What's your favourite Urban Legend?
@arthurchappell (44941)
Preston, England
January 18, 2016 9:31am CST
Urban legends are stories people share as if they are true but which rarely are - the stories were told to them by a friend of a friend of a friend and the true originator of the tale can rarely be traced. Stories include the cat in the microwave, dogs in washing machines, a woman hearing a radio report of a killer on the loose just as a man frantically bangs on her car window - she locks the doors and seals the windows and drives off and finds out too late he was warning her that the killer is hiding in the back of her car ... My favourite however is the scuba diver found dead in the middle of a forest fire, having been scooped up from a lake by a helicopter with a bucket used to put the water on the fires and extinguish them - it never actually happened.
Arthur
13 people like this
15 responses
@pgiblett (6524)
• Canada
18 Jan 16
The bank robber who had a rocket installed in his car. As the police were chasing him and all seemed to be at an end as a dozen police cruisers chased him down a country road but he ignited the rocket and minutes later impaled the car into a mountainside as he forgot the curve in the road.
4 people like this
@boiboing (13147)
• Northampton, England
20 Jan 16
@Rohvannyn A legend is not necessarily untrue - but generally not PROVEN to be true.
2 people like this
@Rohvannyn (3098)
• United States
20 Jan 16
@boiboing True enough. Yet, I've heard very few urban legends that are true!
2 people like this
@Rohvannyn (3098)
• United States
20 Jan 16
Well, that makes sense, since myth means "untrue." So does legend.
2 people like this
@mammots (3209)
• Philippines
19 Jan 16
My favorite urban legend would most probably be that of a mythical creature we call "sigbin". Nobody has ever actually seen one yet but they say they are pets of witches or some people who practise black magic. There was even a time here in my province when rumors had it that somebody will buy a "sigbin" for millions of pesos for it to be used as medicine for an incurable disease.
3 people like this
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
19 Jan 16
mythbusters has done several of these, quite fun to see how hard they are to actually recreate
3 people like this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
19 Jan 16
I quite enjoy Mythbusters - a special one debunking scenes from Jaws was very impressive
2 people like this
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
19 Jan 16
@arthurchappell That one was cool, as are the duct tape and macgyver ones
3 people like this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
19 Jan 16
@Jessicalynnt yes though Maguyver is usually quite easy to debunk
2 people like this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
18 Jan 16
the areas used are clearly marked and divers close to the operation would be able to tell it was going on
3 people like this
@RasmaSandra (98026)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
18 Jan 16
@arthurchappell As teenagers we used to scare the wits out of each other about this guy with a hook for a hand that killed off lovers in a lover's lane. One of my silly friends placed a hook on the car handle when his bother and girlfriend went smooching. When they got back at 3 AM and she saw that hook she woke up the neighborhood screaming. Ah, yes youth ain't it grand and urban legends.
5 people like this
@Drosophila (16568)
• Ireland
18 Jan 16
The one I heard actually is the "killer escalator". People with their shoe laces caught in escalator gets their foot shredded. Turned out actually happened to some people, that's why there's a stop switch by escalators now.
2 people like this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
18 Jan 16
@Drosophila that one is a genuine danger - rare but possible and a horrible way to die
2 people like this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
19 Jan 16
@Drosophila no I first heard of it in news reports and I have heard of a few other cases of such tragedies
2 people like this
@Drosophila (16568)
• Ireland
18 Jan 16
@arthurchappell ya thought it was urban legend
2 people like this
@IvySaysHi (4603)
• United States
18 Jan 16
I don't really have a favorite but I love anything that really scares me
2 people like this
@sallypup (69185)
• Centralia, Washington
20 Jan 16
Your final sentence totally got me laughing and distracted. I don't know about dogs in dryers but I do know a lady who dried a kitten. She thought the thumping was a tennis shoe. She loved animals but told the tale on herself anyway.
2 people like this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
20 Jan 16
ouch - poor kitten - hope it survived the ordeal
2 people like this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
20 Jan 16
@sallypup the poor cat, though certainly a memorable story
2 people like this
@sallypup (69185)
• Centralia, Washington
20 Jan 16
@arthurchappell No it did not. This was one moment with my friend that I could not quite understand. She loved animals and life with all her being and yet she had no problem telling grandkids this story.
2 people like this
@Rohvannyn (3098)
• United States
20 Jan 16
The main one I can think of right now is about the kid who drank Pop Rocks with soda and blew up his stomach.
2 people like this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
19 Jan 16
@Auntylou that would be pretty horrible if true of course
1 person likes this
@Auntylou (4262)
• Oxford, England
20 Jan 16
@arthurchappell Yes indeed it would. Sorry to be so ghoulish but it is the only myth I know!
@Mike197602 (15504)
• United Kingdom
20 Jan 16
not sure if this counts as an urban legend but it's the captain pugwash books and their content.
I could have sworn that some of the names were really sexually explicit and i've talked about it with my mates and they "remembered" the same thing.
Last week i looked it up and the names weren't the ones i thought and apparently the author sued some publications who made up the myth.
2 people like this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
21 Jan 16
yes that legend lasted longer than the Pugwash cartoons themselves
