Urban+Legends

=Urban Legends= Urban Legneds are stories of horror or eeriness that involve weird happenings, close calls, horible deaths, and other realworld phenomena. These stories have developed out of the fears of people.

**__SPOOKS__**:
Glenbeulah Cemetry History Glenbeulah Cemetery is known to everyone living in its visinitie and even more. At one point the Glenbeulah Cemetery was known as the third most haunted cemetery in the United States (Chivers, Weiss). The cemetery has been there since the early 1800's and at this time it is said that a man went there to hang himself on the tree and ever since then its been haunted. Years back Unsolved Mysteries show put the cemetery in their show (Chivers, Weiss). The look of the Cemetery also gives it a "haunted" look. As a person walkes through the gates they take a dirt road surrounded by trees up to a hill. On the top of the hill is a small light on a old wooden pole that eluminates the begninning of the cemetery. When the grave stones come into view people can notice how old the graves are and also see the spooky metal fence that surrounds it.

Methodology: I knew I wanted to do the Glenbeulah Cemetery because of the stories Iv already heard, and also being one of the "believers" in it being haunted. I decided the best way to get stories would be to walk the streets of Glenbeulah and ask people on the streets the stories theve heard. On May 6th around four in the afternoon i came upon a house down the street of the cemetery where there were three woman around my age and older. Cassie Grunow lived down the road of the cemetery her whole life. She was egear to tell me her stories but she told me she has never personally gone into the cemetery.

Fieldwork: AN: So do you know any, like, huanted stories about the cemetery? CG: Yea I know a couple, what do you want to hear? AN: Well start with any story you know. CG: Okay, well..hmm. Well there is a story about these teenagers. It was about ten years ago and I was kinda young but I remember it. There was a group of kids, around our age at the time, that wanted to go up to the cemetery and perform a seance. They all went up there, there were around six of them, and the story is that when they got half way to the graves they started to hear pounding... AN: Pounding? Like what? CG: Well, the ghosts like to try to scare people before they reach them. Um, well they decided that they were being silly and all six continued to the graves. When they reached the graves they walked to the oldest grave that didnt have any writting on and they sat in a cyrcle and held hands. The bravest man started asking the spirits questions. Like "Who are you, why are you still here?" They all looked around...um they were probably more scared then they wanted to seem. But a little after they started asking the ghosts questions they saw a figure down the hill of the cemetery flash by. This startled and scared the Sh*t out of the girls. (laughs)....But the brave man wanted to stay and started asking questions louder to the man who hung himself like "Hey why did you hang yourself; Can you show us were you hung yourself?" (giggles) It wasnt long before the kids started hearing the thumping sound, they looked around and at the grave they sat besides started shaking. This was the last straw for most of the kids there and my sisters remember this more then me, but they watched the kids run down the hill screaming and one of the girls were hysterically crying..... AN: Well do you believe in the story? CG: Oh yea! Iv never been up there for a reason. (giggles) You couldnt pay me to go up there.

Analysis: A highly known urban legend,which has no true origin, about cemeteires is the legend of a person being dared to spend the night in a haunted cemetery. When their friends come to get them out of the cemetery the next morning, their hair had turned white and it is said that the person will never speak again. This urban legend is very different then the Glenbeulah legends. The Glenbeulah legends tell that nobody has ever been able to stay the night. Usually the people who have been into the cemetery say that it is a beautifull place, but that peoples emaginations take controle. Others say that it is haunted and they say its real and that the ghosts would send the people off screaming before they'ed go crazy. Cassie Grunow has lived near the cemetery her whole life and she believes in he stories she hears and she would deny that the other urban legend is real. It just goes to show that people really believe in their stories.

The WolfMan:History
The Wolfman is an urban legend that has been around Wisconsin since the year 1936 when a man named Mark Schackelman reported seeing a large animal that looked like a wolf on two legs, east of Jefferson Wisconsin (Taylor). The Wolfman is said to be around eight feet tall, hairy, and can walk on both four and two legs. I have also heard from a number of high school classmates that the Wolfman has been seen in the Sheboygan county area. There was another sighting in 1972, a woman called the police after a "large unkown animal" tryed to enter her house through the door (Taylor). There are number of people that believe in the Wolfman and others who believe they have seen it.

Methodology: Throughout high school I heard a lot about the Wolfman. There was a classmate that thought he had seen it and started doing research on it. Through I only thought of one person that could tell me a story on their expierences. So i called up Becca Lieffring and asked to speak to her mother, Monica Lieffring. She agreed to be interviewed on May 7th, 2009. As I drove closer to her house, which is surounded by woods and fields, I could tell why it was a perfect place to encounter the Wolfman. I went in and sat next to her on the large couch.

Fieldwork: AN: So I heard that you have seen things..like the Wolfman around here. ML: Oh yes, I have seen the Wolfman. (Laughs) Becca calles it the Saskwatch. AN: Can you tell me about the first time you saw the Wolfman? ML: Well....um it was about a year ago. I was coming home from work, I believe I got out around three in the morning, it was late summer because the nights were just a little colder.....hm I looked up to see the Wolfman, I want to say about thirty feet away. It was right in the middle of the road, and it was upright, but when it dashed into the fields.....it looked as if it were running on all fours. It was the wierdest thing. I didnt even have time to react... AN: Is that the only time you saw the Wolfman? ML: No....well about a week later I was out on the back porch.... Hm I can't remember why, but I was....oh ya I was reading. And when I looked up I saw the large Wolfman standing at the edge of the woods. He seemed to look straight at me.....(giggles) Well of course I was scared so I ran in the house to get Steve. (her husband) By the time I we went out to see it, he was gone.... I think he's friendly...he must know this area as being safe for him. AN: Well thanks.

Analysis: Almost all of the urban legends I found of the Wolfman included the full moon to be able to turn into a wolfman. Many say that it is an acutal human that turns into a wolf. In my fieldwork I didn't hear anything about moons, or men. The people who believe in the Wolfman in Wisconsin believe that it is a large animal that resembles a man. Also the way the Monica Lieffring talked about the Wolfman as if it was harmless made me think they almost care about this creature and expect to see the Wolfman agian.

**Glenbeulah Middle School History:**
The Glenbeulah School is also haunted, yet not as known by the public as the cemetery. The school is very small, yet so is the town. It closed around 1994 and the kids then went to Elkhart Lake. The school is very old and of course has the "creepy" reaction to it. People in Glenbeulah are protective over the old school, they try to keep vandalism down, yet many won't go near the school.

__Methodology:__ This was going to be harder to find stories about. I walked the road around the school house for about 45 minutes before I finally found a lady out on her porch. She seemed friendly so I walked up and introduced myself. She was acually very friendly and new a lot about the school so I asked if I could interview her. She agreed to be interviewed on May 6th, 2009, and introduced herself as Nancy Fisher. So we sat on her pourch while I asked her questions.

__Fieldwork:__ AN: So, okay, can you tell me any stories or legends about the Glenbeulah school? NF: Okay...hm what do I say?. Well my kids went there years before it closed down. They always had stories about the school... AN: Any that you remember? NF: There is one...My son told me a story when he was in 4th grade there that a teacher must have told him. It was about a girl in 5th grade that had died from a sickness...Im not sure..ya I believe so. Anyway the school had a portraite drawn of her in memory and they hung it on the wall. Everynight, or what he said, the painting would fall of the wall and land on the ground....So..the school janitor nailed the picture frame into the fall, but every morning they would have to pick up the picure and hang it up....They moved it into the library once, but it scared the younger children. I think that the picture is still in the school. AN: Wow, is there any more stories you can rememeber. NF: Sorry hun, I can't remember all of them.

__Analysis:__ I found an urban legend about school that describes how the library of the school was haunted and that at night books would be found out of order and some in completley different places. This is like my story because its as if the ghost or spirit wants to be noticed. The spirit that does the same thing everynight and nothing harmful. Stories of children that almost always died during the time at school. People think of children haunting schools as innocent and harmless, yet it still scares children and adults and superstitions start.


 * Halloween at St. Norbert**

__History:__ St. Norbert College in Wisconsin is a school that many students attend. It had a pre-college program there and the students that attended would have to stay in dorm rooms. This urban legend was from some of the students that had attended that pre-college program in 2006. Even I haven't heard of this urban legend before but they never went back the year after.

__Methodology:__ The history of this urban legend is that it continues from a more famous one. There isn't really much information about it. I knew that this would be hard to find out about because I only heard about it from the students that had attended that pre-college program. I found out who the students were and then I asked to interview them. I knew someone that had gone to St. Norbert along with the other students. After that I got their numbers and I asked if I could interview them. They agreed. This was going to be hard but I wanted to stay in the Wisconsin area near Sheboygan. The person that I found was a friend and he lived in Milwaukee. I talked with the other people over the phone while they told me what had happened. I will refer to that person as X. I would be K.

__Fieldwork:__ K: Do you remember being at St. Norbert for a pre-college program and something happened in one of hte dorm rooms? X: Yea, I had a friend that stayed in a dorm room that was haunted. You have to hear this one before I get to the other one. You know the urban legend about the UW-Madison Holloween thing. Where there was a massacre on Halloween. It is said that this very dorm room that a friend had stayed in belong to one of the people that got massacred. At night when you would go to sleep, "Halloween" would appear on the wall. When the lights go out, that's when the word appears on the wall. At first we thought that it was a joke. But then in the morning, there was nothing on the wall. Not glow-in-the-dark stuff, nothing. I was there. this happened during the summer though, and sometimes you can also hear finger nails on the wall and screams on taking revenge. K: That is scary. It was nice talking to you. Thank you for your time.

__Analysis:__ First off, I found out that the UW-Madison massacre was an urban legend and that this might have been a continium of it. I still think that the legend before this one is used to back this urban legend more. There is more credit if this legend carries on from other ones. These urban legends about dorm rooms are all over the place and there are different variations. I haven't found any documented urban legends that I can compare to this one. This is an urban legend that isn't as popular as some other ones. I did, however, did a little research to find out the urban legend before this one. So that, I can get a better understanding of it. A simialr one to the halloween massacre is found in Brunvand's book.

__**Relationships:**__
Both of these stories were heard at the same location, from my uncle Rob, which was at wedding resection at Knights of Columbus. Both were also heard from the same person, Thus would create a more festive and casual atmosphere. Thus meaning stories would be more relaxed subject would be more relaxed. Furthermore, was at wedding respiration, might be conductive location for these type of stories. There was also alcohol at place, which would lead to more relaxing atmosphere, would be more willing to talk and would loses up,

The first urbane legend relating to relationships I heard involving relationships. There was a newlywed compete in their honeymoon, although, according to Brun Van the location varies, but in these case the story takes place in Mexico. While in the lobby, the husband needs to use the restroom, and the wife then waits outside. While whiting she gets many sexual advances, and not sure why. While she continues to go sight sign, she keeps receiving sexual advantages. At one point, she gets so discussed with it she tells a cop about what happens. The cops then ask if she has a license. she then asks what license, at that point the cop bring her to station and (charge her with practicing prostitution without a license, and says it would just be easier for her to apply there for a license (to be one, apparently because she was wearing red high heels with a blue dress, which is local code for a prostitution.

This story would again a reflection and reinforcement of traditional mortality, and would well fit in with other stories that reinforcement of the xenophobic nature of most of these stories, as dealing with such things as when the decision that happened in class about the large spiders in Iraq. And would act as a spreading and our coming to terms with problem that are faced in certain situation. Which point of these types of store, as noted in the text book and or in class? The ability to take about fears without actually talking about them directly. Furthermore, might show the primitive nature of other cultures that would allow things such as legalized prostitution.

The second urbane legend involving relationships involve a couple getting married at a wedding,. There are quite a few variations on this one. In all of them, the wedding starts off beautiful, and is a textbook wedding. But, in one telling, during the expectation of vows, he looks over at the best man and says he would like to thank her for sleeping with the bride. At that point, both the bride and the best man run out crying, and the groom quietly and comely walks out. When all three are gone, the congregation and the pastor are speechless. At point, one of the groomsmen says the reception will still happen since would be waste to spend so much money, and they do. Needless to say neither the bride, groom, nor maid of honor attended.

Another variation on this story would be that the wedding goes perfectly fine, with plenty of tears. After that, at the reception, which the version I heard was at the Knight of Columbus hall ironical enough, at that point, during the speeches and thank you, the groom then thanks the maid of honor for sleeping with her bride. Again the same reaction happens, although again some variation on this, some breaking of glass.

Another variation would be during the groom speech at the respection he then asks all the guests at that point to look under, either there plants or their chairs, which contains an envelope which has a picture of the bride and the best man in a comprising position.

The reason for these stories existences is to reinforce traditional morality of this misogynistic idea and traditional mortality, notice that women one with libido and is cheating. This again reflects a taboo on women sexuality, this constitutions a tradition that frowns on and discourages female sexuality, such as masturbation. Furthermore, there is also a karma angle to this story that reinforces this moral that your actions will be found out, and eventually you will be held accountable for them.

The changes noted would be the departure from the standard envelopment under table, to a slide show on a computer. This would reflect the more undated of technology that changes from when store apparent started in 1985 This also would fit a model of more suspicions population, who maybe wouldn't believe if hear. One reason people become more empirical and want more evidence this day. Furthermore, they have become more of a visual cultural that has become more images driven then previous decades.



__**Works Cited:**__
Brunvand, Jan Harold. __Encyclopedia of Urban Legends__. ABC-CLIO, 2001.

Chivers, Kyle, Weiss, Erik. “Glenbeulah Graveyard.” __Haunted__ __Wisconsin____.__ [] (May 5, 2009).

Taylor, Troy. “Werewolves.” __Unexplained__ __America____.__ [] (May 5, 2009).

Too Good to be True, The colossal book of Urban Legends, Jan Harold Brunband W.W. Norton & Company 1999 