Directory of Urban Legends Resources

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Urban legends are realistic stories concerning recent events or alleged events with an ironic or supernatural twist; urban beliefs or rumours are reports of such events that lack the storyline of the urban legend. Urban legends and beliefs spread not only through word of mouth, but also through the internet in the form of e-rumours, chain letters, and e-mail and computer virus hoaxes.

Subcategories

• Chain Letters
• Computer Virus Hoaxes
• Conspiracy Theories
• Cow Tipping
• Scientific Hoaxes
• Snuff Films

Resources in This Category

• About.com: Urban Legends and Folklore

  http://urbanlegends.about.com/
  Articles, links, and an archive of urban and internet folklore.

• BellaOnline: Urban Legends

  http://urbanlegends.bellaonline.com/
  Updates on the newest urban legends, plus articles on the classics.

• Calypso's Urban Legends

  http://www.angelfire.com/az2/urbanlegends/
  Small collection of famous urban legends.

• Christian Urban Legends

  http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_cul.htm
  Documents known urban legends and pious frauds.

• Common E-mail Hoaxes

  http://www.3oddballz.com/hoaxes/
  A list of some of the more popular internet hoaxes, urban legends, rumors, and junk, circulated through your email.

• Darwin Awards Urban Legends

  http://www.darwinawards.com/legends/
  Cautionary tales of human evolution in action that are simply too astounding to be true.

• Don't Spread That Hoax!

  http://www.nonprofit.net/hoax/
  Debunking hoaxes as well as urban legends that spread on the internet.

• Dr. Jan Harold Brunvand

  http://www.janbrunvand.com/
  Official site of the folklorist who wrote several books on urban legends beginning with "The Vanishing Hitchhiker". Features personal and professional information, works, and a FAQ.

• Hoax Busters

  http://www.hoaxbusters.org/
  Large alphabetical list debunking internet hoaxes, scams, and e-mail chain letters.

• Hoax-Slayer

  http://www.hoax-slayer.com/
  Information about email hoaxes; includes weekly newsletter, archives and list of the latest email hoaxes.

• HowStuffWorks: How Urban Legends Work

  http://www.howstuffworks.com/urban-legend.htm
  What they are, where they come from, and why they spread so quickly.

• Jan Harold Brunvand

  http://www.cnn.com/COMMUNITY/transcripts/jan.harold.brunvand.html
  Transcript of an interview with folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand, author of "Too Good to be True - The Colossal Book of Urban Legends."

• NetScrap.com: Urban Folklore

  http://www.netscrap.com/netscrap.cfm?cat_show=Urban+Folklore
  Urban legends and beliefs gathered from across the net.

• Snopes.com Urban Legends Reference Pages

  http://snopes.com/
  Attempts to give accurate information about rumors and urban legends on a variety of topics, including war, business, events, toxins, science, military, popular culture.

• The Cat in Urban Mythology

  http://messybeast.com/urbancat.htm
  Essay by Sarah Hartwell discussing the images of the cat in urban legends.

• The Horse and the Maiden: An Urban Legend in Ancient Athens

  http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~edmunds/HorseText.html
  Article by Lowell Edmunds, Rutgers University.

• The Museum of Hoaxes

  http://hoaxes.org/
  A reference guide to hoaxes, pranks, practical jokes, frauds, tricks, and other forms of deception.

• The Urban Legend Combat Kit

  http://netsquirrel.com/combatkit/
  Collection of prepared responses to refute oft cited internet myths and urban legends.

• theFolklorist.com

  http://www.thefolklorist.com/
  Devoted to American folklore and urban legends.

• Tourist Of Death

  http://www.touristofdeath.com/
  A site maintaining the history of the WTC Rooftop Tourist picture hoax, and all copycat pictures resulting from the original picture.

• Urban Legends & Superstitions Online

  http://urbanlegendsonline.com/
  The most popular urban legends and superstitions including local legends based in New Jersey.

• Urban Legends: An Electronic Art Exhibit

  http://www.wdog.com/legends/
  A virtual gallery of multimedia artistic representations of urban legends, by Sarah Wichlacz.

• Urban Myths & Legends

  http://www.delta-9.com/net47/myth/
  Submitted stories and other fantastic messages.

• Weird USA

  http://www.angelfire.com/zine/WeirdUSA/
  Gazette of urban legends and beliefs, as well as ghost sightings and hauntings.

Related Categories

• Home > Science > Science in Society > Skeptical Inquiry
• Home > Society > Paranormal
• Home > Recreation > Humor > Pranks

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