Curses! Broiled Again!

As a Pagan Wiccan living in darkest christian America, this book is an excellent source for debunking the "true stories" of ritual abuse, poison and razor blades in Halloween candy and other urban legends, preached as gospel truth in our faces by the Jack Chick Fundies and other wastes of protoplasm. We have to deal with such nonsense being promulgated as veriest truth by such creatures all the time. Having such a clever, entertaining book to provide debunking material is a definite asset.

When I purchased this, I had already read Brunvand's work so I knew it would be fun and interesting. I have to admit this suprised me. Everything was well told and explained. Brunvand didn't only give you the story, but also it's orgins and facts. After I read this, I became an urban legend fan and now I can pick them out when they're told to me in everyday conversations.

It appears that many of those who have reviewed this book misunderstood its purpose. It is not a "scary story" book; rather, it is a compilation of common urban legends and myths, complete with debunkings.I thought this book was vastly interesting and entertaining. If you're interested in whether some of the stories you've heard are true or not, or in how urban legends get altered as time goes on, you should definitely give it a read.

I loved this book! Some of these stories made me think, no, this could never happen to me, just to reassure myself. Definatly not a book to read late at night, home alone, with a thunderstorm,or babysitting, unless you want to scare yourself to death. Believe me, I know. Keep up the good work Mr. Brunvand!

More of the real Hall of Famers: The Mrs. Fields Cookie Recipe, The Unstealable Car, AIDS Mary, etc. Excellent (as usual) in its explanation of variants, history(ies), adaptation to/from literature