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Urban legends...
you've heard about the movie.... now, find out
the on-campus inspiration behind the flick-fright-fest.
Terrifying Campus Tales:
Based on a
True Story, or Not?!
By Gina LaGuardia
October 2000
The CollegeBound Network NewsClick -- When
it comes to real-life urban legends, college is
the prime place for instigating such haunted happenings.
"Institutions of higher
learning have long been fertile ground for the
launching and retelling of literally dozens of
modern myths," explains author (and co-star
of Ebert & Roeper and the Movies) Richard
Roeper in the book Urban Legends (Career
Press, 1999).
Think about it, proposes
Roeper, since there's a turnover in student population
every four or five years, "a tale can be
passed from one class to another in dorm rooms
and fraternity and sorority houses, with the original
source long removed. It's
no wonder that legends about campus-wide massacres,
midnight murder screams, and exam scams are almost
as rampant as athlete's foot in the gym shower.
Take the campus scream
session, for example. Ask any alumni of Brown
University, UCLA, Florida State, and others --
they'll have a scream story to tell that has nothing
to do with NEVE CAMPBELL...
It's finals week and
the pressure is on. Students are scurrying from
library nook to study session, crunching in some
last-minute cramming for those all-so-important
exams. It's a virtual tension fest -- a perfect
time for a let-loose steam blow, wouldn't you
agree? The student government or administration
at Said U. (it depends which one you're talking
about) did, so a scream session was planned for
Last-Day-of-Finals Eve. Flyer upon flyer publicized
the event, e-mails were forwarded, and announcements
were made at Greek meetings. Hence, at 10 p.m.
the night before the last test day, a wacky cacophony
of stressed out student screams filled the air.
Unbeknownst to those on campus -- both students
and university robo-cops alike -- one blood curdling
scream was not heard, in proper context
anyway. It was a for-real "a psycho is after
me" scream. College urban legend has it that
during this campus-wide cry-out, such a scream
belonged to a young co-ed being bludgeoned to
death by a crazed madman.
Over the years, thorough
investigation by Roeper and other urban legend
chasers has failed to uncover concrete proof that
the event actually occurred. To this day, there
are no police reports, newspaper articles, or
any grief-stricken families telling their stories
on the talk show circuit to validate the scream
scenario.
That doesn't stop the stories
from spreading, though. Even the stars of Urban
Legends -- Final Cut are no strangers to such
fearful folklore.
"I was scared to death
before making my college trek to Loyola University,"
says the movie's star, JENNIFER MORRISON (Stir
of Echoes). Morrison, who portrays Amy, a
film student who struggles to complete her thesis
film on urban legends only to have her fellow
student crew members fall prey to fatal 'accidents,,'
attributes that fear to the "killer in the
room" story...
You've heard the tale --
A freshman returns to her dorm room late one night
and hops into bed without turning on the light.
When she awakens the next morning, she finds her
roommate dead in her bed and the words, "Aren't
you glad you didn't turn on the light?" written
in blood on the wall.
And, if you think JOSEPH
LAWRENCE (Brotherly Love, Blossom), who
plays the sinister Graham Manning in the fright
flick is a tough guy, think again. "When I was
a kid, I wouldn't let my hand hang below my bed.
I was afraid something would start nibbling on
it or that there was a big dog that would eat
me," he confesses.
Rabid under-bed dogs, screamers,
evil profs, and more... If you're easily spooked,
stand forewarned! Whether it's a tale about a
psycho chem' professor or a legend about a mysterious
locked room on the fourth floor, creepy campus
tales will abound.
But, don't worry -- they're
not real. Well, most of them aren't...
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