Urban legends are those strange, but seemingly credible tales that always happen to a friend of a friend. For the first time, Professor Jan Harold Brunvand, "who has achieved almost legendary status" ( Choice), has collected the creepiest, most terrifying urban legends, many that have spooked you since your childhood and others that you believe really did occur#xE2;#xAC;#x1D;even if it was one town over to some poor hapless coed who left a party early only to be followed by a man who just got loose from a mental hospital. From the classic hook-man story told around many a campfire to "Saved by a Cell Phone," these spine-tingling urban legends will give you goose bumps, even when you know they can't be true. Still, you'll continue to check the backseat of your car at gas stations and look under your bed at night before praying for sleep.

Jan Harold Brunvand is professor emeritus at the University of Utah and the author of numerous folklore and urban legend books, including the classic The Vanishing Hitchhiker, Curses! Broiled Again!, and Too Good to Be True. For more fun, go to his Web site at www.JanBrunvand.com.

A Note on the Texts

11

(2)

Introduction: Gore Galore on the Bedroom Floor

13

(10)

1 Precursors

23

(34)

"Frightful Stories"

29

(2)

"The Rat-Dog"

31

(1)

"The Ghost in Search of (Spiritual) Help"

32

(2)

"The Ghost in Search of (Medical) Help"

34

(1)

"The Vanishing Lady"

35

(6)

"The Foreign Hotel"

41

(1)

"The Corpse in the Car"

42

(2)

"The Graveyard Wager"

44

(2)

"Room for One More"

46

(1)

"The Poisoned Dress"

47

(2)

"Embalmed Alive"

49

(1)

"A Pretty Girl in the Road"

50

(2)

"The Vanishing Hitchhiker"

52

(2)

"Girl at the Underpass"

54

(3)

2 Chills Up Your Spine

57

(34)

"Bloody Mary"

66

(1)

"The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs"

67

(2)

"The Hook"

69

(3)

"Severed Fingers"

72

(1)

"The Boyfriend's Death"

73

(2)

"The Killer in the Backseat"

75

(3)

"The Hairy-Armed Hitchhiker"

78

(2)

"The Slasher under the Car"

80

(2)

"Dangerous Pranks and Fatal Initiations"

82

(5)

"The Fatal Fraternity Initiation"

82

(1)

"The Mock Execution"

83

(1)

"The Cadaver's Hand"

84

(1)

"The Pickled Arm"

84

(1)

"Joke Turns into Horror Story"

85

(2)

"The Roommate's Death"

87

(1)

"The Curse of 9/11"

88

(3)

3 If a Body Meets a Body

91

(24)

"The Creepy Passenger"

97

(1)

"Origin of Packenham's Rum"

98

(2)

"A Mix-up in the Mail"

100

(1)

"The Face Is Familiar"

101

(2)

"The Lost Wreck"

103

(2)

"The Death Car"

105

(1)

"The Body on the Car"

106

(1)

"Off with Their Heads!"

107

(2)

"The Body in the Bed"

109

(2)

"The Stuffed Baby"

111

(1)

"The White Dress"

112

(3)

4 Along Came a Spider...or a Snake, or a Rat

115

(24)

"The Spider in the Hairdo"

121

(1)

"The Spider Bite"

122

(1)

"Quit Bugging Me!"

123

(2)

"Spiders in Cacti"

125

(4)

"Snakes Alive!"

129

(2)

"Snakes in Dry Goods"

131

(2)

"The Creeping Comforter"

133

(1)

"The Snake in the Strawberry Patch"

134

(2)

"Der Rattenhund" ("The Rat-Dog")

136

(3)

5 Poor Baby!

139

(22)

"Harried Babysitters"

145

(2)

"The Baby-Roast"

147

(1)

"Baby's Stuck at Home Alone"

148

(1)

"Inept Mothers"

149

(2)

"Attempted Abductions"

151

(4)

"Mutilated Little Boys"

155

(2)

"The Hammered Child"

157

(1)

"Pencils as Deadly Weapons"

158

(3)

6 Accidents

161

(18)

"Caught in the Couplers"

167

(3)

"The Crushed Soldier"

170

(2)

"Welded Contact Lenses"

172

(2)

"Exploding Butane Lighters"

174

(1)

"Lawn-Mower Accidents"

175

(1)

"Up a Tree"

176

(1)

"Boil on Troubled Waters"

177

(2)

7 Criminal Intent

179

(26)

"The Choking Doberman"

185

(2)

"The Robber Who Was Hurt"

187

(2)

"Cut-Off Fingers and Hands"

189

(2)

"Campus Murder Scares"

191

(5)

The 1988 Outbreak

191

(3)

The 1991 Outbreak

194

(2)

"Lights Out!"

196

(2)

"Indecent Exposures"

198

(3)

"Gag Me with a Siphon"

201

(1)

"Urban Pancake"

202

(1)

"Dangerous ATMs"

203

(2)

8 Thoroughly Modern Horrors

205

(30)

"Drug Horror Stories"

211

(5)

"Bufo Abuse"

215

(1)

"Curses! Broiled Again! (and Again, and Again)"

216

(4)

"AIDS Mary"

220

(2)

"Kidney Heists"

222

(5)

"The Gay Roommate"

227

(2)

"Fast-Food Horrors"

229

(3)

"The Kentucky Fried Rat"

229

(1)

"Kentucky Fried Rat in South Africa"

229

(1)

"Rats in the Pizza"

230

(1)

"Hold the Mozzarella!"

230

(1)

"Hold the Mayo!"

231

(1)

"Hold Everything!"

231

(1)

"The Ghostly Videotape"

232

(3)

9 Chiller E-mails and Other Scary Netlore

235

"Killers in Cars"

241

(2)

"Needle Attacks"

243

(2)

"Perfume Attacks"

245

(2)

"More Dangers at Malls"

247

(4)

"Icky Envelopes"

251

(1)

"Mutant Chickens"

252

(1)

"Spunkball"

253

(1)

"Saved by a Cell Phone"

254

(2)

"A Cry for Help"

256

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