Urban legends used to be funny. Now, in Adam Allsuch’s Broadman’s amazing book, they have taken a serious turn. He has divided the legends into types, their range way beyond the roach in the beehive hairdo and the UFO that turned out to be a crashed weather balloon.
Of course, anyone giving urban legends more than a passing thought will know how this apparently modern folklore actually reaches back centuries. Now, with the addition of technology, media including movies, as well as space becoming less remote, opportunities abound to invent new stories. An Illustrated History of Urban Legends displays a selection of cryptids, defined as animals ‘whose existence is unsubstantiated’, and less fanciful humans better left on the pages than feeding nightmares.
Boardman’s illustrations and the compact text displayed on heavy stock paper will stand up to kids eager to find a good scare to play on their friends. Drawing a series of surprises together like ‘aquatic anomalies’, cryptozoology, nighttime spooks waiting to pounce, and presenting somber real-life characters makes for an adventure into a different kind of learning.
On one level, the book is a serious one, carefully researched despite the imaginary nature of the characters. It’s also very good fun!
An Illustrated History of Urban Legends
