No one ever saw what the Kazoo was and I always thought it was a funny name but it still was scary for a kid to hear about. All any one every said was it was big. Lots of small animals, just pigs or calves would be killed and eaten on the spot or sometimes pulled into the brush to be eaten. A few tracks were found that looked like a big cat track. There were no mountain lions in Kansas so they ruled that out. The stories would go on about on dark nights you could hear the Kazoo in the back woods scream. At least it sounded like a woman’s scream. In fact it often caused search parties looking for some poor woman that may of been attacked. None were ever found. It was once seen on a full moon lit night near the edge of the woods. The person said it was taller than a man when it stood upright and was covered with long dark fur. It left marks in the mud that night where it sat down and the tracks that time were huge and really furry looking.

This caused a real scare that it was that big with no longer the tracks of a huge cat but of something. Sometimes a group of men with dogs went looking for the Kazoo but the dogs seem a bit shy to track what ever it was. So the  stories would go on as I sat wide eyed with a always open ear and wandering eye for any sign of the Kazoo. I never heard it and always hoped I never would but it made for a exciting youth for me. As soon as the Kazoo came so it went and was never heard of again. Still remains as a real animal or a hoax.  My dad later told me when I was grown that it was a friend of his in an old buffalo robe with pelts rapped on his feet that was seen that one night but still it never explained the screams that every one had heard. When I was in Nam I heard a panther scream in the Jungles and the Kazoo came to my mind with a chill that brought back that childhood scare again. Could the Kazoo have been a panther escaped from some traveling show or a real Urban terror?

To create an Urban Legend you have to know your sources for the legend. Would someone belive it as being real or fake. Will you have to back up your legend with photos or recordings ? Photos are best or having witness that will back up your legend. Take Ghosts for example their are shows on TV searching for ghosts, photos are every where. Will it catch on
or not. Take the old hook on the car door on lovers lane. Or Big foot ,that’s a great one. Real or not? It has history and native legends to make it a great Urban Legend. All you need is to get the word out. That is were the internet is great.
One great Urban Legend is the “Gates of Hell at Stull Kansas”. This started in the 60’s by some high school guys looking for a good story to get the girls out in the country to look for Ghosts and such. Or the Albino Lady of Topeka. Again a good story to cruise the country roads. These two Urban Legends can be found on any search of the internet. Both have real places involved where you can go and look in hopes of seeing the Legend for yourself.
Just take the “Albino Lady” for a example. She was a real lady who
being an Albino came out at night and walked the country roads near her
house. Once spotted by some teenagers looking for a secluded spot for a little alone time. She became the goal of a nights outing to find the Albino Lady. After so many drunken high teens searching for her and sometimes not the best of the lot at that. She was taken away for her own protection by her family but the legend grew and still it is said her ghost roams the northern parts of Topeka. Legend or fact.
Lonely back roads make for good legends. Say one with old bridges that could be said to be the place of drownings with the spirits roaming the creek bottoms in search of reasons they died. Such as the Base Creek Ghost. It is said a young woman was out with her boy friend when a crazed farmers son snuck up on them and killed them and let the creek take their bodies away never to be found. Now when any one parks near the bridge her spirit can be heard crying or moaning when the wind blows from the South. So is it real or just a Urban Legend.
Stull Kansas is real so is the Church their and the cementery on the hill. Legend says the Church had a basement that was the Gate to Hell only one of Seven in the world. Cursed for what happened over a hundred years ago. But the Legend was never heard of till the 70’s. No one in Stull ever heard of it but every one else did.
Take the river road from Lecompton to Topeka on a full moon night.
Stop on the ridge looking over the river and you can see strange orbs glowing on the sand bars. Some say these are the spirits of the travelers who died at the hands of Indians and bandits that roamed the near by hills and valleys.
Your Legend must have some sound of truth to it. Howling animals, or moans caused by the wind always make any story acceptable. So with that in mind let your mind wander down those paths few travel, walk the halls of the old schools and buildings that are near by, look out for the floating orbs in the night. It is your legend it is your choice