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Urban Legends
Nick Harding(Author)
Pocket Essentials (Publisher)
Published on 11. March 2005
Book
Paperback/Softback
160 pages
978-1-904048-35-0 (ISBN)
Description
To many, Urban Legends are nothing more than harmless tales told round a camp fire, in a dormitory or round a table in a pub with the express aim of provoking a frisson of fear in the listener through the use of some horrific shock element in a familiar location and to an unlucky protagonist who is known to a friend of a friend of a friend. But is there something working at a deeper level?
We have all heard stories of the Deep Fried Rat, the Ghostly Hitchhiker, the Hook Handed Killer or the Poodle in the Microwave but should we take them at face value or greet them with scorn and derision? Did the events in these tales ever really happen or are they the product of over active imaginations fearful of the outside world?
In this book Nick Harding sets out to describe a host of Urban Legends suggesting that we should not dismiss them purely as nonsense nor accept them as gospel truth but by striving to understand their underlying meanings we begin to see their true worth as folklore for the modern world. To understand folklore and therefore the realm of the Urban Legend is to understand the psyche of a nation. By understanding Urban Legends we can gain an insight into our own fears and those of our fellow human beings.
We have all heard stories of the Deep Fried Rat, the Ghostly Hitchhiker, the Hook Handed Killer or the Poodle in the Microwave but should we take them at face value or greet them with scorn and derision? Did the events in these tales ever really happen or are they the product of over active imaginations fearful of the outside world?
In this book Nick Harding sets out to describe a host of Urban Legends suggesting that we should not dismiss them purely as nonsense nor accept them as gospel truth but by striving to understand their underlying meanings we begin to see their true worth as folklore for the modern world. To understand folklore and therefore the realm of the Urban Legend is to understand the psyche of a nation. By understanding Urban Legends we can gain an insight into our own fears and those of our fellow human beings.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Harpenden, Herts
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Oldcastle Books Ltd
Product notice
Paperback (UK-A)
Dimensions
Height: 178 mm
Width: 111 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-904048-35-0 (9781904048350)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
11/2016
Pocket Essentials
€9.59
Available for download
Person
Nick Harding is an author, screenwriter, producer, comedy sketch writer and poet and is currently working on a number of film projects. He is the author of How to Start your own Secret Society, Urban Legends, Secret Societies and How to be an Atheist.