Urban legend is a modern-day story that describes a usually scary or bizarre event or rumor as if it were true. Urban legends often feature such strange elements that people argue over whether they are true or even possible. For example, a widely repeated urban legend claims that large alligators inhabit the sewers of New York City. According to the legend, city residents purchase baby alligators as pets, then flush them down the toilet when they grow too large to keep. The alligators survive and grow in the sewers, where they are occasionally seen by startled workers. As with all urban legends, experts point out that there is a little truth and much exaggeration in this story. In the 1930’s, New York City sanitation workers did find a few small alligators under the city’s streets. But they were quickly removed and have not been seen for many decades. Animal experts point out that alligators could not possibly survive for long in such sewers. Despite a lack of evidence of such sightings, people continue to repeat the legend because it is interesting and, to many listeners, believable.
Urban legends are a form of folklore, knowledge shared, often informally, among a group of people with some common connection. For urban legends, this group consists largely of people who live in cities or suburban areas, or who use modern forms of technology, such as computers, to spread them.
Folklore scholars have observed that urban legends typically share common elements. Often, the story describes an event that happened recently and nearby, although the details are frequently not specified. The person repeating the legend may say that a “friend of a friend” or some other distantly connected person actually witnessed or experienced the event. Most urban legends spread as stories told from person to person. However, many urban legends are now transmitted over the internet, where they can quickly reach a wide audience. Occasionally, a local newspaper or other publication will report an urban legend as true without verifying its details.
Some urban legends resemble traditional legends translated to a modern setting. One such legend, often called the “vanishing hitchhiker,“ describes a ghostly encounter. The story has many variations. In one common telling, a man sees a young woman standing by the road and offers her a ride home in his car. When the driver arrives at the address she had given, he turns to find she has vanished. The person who answers the door at the address tells the man that other drivers have come to the house before and explains that the young woman died some time ago, near the location the driver saw her. In some versions of this story, the man lends the young woman a jacket. After the young woman disappears and he learns about her death, the man visits her grave. There, he finds his jacket draped over the girl’s tombstone. A similar story dates back to the 1800’s in some regions and features a horse and wagon instead of a car.
Other urban legends reflect more distinctly modern, urban concerns, such as crime. A common example tells of criminals that try to abduct children who wander away from their parents. In others tales, criminals hide under victims’ cars in the parking lot or in the back seats of cars that are left unlocked. Such stories sometimes take place at a specific nearby mall, amusement park, beach, or other location, but no proof of the attacks can be found in police records or news reports. In addition to providing spooky thrills, these stories serve as reminders that people should be careful even in seemingly safe public places.
Many other urban legends also serve a cautionary function. Some such legends involve a person finding something unusual and disgusting, such as a rat or spider eggs, in a meal at a fast-food restaurant. Most of these stories are made up and exaggerated for gross fun, but they may also remind people to be careful of what and where they eat.
Most urban legends are false or unproven, but a few have some basis in truth. For example, an urban legend widely circulated on the internet claimed that the United States government was plotting to eliminate the motto In God We Trust from certain U.S. coins. The story was traced to a newly designed dollar coin, which bore the motto on its edge rather than its face.
