Posted April 12th, 2008 by Murray @ ulblog
Filed under: False, Folklore, Ghost Stories, Urban Rituals
Tags: horror, scarelore, supernatural
I’ve just discovered a charming version of the Bloody Mary story over on the American Folklore web site.
In this rendition, Bloody Mary is a witch who lives in a forest and who lures children from a nearby village to use them in black magic that will give her back her youth.
…Then the little girls in the village began to disappear, one by one. No one could find out where they had gone. Grief-stricken families searched the woods, the local buildings, and all the houses and barns, but there was no sign of the missing girls. A few brave souls even went to Bloody Mary’s home in the woods to see if the witch had taken the girls, but she denied any knowledge of the disappearances.
Predictably, things don’t go well at all for the wicked witch once the villagers discover that she has been lying, and she is burned alive for murdering their children.
Before she dies, however, Bloody Mary curses the village, and to this very day anyone who chants her name three times in front of a darkened mirror will summon her vengeful spirit from the grave.
You can read the tale in full over at: Bloody Mary: A Scary Urban Legend from Pennsylvania Folklore
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Posted April 10th, 2008 by Murray @ ulblog
Filed under: Email Scams
Tags: 419 scam, email, email scam, nigerian scam, scam, variant
Friend of the ULBlog, Darren Saturday, sent in the following interesting variant of the infamous 419 / Nigerian Scam:
My Dear
This is to thank you for your effort.I understand that your hands were tied.Not to worry. I have succeeded,the money has been transfered into the account provided by a newly found friend of mine in Paraguay To compensate for your past assistance and commitments,i have dropped an International Certifie Bank Draft of $1.8million for you.
I am in Paraguay with my family presently.I do intend to establish some business concerns here,and possibly buy some properties.Now Contact my Secretary in Nigeria, Mr.Bala Adamu on his email bala_sec1@yahoo.com, phone: +234 80321 16185 Forward your mailing address to him,then ask him to send the cheque to you.
Take good care of your self
Regards,
Bobby Will
(NB) Send him your full Names and Address,Tel & Fax Numbers to enable him despatch your cheque immediately
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Posted March 30th, 2008 by Murray @ ulblog
Filed under: False, Urban Legends
Tags: chain email, email, hoax, scarelore, urban dangers
The email claims that a new danger has arrived in your neighbourhood – gangs of thieves are tricking the unwary into smelling ether disguised as a sample of an expensive perfume, and are then robbing their happless victims once they have been rendered unconscious.
How worried should you be that you or your loved ones might fall prey to these fiendish purveyors of fake fine perfumes? Step into the ULBlog car park to learn a little more about The Sweet Smell Of Danger…
It really is amazing how long a good Urban Legend can survive out there in the wild!
When I first wrote about the Perfumed Bandits email hoax we were living in a different century. It was November 1999, and the same email that has gone on to cause so much concern and alarm around the world was making its way into unsuspecting email inboxes for the very first time.
And this email didn’t mess about. It went straight for the psychologic jugular and didn’t let go, delivering its payload of anxiety and alarm to a host audience that was still trying to adapt to the idea that not everything you receive in your inbox is true or real. Even if it claims otherwise in very big letters…
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Posted December 19th, 2007 by Murray @ ulblog
Filed under: The Best Of PlanetThoughtful
By popular demand {i.e. Duncan asked me to go looking for this post}, I’ve dredged the following up from the archives of my previous blog, PlanetThoughtful. It was originally posted on 6 June 2003.
| Me: |
I have this theory. |
| Duncan: |
I think my cat is about to jump me. I can tell, he gets all sleek and, you know, jumpy… |
| Me: |
My theory is that every man is more or less Antonio Banderas. |
| Duncan: |
…Every man is a good looking latinesque guy with dark curly hair? |
| Me: |
Well, obviously not all at once, no. But I think you should be able to measure your Antonio Banderasness as a kind of quotient. And there would be days, I assume, where you would be much more Antonio Banderas than on others. For instance, I have days when I’m so Antonio Banderas that I feel like I should be suing the other one for copyright infringement. (a small, reflective pause) Obvioulsy not many of them, of course. |
| Duncan: |
Don’t you think the real Antonio Banderas might be a little bit upset about this theory? |
| Me: |
Well, that’s my point. Maybe he isn’t the real Antonio Banderas? Maybe he’s just more Antonio Banderas than the original one was. Maybe the original one was a pig farmer from Iowa? Do they have pig farms in Iowa? Anyway, so maybe this Antonio Banderas just has a very high Antonio Banderas quotient… So the real one — the pig farmer I mean — would be pretty damn annoyed about the whole thing too, wouldn’t you think? |
| Duncan: |
I was right. My cat jumped me. |
| Me: |
…I think I’d like you to call me Mr Banderas from here on in. |
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Posted December 14th, 2006 by Murray @ ulblog
Filed under: Things That Go Bump
Hello All,
Just wanted to quietly let everyone know about a new blog I’ve launched - or, more accurately, co-launched.
It’s called Voodoologic.org and it’s a collaborative effort between me and a man who’s been one of my closest friends for almost 30 years [1].
If you get a chance, pop on over. It’s still a work-in-progress, but probably always will be, so that’s okay.
Season’s greetings to one and all,
Murray
Footnotes: | 1. | And it will be interesting to see if things stay that way now we’re writing a blog together. |
| Return |
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