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Nov 26, 2023 · Where crime is a sin against humanity, an action that goes against the law/ a legal concept, sin is a crime against religion, an action that goes against ‘God’, a moral concept.
This article explores the persistence of the ‘crime legend’ genre. A case study approach was used, and three crime legends with a considerable history of public debunking were chosen: the market in snuff films; the theft of vital organs for black-market transplant; and the abduction of children from theme park restrooms.
- Pamela Donovan
- 2002
This article explores the persistence of the ‘crime legend’ genre. A case study approach was used, and three crime legends with a considerable history of public debunking were chosen: the ...
- 10 The Babysitter and The Man Upstairs
- 9 The Man in The White Van
- 8 Tainted Candy
- 7 The Hook Man
- 6 The Killer Behind The Medicine Cabinet
- 5 The Sack Man
- 4 The Body in The Hotel Mattress
- 3 The Hermit
- 2 Slavemaster
- 1 The Blue Whale Challenge
A young teenager is alone in a house that isn’t her own. The kids have been put to bed, and she’s downstairs watching a movie, debating calling her boyfriend to come over. Suddenly, the phone rings. She picks it up, thinking that her boyfriend must have had the same idea, only to be greeted by the sound of heavy breathing on the other end. “Have yo...
Chances are, you heard a white van mentioned at least once when getting the stranger danger talk as a child. It’s a well-worn urban legend that men who kidnap children offer them candy to lure them into white vans. From 1970 to 1973, there was an active serial killer and child predator in Texas named Dean Corll. Corll worked at his mother’s candy c...
Transitioning from Corll, let’s talk about the other Candy Man, Ronald Clark O’Bryan. On Halloween in 1974, eight-year-old Timothy O’Bryan complained of stomach pain after eating a powdered candy stick. Unfortunately, he passed away on his way to the hospital. Unbeknownst to the rest of the community, Ronald Clark O’Bryan, Timothy’s father, had bee...
The Hook Man is a classic urban legend. A couple parks on a lover’s lane and hears a news report over the radio that a man with a hook for a handhas escaped from the local asylum. The couple hears a thump outside the car, and unnerved, they decide to leave. Upon returning home, they find a hook embedded in their car door. There have been several se...
This particular urban legend was popularized in the ’90s by the movie Candy Man. In the film, the main character demonstrates how there is not a wall behind her medicine cabinet, and by taking the backing off, you can see through to the apartment next door. There’s also a past murder in the film attributed to a man crawling through a medicine cabin...
El Hombre del Saco is Spain’s boogeyman, often depicted as an old man who carries a large sack that he puts misbehaving children in. Many cultures depict their boogeyman figures as a man with a sack; however, El Hombre del Saco is the only version that can be traced back to a murder. The Crime of Gador is a famous murder case in Spain from 1910. Th...
This is one of the few legends where there have been several instances of it happening, whether the body actually was in the mattress or simply resting underneath the bed. The earliest report I came across was made in 1999, and the latest report was made as recently as 2019. In 1999, the body of Saul Hernandezwas found under a bed at the Burgundy M...
Vacation home owners in North Pond were having a problem and a very strange one at that. For twenty-seven years, there were consistent reports of items being stolen from the cabins. That was where the strange part of the problem came into play. Nothing of value was ever taken from the cabins. What was missing was basic supplies: food, blankets, and...
From the ’90s to the early 2000s, the childhood apprehension of receiving a chain letter became a very adult fear. A message appeared in the inboxes of many women across America, urging them not to engage with an internet user going by the name “Slavemaster.” Slavemaster had allegedly killed fifty-six women, and the email ended by telling the reade...
The Momo Challenge made headlines in 2019 as a dangerous internet challenge that encouraged children to harm themselves. However, before Momo, there was the Blue Whale Challenge. The Blue Whale Challengewas allegedly started in Russia. It was said to be a game in which the players were given fifty tasks to complete over fifty days, and the final ta...
May 9, 2023 · The relationship between urban legend, authored fiction and true crime is often too complex to unpick. To muddy the waters even further, consider the case of The Slender Man. Back in the dark old days of the internet (2009), Slender Man was created as part of a photoshop challenge, where users of the Something Awful forum were tasked with creating ‘paranormal images’.
Nov 2, 2021 · Crime has always been sensational. True crime books, movies, comics, and podcasts gather huge followings. And while the overwrought prose of the penny dreadfuls has given way to the even-handed narration and soft strands of the new serials, the same audience is still waiting to be thrilled and frightened. The pub stories of Spring-Heel Jack and Sweeney Todd, similarly, have evolved into the ...
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Nov 12, 1995 · Like so much else in modern life--tabloids, exploitalk programs, real-life crime best-sellers--urban legends testify to an overwhelming condition of fear and to a sense of our own impotence within it.
