Episode · Stuff They Don't Want You To Know · 2023-09-01
Books mentioned on How To Build An Urban Legend
From ghostly hitchhikers to tales of insidious alien conspiracies, everyone loves a good spooky campfire story. But where do modern legends come from?
Ben Bowlin discussed The Vanishing Hitchhiker by Jan Harold Brunvand. Also mentioned: American Gods by Neil Gaiman and Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Vanishing Hitchhiker
Jan Harold Brunvand's book The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends and Their Meanings serves as a foundational academic text exploring the origins, evolution, and cultural significance of modern folklore.
Discussed“another guy yaw and Harold brunvald writes a book called The Vanishing hitchhiker American urban legends and their meanings”
Where to get it
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American Gods
American Gods by Neil Gaiman is a fantasy novel published in 2001 that explores the conflict between traditional mythological deities and modern American manifestations of technology and consumerism.
Discussed“I love uh what Neil Gaiman does with myth and you know with American Gods for example or a Nancy boys”
Where to get it
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Anansi Boys
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman is an imaginative contemporary fantasy novel that adapts African mythology and Caribbean folk tales by personifying traditional spider gods and supernatural figures into modern narrative contexts.
Discussed“or a Nancy boys where he takes kind of the the African myths of like the spider God and all of that stuff and personifies them”
Where to get it
