Urban Legends: The As-Complete-As-One-Could-Be Guide to Modern Myths

Every culture has its folktales including ours. Except, instead of involving gods and goddesses or princes and princesses, ours involve "some guy my sister's best friend knows" or "someone who woke up in a motel room." They happened, supposedly, to real people, usually recently, in a particular place. And they touch the most sensitive nerves of our psyches with ironic twists, gross-out shocks, and moral lessons learned the hard way.

From the classic tale "The Mexican Pet" in which the "dog" turns out to be no Chihuahua to the more unappetizing story of condoms as fast-food burger garnish, from surgically skilled kidney thieves to sexual experiments that end in the emergency room, Urban Legendsrelates more 300 of the most enticing, macabre, and unforgettable tales. Expertly told, they are arranged in such chapters as "Crazy Little Thang Called Sex," "Oh, Scare Me," "Campus Capers," "Corporate Convolutions," and "So Much For Comfort Food."

Fascinating, chilling, and occasionally repulsive, Urban Legendshas all your favorites and hundreds more.

From the Trade Paperback edition.