I'm a fan of urban legends, and have read Dr. Brunvan's books, so I picked this up for my son. We had a good time reading it (its gross in some parts, but he didn't mind!) also has an chapter by Dr.Brunvan. I'd recommend it.

My students loved this book, and the two others in this series. We did a unit on folklore, and these "modern" legends really brought the topic to life for them. Thanks to the publisher for bringing these out.

I like R.L.Stine books and this book was like that but it was stories like that. I would tell you if you like R.L>stine books that you would like to read this and look at the pictures.

This is, without a doubt, the scariest book for young adults. The stories are told with a creepy voice, and the pictures add to the mood. I highly recommend it!

Scary Stories Reader is an awesome book about the world's most scary stories,from "Urban Legend Thrillers" to the jump ending stories.Each story has its own chill.Great selections will scare you to death.Read it to find the real scares and chills!You will really love this 5 star book.

The Scary Storie Reader was great. Almost all of my classmates checked it out of the library. I was lucky because the library only has 1 copy and I managed to get a hold on it. After I started to read a few stories, I could see why everyone wanted it. It had terrifying stories! I gave this book 5 stars because it really deserves it for its thrilling horror stories and its well written chapters. I recommend you buy this book or at least check it out of the library if you haven't already. It was truly a good book.

The short stories are very humouous and cross all age lines. I would recommend this excellent book to students, teachers, and parents. The grade levels are from 7th through the 12th.

that this was actually a good book. My professor made us purchase this for a foklore class. He told us that it was not all that exciting, but I beg to differ. I found this to be an excellent leisure reading book as well as an excellent textbook for class. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in folklore.

jan harold is the best writer of the urban legend books. they have ben alot of immanters but his are the best. this one was second in the serires. the tile urban legend is well researched.

I bought this book because the title was too strange to pass up. I found it to be thought-provoking and very well written. Although it's not a scary-story book, and the author proved all the legends weren't true, I didn't get any sleep the night after I read it! If you like spooky books, I highly reccomend "The Choking Doberman."

The Choking Doberman, the second in a series of books examining urban legend and folklore, is a rare find not only for its attention to the friend-of-a-friend stories that we've all heard, but also for its perhaps unintended window into the evolution of modern legends. Written in 1986, the myths and legends regarding computers and other modern inventions reviewed in the book, as well as the means by which such stories were disseminated, reflect the growing influence of information technology -- old legends about "cable lice" proliferating in phone or power cables have given way to doomsday viruses and other computer-age legends. I also was amused to discover so many legends being integrated into movies and television, such as the "baby on the car roof" (Raising Arizona), the woman who punishes her philandering husband with superglue (Reservoir Dogs), etc. Just goes to show that a good story always deserves a retelling.

Anyone who loves to read about and hear urban legends is bound to be familiar with Bruvand's work. His other (shorter) books on the subject are well worth reading, but are also written in a more academic style that concentrates on the folk structures and motifs in these stories. This book is more of an indulgence; Bruvand picks many of the versions that he publishes for the humor instead of because they are indicative of common tellings and retellings. So, in this book there are versions told by himself and by his students, and even stories as told by talk show hosts. If you are more interested into speculation about the themes and their importance to the audience of urban folklore...

This book amazed me. Definently a good read if you want to know about Urban Legends. I personally think this is the best book I have read about Urban Legends. I find the stories very interesting and fun to read. I do believe that some of these stories have happened, so I guess it is easier for me to get into these books. Being a teen makes a good excuse to believe in these stories. I reccommend this to anyone looking for these kinds of books

The reviewer 2 reviews down, "Reader from New York," doesn't seem to be aware that Professor Brunvand has written several other volumes of urban legends, containing the "alligators in the sewer" as well as hundreds more. If you buy this expecting simply a rehash of stories that have been told many other places by many other people, then yes, you'll be disappointed. But if you have read and enjoyed all his other books, and are looking forward to an all-new Urban Legends collection, rest assured - you'll be delighted!

A babysitter realizes that threatening calls have been coming from inside the house. A roomate comes home in the dark and in the morning finds her roommate dead and the words "Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light?" written on the wall. A girl dared to sit on a grave marks the spot with a knife, gets pinned there, and dies of fear. We've heard them all, they are a part of our culture, our history, and we swear they're true. "That happened to my cousin's best friend's neighbor's aunt, it was in the papers and everything!" Urban legends can be a lot of fun and this book captures the spirit of that! Each of the 200 stories is illustrated in comic strip style by different artists and each captures the humor (and sometimes horror) of these well-known tales. Think you've heard 'em all? Check out this excellent book and find yourself saying "oh yeah...I remember hearing that! But it really happened!" You'll also hear a few new ones along the way. A great rainy day book, coffee table addition, or means to survive a boring day. Like to read about urban legends? You'll love this book! I did!

BOOK REVIEW:

This book combines two of the things I really like--Urban Legends and Comic Books. This book features urban legends with illustrations in comic book format!

A lot of my favorite urban legends are in this movie like stories about the baby sitter ("The call is coming from inside the house!"), the exploding cactus, the microwaved poodle, the killer in the back seat, the hook, etc.

Even though this is practically a comic book, I wouldn't recommend letting minors read it, because there might be some things presented in the book that might scare them.

This is one of my favorite books! I LOVE it! There aren't enough books like this! I hope to get ahold of the rest of the Factoid book set! This surely will be my fave though! I love Urban Legends and some of the scary stories I feel were made scarier by the creepy comic art. It was excellent! If you like this book, check out the movie Campfire Tales! It's what the movie Urban Legend should have been! Though Urban Legend was good, despite the cruddy sequel. Check it out!

This is one of those books that are just plain fun to read. Almost everyone who picks up this book will be familiar with one or two of the tales presented, if not more. That was the greatest joy of reading this and Jan's other books.

For those who enjoy well-known stories with ironic twists, pick this one up for those special campfire nights.

When I purchased this, I had already read Brunvand's work so I knew it would be fun and interesting. I have to admit this suprised me. Everything was well told and explained. Brunvand didn't only give you the story, but also it's orgins and facts. After I read this, I became an urban legend fan and now I can pick them out when they're told to me in everyday conversations.

It appears that many of those who have reviewed this book misunderstood its purpose. It is not a "scary story" book; rather, it is a compilation of common urban legends and myths, complete with debunkings.

I thought this book was vastly interesting and entertaining. If you're interested in whether some of the stories you've heard are true or not, or in how urban legends get altered as time goes on, you should definitely give it a read.

Unlike Bunvand's other collections of urban legends, this book, as several other reviewers have noted, in more textbook-like in its approach, with chapters that trace the author's research about major urban legends and their potential origins rather than a wide variety of legends and analysis of those stories. This book may appeal to some hardcore urban legend-ologists, but I found some chapters tedious. I think some strenuous editing could have eliminated what felt like a lot of fact-checking and superfluous detail and still made a convincing case for Brunvand and the thouroughness of his research. I missed his humor and the lighter tone of the previous book.

i love this authors books. this one is also great.like pepole said before its not good as a beniger book in urbans legends. however, if your really intrest in urban legends this is the book for you.my fave legend in the book is the biscut can stroy its so fuuny.

This is the first Brunvand book that I've read. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I'm usually very skeptical and don't believe Urban Legend stories that I hear but I must admit this book debunked a few tales I assumed to be true. This book does tend to have an acedemic tone to it at times and I didn't mind this. Some readers may not want this much detail however. If you are at all interested in Urban Legend, folklore, or even those ubiquitous internet rumors then you'll enjoy this book.

I bought this book thinking that it was a collection of short stories about urban legends. I was partly right. It does have short stories but it also contains a explaination about each and every one including varations of a story.

I would recommend that unless this is a book report for school or college that you should save your money and try and find it in a used book store or buy it used from a seller on amazon. It is not worth the money to buy it new.

This author is a rare find in literature of this kind: a genuine, professional folklorist who carefully documents his subject and traces its beginnings. Brumvand is the first author to consult on urban folklore. This book is a keeper, one to read and re-read.

Brunvand was so ahead of his time. This book was originally published before the term URBAN LEGEND was a film, a sequel and a catch phrase. In these days of email boxes crammed to the brim with fake virus alerts, cookie recipes, pyramid schemes, and hundreds of forwards you cannot open, we forget the origin of "urban legends." Told and retold from generation to the next, Brunvand tells us the history of these "sworn to be true' stories such as "The Hook" and "The Boyfriend's Death" - how the stories got started and how they evolved into permanent teenage and campfire lore. Sure you can look 'em up on the Internet now, but you will never get the rich and wild history of tales told by the sister of an old boyfriend who had a cousin who SWORE it happened to her unless you read this book, and the many that Brunvand followed it up with.