume that the story was invented

by screenwriters.

            Barbara and David P. Mickleson the writers for Snopes.com a website for the snope on

the urban legend of the hookman. It’s possible that the roots of the legends the hookman and the

boyfriend’s death lie in distant memories of real life murders at lover’s lane. There are actual

cases of kids who have gone necking that have come back in pine boxes. Real life roots or not

the urban legend of the hook has been a legend for as long as anyone can remember. The key to

the legend is the boyfriend’s response to the girl’s demand to end the date immediately. Untold

in the story is the realization that if the girl hadn’t said no, and hadn’t left right away, the couple

would have been killed. 

Edward Wayne Edwards

According to natural plane blog spot, gives you truth behind the urban legend of the hookman.

There are many varations of the story but the basic is still the same, the supposed urban legend

began to circulate after world war II and more widely during the 1950’s. In Seymour,

Connecticut there is a cemetery that has been used since the 1800’s and it is the preferred

haunting grounds of the hookman. In the 1940’s the story began to circulate about a caretaker

with a hookman that lived on the property at one time. Another version of the tale says a man by

the name of the hookman was wrongly accused of the murders and since then haults the

cemetery. Then there is more contemporary allegory of Edward Wayne Edwards, who could easily been the rumored psycho-killer to haunt lover’s lane in the country. He has earned the name the man with the hook from author Phil Stanford, although he never used the hook as a weapon as far as they

know. He published a book called “Metamorphosis of a criminal” which talks about all of his

crimes even talking about his hints as a serial killer. He was finally arrested in 2009 for his

murders of a young couple in Wisconsin and Ohio.

Works cited:

Brunvand, Jan Harold Encyclopedia of Urban Legends. 14 Oct. 2012 Web. 2001.

Emery, David “The hook” (the hookman) about.com guide. 23 Oct. 2012 Web.

“Emery, David-The hook” photo of the hook. 23 Oct. 2012 Web.

Mickleson, Barbara and David P. Snopes.com. 1995-2012. 23 Oct. 2012 Web.

Strickler, Lon “Phantoms and Monsters” 12 Oct. 2012. Web. 23 Oct. 2012

“Strickler, Lon- Edward Wayne Edward” “Phantoms and Monsters” 12 Oct. 2012. Web. 23 Oct. 2012.

Links for further research:

The hook
http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2009/10/the_hook.html
A spooky campfire tale and a version of the story

Hookman legend
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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.