The Baby Train and Other Lusty Urban Legends

The Baby Train and Other Lusty Urban Legends is a collection of modern folklore gathered and analyzed by folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand. The book catalogs and examines contemporary myths and stories that circulate in American society, with a focus on tales involving romance, relationships, and adult themes. Each chapter presents different categories of urban legends, tracing their origins and variations across different regions and time periods. Brunvand documents how these stories spread, transform, and reflect the anxieties and preoccupations of modern society. The book includes both familiar tales and lesser-known versions of popular legends, supported by research into their historical context and cultural significance. Brunvand's investigation draws from newspapers, personal accounts, and academic sources to verify or debunk these persistent stories. Through these collected tales, the book reveals how urban legends serve as a mirror for societal fears, moral lessons, and cultural beliefs about relationships and human behavior. The recurring themes of love, deception, and consequences paint a portrait of contemporary social dynamics and concerns.

Readers describe this as a straightforward collection of urban legends focused on contemporary American folklore. Many appreciate Brunvand's research methodology and his systematic debunking of modern myths. Likes: - Clear organization by theme/topic - Inclusion of variant versions of each legend - Historical context provided for each story's origins - Academic but accessible writing style Dislikes: - Some stories feel repetitive from Brunvand's previous books - Index could be more comprehensive - Several readers wanted more analysis of why certain legends persist Ratings: Goodreads: 3.7/5 (89 ratings) Amazon: 4.2/5 (12 ratings) "The book shines when tracing how legends evolve over time," notes one Amazon reviewer. A Goodreads user criticizes: "About 30% of these were covered in his earlier works." Folk narratives website Folklore.org rates it 4/5, praising its "methodical documentation of legend variants" but noting it "lacks the depth of cultural analysis found in Brunvand's other works."

The Vanishing Hitchhiker by Jan Harold Brunvand This collection documents the origins and variations of American urban legends from ghost stories to tales of theft and deception.

Too Good to Be True by Jan Harold Brunvand The book traces modern folklore through newspapers, oral histories, and personal accounts to reveal the evolution of contemporary myths.

Encyclopedia of Urban Legends by Thomas Green This reference work catalogs hundreds of urban legends from across cultures with their historical contexts and social significance.

The World of Urban Legends by Mark Barber The text examines the transmission of urban myths through different media and their role in reflecting societal fears and beliefs.

The Truth Never Stands in the Way of a Good Story by Jan Harold Brunvand This compilation presents urban legends about business, commerce, and the workplace with their documented origins and transformations.

🚂 "The Baby Train" urban legend, which inspired the book's title, tells of a small town where many women became pregnant nine months after a train strike forced commuting couples to spend more time together. 📚 Author Jan Harold Brunvand is considered the first folklorist to use the term "urban legend" in print and popularized its usage through his books and media appearances. 🗞️ The book contains the famous "Kentucky Fried Rat" legend, which caused significant PR problems for KFC despite being thoroughly debunked. 👻 Brunvand collected many of the legends in the book through reader submissions to his newspaper column, allowing him to track how stories evolved as they spread across different regions. 📖 The book was published in 1993 as part of a series of urban legend collections by Brunvand, following his successful works "The Vanishing Hitchhiker" and "The Choking Doberman."