Best Geeky Finds – Is It Just a Story?

Blog-BGFWe’ve all heard the stories: The ghostly hitchhiker who vanishes once she’s given a ride home; the girl who is found poisoned after never leaving her home, only to discover her dress was the cause; even the mysterious call from inside the house.

All of these are urban legends that have been told time and time again, usually having happening to a friend of one of our friends, but never to us, thankfully. So, since we hear about them so much, could they be true?

The Just a Story podcast investigates themes and specific urban legends to discover just this. Each week Jake and Sam piece through what are myths, misdeeds, fears and fables, and learn what these say about us as humans and why we still tell certain tales. As the guys in last week’s podcast Goosebuds see what the stories portrayed in the Goosebumps series say about YA lit in the 90s, Jake and Sam go through the history of each legend, going back to its origin and using such to get an historical perspective of life in the past.

JASFor instance, did you know that the origin of the Ouija board began as an alternative method of automatic writing (mindlessly writing, claimed to be spirits moving the person’s hand and giving them the words) that would prevent hand cramping? When the Associated Press reported on spiritualists in Ohio creating their own hand-made spirit boards, Charles Kennard took the idea and created the Ouija board, now sold as by Parker Brothers as a game, and others as a “demon board.” Even more interesting – this board is patented!

The Just a Story podcast can be found at https://justastorypod.com and on twitter @justastorypod.

If you want even more murderous urban legends, be sure to check out the documentary Killer Legends on Netflix. In this film, Joshua Zeman and Rachel Mills examine 4 different legends, tracing each back to their origins and discovering similar findings about the original murders that inspired them, similar to Just A Story.

Remember, it might not be just a story.

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