The Body in the Bed Urban Legend As told by Autumn Murphy
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- Analysis: It only takes one dead body under the mattress to spoil your whole honeymoon.
- The closest encounter between fact and legend Ive been able to document took place in Atlantic City (another gambling mecca, naturally) in 1999. This account comes from the Bergen Record
- Theres more than one moral to this story, to be sure, but the most disturbing of all is that urban legends do sometimes come true. Urban Legends Lesson Plan
- Discuss the Similarities
- Select Urban Legends
| The Body in the Bed – Urban Legend
As told by Autumn Murphy... A man and woman went to Las Vegas for their honeymoon, and checked into a suite at a hotel. When they got to their room they both detected a bad odor. The husband called down to the front desk and asked to speak to the manager. He explained that the room smelled very bad and they would like another suite. The manager apologized and told the man that they were all booked because of a convention. He offered to send them to a restaurant of their choice for lunch compliments of the hotel and said he was going to send a maid up to their room to clean and to try and get rid of the odor. After a nice lunch the couple went back to their room. When they walked in they could both still smell the same odor. Again the husband called the front desk and told the manager that the room still smelled really bad. The manager told the man that they would try and find a suite at another hotel. He called every hotel on the strip, but every hotel was sold out because of the convention. The manager told the couple that they couldn't find them a room anywhere, but they would try and clean the room again. The couple wanted to see the sights and do a little gambling anyway, so they said they would give them two hours to clean and then they would be back. When the couple had left, the manager and all of housekeeping went to the room to try and find what was making the room smell so bad. They searched the entire room and found nothing, so the maids changed the sheets, changed the towels, took down the curtains and put new ones up, cleaned the carpet and cleaned the suite again using the strongest cleaning products they had. The couple came back two hours later to find the room still had a bad odor. The husband was so angry at this point, he decided to find whatever this smell was himself. So he started tearing the entire suite apart himself. As he pulled the top mattress off the box spring he found a dead body of a woman. Analysis: It only takes one dead body under the mattress to spoil your whole honeymoon. As befits its "Sin City" reputation, Las Vegas is a magnet for horrific urban legends (see "The Kidney Snatchers" for another example). What sets "The Body in the Bed" apart, however, is how frequently incidents resembling this have happened in real life — just never, to my knowledge, in Las Vegas itself (so far). The closest encounter between fact and legend I've been able to document took place in Atlantic City (another gambling mecca, naturally) in 1999. This account comes from the Bergen Record: The body of Saul Hernandez, 64, of Manhattan was found in Room 112 of the Burgundy Motor Inn after two German tourists slept overnight in the bed despite a rancid smell that prompted them to complain to the front desk. The couple told motel officials about the smell Wednesday night but stayed in the $36-a-night room anyway. On Thursday, they complained again and were given a new room while a motel housekeeper cleaned Room 112. The same thing happened to vacationers in Pasadena, California in 1996, as recounted in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin: Lynn Nakamura of Honolulu walked into a Pasadena, Calif., motel room with her brother and joked, "You better check under the beds for dead bodies because I'll freak if I find one." That was before she and her brother, Dennis Wakabayashi of Los Angeles, noticed the foul odor that permeated the Travelodge Pasadena room July 24. Not wanting to ask for another room because they had just been moved from another one, the two unknowingly spent the night in a room with a dead woman. In July 2003, a cleaning crew discovered a dead body stuffed under the mattress in a room at the Capri Motel in Kansas City, Missouri. This report was filed by KMBC-TV News: Police said that the man appeared to have been dead for some time, but the body went unnoticed until a guest staying the room could no longer tolerate the smell. Officers were called to the Capri Motel in the 1400 block of Independence Avenue around noon Sunday after cleaning crews made the grisly discovery. KMBC's Emily Aylward reported that the man who checked into the motel room a few days ago complained to management about the odor two times over the three days. He then checked out on Sunday because he could not tolerate the smell. In March 2010, Memphis police responded to a call from a local motel where employees had noticed a "foul odor" in one of the rooms. According to ABC Eyewitness News: On March 15th, investigators were called back to room 222 at the Budget Inn, where the body of Sony Millbrook was found under the bed. Police say she was found inside the metal box frame that sits directly on the floor after someone reported smelling a strange odor. The box springs and mattress fit into the top of the bed frame. Room 222, according to investigators, had been rented 5 times and cleaned many times by the hotel staff since the day Millbrook was reported missing. Homicide investigators say Millbrook appears to have been murdered. There's more than one moral to this story, to be sure, but the most disturbing of all is that urban legends do sometimes come true. Urban Legends Lesson Plan In this lesson, students will explore the origins and truth (or lack thereof) behind popular and/or local urban legends. In doing so, they will use online and print resources, and have the opportunity to explore local lore. Introduce the Topic Explain to your students just what constitutes an "urban legend". You may start by asking them if they've ever heard the story about the Kentucky Fried rat, or the dog who was choking and was found to have a burglar's fingers stuck in his throat, or perhaps the woman who tried to dry off her poodle in the microwave. You could also include a more contemporary variant, introducing the topic of internet hoaxes - i.e. the little boy dying of cancer who needs to have one million people forward a certain email. Whether your students have heard of such legends and hoaxes or not, you will need to read a few examples of the different types of urban legends to make sure they have a good understanding of just what types of stories are being discussed. A good source of print urban legends are the series of books by folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand, including "The Choking Doberman" and "The Mexican Pet". You may also, if you are web-savvy, go online to print out examples of urban legends that have been transmitted via email, on websites or in newspapers. Discuss the Similarities Many of these urban legends have similar elements. In many cases, ranging from the oldest of orally-transmitted tales to the newest forwarded emails, the story is said to be guaranteed true because it happened to a "friend of a friend" of the narrator. Another element many urban legends have in common is a sort of a morality element, i.e. the Hook Man who only targeted couples who were illegally parked (and engaging in other naughty activities) up in a "lover's lane" of some sort. Another element is that of warning the listener (or reader) of some terrible danger that may befall them - a claim which, in nearly all cases, proves to be entirely without basis in fact. Select Urban Legends You may have the students choose their own legends, either from print or online resources, or you may (for younger students) choose to assign legends or provide a short list from which they may choose. Again, depending on grade level, you may supply the print or online resources you'd like students to use, or you may ask the students to discover what they can find out on their own. Either way, you should ask students, individually or in small groups, to select one particular legend that each will work on. Research The Urban Legends Ask the students to research the background of their legends. Have them describe the history of the legend - is it a recent one, or does it date back decades into the past as many do? Some urban legends may even have roots that go back centuries, while others are as modern as (and often connected to) the latest headline news. Have students gather as many details about their particular legends as possible, including any possible evidence that the legend is in any way true or proof that it is entirely false. One particularly good resource for this is the website snopes.com. Present Findings to the Class Have each student or group of students present their findings on the chosen legend. If you wish to incorporate a technology element and you have the resources to do so, you may encourage them to create PowerPoint presentations. If you have an insufficient number of computers, inadequate software, and/or no overhead projector, you may, instead, choose to have them add a visual element to their presentations via the use of posterboards. They may create their posters illustrating various elements of their legends or create collages using newspaper headlines (real or simulated), copies of emails, photos, etc. Bloody Mary The Legend The legend of Bloody Mary can be traced back to the 13th century Europe specifically in the northern England area. It is said that young girls were vanishing from the local villages and the area people became convinced that a old woman who lived in a near by forest area was to blame. A huge Mob went to her house one night late at night and drug the old woman from her bed. They accused her of being a witch and tried to torture her into telling them what had happened to the young girls. When she could not tell them the crowd became angrier and they tied her to a near by tree and began to pile wood and brush around her. As they set the wood and brush afire she began to curse the people in the crowd and she is said to have uttered a curse that if any one was foolish enough to say her name , " Bloody Mary " three times in front of a mirror at night while holding a candle she would come out of the mirror and take her revenge on the person foolish enough to have said her name. Ever since then people especially teenagers and youngsters have given it a try. Many claim to have seen Bloody Mary in the mirror and some have even claimed to have been attacked by a old woman who came from the mirror when they said " Bloody Mary " three times in front of a mirror in a dark room while holding a candle. Many have claimed to have seen a ugly old woman glaring out at them from the mirror. Have you ever dared to try it. If so why not tell us your story below in the comment section. And what other Urban Legends have you heard about. Feel free to tell us about them in the comment section below. Bloody Mary by Chris Vaisvilas More Bloody Mary Information
At the old now closed down Tri Community Elementary School near Caroleen North Carolina people have always claimed that Bloody Mary can be seen in the bath room mirrors of the school. She was always described as standing looking out of the mirror with a bloody dress on and several rusty chains were draped around her neck and shoulders. Up the hill behind the school is a very old grave yard with a lot of tombstones but most have been there so long you can't see the names on the stones any longer. It is said that here in this grave yard is where a witch was hung and buried in the 1780's. Yes its a historical fact that several women were hung in this area for practicing witch craft. At one of the trials the old transcripts said that a woman was hung for making her neighbors cows go dry and for running a 20 year old woman crazy and for causing her to throw herself into the near by river and drown. The witches name was Mary Holescloth and she was hung on Christmas Day 1781 near the present day Tri Community School by a rope around her neck until she was dead by the then high sheriff. She was tried three days before she was hung and eleven of her neighbors testified against the old woman At the time that Mary Holescloth was buried it was believed that if you buried a witch wrapped in chains that the witches ghost could not come back and bother anyone. Its strange that down through the years that when the old woman's ghost was seen in the mirrors of the school that she was wrapped in chains. It was also said that witches were always wrapped in chains and buried facing down. Over the years people have left offerings of candy, flowers, and dolls at the grave stone of the old witch. Her grave stone is a large red tombstone with no writing on it. People through out the years have drawn three crosses in a row on the tombstone for luck. There are also rumors that people often practice witch craft at the old witches tombstone. They light candles and leave offerings of dead chickens and you can often see where candles have been burned and melted down. Small mirrors are also often found leaning against the old red tombstone by people trying to summon the real Bloody Mary. Just because you go into the bathroom with a candle and chant Bloody Mary three times while standing in front of the mirror with a candle burning doesn't mean you will ever see her. You have to do it with the belief in your mind that you're going to see the old witch. If you believe you may have a chance to see her. But if not you may not see anything. The best times to see the old witch is on Fridays, any Friday the 13th, and on Halloween. It won't hardly ever happen unless it is dark outside. You have a better chance when there is a thunderstorm or at 3 A.M. which is the true witching hour not midnight as you may have been led to believe. Directory: file -> fetch fetch -> 11 th Lit Semester 1 Final Study Guide!!! fetch -> Industrial Revolution Inventors fetch -> Analysis for Galveston Hurricane of 1900 fetch -> The Illuminators (Team 2) 1900 Galveston Hurricane Cycle a team Assignment fetch -> Team csi-utb ruth Reyes Jose Ferrer fetch -> Galveston Hurricane of 1900 Cycle a-teacher as a Problem Solver fetch -> Is Climate Change Starting a New Dust Bowl? Cycle A fetch -> What makes a storm a hurricane fetch -> The 1950s were the "Happy Days" because it was a time of economic prosperity, technology development, new entertainment, new fashion and family growth. The 1950s was a great time fetch -> Sputnik and The Dawn of the Space Age Download 21.37 Kb. Share with your friends:
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