Everyone that knows me, knows I love a good scary story or scary moment. I’ve had several friends try to scare me through pranks, movies, and stories. When I was younger, some stories would absolutely get me going. And they were always the one’s that incorporated a friend of a friend. The scare part of this was this happened to someone I almost knew! “A friend of my friend’s cousin said…” is one of many ways an urban legend can be recognized. The participants and original teller of the story is never the person speaking with you. In addition to this, there are many variations of the story but the version you’re being told is always the truth. Each Urban Legend is told in great detail which aids in making them seem even more real and often involve a general topic that is currently in the news. Of course, each urban legend will contain a warning of caution or a moral lesson.

Other than knowing the signs of an urban legend (detailed, involves a friend of a friend, focuses on a topic in the news, contains a warning or moral lesson, and is too weird or good to be true) researching the story is the only other way to disprove the tale. Not many people will rush out to their local library or newspaper to find out the “real story.” Instead most will rush to the Internet not realizing that the story is already there and in most cases with slight variations. Very little fact if any can be found in the legend.

In West Virginia, a particular statue by the name of Black Agnes or Black Aggie can be found in a local cemetery. This statue is used for initiations for sororities or other groups in which the initiate must spend the night in the cemetery on the lap of the statue of a woman who died because of a broken heart several years ago. The story concludes with the young woman found lying dead on the lap of the statue the next morning. For some variations of this tale, just looking at the eyes of the statue is enough to kill a person. This story is a variation to a similar story told in Europe where a young woman takes a dare to spend the night in a cemetery. Either to show her courage or her disrespect, the girl plunges a knife into the grave of a woman whom had died of a broken heart. The young girl is found the next morning dead. Frightened to death presumably because the knife she plunged into the top of the grave pinned a piece of her clothing to the grave.

An interesting fact about the story of the young girl and the statue is the statue used for initiations actually belonged to a civil war general! The original statue located in DC and which was placed over the grave of a grief stricken woman has never been bothered. But then, it would never be interesting if we let the facts get in the way of the story.

How many of you, as teenagers or adults, have stood in your bathroom at night with no light on except light from the full moon peeking through the window and thought of Bloody Mary? I would venture to guess quite a few of you! This too is an urban legend created to instill fear. Many a sleepover has involved a group of kids (and yes, boys do this too!) that will gather in the bathroom and begin the ritual for calling forth a spirit from the mirror. The mirror is described as being a portal into the other realm where evil spirits lie in wait to mutilate your face, drag you into the mirror, or curse you with the evil eye. The name of the spirit called forth varies: Bloody Mary, Bloody Bones, Hell Mary, Mary Worth, and Black Agnes to name a few. The ritual remains the same. The room must be dark and lit only by the candlelight or the light of the full moon. The group or single person must peer intently upon the mirror and begin to chant the name. The number of chants required to call forth the spirit varies. The spirit always appears sending the person fleeing from the room in fear. As usual, this friend of a friend flees the bathroom with blood dripping and their face is covered with scratches.

Urban legends have grown tremendously popular. There are two films titled “Urban Legend” that brings to “life” several urban legends. The1945 the film, Dead of Night, and the 1961 airing of “Twenty-two” of the Twilight Zone draws from an urban legend. A woman who wakes in the middle of the night to see an old fashioned horse drawn coach (in some a hearse) in which the driver looks up at her and says, “room for one more.” The woman, in fear runs back to her bed and hides until morning. Safe in the daylight, she heads off to shop or work. At the top floor she goes to enter an elevator full of people when the elevator operator turns and says “room for one more.” The woman refuses to enter because it is the driver from the night before! Within seconds of the door closing the elevator trembles and begins to fall uncontrollably to the bottom. All within the elevator are killed.

Then there are the stories in which a parent rescues the children from a horrible auto accident. The only thing is the parent that saves them is discovered to be dead! This tale varies from a father who rescues his young children and places them in the care of a police officer. The mother escapes harm and frantically searches for her missing children. The officer tells her that her kids are in his car safe and sound. Her husband left them there with an ice cream cone. The woman reveals her husband has been dead for a year. Another version has the mother standing on the side of the road bleeding. A passer-by stops to help the woman rescue her trapped child. The husband is dead she tells him. The baby is pulled safely from the car but the mother is gone. The man goes back to the car and finds the two people inside are dead and one of them is the mother! This legend serves to remind us that God plays a role in our lives and performs miracles reinforcing our belief in God.

It is fair to say that urban legends will always be present. They draw from the culture of the period and change accordingly. And I’m sure Hollywood will assist in keeping them alive as well. The vehicle of death would no longer be a horse drawn coach; instead it would be a huge hearse or perhaps a black Hummer with a casket rack on top!