Encyclopedia of urban legends

Jan Harold Brunwand

W W Norton & Company Incorporated, 2002 - Social Science - 525 pages

We all know those stories that are too bizarre to be true—roasted babies, vanishing hitchhikers, scuba divers in trees—but have you heard about the ice man or the bullet baby? This comprehensive and compellingly readable reference work will answer all your urban legend questions, offering alphabetical entries on every aspect of the subject, including descriptions of hundreds of individual legends and their variations, legend themes, and scholarly approaches to the genre. Other entries discuss the relationship of urban legends to literature, film, comic books, music, and many other areas of popular culture. A Booklist Editors' Choice 2001 Reference Book. "Unlike most encyclopedias, this one may be read cover to cover."—Choice "Compiled by the foremost authority on this form of contemporary folklore....Superb."—Library Journal

What people are saying

Review: Encyclopedia of Urban Legends

User Review  - Antoaneta Ivanova - Goodreads

Interesting urban folklore tales, starting as what we know as campfire stories and going all the way though urban mythology, psychology and symbolism.

Review: Encyclopedia of Urban Legends

User Review  - Jim Rattenni - Goodreads

this is a good book to read bout myths of life and to understand facts

About the author

Brunvand is one of America's leading foklorists. He is a professor of English at the University of Utah.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Encyclopedia of urban legends
• Author: Jan Harold Brunwand
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: W W Norton & Company Incorporated, 2002
• ISBN: 0393323587, 9780393323580
• Length: 525 pages
• Subjects: Social Science / Anthropology / General; Social Science / Folklore & Mythology; Social Science / Popular Culture