What are urban legends
An Urban Legend is usually a (good / captivating / titillating / engrossing /incredible / worrying) story that has had a wide audience, is circulatedspontaneously, has been told in several forms, and which many havechosen to believe (whether actively or passively) despite the lack ofactual evidence to substantiate the story.An Urban Legend can be based on a true story. In these circumstances,what makes the story an Urban Legend is how it's told -- i.e., being told inthe first, second or third person (or, as having happened to me, to myfriend or to my friend's friend) when in fact the true event took place tosomeone entirely unknown to the person relating the story.
An Urban Legend ordinarily has a developed storyline. This means that itis usually transmitted in a form that sounds like a story – a series ofincredible events that took place somewhere to someone. Remarkable(and usually untrue) facts are not formally considered to be Urban Legends. In academic circles these are called ‘rumours’ – though Ipersonally prefer to call them Urban Beliefs – since they lack the storylineof a true Urban Legend.To give you an example:If someone told you that you stood a chance of having your kidneys removed by an body organ crime syndicate when visiting Las Vegas, youhave probably encountered an Urban Belief.If, on the other hand, that same person tells you a detailed story about a businessman who went to Las Vegas on a trip and who woke up in abathtub full of ice one morning with a kidney missing and a sign nearby that says "Call 911 or you'll die," after meeting an attractive woman the night before and accepting an invitation to have a drink with her back in her room, then you have probably encountered an Urban Legend! To many the difference between the two is unimportant – but to those who study Urban Legends, Beliefs and Folklore, the differences are intriguing and may mark, for instance, the development of a tale from a bare and brief ‘Belief,’ to a developed and detail-rich ‘Legend.’