Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid: The Book of Scary Urban Legends
Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid: The Book of Scary Urban Legends
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Paperback ©2004--
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W. W. Norton
Annotation: Collects the spooky tales that have attained legendary status, such as the madman with a hook for a hand, and discusses their evolution and dissemination. For mature readers.
Genre: [Fairy tales]
 
Reviews: 3
Catalog Number: #4519630
Format: Paperback
Publisher: W. W. Norton
Copyright Date: 2004
Edition Date: 2004 Release Date: 10/15/04
Pages: 256 pages
ISBN: 0-393-32613-6
ISBN 13: 978-0-393-32613-0
Dewey: 398.2
LCCN: 2004011798
Dimensions: 21 cm.
Language: English
Reviews:
Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Rum flavored by a dead man in the cask; black widow spiders nesting in beehive hairdos; women's intestines broiled by tanning booths; teenage couples menaced by men with hooks for hands: if these are the sorts of tales that thrill and chill you, this an anthology worth picking up. Folklorist Brunvand (The Vanishing Hitchhiker) assembles a creepy cornucopia of urban legends, organizing them by theme (""""Chills Up Your Spine,""""""""Accidents"""") and considering them in a surprisingly sedate manner. The result is a blend of""""primary text"""" urban legends (transcribed from field interviews, collected from e-mails or reprinted from local newspapers) and more reflective introductions that consider the motifs and variations of each urban legend. Some tales are old chestnuts, familiar to anyone who's been to a camp or a slumber party in the past 50 years, but others indicate more contemporary fears: stories of vacationers waking in unfamiliar hotel rooms, groggy and minus a kidney, or rumors of sexual predators who purposefully spread HIV to their unsuspecting partners. Brunvand traces most of these legends to their roots and debunks some of the more widespread ones, but he never lets his skepticism dampen his enthusiasm for the stories themselves.

School Library Journal (Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 2005)

Adult/High School Brunvand is known to many as the godfather of the American urban legend. In this collection, he has compiled the scariest, grisliest onessome that are unfamiliar but many that have been heard at sleepovers and depicted in horror movies over the past several years. Since many of them will be known to urban-legend lovers, the book's real strength is in the subtle changes within different versions of a legend. The runaway madman with the hook for a hand, the ghost of the dead girl, the slasher under the car or in the backseat all make appearances here, but in slightly different circumstances. Sometimes the distances are great, but the differences are few. For example, the "Hairy-Armed Hitchhiker" appears in two versions, one from England and one from Los Angeles. Brunvand also integrates how much the Internet, particularly e-mail, has changed the dissemination of urban legends. He gives credit to urban-legend debunking site www.snopes.com, and the final chapter concerns the widespread hysterical e-mails that purport to come from experts but actually originate from the usual dubious sources. All in all, this is a good addition where such titles are popular. Jamie Watson, Harford County Public Library, MD

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Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)
School Library Journal (Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 2005)
Wilson's High School Catalog
Bibliography Index/Note: Includes bibliographical references.
Reading Level: 9.0
Interest Level: 9+

Urban legends are those strange, but seemingly credible tales that always happen to a friend of a friend. For the first time, Professor Jan Harold Brunvand, "who has achieved almost legendary status" (Choice), has collected the creepiest, most terrifying urban legends, many that have spooked you since your childhood and others that you believe really did occur even if it was one town over to some poor hapless coed who left a party early only to be followed by a man who just got loose from a mental hospital. From the classic hook-man story told around many a campfire to "Saved by a Cell Phone," these spine-tingling urban legends will give you goose bumps, even when you know they can't be true. Still, you'll continue to check the backseat of your car at gas stations and look under your bed at night before praying for sleep."


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