Suicide Suicide rates go up during the holidays. False. Studies show that their is no increase shown before, during, or after any holidays of even birthdays. It does state that suicides are greater on weekdays than weekends. 

Stuck A man dressed as Santa, usually the families father, tries to go down the chimney to surprise the kids and ends up stuck. The family does not know the Santa is coming because it is a surprise. The father is then left in the chimney until the smell alerts them to the whereabouts of their missing loved one. Undetermined. No actual account of this has been reported, although the exact origin cannot be found. Could this be a true ghastly tale?

Cards One Christmas, a lady was running late on buying Christmas gifts so she came up with an idea. She bought her family cards and made out cheques for each of them. Inside the cards she wrote “Happy Christmas, but if you don’t mind, buy your own presents this year!” Week’s after Christmas she realized she had not gotten any customary thank you cards back. Only to come across all the cheques in her drawer, not sent with the Christmas cards! Undetermined. What an embarrassing event, if it does happen to be true!

Baby The story goes that a family held a Christmas party at their house. The couple were to announce their new born babies christening to be the next day. As each guest arrived they threw their coats into the spare bedroom onto the bed. As everyone gathered the parents told them the news and added “we want you all to see are new addition to the family”. The woman excused herself and a moment later the guest’s heard her scream. The mother had gone into the bedroom to find the coats and scarves had been carelessly thrown onto the bed where she had left the baby. The first person must not have noticed, and the following guest’s just followed example and the baby ended up smothered to death underneath it all. Somewhat. A real 2-month-old baby of Corrina Atuatasi, California, suffocated in a pile of clothes. the mother left the boy unsupervised as she left for a smoke, and went along to a friends in a nearby apartment for a drink. The child had suffocated face down in a pile of clothes.

Ending with a true and shocking Christmas tale

In November 2002, the Wal-mart in Sterling, Colorado, was approached with a request to place a toy donation box at their location. The representative was thrilled to see the box pile up with every visit, but when she went to retrieve the box on the final day, she found it empty! Someone from the store had returned all the donated items to the shelves.

For more Urban Legends and the full stories of the tales above, visit www.snopes.com

So what is fan death?

Basically, the belief that you will die should you run an electric fan while sleeping. This only seems to be a concern if all sources of fresh air are sealed off, so many Koreans will leave a window open at the same time. This supply of fresh air is enough to keep you safe.

I’m not a technical person but the overall argument is that a fan will suck all the air from the room. Literally from your mouth if it is pointing directly at you. Hypothermia is also cited as a consequence of this dangerous practice, and fan users are urged to buy a model with a timer.

Why do people believe this?

Like all urban myths, fan death has its roots in truth. It’s likely that every year people are found dead with a fan running, and the windows closed. That there’s no significant connection between these events is usually overlooked. Regardless of how much reason and common sense you apply – if it doesn’t harm you to follow the rules then you probably will. After all, I still touch my collar when I see an ambulance. (A British superstition, said to prevent the emergency being at your house.) I know it’s ridiculous but I’m unable to stop myself.

Could there be a more reasonable explanation?

This is entirely my own opinion, but I suspect the fan death myth has more to do with economics than health risks. South Korea is a country which has modernised amazingly quickly. Perhaps one consequence is that the principles of frugality live on. Can you think of a better way to make sure people use less electricity than to encourage them to believe in fan death?

The million won question: do you believe in fan death?

In all honesty, no. But I do sleep with the window open because I like fresh air. (That’s what I tell myself anyhow!) I used to challenge people who were convinced that fan death was a real possibility. But even if you claim to have survived the night with the fan they will find another reason for your lucky escape.

You can’t fight superstition easily, and maybe you shouldn’t even try. The implications for global warming which inefficient use of the fan brings to mind are legitimate. But trying to rationalise established belief systems of any kind – that’s a losing battle.

A picture of Hercules with a man, woman and horse, is circulating.  The picture is possibly photoshoped and the dog looks twice its normal size.  Although it is perhaps a hoax, the picture is stunning.  Hercules is owned by John Flynn of Peabody, Massachusetts, who says he feeds his dog a normal diet.

Urban legends expert David Emory is convinced it is all a hoax.  However, he has been told that Hercule’s size is possible.  Emory classifies this as a false urban legend.

THE FACTS

*April, 2008:  A harlequin Great Dane named Gibson became the Guinness World Records world’s tallest dog.

*August 13, 2009:  Gibson died of bone cancer.

*February, 2010:  Guinness World Records named Gentle George the world’s tallest dog

I cannot make up my mind if the Hercules story is true or false.  Therefore, I am leaving it to you to decide if it is real or an urban legend.

However children do not get scared of it because they do not have the same common sense. As they grow up though, we tell them stories, and tales and educate them to our sense, they start being scared of what they see but at the same time they stop seeing them.

Then we lead them into the world of fantasy again with Halloween and horror stories. I remember when i was a child, i used to be afraid of the dark (i still am by the way) because i was afraid that vampires would suck my blood out (i don’t mind it now anymore, maybe I’d like it) i didn’t like sleeping alone because i was afraid monsters would crawl out from under the bed, i couldn’t walk on the floor bare foot because i thought it’d suck me in (like in that movie) and i couldn’t lean against the wall because i thought hands would reach out and strangle me (from that advertisement for chips – weird advertisement much?)

How many of us have been scared ourselves by stories and movies? How about the b-Mary legend? (i can’t even manage to spell her name, I’m still a bit scared of it) How about the candy-man legend? and the Jack-O-Lantern one? And movies? Such as Paranormal Activity (2 though because the first one wasn’t scary), the ring, when a stranger calls, mirror? Although they might not seem as scary now, they did scare us before. (in fact because of the grudge – Japanese version mainly- people committed suicide because they couldn’t live through the fear and the nightmares)

How can the innocent minds of the children be affected by such stories? How terrified must they be? Movies and legends should have a scale that tells people how scary it might be so mistakes won’t be made. Children should be kept away until they are self conscious enough to be able to choose whether they want to know the story or not.

An urban legend or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories, which are usually believed to be true by their tellers. Nothing in the content of the urban legends suggest that they are true. They may have been in circulation for a long time and generally exhibit variations over time. They are attractive enough though to motivate people to keep them in circulation. Urban legends usually convey a message; they can be funny, unusual or scary.

It must be said thought that some of the urban legends that have passed the test of time and still are in circulation might have some credibility value in them.

People who tell them, frequently allege that these tales happened to a “friend of a friend”. And this happens so often that by now that “friend of a friend,” (FOAF) has become a commonly used term to determine this kind of stories.

Three urban legends

1.      Yeti or The Abominable Snowman

The Yeti is believed to be an apelike creature, with long dark hair and a terrible smell, that supposedly inhabits the Himalayan region of Nepal and Tibet. The first stories about this creature emerged in the late 1800s. Many attempts have been made to find this creature, but in the high, cold Himalayan mountains, that is like looking for a needle in a hay stack.   

2.      Nostradamus predicted the September 11th Attacks

The quatrain of Nostradamus prophecy ,which supposedly predicts what happened September 11th was actually a hoax. Neil Marshall, a student in 1996, had invented the quatrain himself to demonstrate how people interpret Nostradamus’ verses at their wish.

3.      The Sewer Alligator

According to this urban legend,  New York City sewer system is infested with deadly alligators. The explanation goes that the animals were from Florida by people who wanted to keep them as pets. When they grew violent and big people abandoned them in into the sewers where they now live and multiply. The story dates back to the 1930s. The fact is no sewer system worker has ever met or seen alligators down in the sewers.

Source: Wikipedia

             Mystical Reports by John Townsend

The rumor that Poinsettia plants will kill a person is not true. If you digest the plant you may experience vomiting or diarrhea, but death will not occur. Sap from the plant may also cause damage to your vision, so don’t get any in your eyes.

image via Wikipedia

Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer Was Created For Montgomery Wards

This one is actually true.The retail store Montgomery Ward’s gave away coloring books to children every Christmas. One year they decided to create their own book as a way to save money. An employee, Robert L. May, created the story of Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer for the book. The store distributed 2.4 million copies the next year and a classic story was born.

The Day After Thanksgiving Is The Biggest Shopping Day Of The Year

Contrary to popular belief, Black Friday is not the busiest shopping day of the year; it is not even in the top 5. The busiest shopping days of the year are the 3 days before Christmas and the previous weekend. Black Friday usually ranks 5th -10th depending on what day of the week Christmas falls on.

image via Wikipedia

The Image Of Santa Claus Was Created For Coca Cola

There are a lot of urban legends based on Coca Cola. This one has been floating around for years but it is completely false. The first Coca Cola ad with the image of Santa Claus appeared in 1931.The first images of Santa Claus with a full white beard and red suit starting appearing in 1906. By the 1920’s, pictures of Santa Claus that are close to today’s images started appearing everywhere. However,  The Coca Cola advertisements did not start appearing until 1931.

Two Of Santa’s Reindeer Were Named Dunder And Blixem

This story is actually true. The source of the song “Rudolph The Rednose Reindeer” was the poem “A Visit From Saint Nicholas” which first appeared in 1823. The last two reindeer in the poem were named Dunder and Blixem.

Man Dressed As Santa Claus Gets Stuck In Chimney And Dies

There is a story that has been floating around for years that tells of a man who comes home early from a business trip and decides to slide down the chimney and surprise his family. He gets stuck halfway down and dies from asphyxiation. They discover the body when they light the fireplace. There are several variations on the story about how the man died or how he was discovered. Although many people claim that they heard of this story in the news, there are no confirmed reports of this story being true. The urban legend started making the rounds in the 1980’s, but became even more popular with the invention of the internet.

The Bible says That Three Wise Men Traveled To See Jesus

We have assumed that there were 3 wise men, but the Bible does not specify how many or what their names were.

image via Wikipedia

Mistletoe Means “Dung On A Twig”

It is a common knowledge that you are supposed to kiss someone under the mistletoe, but does it really mean “dung on a twig”? Mistletoe has its origins in the German words “Mist” which stands for dung and “tang” which stands for branch. Mistletoe was commonly spread from tree to tree through the feces of birds. Now that you know the meaning of mistletoe, you may not want to stand under it any more.

Coca Cola Urban Legends

The husband had been told by the manager the hotel had been fully booked out for the night and would not be able to give the couple another room until the next day. The manager had offered for the maids to come to the room and clean it. Satisfied, the husband agreed. The husband and wife left the room and went downstairs to the restaurant for dinner while their room was being cleaned.

They both returned to the room later on that night. They could still smell the bad odour but it had been masked some what by the powerful cleaning chemicles. They had decided to go to bed and were later awoken during the night by the stench returing, only worse than before.

Furious by now, the husband once again called management to complain about the smell and the manager had replied he will try to find him another room there or in another hotel close by. Slamming the phone down, the husband decided to investigate the source of the smell. He soon realised the smell was coming from the bed.

He pulled the sheets back and when he found nothing, he tipped the mattress over and onto the floor. On the other side of the mattress, a long split had been cut down the middle and the husband discovered a decaying corpse stuffed inside the mattress.

Sometimes an urban legend can begin with a simple fact or truth and be transformed over time into a fantastic tale through the story being modified down the line as it is passed on. The internet has perpetuated this phenomenon exponentally. Take for example the old chestnut about Proctor & Gamble being a satanic company. Someone decided that the 13 stars (13 members in a satanic coven) and half-moon (devil worship in the moonlight) on the company’s logo meant that it was a satanic organization. Even after numorous press releases and denials by the company, Christian groups across the U.S. still began to boycott the coporate giant. After several courtroom decisions that was no truth to the allegations this urban legend still persists.

Another persistent gem that was even the plot for a major motion picture is the urban legend that states if your college dorm roommate commits suicide you will get a grade point of 4.0. This isn’t true, never has been true and probably will not be true in the future as colleges and universities do not reward tragic events with higher GPA’s or grades. The story will go on for years no doubt, with many believing that it is true.

Urban myths and legends seem to take on a life of their own and evolve and change as the years go by. People want others to view them as authorities on facts so they repeat some interesting story or tidbit and the listener believes it and passes it on. When enough people hear an untruth eventually it becomes real. These storys are often puntuated with the phrase “it happened to my friend, I Know its true…” or something similar.

The good news is that we have a vast resource at our fingertips nowadays to confirm or dispel these urban legends and myths and it is called the internet. Most facts can be cross checked and verified one way or another but the tall tales will still be told anyway.

Image via Wikipedia

It is an effective contraceptive – Coca Cola was used as a contraceptive in the 50’s and 60’s. Many women used it as a douche after sex. In 1985, three Harvard researchers reported that diet coke was effective in killing sperm. Subsequent tests made by several different groups could not confirm the findings. No one could prove that coke killed more than 30% of the sperm.

Coke and aspirin will get you high – This myth dates back to the 1930’s. It was believed that dissolving aspirin in coke would make you high. It was a popular tale among teenagers but the legend is false.

Image via Wikipedia

Coke contains cocaine – Coca Cola was originally named for the extract of coca leaves and kola nuts which are two of it’s ingredients. Coke did contain cocaine in the early days. In fact it was common to use cocaine in medicine back in the 1800’s.The amount was very small and would not affect the average person in any way. The formula was adjusted in 1929 and all traces of cocaine were removed from the mixture.

Little Mikey of Life cereal commercials died from mixing Coca Cola and Pop Rocks – For those not old enough to remember the “Little Mikey” TV commercial, he was the small child eating the Life cereal. His real name is John Gilchrist, but details of his life were virtually nonexistent beyond the television commercial. Rumors of the candy Pop Rocks causing deaths spread immediately after it hit the market in 1979. General Foods sent out press releases stating that the candy was no more bad for you than a can of cola. This was thought to have led to the urban legend that “Little Mikey” died from mixing Pop Rocks and Coke. He is currently an advertising account manager in New York.

Coke was originally green in color – The makers of Coke have claimed that the color of it’s product has always been brown, but some have argued that the original formula was green. It is theorized that this urban legend was started because Coke was packaged in green glass bottles.

This is a perfect example of anti-corporate folklore. As many will agree, we love to make out corporate giants as being the enemy and most of the time they are. During the late 1970’s, a legend was circulating that the late Ray Kroc, president of McDonalds at the time, was a member of the Church of Satan. Although, it wasn’t a legend anymore when he supposedly professed his beliefs on a national talk show. His name, which was foreign sounding and contained a K,  always symbolized something sinister to many.

At the same time, rumors were circulating claiming the burgers at McDonald’s were made out of worms, with some alternative ingredients like sawdust and spider eggs. The stories of contamination were said to be the result of big corporations taking out local businesses and destroying the cultural landscape.

Second Death

Source

This story is usually told by an employee of a mortuary that has picked up a woman that had died the night before. Suddenly, the driver hears sounds coming from the back of the hearse and stops the vehicle to check
the coffin which contains a person that was actually in a coma and had been revived during the drive. The hearse drivers calls for an ambulance with their cell phone, however while they are calling the hearse is hit by an ambulance and the two die. This is the second death for the women.

The Sheriffs Daughter

Two officers on duty, a rookie and a veteran, are out patrolling and they happen to find a car parked somewhere illegally or a tent pitched on the beach or in an unauthorized area. When the rookie looks inside he notices a young couple having relations or making out. The veteran says if you let us have sex with her, we will let both of you off with a warning. They agree and the rookie cop takes the first go with the girl. After he’s finished, the veteran goes in and discovers “Oh my” this is his own daughter.

This same story has happened in cyberspace where a young female and an older man decide to meet, even though the man is married, and they find out they are father and daughter. Ugh!

The Frozen Chicken Caper

This story has been told all over parts of Europe during the 1970’s. A person is caught stealing a frozen chicken which they have stuffed down their pants or under a hat. The person is caught only when the blood from the chicken starts running down their face or down their legs. Sometimes, they faint when the cold takes over their skin or chills their brain.

The Tapeworm Diet Pills: Possibly true

Source

Diet pills that suppress ones appetite are said to contain tapeworms which basically stick to your intestinal walls with their heads. Many of these international pills not approved in the states will put your body through a free colon cleansing, in the mean time destroying your organs and tissues. You will experience stomach cramps and then diarrhea for several hours.

Shrink Fit Levi’s

Source

Several years ago a rumor circulated that a girl had purchased a pair of jeans and they just didn’t fit as snug as she had hoped. She proceeded to the bathroom where she filled up the tub with water and got in wearing the jeans, hoping that they would shrink to fit her body perfectly. Ultimately, she was squeezed to death and her family was awarded a huge settlement from Levi’s.

AIDS “Mary”

Source

Hollywood had glorified it, however history has proven it to be true in some small sense. A women finds herself vacationing in a tropical destination where she meets a man that she falls for instantly. They make love the entire time she’s on vacation, and when it’s time to take her to the airport, the man gives her a gift and instructs her to open when she’s alone. When she returns home she opens up the package and it’s a small coffin containing a bag of coffee. On the top of the coffee is a note that says “Welcome to the World of AIDS”. As for the coffee, it simply symbolizes the fact that the woman will be spending many lonely nights by herself.

Reebok Parable

Source

During the 1980’s, African Americans believed that Reebok was owned and operated by the Ku Klux Klan and it used  most of it’s profits for the white minority in South Africa. Of course, we are once again dealing with the anti-corporate ideal.

The word “Reebok” is associated with a gazelle in South Africa which  is where people believe the stories came from, especially considering the company doesn’t manufacture their shoes in South Africa. The rumors got so bad that African Americans stopped wearing Reebok shoes until the company launched a campaign to dismiss the rumors.

Also check out:

• Unmasking Urban Legends: Facts You May Not Know About the Stories You’ve Heard
• Bizarre and Eccentric Behaviors: The Metamorphosis of the Werewolf Disease Unknown to the World

• The Body in the Bed