Wicked Cruel

Everyone's heard an urban legend before. They're stories that get passed from kid to kid, and nobody can quite remember where the story originated. Sometimes the story changes. Sometimes details are added, or dropped. But one thing's for sure: nobody can ever prove whether the story is true. These three stories—all set in the same New England town—address that very question: How much of an urban legend is rumor, and how much is fact?

In one story, sixth grader Jordan's former classmate—a target of bullying before his family moved away—has died. Did he die from injuries he got while in school? And if he's really dead, why does Jordan keep seeing him? In another, Danny, an out-of-place loner, is fixated on the local legend of horses who died in a flood.