First, the Rambling Introduction

Let's start with a definition of sorts.

An urban legend is a legend that has developed during modern times. Some may contain elements of truth, while most are outright inventions. They do follow the oral tradition of ancient legends, however, in that they are often changed or embellished from one teller to the next. Many of the entries you will find here exist in several different forms, and in a couple of instances, I actually had to choose from two similar yet wildly different accounts of the same tale.

What's your point?

I was just getting to that. The links here will take you to a collection of urban legends submitted by bonafide H2G2 researchers. They are all rather entertaining. Some are fairly popular. All have been checked and found completely untrue. Sometimes researchers verified them by checking related web sites. Other times, we simply asked the ornery old man at the end of the bar. But mostly, they're untrue because I SAID SO! So there!

So how did this all come to be?

As with all grand projects, this began rather modestly. My younger brother sent me an urban legend by email. It's in Volume III, entitled "Arachnius Gluteus." It's about a deadly spider that lives beneath toilet seats. I laughed. Then I imagined people who will receive that piece of email, and will be checking under toilet seats for the rest of their lives. I laughed even harder.

Now my interest was piqued. I decided to see if the good folks at H2G2 had any good ones, so I started a collection. I don't think I was prepared for the result. I thought I might receive a few good pieces to add to my own, but I was mistaken. In less than a week, I collected 15 stories, was reminded of 3 others I could write myself, and received a link to another researcher's collection of tech support myths.

So, now what?

Read the stories, silly. They have been edited for your protection, and catalogued for your convenience.

• Volume I is a collection of macabre, damsel-in-distress type horror stories. Not for the faint of heart.
• In Volume II you'll find legends that could only come from the technological age, tales about technology and the weird things people do with it.
• Volume III is another collection that is not for the faint of heart; it is full of rather graphic and disgusting tales about difficulties with the human body. An elephant tale kinda showed up in there, too, and I haven't found enough man-power to dislodge it.
• College kids have a lot of time on their hands. Add that to raging hormones and massive quantities of alcohol, and the result is Volume IV.
• And if you're still hungry for more, check out Merkin's collection of Tech Support Urban Myths

Obligatory Credits Section

All of these really groovy people made this thing work:

Contributors:

Merkin, Lupa Mirabilis, Sam, Peta, Oh just call me Munchkin Then!, RavensCross, zb, Maisie, Rickshaw Splat, JT, Jimi X, vaguely safe, Reinhard the Virtual Researcher, heathen, and Austin Morris.

These other people came in handy:

• Peta, as well as adding a tale of her own, put this thing on the home page, which made the whole thing possible.
• Bruce's incredibly handy GuideML clinic helped me make the pages all purty.

Wanna See Your Name Here?

This collection is ever growing, as there are always new tales being spun. If one comes across your mailbox, post it to a forum here. Make sure you write it fully, because I am too lazy to flesh out the suggestions of everyone on this site. It will be added to the collection as soon as I recover from another binge of Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters