This book is so exactly what I want out of a study of urban legends that I kind of think I read it at some point in the past and have since been comparing all other urban legend books to it. Brunvand offers a selection of contemporary (for 1981) urban legends and a more-than-superficial analysis of them; I'll be keeping an eye out for his other books (and for someone to write something similar about Slenderman). ( )

3 stars almost feels too low, given how ravenously I read this book. But I feel it had too much simple recounting of urban legends, and not enough analysis of what they tell about social insecurities, like the book allegedly set out to.

I've always been fascinated by dreams and what they tell us about our subconscious, and urban legends are the same for social consciousness. And understanding this is going to be more and more important in age of fake news and internet echo chambers. I feel like this book was interesting, but just whetted the appetite. I'm still looking for another book on this topic. ( )

Though a bit outdated, this book is an entertaining read and a fascinating insight into what we humans are afraid of. I certainly believed the babysitter horror stories when I was growing up, as well as a few of the other stories. A lot of the urban legends discussed in this book I had never heard of, but many others I remember hearing some version of them from someone who heard it from their cousin's friend's mother-in-law and insisted that it was true. And of course, I never thought to doubt them.

I specifically made sure that I didn't read this book immediately before going to bed because I was afraid of the dreams my subconscious would bring up. It is fascinating to me the way these stories originate, even though they are usually based on what if's rather than facts.

I would love to see how folklore has changed since the explosion of technology and the advent of social media. Some legends, like those that have to do with death and nudity, probably still "haunt" us today, but it would be interesting to see what other urban legends we've invented, and especially how social media plays a role in the circulation and/or validity of the stories. ( )

I loved this book. This is what we were forced to use before snopes came along, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

It's funny to think that urban legends used to be primarily transmitted by mouth. ( )

This is a fascinating recount of several of the most enduring urban legends, showing how they, in some cases, date back many years and have evolved in the telling. I haven't read any of the various follow-on volumes to this, but I can highly recommend this first one. If you are the kind of person who enjoys reading true ghost stories or those wonderfully ridiculous Fate Magazine paperbacks, you'll appreciate the entertainment value as well as the substance of this book. ( )