Waubonsee Community College

The vanishing hitchhiker, American urban legends and their meanings, Jan Harold Brunvand

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

index present

non fiction

The vanishing hitchhiker

bibliography

7279335

Jan Harold Brunvand

American urban legends and their meanings

Presents a collection of examples of major American urban legends, one of the most common forms of contemporary American folklore, and explains their popular appeal

1. New legends for old : Urban legends as folklore ; The performance of legends ; "The boyfriend's death" ; Urban legends as cultural symbols ; Interpreting urban legends -- 2. The classic automobile legends : "The death car" ; "The philanderer's Porsche" ; Roadside ghosts: "The vanishing hitchhiker" -- 3. "The hook" and other teenage horrors : Growing up scared ; "The hook" ; "The killer in the backseat" ; "The baby-sitter and the man upstairs" ; "The roommate's death" ; "The pet (or baby) in the oven" ; "Hot dog!" ; "The hippie baby-sitter" -- 4. Dreadful contaminations : The horrendous-discovery theme ; "The spider in the hairdo" ; "The Kentucky fried rat" and other nasties ; "Alligators in the sewers" -- 5. Purloined corpses and fear of the dead : "The dead cat in the package" ; "The runaway grandmother" -- 6. Dalliance, nudity, and nightmares : "The solid cement Cadillac" ; "The nude in the RV" ; "The cut-out Pullman" ; Nudes and more nudes ; "The nude surprise party" ; Still more nudes ; "The fart in the dark" -- 7. Business ripoffs: two favorite media legends : "Red velvet cake" ; "The snake in the blanket" -- 8. Urgan legends in the making : "The economical car" ; Mint-condition vintage vehicles ; Ghost truckers and "The ghost airliner" ; "The devil in the dancehall" ; Hilarious accidents ; Kidnappings -- Appendix: Collecting and studying urban legends