Presents the basic stories behind urban myths and legends from around the world, along with examples of each, and groups them by theme, which includes city life, horror, accidents, disease, animals, sex, merchandise, murder, and the ...
First published in 1996. For most of the time since the Grimm brothers first contrasted the fairy tale (Märchen) and the legend (Sage), the former has enjoyed the greater reputation among folklorists.
These are "winter's tales," the stuff of nightmares. In this book Gillian Bennett traces the cultural history of six legends, well-known in Europe and America from medieval times to the present day.
This book lists works on "almost all major legends circulating in the 1990s in the United States, England, Western Europe" (p. xi) and includes brief descriptions of each.
Drawing on modern field research among elderly women in England and historical research in supernatural traditions, Gillian Bennett offers a clear and thought-provoking discussion of the vigorous survival, nature, and patterns of belief in ...