An elevator. NICE!
2 years ago
At meh school, I started a creepy ol’ myth ‘bout the elevator. No one will ride it now….. If u wanna hear it, ask.
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3 years ago
I guess it was worth it, but it was entirely too easy. From conception to Snopes was less than one week.
usually the first to send people to Snopes...
4 years ago
to put an end to their forwards, but this has always tempted me. I’ll have to start it from a new/anon email address though, since I’m always the end of the line for these things. See y’all on snopes!
So Many Topics
4 years ago
I’m on a dry run with goal right now, but it’s local—will never hit the national level. A classic one, about a ghost, suicide, an old building, and revenge from beyond the grave. (I do love a good ghost story). I’m practicing getting my details right. You know, right at the fringe between believable and overkill.
In an important side note, though, for some odd reason I’ve been able to generate half-a-dozen ideas related to Hurricane Katrina of the kind that aren’t harmful but sort of tap into American optimism. Stuff about humans being reunited with their pets in incredible circumstances; or about the stranger who comes out of nowhere to lead folks to safety & then mysteriously disappears; and tales of potential violence being averted by humanity’s greater need to pull together, accompanied by a little bit of food and spirits. It seems that such a pivotal event as Katrina is just perfect for conveying cultural myths about the human spirit—its generosity, its resilience, its goodness in the face of devastation.
But I can’t do it. I can’t circulate a legend on this one. There are several reasons for this. One, truth is stranger than fiction-I can’t trump some of those real-life stories of heroism and odd, improbable rescues. Two, Katrina’s already being used by people to perpetuate email frauds and scams (like the white supremists using the disaster to raise money, presumably for relief to really to fund their sick organizations). And three, I don’t think I have enough distance yet-it just feels wrong. I do think the stories about Katrina play an important role in conveying something about us as humans, as do urband legends…I just don’t think the two are a good fit at this moment.
Okay, this is just silliness. But I’m fascinated with urban legends: how they begin, what cultural anxieties they reflect, what occurs in their circulation and adaptation, how techological forms such as the Internet affect them. And since I like to think of myself as somewhat attuned to the national pulse, I’d like to start an urban legend, one that can move through the FoaF route (Friend of a Friend, for anyone out there who’s not an urban-legend junkie.)
Now, I’ve got standards and goals. I don’t want it to be anything that causes harm, like about diseases circulating. It should be sort of funny-like the woman/surprise party/shaving cream/dog incident-or campire scary—like the teenagers/hook in the door story. And I’d like for it to get enough notice to be debunked by the uber-site of Urban Legends, http://www.snopes.com/. (I don’t ask for much, do I?)
The only problem is…I’ve got no idea of where to start, no good ideas whatsoever. Oh well, it gives me something to shoot for, right?
