Urban Legends Easy to Spread on the Internet

[Diehard]

Charles Hill is academic director of language and fine arts at Gadsden State Community College. He has a background in mythology and classical studies but urban legends are his hobby.

"What I tend to use as a working definition (of urban legend) is a story that is just too good to be true, but we tell as true,'' Hill said.

Urban legends, folklore, mythology and even religious stories cross over and mix.

"There is a difference between a hoax and an urban legend, but I'm being pedantically different,'' Hill said.

He said a good urban legend Web site is snopes.com and a source on urban legends is Jan Brunvand, who has written seriously about urban legends. Brunvand declined to be interviewed, saying he's retired, and referred queries to his Web page.

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