Urban myths: alive and well

David Clarke enjoys a wide-ranging and entertaining selection of modern folk tales which should become a standard reference work for scholars

The Watkins Book of Urban Legends Gail de Vos Watkins Media 2024 Hb, 400pp, £16.99, ISBN 9781786788559 A 2019 letter published by the Guardian’s Notes & Queries asked what had become of “urban myths – alligators in the sewers etc – that used to be very popular”. Ironically, this question appeared alongside a feature examining popular conspiracy beliefs such as the faked Moon landings. Urban myths are also known as FOAF-tales, as they are often told by a friend of a friend, but legend scholars such as Gail de Vos prefer to call them contemporary legends, or urban legends as in the title of this book. A leading light in the International Society for Contemporary Legend Research (ISCLR), de Vos has compiled around 200 of the best-known stories “for your…

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Fortean Times (Digital) - 1 Issue, 454

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