Urban Legend - Season 1
Urban Legends is a 30-minute 2007 television documentary-style series hosted by Michael Allcock. David Hewlett became the new host in 2011. In each episode, three urban legends are dramatized and presented to the television audience; the audience is then asked to speculate which one or two of the three is true. Each legend has witnesses to tell the story. For the one or two fake legends, the witnesses are actors, while the true legend(s) uses real people affected by the story. Included in each episode are two quick quiz-like stories, called mini-myths, which air before the commercial breaks. Each will begin with the number of the mini myth and its name, followed by the story. After the commercial, the answer to the mini-myth is announced and the rest of the programming continues as it previously had. The show originally aired on the Biography Channel in the US, History Television and Global in Canada and FX in the United Kingdom where it was hosted by Mark Dolan. It has also aired in Argentina, New Zealand, Sweden, Norway, Australia, Finland, Estonia, The Netherlands, Russia, Hungary and Denmark.
Urban Legend - Season 1
Ryan Murphy's upcoming horror anthology series American Horror Stories is set to feature several urban legends and myths from across the world. While the most recent promotional poster art reveals that one in particular will undoubtedly be apart of it, there are some in particular that we hope to see in the series. Here's every myth and urban legend that American Horror Stories could include in season 1.
The director is most recognizable for his series American Horror Story which ranges from dramatizations of historically significant real life horror and new renditions of the genre's most popular creatures: ghosts, witches, and vampires. While he initially broke into mainstream popularity with Glee, Murphy's horror anthology series has made him one of the most popular creators who continuously produces new and inventive content. In 2020, his Netflix series Ratched, starring Sarah Paulson, garnered an immense amount of attention for its take on the character Nurse Mildred Ratched of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. At this moment, he is working on American Horror Story season 10 as well as the 16-episode order of American Horror Stories season 1.
American Horror Stories' poster art features a woman with a hole in her face that reveals a spider and its webs. It is a reference to the highly popular urban legend "The Spider Bite," also known as "The Red Dot." The story was featured in the first installment in the Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark movie series and follows a young girl who discovers she has a massive red blemish on her face. As it pulsates and causes her discomfort, the end culminates to the bite erupting with hundreds of baby spiders. Due to the popularity of the story and the poster art, it is likely that "The Spider Bite" will be included in American Horror Stories. Here are others that we would like to see in season 1 alongside it.
In "The Hook," a young couple are parked at lover's lane to enjoy each other's company. As they sit in their car, a news bulletin breaks and announces that there is a killer on the loose who has a hook for a hand. For obvious reasons, they choose to leave but when they exit the vehicle, the two discover the killer's hook hanging from the car door. There are several variations of the story that are all inspired from this basic premise. It is a classic urban legend that deserves to be featured in Ryan Murphy's new anthology series.
While it isn't an entirely unusual story to appear in a series or movie featuring urban legends, it is one that Murphy could masterfully execute. Based on his work with AHS: 1984, he is adept at crafting slasher characters and often incorporates real serial killers into his narrative. The hookman, as he is famously known, has been classified as a slasher character. American Horror Stories could take the story a step further by making him into a relentless stalker who targets lovers, specifically. It would be the perfect opportunity for Murphy to showcase his ability to utilize historical significance as well, since "The Hook" circulated during post-war America when dating culture made a drastic shift. Parents would tell the story to their children with the hope that they wouldn't venture outside of the house with their significant other. There isn't much known about the series as of this writing, but the opportunity to adapt the urban legend for TV during the time period it was created could appeal to a wide array of audiences who grew up hearing the tale of the hookman.
Urban legends and myths are almost always fictional, but the black-eyed children have been speculated as being entirely real. They are supposedly a supernatural presence that randomly appear for no real reason. People who have reported on them have stated that they commonly show themselves shortly after a person has learned about them. It is one of the most unsettling modern urban legends, and definitely fits into Murphy's wheelhouse of paranormal storytelling. If he takes on the black-eyed children, it would appeal to fans of the supernatural as well as fans of internet horror stories. It's possible that Murphy could craft a story about a couple who is followed by a group of black-eyed children and posit a possible reason for their haunting nature. They have yet to be featured in mainstream movies or TV shows, so Ryan Murphy could be the person to popularize them.
Stull Cemetery was made famous by The CW's Supernatural. It was featured in season 5, episode 22, "Swan Song", when Sam and Dean Winchester return to their hometown of Lawrence, Kansas to open Lucifer's cage. What some may not know is that Stull Cemetery has a disturbing history that involves demons, witches, ghosts, the gates of hell, and murder. It is located in Stull, Kansas, and is rumored to be one of the gates to hell that exists on Earth as well as the only one the devil supposedly knows about. As the urban legend goes, the cemetery was the site of an old church that was built by Pennsylvania Dutch settlers in 1867. After they abandoned the church, it's rumored that cultists and witches flocked to its hallowed grounds to confer with the devil.
According to supposed visitors of the cemetery, rain and snow never fell in the church despite its missing roof, and a large tree nearby was used to hang the witches who utilized its divinity to conjure the devil. One legend even speculates that a witch became pregnant with the devil's baby, and the townspeople hung her from the tree to stop the rise of the antichrist. While these claims are heavily disputed by the residents of Stull, there is a real history to it. For example, it has been the sight of bizarre deaths and murders according to the details that can be salvaged from records. Stull Cemetery has not been featured in many movies or TV shows; Murphy could use it for a large portion of American Horror Stories if he chooses to make one of his stories into several parts. There's a lot of content to go off of based on the urban legend, which would allow him to utilize all of it or pieces to create an unforgettable and disturbing story about the events that may or may not have happened in Stull, Kansas.
Turnbull Canyon, located near Los Angeles, California, is known for being the site of many horrors. The astounding 49,000 acres of land has reportedly been the location of ghosts, witches, and even a plane crash. The indigenous people who were once familiar with the land referred to it as a place that the devil frequents. According to legend, people who have not converted to Christianity are sent to Turnbull Canyon to live out their afterlives.
It has been speculated that aliens have also ventured to the location when making an Earthly visit. No matter what the cryptid, creature, or paranormal entity there is, it's likely that they have been part of the supposed history of Turnbull Canyon. Due to the fact that the urban legend is minimal in its descriptions but plentiful in events, Murphy could utilize the location as the site for many of his characters to experience something unsettling and disturbing. The structure of the anthology series is still unknown, but if there is a framing story, Turnbull Canyon could prove to be an excellent choice to create a commonality between episodes.
In Arkansas, the urban legend of the dog boy is rooted in actual history rather than speculation. In 1954, George Bettis was born. Rather than bring joy to his family, he would become their worst nightmare. George Bettis terrorized Arkansas and struck fear in the hearts of pet owners everywhere. He would torture and kill animals in disturbing and unsettling ways. George didn't stop with animals though; he abused his parents as well. In his adulthood, he was eventually arrested on drug charges and died in prison.
The urban legend that surrounds his story is built on the notion that he appears as half-man, half-beast with piercing eyes. Much like the Axeman of New Orleans in AHS: Coven, Murphy could use the urban legend of the dog boy to introduce a child murderer to his horror anthology. The storyline may resemble the vampiric kids in AHS: Hotel, but with a much more realistic depiction of the horrors that can come from a child with ill-intent. No matter what urban legends Ryan Murphy chooses for American Horror Stories, it is bound to be an incredible take on some of the world's most disturbing and unbelievable tales of murderers, witches, creatures, cultists, beasts, ghosts, and more.
If you watched The Haunted Museum season 1 or A Ghost Ruined My Life, Urban Legend feels very similar to those. Probably because it turns out that writers and directors who worked on those episodes also worked on ones for Urban Legend.
The real crux of the fear comes from seeing this twisted face in tight spaces including under school tables, desks or, in the case of this short, a bathroom door. This helps bring that final reveal into context and makes the urban legend aspect much more consistent. 041b061a72