I have always been interested in myths and urban legends so this was a perfect read which definitely creeped me out at points even though I knew of a lot of the urban legends, it still had a scary element.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I really enjoy a good urban legend, and there's definitely more than enough out there in the world to fill more than a couple of volumes. I didn't mind this book, and it had a good focus on a more 'narrative style' of presenting the information about the legends. This approach was not my favourite, unfortunately, and I found myself slightly bewildered by this version of urban legends. In terms of a large anthology, generally the expectation would be fully factual - and the approach taken didn't really connect with me as well as I would have hoped.

I did struggle as well with the inclusion of some and the exclusion of others, to a point where sometimes the selections felt a bit odd. Japanese Yokai, for instance, were touched on, but some left out, and stories not expanded on quite as well as they could have been. I just felt like this book could have stood to be a little better in places, but with that said, as an entry level book on urban legends, it was definitely an interesting one. Adding to the list of other Watkins anthologies on similar topics, this one will fit neatly on the bookshelf along with other myths, legends, and tales of the bizarre.

Rating: 4.63 leaves out of 5
-Story: 3.5/5
-Writing: 5/5
Genre: Nonfiction, Paranormal
-Nonfiction: 5/5
-Paranormal: 5/5
Type: Ebook
Worth?: Eh

Hated|Disliked|Meh|It Was Okay|Liked|Really Liked|Loved

Want to thank Netgalley and publishers for giving me the chance to read this book.

I really liked reading the stories and am appreciative of the information we got with it. My only real complaint is the information given at once, but honestly that wasn't a big one!

Meticulously researched, and written in an accessible manner too, this was a fun reference book to dip into and feel spooky with. There were plenty of stories I recognised, but even more I didn’t and I had a good time exploring them.

Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy!

This book is a must-have for all lovers of urban legends. It serves as a mini encyclopaedia of urban legends from around the world. While reading it, I was surprised to discover how many of these legends have travelled globally. In fact, I recognised many of them, even though they originated thousands of miles from my country. Some of these were the very stories we used to tell around the campfire during summer nights with friends by the beach—tales that made you jump, question every shadow and sound in the dark, and sprint halfway to your front door in fear.

It’s a wonderfully eerie book to keep in your home library for reference. The only downside is that it can be a bit repetitive, with the same legends appearing in multiple categories. At times, it feels more like a description of the legend rather than an actual telling of the story, which can be a bit frustrating. Overall, though, it’s a spooky must-have!

eal value from multipStoryteller, librarian and former teacher, Gail De Vos has several books on folklore under her belt and this latest collection is required reading for those with an interest in urban legends.
Gail covers a multitude of areas, with sizeable portions of her book covering supernatural legends. By charting the evolution of stories which range from the chilling to the downright humorous, we can see how certain tales were altered as they were passed from one generation to the next, mixing the ancient with the modern. For me, one of the most fascinating parts covered the famous '27 Club' where famous musicians and singers passed way before their time, and there were several fascinating theories; some of which I'd heard and one which really caught my breath.
If haunted tunnels, highway ghosts, curses generated by social media and a good few stories that have influenced motion pictures.
The only section that disappointed me just a little concerns conspiracy theories: I did hope for more comprehensive coverage of conspiracy theories. That's just me being picky though. Overall, this is a fine collection, beautifully written and offering real value for repeat reads.

Watkins Publishing, released 12th November

I love reading/hearing stories that have been passed from person to person, details changing bit by bit. It's always fascinating how a story can start life looking a specific way, and how it morphs into a whole new thing that still has an essence of the original, during its journey.

This book was great in that regard! I love how the author explains why they chose specific details to change in order to suit the audience and/or location. In doing so, they created a visual of the setting.

The Watkins Book of Urban Legends was so much fun. I loved learning about the history of different urban legends, especially the section on chain emails. Gail De Vos explained the legends thoroughly and I enjoyed her commentary on the different tales. I was surprised by the inclusion of conspiracy theories in the book, but it makes sense when you think about them as modern folklore or alternative memory. I highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in urban legends!

The Watkins Book of Urban Legends by Gail De Vos was obtained directly from the publisher and I chose to review it. Urban legends, we all know what they are and hear them from time to time. This book helps the reader figure out how long the legend has been around, and its suspected origins. Further, the reader is bound to learn new urban legends (to them), that they can share as their own experiences. Most books are great to have only electronically, this is one of those books you should have a hard copy of so you can thumb through it, mark pages, etc. If you’, or someone you buy gifts for is into urban legends, stories of cryptids or ghosts, into conspiracy theories, give this book a read. This author even writes some about how to tell a story.

5 Stars

This is such an excellent book. Some tales are vaguely familiar and others are completely new to me. The range is immense, I will be filling a few Christmas stocking with this book this year.

A fascinating and in-depth study of urban legends, mostly terrifying, with an intriguing and compelling explanation of the origins of each tale that undoubtedly affected each and every one of us at some point during our lives.

Informative and chilling, interesting and creepy this is a memorable book with insights that you NEED to know.

The audio version is exceptional, narrated beautifully by Kelly Burke.

Highly recommended with a well deserved five stars.

"A comprehensive and entertaining collection of urban legends from around the world, with a history and analysis of the origin of each tale, compiled by a leading authority in the field.

A rich and unique collection of folktales and urban legends from around the world. Each story comes with an accompanying brief note to provide context. Including new tales reflecting new concerns; old tales repurposed for new audiences and new ways of telling.

The collection illustrates that these stories are now alive across many new media. This is the first such popular book to bring together stories with both traditional and digital media origins and to examine how the phenomenon of social media has affected both the spread of urban legends and their very nature.

-Features the uniquely modern manifestation of folk mythology and legend, now made ubiquitous by the internet; the conspiracy theory.
-Includes urban legends such as: The Pickled Hand, The Babysitter, The Sandman.
-Includes conspiracy theories such as: Wild Fires, Fifteen Minute Cities and Organ Theft.
-40% of the stories originate in North America, 30% in Europe, 20% in Asia, 10% in Africa and elsewhere.
-The book also shows how stories spread and change from the country of origin to become global."

And if you buy the book you'll get an email saying that if you don't forward it to ten friends you shall be forever cursed. Or was that just something someone told me once? Read this book to find out!

This was the mother of all rabbit holes!

Do you like urban legends?
Where you obsessed with the "How is made" show?
Discovery channel?
Do you enjoy podcasts, rabbit holes, and conspiracy theories?
Cryptids? Internet lore?
If you answered yes to any of these, this book/audiobook is just for you!

As someone who enjoys podcasts of the occult, random copy pastas, and love reading and hearing about folklore from different cultures, this was the most fun non-fiction book I've ever read/heard. With a plethora of information, facts, and lore it provided, it took me down a rabbit hole for weeks, where I had to stop, Google the facts given to me to learn more from it!

It's filled with urband legends, myths, and word of mouth stories that range from local lore like the wendingo, the headless horseman, big foot, and aliens, among other other occult lore to Q-Annon, the Kennedy assassination and other conspiracy theories. It was a fun as hell ride!

I want to thank NetGalley for allowing me to read and listen to this ARC e-book.

I really enjoyed reading The Watkins Book of Urban legends. Who didn't grow up hearing an urban legend or two? I thought this book had the perfect balance of urban legends I had heard (and made me reminisce) and those that were new to me. The author provides context and cultural variations to many of the legends which are really interesting. There's discussions of phemonena that you may be aware of but not necessarily realise are urban legends, like the 27 club and swallowing chewing gum. I learned a thing or too as well. Who knew there were people our there thinking the lyrics of Hotel California. are cursed?
This is a fascinating read at any time of the year, but I think it would be especially apt to have this book around for the lead up to Halloween, or for those camping trips where you know you're going to be telling spooky stories around the campfire.
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to review an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

interesting book with some awesome urban legends, both known to me and unknown ones, paired with descriptions of backstories.

My thanks to NetGalley and Watkins Publishing for an advance copy of this collection of legends, conspiracies, tourist traps, lore, and warnings, how we tell them, why we share them, and what they tell about us as humans.

My small town had a big house that was old, had a name, and was of course haunted. Deserted for years this place had ghosts that dated to some atrocity committed during the American Revolution. Slaves were mistreated, and their ghosts lit windows, and made strange noises, that scared people. Bootleggers hid hooch their during Prohibition, and one night a rival gang wiped them out, their ghosts singing and dancing to the thunder of the Thompson guns. Kids were known to disappear into a hole that led to hell. My Scout leader was also a member of the Historical society and he took us in one day. It was a big house built after the war, owned by a guy who owned a newspaper, and whose family died out probably forty years before it was torn down in the early nineties. No murders, no ghosts. But we all knew stories. The house was rickety, with a bad staircase, and things a kid could hurt themselves on, so that's maybe why the rumours started. Or the fact that no one wanted to pay for tearing the building down. Even if there had to be a cop stationed there on Halloween for curious teens. Every one knows a legend, a friend of a friend tale. They warn us, entertain us, confuse us, can be used as propaganda, or to bring in tourist dollars. And chances are Gail de Vos has heard them all. The Watkins Book of Urban Legends is the book I would have loved as a kid, a collection of stories from around the world, all told by a friend of a friend, for many different reasons.

This book is big in a lot of ways. There are lots and lots of tales, all drawn from around the world. Many will sound familiar. Ghost stories in some ways, stories used by parents to keep their children out of dilapidated houses, or make-out lanes. The hook on the car door handle, the call from inside the house, the reflection behind the couch. Many different stories that seem to make people come and spend money in far distant towns. Stories of conspiracies that seem almost quaint in comparison to what is going on now. de Vos will include many different versions of the story, showing how a myth has grown and expanded as time has passed, or social mores have changed. Some are quaint, some are really disturbing, and a few makes one wonder what was in the water that made people think that these stories could be possible.

As I said this is a big collection of stories. One of the most complete that I have read. In addition the commentary that de Vos is sometimes more interesting then the legend. How a story could come about, what was happening in the world that made this possible, and how it left the crib and became a major story, that even newspapers and television shows might cover it. de Vos looks at small town tales, ghost stories, Internet hoaxes, chain letters. Really there is little de Vos misses. Which is great as de Vos is a very good writer and story teller. de Vos is very nonjudgmental about certain things, and leaves the disbelief or belief to the reader.

I would have loved this book growing up. Also de Vos talks about giving readings at schools, and I would have loved that. One can tell that de Vos is a natural bard, sharing stories, including information and thoughts where these ideas might have arisen. I great book for people interested in urban legends, the supernatural and scary stories. Also a great source for writers, maybe as a prompt book, or role players, to add spice and ideas to an adventure.

If you love urban legends and hope to learn more, this might be the book for you! Inside, you will find a collection of urban legends across nine chapters based on how they’ve been categorized. It was so interesting to discover the inspiration behind some well-known fictional characters while reading this book! It was also really fun reading different versions of urban legends I grew up listening to. For example, the version I always heard of the babysitter and the man upstairs involved a clown statue that was actually a man dressed as a clown.

All in all, this was an excellent read. It’s very well researched and covers urban legends from around the world. While it can be information heavy at times, I don’t think it will be overwhelming for most people as long as they don’t try to read a large chunk of the book in one go. This reads as more of a text book than an anthology, so keep that in mind if you plan on picking this up.

I love a creepy story. As a kid, every night my dad would read to me and my sister. These weren't normal fairy tales with happy endings. All of the stories came from "The Red Book" and were tales full of blood, murder, ghosts and the like. Why he chose that to be the book he would send us off to sleep, I'll never know.

That said, I appreciate horror probably more than the average person. Urban legends fall into this category for me so this booke by Gail De Vos was perfection.

Digging in urban legends, myths and other campfire-told tales, De Vos explores the history and origin of many of these. The KFC rat is one. Various monsters, creatures and things that go bump in the night are more than a post on Reddit. The origins of so many come from all over the world.

This is a really insightful and entertaining look at urban legends and I will be re-reading it for years to come.

Now, I gotta go look in the backseat to make sure there's no one hiding back there...

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I don't read nonfiction very often, but this was right up my alley! This book covered all different types of urban legends that have been around for generations as well as ones that were born from the start of the internet.

The format was super satisfying to read, it was really organized and referenced back to previous stories when needed. It also makes it easy for the reader to find what they're most interested in learning about!

I absolutely loved all of the little anecdotes and ways the author told each legend when she did. A lot of them brought back memories from when I was a kid and was either told these stories or told them myself. When I started reading the story and it felt familiar I was like "OMG I REMEMBER THIS ONE" and it got me so excited to see the differences in the way it was told.

A lot of these legends had back stories related to cultures and it was refreshing to hear them explained when I only knew the modernized versions. The author also would tell the legend multiple times in different ways if it appeared different for each culture. She would explain how the story developed differently in different parts of the world which I think was fascinating.

I took a star off only because a few of the legends I had to look up to get a better idea of. The descriptions of creatures or monsters, etc were lacking sometimes. The other reason I took a star off was more my personal preference: I did not care for some of the contemporary legends in the beginning, like the phone scams. I felt like some of them just didn't fit the rest of the book.

Overall, it took me awhile to get through this because each story was quick and I was always able to read them completely. So I was never really compelled to pick it back up again, but I think that's just an informative nonfiction thing for me. I really enjoyed this as a whole and it'd be such a cool book to own and reference or show to guests!

As a big fan of urban legends I have to say Gail De Vos’s The Watkins Book of Urban Legends was a blast, even if it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. And I mean that in a good way. This book was loaded with so much more information than I expected. Heck given how in-depth the analysis is of these legends it almost feels like a textbook for a college class on urban legends. Definitely recommend this one for anyone with an interest in urban legends. Thanks so much to Watkins Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC.