The Mexican Pet: More "New" Urban Legends and Some Old Favorites

If you're interested in a good compilation of the texts of various urban legends, I'd highly recommend this book. Brunvand includes some of the ULs published in his earlier writing, but he adds a numerous new legends in this volume. The focus is largely on presenting a lot of stories, but there is enough background information to spark the readers' curiousity. His bibliography, foot-notes, and other publications can provide more information on the stories for readers who want more analysis. All-in-all, this book is a good introduction to the subject of urban legends, and he presents the stories very well. One of the more interesting elements of this book is that Brunvand finds the kernel of truth in some of the stories. He also shows how some can be debunked. Brunvand does miss the boat on a couple of the legends by claiming that they're not true, when they actually can be verified. A good example of this oversight is his attempt to debunk stories about big catfish. They really can grow to over 100 pounds in the USA, and some Asian varieties can exceed 600 pounds.

Who knew that the sheer number of urban legends could spawn yet another book? Brunvand is the legend specialist and his research is excellent as he relates the legends and then reveals their origins. It is amazing to read his books and realize how many people actually swear these stories are completely true zand happened to a friend of a friend's hairdresser. This outing revisits some old favorites and also brings to light a few new ones. It is a fitting addition to the Brunvand collection (which are some of the best gift books to give and receive).

another book of great urban myth's from the master, a true scholar of the tale, no he really is....Proffessor Jan Harold Brunvand of Salt Lake City and the Utah University, I particularly like the horror myth's, but the funny one's are good too, but what we need now are a book with all the new myth's, like the one about the school girl who was bullied and was pushed or fell down a hole by those girls from school, who then died in mysterious circumstances, of which is said in netlore to be the revenge og the dead girl, or the disappearing women, who stepped outside thier front door upon hearing a baby crying, that was actually a doll with cassette taped to it and the women were murdered by a man hanging around outside, or the one where a boy is in his back garden with his pet snake, who his mother find's out to her horror with a phone call to the vet that the snake is lying in position to the boy to feed...or the one about the boy crying in his bedroom, whereby the babysitter check's on him, call's his parent's, tell's them about the clown toy scaring him, too which they tell her, but he doesn't have a clown toy, the police are called in and drag this man, this sexual predator/paedophile out of there, or the one about the ghostly children that push a school bus to safety, before a horrible accident like what happend to them on a school bus that went over a cliff face on a school outing, or the ghostly school bus, or the little girl living in a stately home, whom collect's gold coin's that she find's, no-one believe's her, so she get's a young maid to hold a light to witness the magic gold coin's that simply appear!?.....but on this occasion, the girl drop's a gold coin and climb's into a hole in the floor to retrieve it, the young maid follow's the girl's voice, but can't get her out, the last that was heard was the girl's scream, her devastated parent's never saw her again, so moved out, the house remained empty, but it was said that the girl was never found down there and that her scream could still be heard in the house, trying to find her way out, or the 'Crying Boy' painting and the chap who painted it's son who died in a house fire, leadind to a curse on the painting, whereby people tried burned the painting, who had one, it wouldn't burn!?....other's, thier house burn't down!?, then all the myth's about the origin's of the quija board, all very fascinating........,