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Urban Legends
Since urban legends are often a means of expressing our fears about the dangers
that ripple just beneath the surface of our seemingly calm and untroubled world,
it should come as no surprise that horror legends are one of urban folklore's
richest veins. We worry about the terrible accidents we are powerless to prevent
and we fear anonymous killers who choose victims at random. We cannot protect
ourselves from the venomous animals who slither undetected into the places where
we work, play and shop, nor can we stop the onslaught of insects who invade
our homes and our bodies. We're repulsed by the contaminants that may lurk in our
food. We're afraid of foreigners and foreign places. We fear for our childrens
safety in a world full of drugs, kidnappers and poisons. We never know what
gruesome discovery may be waiting around the next corner. Even if we somehow
escape all of these horrors, our own vanities may do us in.
GRAVE ROBBERY LEGENDS
There is a class of thief who fills the niche between the common burglar or armed
robber and the criminal who cold bloodedly kills his victims before stripping
them of their valuables. He may spare his victims lives, but he's not averse
to chopping off one or two of their body parts to acquire his loot. Sometimes
body parts are the loot he seeks.
INSECT INFESTATION LEGENDS
Though entomologists might think they're cute, bugs are creepy to the rest of us.
They're multi-legged, horrid looking monsters, numerous beyond count and they're
out to get us. Most chilling of all is their single minded dedication to the task
at hand. Intent upon invasion, they will keep coming. Though hundreds of their
numbers may fall during the assault, thousands sometimes millions of their dedicated
comrades will continue the onslaught until one side or the other wins. There
is no negotiation in this war, no chance to take things only so far and no farther.
Vile, unthinking and unfeeling monsters that they are, far too many insects
are also venomous and/or nearly impossible to kill. It's one against the many,
intelligence against sheer numbers and we greatly fear that we will ultimately
be the losers.
SUPERNATURAL LEGENDS
Only a thin curtain of happenstance separates this world from the realm of ghosts,
both helpful and hurtful. At times a rent appears in that curtain, allowing
contact between the two worlds. Such interaction is frightening and sometimes
fatal, so tales of such meetings send chills racing down even the most sensible
spines. In an odd way, our belief in ghosts is comforting. Their existence is proof
of life continuing after death, to believe in ghosts is to believe in the indomitable
human spirit.
GRUESOME DISCOVERY LEGENDS
No doubt about it, we're a squeamish lot. Just as we would prefer to think steaks
come from a grocer's freezer and not from a cow, we would much rather not be
confronted with the gore and finality of someone else's death. It's too immediate
a reminder of our own fragile mortality, something we would much rather not dwell
on. No one wants to discover a corpse, whether it be the remains of a person
or a pet. Dead bodies belong in funeral homes where we have a chance to emotionally
prepare for viewing them, they shouldn't turn up under our hotel beds or stuck to
the grills of our cars, where their shocking appearances can send us screaming into the night.
TRAFFIC TRAGEDY LEGENDS
Perhaps the most frightening aspect of contemplating our own mortality is in its
randomness. It's one thing to pass away after a long lifetime of
accomplishments, it's quite another to have all our hopes and dreams and expectations
suddenly shattered by a tragic accident. Nearly all of us drive or travel in
automobiles several times a day, no type of accident is more ubiquitous to us than
traffic accidents.
MURDERING MADMEN LEGENDS
If we are to believe Hollywood slasher films, murdering madmen abound. Whether
they are crazed escapees from the local lunatic asylum or hoodlums driving around
looking for trouble, the woods are full of them. They kill, but they kill randomly,
choosing their victims by whim. It's no wonder we fear them so, for the randomness
of their actions means any one of us could become their prey.
MALCIOUS MAYHEM LEGENDS
CANNIBALISM LEGENDS
CONTAMINATED FOOD LEGENDS
It's in our nature to play mean spirited pranks. Their secret appeal is that
they make us feel powerful. Whether we are throwing a scare into someone we know
is bound to panic, or merely engaging in mindless vandalism, we are in charge.
We get to say how much gets destroyed or how far the prank goes. There's something
deeply satisfying in leaving a big mess, then snickering behind our hands as others
try to figure out who the perpetrators were. But what happens when the pranks
get out of hand, when real harm is done? Sometimes the jokes turn ugly.
Though different societies favor wildly different culinary creations, one dish is
taboo to everyone, the flesh of our own species. Just the thought of consuming
it, even inadvertently or indirectly, is enough to give us the shudders. Bon appetit!
The more technologically advanced our society becomes, the further removed we
become both from food production and preparation. These days many of us rarely
have time even to prepare our own meals, let alone grow them, so we depend on others
for almost everything we put into our stomachs. We buy, prepare and serve,
or pick up
from the takeout, placing our faith in an army of nameless food production
workers. We trust them to do right by us. But what if those others we're depending
on aren't doing their jobs properly? What if bad things get into our food out of
their negligence or worse, their malevolence? Given our reliance upon total
strangers and also our underlying guilt over abdicating to others a task we should
be performing for ourselves, it's no wonder our common horror tales about contaminated
food are many and varied.
