LoC 65: Top 50 Urban Legends

[Compound]

# 48: The Snakes Will Rise Again!

21 Points (On 1 of 9 lists)
Highest Vote: (#5 by Merry Wanna )

The Story:
...what am I doing? I'm checking for snakes. Those things are everywhere, man. And they're only getting bigger.

See, back in the 90s, Florida had all these exotic animal places. You know. "Come and see our Koalas, crocodilles and llamas." Roadside attractions.

No, not Chocodilles. Those things are urban legends, man.

A lot of these places had snakes too. Anyway, during the 90s all these hurricanes hit the state. Andrew. David. Opal. And all those hole in the wall places got wiped out by one hurricane or another. Now, the koalas, well, they died. But the snakes? Well, those got loose and headed into the Everglades. And there? Well, they got bigger. And bigger. And bigger. And there was nothing in the ecosystem that could stop them. Before we knew it, there were giant snakes all over the South. Just like the one behind you.

Psyche. Got ya.

Well, Is It True?
Kinda. There were exotic pet places in Florida and yeah, hurricanes did hit a lot of them. And in other cases the excess pets have been "disposed of" by just dumping them out into the swamp. But they're normal sized. But they haven't gotten completely out of control yet. But Florida's Everglades National Park does report that there is a colony of about 4,000 or so Burmese pythons in the park. And their numbers are growing.

Oh, the picture? Real.

Random Notes
Actually there are reports of giant Koalas running around Florida too...


Up Next
No, Ozzie Smith never visited that one.

[Pak-Man]

Loving the write-ups so far.

Nobody else thinks "Roswell Crash" when they think of Urban Legends? (Or do they all know something I don't?)

[Compound]

# 47: The Winchester Mystery House

21 Points (On 1 of 9 lists)
Highest Vote: (#5 by CJones )

The Story:
You ever been to San Jose?  Well, there's this house there built by the widow of the guy who built the Winchester rifles...

..no, Samuel Colt built that. Pay attention.

After he died, his widow started building this huge house and she personally started guiding the process. And this went on for 40 years. Constantly building and rebuilding. By the end, no one really knew what the hell was being built there anymore.

See, some folks say she was just paranoid and was afraid that her servants were out to get her. So she constantly built things to keep them off guard. She even built features in there so that she could spy on them. But there's a darker tale. See, she was haunted. Her fortune was built using the money that spawned thousands upon thousands of deaths. And those ghosts were angry. So she fled the east coast and headed to California. She believed that only constant building would keep the specters of the angry dead away from her. Maybe they couldn't find her in the constantly changing house. Maybe they just liked the tribute that she was giving them. Who knows? But Harry Houdini? He visited the place before his death.

Well, Is It True?
Well, there's certainly a house there. And Winchester did constantly improve on it from roughly 1887 until her death in 1922. Bu the ghosts? Who knows?

Random Notes
Fun fact - Winchester received roughly (in today's money) $300k a day from her shares in Winchester arms. That funds a lot of building.

Another fun fact- Londo Mollari apparently visited the house at some point.

Up Next
A legend that shows up twice!

[Compound]

# 46: Don't Flash Your Lights!

21 Points (On 1 of 9 lists)
Highest Vote: (#5 by Sicgirl )

The Story:
Huh. That idiot has his lights off.

Whattya mean flash my lights at him? Dude, you never do that. Ever.

See, when gangs initiate people, they force the new guy to kill someone. No one in particular, just a random person. And the way they choose their victim is they'll drive around in a car with its headlights off. The first car to flash their lights at them? That's the victim. And they'll kill everyone in the car. So, just let them drive in the dark.

Yeah, the driver's 80. So what? There are 80 year old gang bangers. People in the old folks home don't have anything better to do. It's one of the biggest places that gangs recruit from. everyone knows that.


Well, Is It True?
Nope. This rumor's been floating around since the late 80s and no actual police force has ever recorded an incident of a car full of people being killed because someone flashed their lights. That doesn't mean that new gang members don't have to commit a crime to become part of the gang. Sometimes they do. It just means that gang members aren't dumb enough to purposefully drive around with their lights off.

Random Notes
This is actually a plot point in the movie Urban Legends. It wasn't a gang member though in the film...

Up Next
...but he was the model for Bob's Big Boy.

[Compound]

# 45: Last Supper

21 Points (On 1 of 9 lists)
Highest Vote: (#5 by Tripe )

The Story:
Dude, like my new van? I just got it back from the painter. Like the mural? It's a DaVinci...

No, that's a Frazetta. You're looking on the wrong side of the van.

Yeah, there you go.  Hey, you want to hear something weird? See Jesus there in the middle? Now look at Judas. Green and blue, to the left of Jesus. No, your left. Look familiar?

See, when daVinci was painting the thing he used one of the kids in the choir for a model. A nice, angelic looking kind of kid. Now, he spent years and years painting this and it was years later before he got around to painting Judas. And on that one, he went to the nearest jail  and grabbed one of the criminals there. But as he worked on the painting, the crook kept looking more and more troubled. Eventually the guy was so troubled that daVinci had to stop and ask him what was wrong. The crook said, "Hey. Don't you recognize me? Years ago, I was the model you used for painting Jesus." Same guy was Judas and Jesus. Kinda theological, don't cha think?

...you're still staring at the naked girl riding the centaur aren't you? Geez.


Well, Is It True?
Nah. It took about 3 years to paint "The Last Supper" and it's fairly likely that da Vinci sketched out the figures and then painted them using those sketches as references rather than using models who sat for days and days.  Plus given that we know so little about how the painting was made, but this bit is so detailed... well, that's a warning sign too. As is the existence of a poem that tells roughly the same story as detailed above, but without the reference to da Vinci. So, yeah.. fake.

Random Notes
Fun fact- since Judas is also Dracula, according to a 90s film series, that means that Jesus, Judas, Dracula and George Hamilton are all the same person! Or at least modelled on them.

Really, wikipedia? You don't want images linked? Good grief.

Up Next
It's true for Twinkies though.

[Compound]

And just for those curious:

[Compound]

# 44: The Seven Year Glitch

21 Points (On 2 of 9 lists)
Highest Vote: (#8 by CJones )

The Story:
Still trying to stop smoking? I thought you were doing that by streaming Starcraft 2 games?

Oh, that was LiquidRet? Ah. You're going the gum route I see. Word of advice, man. Don't ever swallow that stuff. Gum's not natural, man. Your body hates it. It'll take seven years for your body to digest that stuff. You'd be in and out of chemo before the gum leaves your body.

Maybe the gum will turn radioactive? Yeah, good luck with that.

Well, Is It True?
No. Gum is processed at exactly the game rate as any other food. Eat a piece of bread and a piece of gum at the same time and they'll both leave at the same time. No, the gum won't be fully digested, but it'll be out of your body.

Random Notes
I thought about using Princess Bubblegum in the image, but that got to a weird place pretty quickly.

Up Next
A favorite of mine, even if I didn't vote for it.

[Compound]

# 43: Springheel Jack

21 Points (On 2 of 9 lists)
Highest Vote: (#14 by Tripe )

The Story:
Jack the Ripper is a pussy. And the Loch Ness Monster too.

No, I mean the Loch Ness Monster is Jack... You know what, never mind. I'm just saying he wasn't the worst thing ever to hit London. That was Springheel Jack.

See, he showed up in 1837, 50 years before the Ripper hit the scene, and he was last seen in 1904, long after the Ripper left. He terrorized London in the 1830s, 40s, 70s and again in the 20th century. The dude had claws, eyes full of fire and could breathe fire too. Oh, and he could jump really, really well. Hey, when you can jump over a house, you can tell me that's not impressive.

No, he never killed anyone. Dude, anyone can terrorize someone by killing them. But it takes skill to terrorize the greatest nation on Earth at the time by just jumping around and looking stylish.


Well, Is It True?
Probably not. The reports of him certainly did exist. But Jack himself was never found. It's suggested that he was a number of people over the years, starting out as a group of bored aristocrats and then having the mantle taken up by others over the years. Well, okay, Fortean Times says he's a phantom attacker, humanish, but with supernatural powers, but Fortean Times also notes the possible existence of a
Springheel Jill too. Granted, FT also swears that the Nazis had flying saucers too, so they might not be the best source.

Random Notes
There's another theory that Jack wasn't supernatural, but rather an alien. His strange behavior was due to his non-terrestrial nature. His fire breath? Reflective eyes? Alien. Jumping? He's from a high gravity world. Makes perfect sense, huh?

Up Next
Cole will be very, very pleased.

[Compound]

# 42: Mew!

21 Points (On 2 of 9 lists)
Highest Vote: (#7 by BBQ Platypus )

The Story:
So, you're playing Pokemon, huh? Aren't you like 30?

No, no. Just saying. Anyway, you ever get Mew in the game?

Of course you can. You just don't know the secret. See, there's this strip of land with a truck on it. All you have to do is move the truck with Strength. Oh, and you have to do it after beating Misty but before beating Surge. Oh, and you can't board the St. Anne. After you pick up fly and surf, you can get back to the spot and get Mew. Easy as pie.

There's other ways too. After you catch all 150 Pokemon, Bill will let you into his backyard. There's one there. Or you can beat the Elite four 150 times too. 150. Get it?

No, I never did any of that. Pokemon was lame. Now Digimon, that was the bomb.


Well, Is It True?
No.

Mew was in fact in the game. One of the programmers but it in there as an easter egg for the other folks at Game freak, but the only way to see him was via glitches. Or a Game Genie. But you couldn't get him legitimately.

At least until a few years ago. Nintendo has distributed Mew a few times via Wifi events since then. So these days, he's only semi-rare, rather than being as rare as a Cole in a Pokemon thread.


Random Notes
Yeah, I got nothing here. I could try faking a Tokyo Mew Mew reference I guess, but... nah.

Up Next
#40-31! Snakes! Eagles! Multiples of two! The devil! And evil, evil mammals! All this and more next time!

[Compound]

Oh, hell. One more. This one didn't place.

Yeah, yeah. The Rockies sucked this year. But we're still better off than some other places.

You know my friend Hugh? Yeah, he's a Browns fan. He even has season tickets. Last year he got tired of watching them lose, so he tried selling his tickets. No luck. He tried giving them away to friends. No takers. Towards the end of the season, in exasperation, he parked a few blocks from the stadium and then took a pair of tickets and just left them under the wiper blades before going to drown his sorrows in a nearby bar.

When he got back there were five more tickets with his pair.

[BBQ Platypus]

# 48: Grandma on the Rooftop
 

21 Points (On 1 of 9 lists)
Highest Vote: (#5 by BBQ Platypus )

This legend was originally brought to my attention in avant-garde song form by the German rock group Can.  Regrettably, the link to the song seems to have been taken down.  Looking at the lyrics, it seems I did get the roof/trunk detail mixed up.

# 46: The Winchester Mystery House

21 Points (On 1 of 9 lists)
Highest Vote: (#5 by BBQ Platypus )

And I don't think I voted for this one.

# 49: Roswell

20 Points (On 1 of 9 lists)
Highest Vote: (#6 by Pak-Man )

I did, however, vote for this.  It was at #22 on my list.

[CJones]

# 46: The Winchester Mystery House

21 Points (On 1 of 9 lists)
Highest Vote: (#5 by BBQ Platypus )

And I don't think I voted for this one.

I was the one who voted for this. I've been there. Sarah Winchester was definitely off her rocker. But that mansion is awesome. The sad thing is that there used to be a bell tower also. If I remember correctly, it was destroyed in either a storm or an earthquake. I'd try to verify this, but it's 3 am at the moment so I'll check on that tomorrow.

[Tripe]

Love the write-ups thus far, like thumbnail sketches for a new Discovery. Channel show.

I didn't have the Mystery House on my list but it is awesome, I would like to adapt some of the elements into a house of my own some day (the seemingly small room that actually opens into a large one for example).

Also; surprised there's more Pokemon legends than the one I had on my list, it wasnlt the one so far listed.

[Darth Geek]

Yeah, the writiups are great. I'm enjoying this list, as there are so many I am unaware of.

[Johnny Unusual]

I didn't hear about the supposed supernatural aspect of the Winchester Mystery House.  Simply that someone kept building their house up due to insanity.  I might of included it if I did.  The house actually shows up in Alan Moore's Swamp Thing during the American Gothic arc, in which Swamp Thing is lead by the nose by magical bastard John Constantine to various super-natural horrors across America that represent the country's past sins.  When he gets to the mystery house, he finds it run rampant with all of the ghosts of everyone and everything ever shot by the guns.  Great stuff.