An urban legend is what one could call a modern folk tale. It is not quite old enough story to be considered a folk tale so we call them urban legends. Most of these legends are based on small fragments of fact with little to no truth to them, but there are a handful of urban legends that have their entire basis in reality. Take these examples:
The 1960’s saw a definitive resurgence of occult obsession in mainstream pop culture. Therefore, it is not surprising that a correlative influx of supernatural sightings followed in the wake of the reemergence of paranormal phenomena in the public psyche (like alien/ UFO sightings after the release of “The War of the Worlds” in the 40’s). One of the single most sensationalized occurrences of this trend appears in the media phenomena following the Highgate Vampire. This occurrence retains, to this day, its mysterious reputation in occult circles as well as in the general public’s consciousness. So what really happened at Highgate?
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The sixties saw a lot of really radical changes: tie-dye, hallucinogenic drugs, general unkemptness—but it also ushered in an era of severe paranoia centered on the continuous conflict between the USSR and the good old USA. While this largely imagined competition for the biggest badass in business taught us a lot about overreacting, bomb threats (duck and cover!), and general suspicion, it also ushered in a very weird trend in government research—specifically, in how to create a psychic super weapon equal to or better than what the other guys supposedly had.
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And so I find myself in the deserted backstreets of some British town or city. Disregarded refuse strewn across the road and pavement. Empty cars come to a violent rest at obscure angles, some partly consumed by what look like mouths created the broken walls of dirty buildings. I’m alone. It’s deadly silent. I creep along the road, careful not to get too close to the broken and cracked windows, openings to the big black unknown, the abyss, the holes to hell. In my hands, I can feel the cold of the scaffolding pipe I carry, raised above my shoulder, ready to strike at any minute.
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The idea of a man transforming into an animal or a mystical creature that is part man and part animal has been around since the dawn of mankind. The earliest deities of primary civilizations were generally a mix between human and animal physical appearances. However, wolves have always been a preferable animal when a hybrid creature was formed. Stories of men that change into wolves are as old as time itself and span cultures and geography to show up over and over again. The name and even basic behavior of these creatures could vary, but the constant of it being a human who transforms into a wolf does not waiver. Numerous theories exist as to why so many cultures have legends about men who become wolves, including the close relation of early peoples to the natural world around them. Some scholars even believe that the idea of men turning into wolf-like creatures is actually a legitimate disease like congenital erythropoietic porphyria (a condition characterized by a sensitivity to the light of day, excess hair growth, poorly healing skin, and a reddish color to the teeth). Whether real or not though, the act of a man turning into a wolf is a legend that enthralls all people.
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