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The best urban legends are the ones that have a tantalizing element of believability. You may be skeptical that a fast food restaurant would ever accidentally deep-fry a rat and serve it up as a super-sized meal deal, but it seems at least plausible that a rodent could somehow emerge from your toilet after navigating your sewer line. (Unfortunately, that can happen.)
Urban Legends Quiz
See if you can tell which of these urban legends are pure fiction and which were actually inspired by real events in the quiz below.
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Why We Love to Spread Urban Legends
So why do urban legends spread? Folklore experts believe it has a lot to do with a human desire to warn others of potential danger. Most stories of this type are cautionary tales. Check your backseat for serial killers; watch out for spiders in your bubble gum; look under your bed for intruders.
The best legends also use familiarity. The protagonist is often a friend of a friend, a local personality, or known brand. In the 1990s, rather than some obscure toy posing a threat to kids, it was the trendy Furby. The fuzzy, chattering creature was thought to be made with real animal fur (false), teaching kids how to swear (false), and posing a threat to national security for its alleged ability to record and mimic voices (kind of true: the NSA fell for the hysteria and banned it from its offices).
It’s easier for urban legends to spread today thanks to the internet. But they’ve always found a way to make the rounds. In the 1980s and 1990s, one popular method for sharing them was via fax machine.
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