Just a note at the top.

This episode is best suited to our older listeners.

Enjoy.

I'm Laura Norton, and this is one strange thing,

the show where we search the nation's news archives

for stories that can't quite be explained.

No. nation's news archives for stories that can't quite be explained. Strangers, we've covered a few urban legends on the podcast before.

There are a slippery topic by nature, part folklore, part rumor, and when there is no

digital trail, often hard to pin down to a particular place or inciting event. The story that

we've likely mentioned most, without ever actually discussing it, is Bloody Mary. Well, today,

that changes, and we'll tell you from the start that this is a subject that can't be thoroughly explored on our bite-sized show, but we think we can give you

an enticing introduction. With that said, let's take a long look in the mirror and get started.

Now, we have delved pretty deeply into the world of folklore before, but it's worth noting

that while the study of such is serious, it's not old, at least in an academic sense.

Per the Journal of Cultural Analysis, quote,

the first American PhD in folklore was only granted in 1953.

And the author points out that when it comes to urban legends,

journalists are as apt to consult a paranormal television host,

or, we apologize, a podcaster, as a serious scholar for their opinion.

In fact, when he wrote to a popular news site about that very topic, the reporter told him that she didn't know that there was such a thing as a folklorist.

And yet, we, as in humans, have always taken our stories very seriously.

They've shaped our rules and our fears and our beliefs. They are our mirrors, culturally speaking.

...