Podcast
Urban Legends
Hosted by Luke Mordue · EN
Luke Mordue examines the historical impact of the stories that haunt our society, tales that have gripped towns and cities worldwide for centuries as actual events - Urban Legends. First, hear the tales retold as short stories before delving into the history of the legend, dissecting its cultural significance, factuality, and origins.
Released Fortnightly.
30episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Corpse Lights [Patreon Teaser]
Mar 1800:01:58Tap to summarizeTo listen to the full chapter and the rest of our Modern Myths, join us on Patreon for just £3.00 a month by visiting https://patreon.com/urbanlegends______________In this chapter, we examine the legend of ‘Corpse Lights’; mysterious glowing lights said to appear over graveyards, marshes, battlefields, and lonely roads, often believed to be omens of death, wandering spirits, or the souls of the dead.Join us as we trace where these strange lights appear in folklore, how different cultures have interpreted them, what details remain consistent across the tales, and whether there may be any natural explanation behind their strange glow.Text Me (this is 3rd party & I cannot respond, but I see all messages)Support the showIf you have more information or a correction on something mentioned in this chapter, email us at luke@lukemordue.comFor more information on the show, to find all our social accounts and to ensure you are up to date on all we do, visit www.lukemordue.com/podcast
Transcribe →Goatman
Mar 1100:39:44Tap to summarizeIn the wooded outskirts of Maryland, beneath an old railway bridge in Prince George’s County, locals have long warned of a figure that should not exist.In this chapter, we examine the urban legend of the ‘Goatman’, a creature said to haunt Lovers’ Lane bridges and rural roads, swinging an axe at those who dare to enter its territory. Join us as we explore where the Goatman stories began and just how they spread through modern folklore.Text Me (this is 3rd party & I cannot respond, but I see all messages)Support the showIf you have more information or a correction on something mentioned in this chapter, email us at luke@lukemordue.comFor more information on the show, to find all our social accounts and to ensure you are up to date on all we do, visit www.lukemordue.com/podcast
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Pukwudgie [Patreon Teaser]
Mar 400:02:52Tap to summarizeTo listen to the full chapter and the rest of our Modern Myths, join us on Patreon for just £3.00 a month by visiting https://patreon.com/urbanlegends______________Long before it became a modern campfire story, the 'Pukwudgie' was described in the oral traditions of Algonquian-speaking peoples across the Northeast, a small figure of folklore.Join us as we delve into the history of these strange creatures, just what they are, and what they are said to do across all tales. Text Me (this is 3rd party & I cannot respond, but I see all messages)Support the showIf you have more information or a correction on something mentioned in this chapter, email us at luke@lukemordue.comFor more information on the show, to find all our social accounts and to ensure you are up to date on all we do, visit www.lukemordue.com/podcast
Transcribe →Mercy Brown
Feb 2500:43:29Tap to summarizeIn this chapter, we examine one of America’s most famous vampire cases, the story of 'Mercy Brown'.During the tuberculosis spread of the 19th century, grief, fear, and limited medical understanding gave rise to the belief that the dead could feed on the living. Join me as we explore the real history behind this legend, how the press helped shape Mercy’s story, and why this case blurs the lines of folklore and medicine.Text Me (this is 3rd party & I cannot respond, but I see all messages)Support the showIf you have more information or a correction on something mentioned in this chapter, email us at luke@lukemordue.comFor more information on the show, to find all our social accounts and to ensure you are up to date on all we do, visit www.lukemordue.com/podcast
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Platte River Death Ship [Patreon Teaser]
Feb 1800:02:38Tap to summarizeTo listen to the full chapter and the rest of our Modern Myths, join us on Patreon for just £3.00 a month by visiting https://patreon.com/urbanlegends______________In this chapter, we investigate the urban legend of the 'Platte River Death Ship'. On foggy days along the Platte, it is said that a frost-covered phantom sailing ship is known to appear, its crew gathered around a body that’s revealed to be someone the witness knows, later revealing itself to be an omen of death.Join us as we trace where the tale appears, what details stay consistent, what changes as it spreads, and where the legend first made its appearance in our collective stories. Text Me (this is 3rd party & I cannot respond, but I see all messages)Support the showIf you have more information or a correction on something mentioned in this chapter, email us at luke@lukemordue.comFor more information on the show, to find all our social accounts and to ensure you are up to date on all we do, visit www.lukemordue.com/podcast
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Q&A With Luke Mordue
Dec 3100:20:59Tap to summarizeThis week’s chapter steps away from the archive and into the inbox as creator Luke Mordue answers the listener questions over the years. If you have any questions you want answer, you can drop us a text, an e-mail, or DM on our social media accounts for a future edition. Text Me (this is 3rd party & I cannot respond, but I see all messages)Support the showIf you have more information or a correction on something mentioned in this chapter, email us at luke@lukemordue.comFor more information on the show, to find all our social accounts and to ensure you are up to date on all we do, visit www.lukemordue.com/podcast
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Dog Boy [Patreon Teaser]
Dec 1000:02:38Tap to summarizeTo listen to the full chapter and the rest of our Modern Myths, join us on Patreon for just £3.00 a month by visiting https://patreon.com/urbanlegends______________Three separate stories, one title, but is there any truth?In this chapter, we examine the 'Dog Boy' of Arkansas – tracing the documented history of Gerald Bettis, reports of abuse and cruelty inside the family home, and how that address later became a stop on ghost tours, whilst also delving deeper into two other stories that share striking similarities between them.Text Me (this is 3rd party & I cannot respond, but I see all messages)Support the showIf you have more information or a correction on something mentioned in this chapter, email us at luke@lukemordue.comFor more information on the show, to find all our social accounts and to ensure you are up to date on all we do, visit www.lukemordue.com/podcast
Transcribe →Humans Can Lick Too
Dec 300:43:46Tap to summarizeIn this chapter, we trace the evolution of the haunting ‘Humans can lick too’ Urban Legend. From early cautionary tales about young women alone at night through to its modern form shaped by fears of home invasion, serial killers, and the thin line between security and vulnerability in our own homes.We examine how this legend blurs folklore and reality, how it has absorbed real crimes and media scares, it's surprisingly long history, and why the simple act of a hand reaching down in the dark continues to haunt listeners long after the story is told.Text Me (this is 3rd party & I cannot respond, but I see all messages)Support the showIf you have more information or a correction on something mentioned in this chapter, email us at luke@lukemordue.comFor more information on the show, to find all our social accounts and to ensure you are up to date on all we do, visit www.lukemordue.com/podcast
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Frozen Hill People [Patreon Teaser]
Nov 2600:04:16Tap to summarizeTo listen to the full chapter and the rest of our Modern Myths, join us on Patreon for just £3.00 a month by visiting https://patreon.com/urbanlegends______________In this chapter, we trace the story of the so called 'Frozen Hill People' from 19th century Vermont newspaper accounts and family scrapbooks to modern retellings in magazines, folklore collections, and online media, asking where it sits between rural desperation, hoax, and horror. We separate what can be verified from what was likely invented, and explore why the idea of humans placed into a kind of living hibernation still fascinates us in an age of cryonics and medical hypothermia. To many, the Frozen Hill People are another Urban Legend, but for those who return to the story each winter, they are a reminder of how far people imagine they might go when the cold closes in.Text Me (this is 3rd party & I cannot respond, but I see all messages)Support the showIf you have more information or a correction on something mentioned in this chapter, email us at luke@lukemordue.com For more information on the show, to find all our social accounts and to ensure you are up to date on all we do, visit www.lukemordue.com/podcast
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Dead Children's Playground [Patreon Teaser]
Nov 500:03:50Tap to summarizeTo listen to the full chapter and the rest of our Modern Myths, join us on Patreon for just £3.00 a month by visiting https://patreon.com/urbanlegends______________The 'Dead Children’s Playground' urban legend is most often linked to the small play area beside Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville, Alabama. A place where grief and suggestion overlap. Visitors report swings moving on their own, childlike voices emitting from the dark, and odd lights appearing in photographs, but is there any truth to it?In this chapter, Urban Legends examines what can be verified, what is only claimed, and how a modern haunt grows from older histories and the psychology of play.Text Me (this is 3rd party & I cannot respond, but I see all messages)Support the showIf you have more information or a correction on something mentioned in this chapter, email us at luke@lukemordue.com For more information on the show, to find all our social accounts and to ensure you are up to date on all we do, visit www.lukemordue.com/podcast
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