2008 Woodie Awards
Reality versus legend
Are fiction or true life horror stories more entertaining? You be the judge...
Stephanie McKiniey
Issue date: 10/28/05 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
The Oxford University Press holds this definition: "urban myth (also chiefly N. Amer. urban legend) >noun: an entertaining story or piece of information of uncertain origin that is circulated as though true."
At some point in our lives we have all thought a particular urban legend to be true, whether it be the Boogie Man or Candy Man. As children, we seem to believe most of what we are told. However, as we grow older, we come to find urban myths more amusing than they are frightening.
Currently on the Internet stories are circulating to stimulate everyone's creepy, quirky and fearful interests. Legends about how car thieves are now using your vehicle identification numbers (from the label on the dash) to make duplicate car keys and drive out of parking lots with stolen vehicles completely unnoticed.
There is also one that most will probably find particularly unnerving; it's the story about a babysitter finding a clown statue standing in the corner of the bedroom, only to discover it's a real person staring back at her.
Yes, urban legends are fun to talk about and sometimes creepy, but what they lack, obviously, is credibility. Well, chances are you or someone you know has a great and true story to tell; so do Eric and Claire Samson*. Almost seven years ago, this young married couple experienced the fright of their lives.
Late one summer evening Eric received a phone call at work from his wife, Claire. As they were talking, Claire complained of hearing another voice on the line; it didn't sound human and it didn't sound friendly. Eric heard it too. He decided to pick Claire up and bring her back to work with him. Eric worked as a security guard at a local car dealership two miles from their home.
He let Claire into an office so she could sleep on the couch and he returned to his post outside. Sometime later that night, Claire went and got her husband, saying that she was hearing voices again. They decided to go back to the office together to check things out.
Once inside the room, Eric recalls, the air suddenly became very cold. The door started rattling and the doorknob was turning, like someone was trying to get in, though no one else was there that night.
That's when they heard it; a raspy voice, deep and angry that said, "I'm going to get you b**ch!"
Shaking his head just thinking about it, Eric said, "I was so scared I barely remember taking Claire with me back to my post. The hairs on the back of my neck were standing straight up; I had goose bumps all over my body."
Nothing beats a true ghost story, especially when more than one person witnesses the actual events. For more information on current and classic urban legends check out
www.warphead.com/urbanlegends.
* Names have been changed
At some point in our lives we have all thought a particular urban legend to be true, whether it be the Boogie Man or Candy Man. As children, we seem to believe most of what we are told. However, as we grow older, we come to find urban myths more amusing than they are frightening.
Currently on the Internet stories are circulating to stimulate everyone's creepy, quirky and fearful interests. Legends about how car thieves are now using your vehicle identification numbers (from the label on the dash) to make duplicate car keys and drive out of parking lots with stolen vehicles completely unnoticed.
There is also one that most will probably find particularly unnerving; it's the story about a babysitter finding a clown statue standing in the corner of the bedroom, only to discover it's a real person staring back at her.
Yes, urban legends are fun to talk about and sometimes creepy, but what they lack, obviously, is credibility. Well, chances are you or someone you know has a great and true story to tell; so do Eric and Claire Samson*. Almost seven years ago, this young married couple experienced the fright of their lives.
Late one summer evening Eric received a phone call at work from his wife, Claire. As they were talking, Claire complained of hearing another voice on the line; it didn't sound human and it didn't sound friendly. Eric heard it too. He decided to pick Claire up and bring her back to work with him. Eric worked as a security guard at a local car dealership two miles from their home.
He let Claire into an office so she could sleep on the couch and he returned to his post outside. Sometime later that night, Claire went and got her husband, saying that she was hearing voices again. They decided to go back to the office together to check things out.
Once inside the room, Eric recalls, the air suddenly became very cold. The door started rattling and the doorknob was turning, like someone was trying to get in, though no one else was there that night.
That's when they heard it; a raspy voice, deep and angry that said, "I'm going to get you b**ch!"
Shaking his head just thinking about it, Eric said, "I was so scared I barely remember taking Claire with me back to my post. The hairs on the back of my neck were standing straight up; I had goose bumps all over my body."
Nothing beats a true ghost story, especially when more than one person witnesses the actual events. For more information on current and classic urban legends check out
www.warphead.com/urbanlegends.
* Names have been changed