Synopsis:� As hoax emails began to pop up more frequently in my inbox, I decided to put my nose to the web in order to find out some information on Urban Legends. Urban Legends or Urban Folklore are actuallty stories that are (sometimes) based on truth or totally fabricated. They make their way around the world through word of mouth, and more recently via email, and fax. Some Urban Legends are really true while others never really happened. Some legends started out as jokes and others were created to warn people about the dangers around us everyday.

World Wide Web Sources

"Urban Legends"
http://www.urbanlegends.com
[Accessed 13 July 1999].
A comprehensive site that allows you to look at many different legends. It also has an index that breaks the legends into catagories. This site gives the most recent urban legends in a table format. It also offers alternate version of the legend.

"Urban Legends Reference Page"
http://www.snopes.com
[Accessed on 15 July 1999].
This site includes legends about holloywood stars, music, movies, weddings, horror and sex. It also indicates whether the myth is true, false, based on actual events, or indeterminable.

"Urban Legends and Folklore"
http://urbanlegends.miningco.com
[Accessed 15 July 1999].
This site gave a good listing of the most popular urban legends. It also contains a section about internet hoaxes and rumors. They have a section called "in the spot light" which covers the most recent myths.

"Urban Myths" http://www.urbanmyths.com
[Accessed 15 July 1999] This site is like the urban legend Yahoo of the web. Here you can type in a key word and search through the archive to find a particular myth. It even has a section that lists the most recent scares going around and whether or not there is any truth in it. This site is my favorite.

"Don't Spread That Hoax" http://nonprofit.net/hoax/hoax.html
[Accessed 15 July 1999] This site lists some of the most popular email and internet hoaxes. it is dedicated to bedunking the email haoxes currently in circulation. This site is a great way to check the validity of an incredible story you heard via email or internet. This site even offers background information on where the myths may have originated.

Other Reference Sources:

Brunvand, Herold and Fleming, Robert L. The Big Book of Urban Legends.
New York: M Warner Books, December 1994

By Robert F. Boyd, Jr.
This collection of strange and bizarre anecdotal tales drawn (ostensibly) from real life contains 200 stories that have circulated across metropolitian areas--all invariably sworn to be true. "The Poodle in the Microwave, " "The Mouse in the Coke Bottle, " and "The Accidental Cannibals" are just a few of the legends presented in this volume. Illustrated by artists from DC Comics. For Mature readers.

Burnvand, Jan Herold. The Choking Doberman and other "new" Urban Legends. New York: Norton, 1989

This book gave account of some of the new urban legends of that time. It was a good read and the stories were down right entertaining.

Burnvard, Jan Herold. Curses, Boiled Again! The hottest Urban Legends Going
New York: Norton, 1989
This book provided some very funny urban legends, many of which are now circulating via email.

Holt, David. Spiders in the Hairdo: Modern Urban Legends.
Arkansas: August House, 1999
This book provided some insight as to the most recent urban legends out such as the girl that never washed her hair. Many of which I have received via email. A good book to look up current urban myths for truthfulness.