Urban Legends: Classics & More

1. Did You Hear the One About...?
2. Tales of Fear and Loathing

Did You Hear the One About...?

Here's a sampler of some of the best-known urban legends of the past quarter-century. Some may have begun as "campfire tales," others as over-the-back-fence gossip, still others as idle street chatter or high-school whisper campaigns. These days they're liable to turn up anywhere -- in an email, on the TV news, on someone's blog, or even in a text message. How many do you recognize?

• Alligators in the Sewers
• Altoids and Oral Sex
• Biscuits for Brains
• Bloody Mary
• The Celebrity and the Good Samaritan
• The Choking Doberman
• The Dead Cat in the Package
• The Death of Little Mikey
• The Exploding Toilet
• The Fatal Hairdo

• The Flesh-Eating Bananas
• The Halloween Surprise
• The Hook
• The Kidney Thieves
• MasterCard Wedding
• The Missing Day in Time
• The Neiman Marcus Cookie Recipe
• The Poodle in the Microwave
• Procter & Gamble Loves Satan
• Richard Gere and the Gerbil

Tales of Fear and Loathing

One way an urban legend persists over time is by provoking a strong emotional response in the listener (or reader), which stimulates a desire to share the experience by passing it along to others. Fear and loathing work especially well in this regard. No wonder so much of urban folklore explores the darker side of human life -- we are fascinated by what horrifies and repels us.

• The Scariest Urban Legends Ever Told
• The Grossest Urban Legends Ever Told
• Image Gallery: Gross Pictures