What have you heard about werewolves? [more inside]
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur on Oct 28, 2009 - 59 answers

Americans: Was your town a [rumored] Cold War missile target? [more inside]
posted by jeb on Oct 27, 2009 - 240 answers

Have heard a story told to me as a "true" story that someone supposedly has personal knowledge of, but I could swear I've heard this before, either as urban legend, or maybe from the plot of a movie or book. Does anyone recognize this story? [more inside]
posted by leticia on Aug 16, 2009 - 8 answers

Any anthropologists, classicists, or world literature historians out there? Looking for stories (from any culture, era, or part of the globe) featuring what we would consider to be moral violations (human sacrifice, incest, slavery etc.), but which the culture or author would have considered morally righteous. [more inside]
posted by Arthur "Two Sheds" Jackson on Aug 14, 2009 - 30 answers

Is there a name for this kind of leg? Specifically, in mammals or birds? I swear I once read an article discussing typical folkloric drawings of the Devil wherein he was described as having the ________ legs of a goat. Google and Wikipedia have failed me, as have my well-educated friends. I'm starting to wonder if I never actually read the article, and perhaps it was some kind of vivid, reading dream.
posted by johnbaskerville on Feb 4, 2009 - 16 answers

How accurate is Punxsutawney Phil? [more inside]
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood on Feb 2, 2009 - 9 answers

Are these anime characters rooted in Japanese folklore? [more inside]
posted by RubyDoom on Dec 15, 2008 - 3 answers

I'm looking for werewolf literature. Any fiction with a halfway decent plot. Novels, short stories, folklore. Comics or graphic novels also okay. [more inside]
posted by Ritchie on Oct 16, 2008 - 38 answers

Need help finding a book. I think it was a short stories collection. One of the stories was about a king that left his new bride alone when he had to go somewhere on business. He gave her a keychain with keys to all the rooms and an egg he told her to carry around... [more inside]
posted by icarus on Sep 28, 2008 - 8 answers

American Studies scholars, please help me compare 2 programs in New England and American Studies and get some general advice. [more inside]
posted by Miko on Jun 23, 2008 - 10 answers

Bulgarian speakers: What song is this? [more inside]
posted by mykescipark on Jun 15, 2008 - 6 answers

Is the Wendigo purely a Northeast American (and Canadian) myth? If so is there a Northwest equivalent?
posted by Artw on Apr 29, 2008 - 15 answers

Got any great books about luck? [more inside]
posted by Andrhia on Dec 26, 2007 - 18 answers

There's a bit in Terry Pratchett's Lords and Ladies that's puzzled me ever since I read it. Spoiler, quote, and specific (possibly very silly, since it's not even mentioned in the annotations) question inside. [more inside]
posted by Many bubbles on May 12, 2007 - 4 answers

Which book would you consider a "universal" book? [more inside]
posted by Jaybo on Mar 14, 2007 - 57 answers

Novels, short stories, movies--all are welcome. I find shadow stories spooky and interesting. My fave was a kid book called "The Shades" which explains how the shadows of people live their own lives. Know of any others?
posted by largecorp on Dec 15, 2006 - 7 answers

Half-remembered fairy tale: a kid could only draw one eye on an animal, or else it would come to life. His secret is revealed when he's forced to draw both eyes on an animal, which then.. leaps off the page. What was this story? Where did it come from?
posted by cmyk on Dec 10, 2006 - 4 answers

Are there any cultures that don't anthropomorphize animals and other things (living or otherwise) in their myths, legends, folktales, etc.? Is this a universal thing? And if it is universal, are there any layman accessible books or articles on why?
posted by PinkStainlessTail on Sep 25, 2006 - 20 answers

The terrain of the subconscious. The stories we tell ourselves. Book recommendations to better pick out and respond to the undercurrents of situations. Maybe books on archetypes, folklore, symbols, fantasy. Maybe just books with strong character development. [more inside]
posted by beatrice on Aug 21, 2006 - 18 answers

Can anyone help me find Indian / Hindi folklore? [more inside]
posted by Medieval Maven on Aug 15, 2006 - 20 answers

Is anyone familiar with the comedy routine of Little Red Riding Hood told backwards? A teacher I had in jr. high just died and that was one of his trademark stories. I always thought it was an original, but then I heard it years later and now can't remember who did it. It basically involved telling the story straight but mixing up the sentence structure. At least that's what I recall some 22 years later.
posted by DonnieSticks on Jan 25, 2006 - 14 answers

A few years ago my mother picked up this traditional(?) instrument in Hungary. What's it called and how do you use it?
posted by klue on Mar 20, 2005 - 9 answers

In your house, what food does, or does not, need to be refrigerated? [more inside]
posted by soyjoy on Aug 6, 2004 - 40 answers

This is an admittedly silly question, but I'm curious nonetheless. I'm battling insomnia and the new-generation Transformers cartoon comes on the television. The presumed villain is a schizophrenic character, whose head appears to have three faces side by side, and he switches faces, and the different personalities battle amongst each other.

I've also seen this in some really bad B Skiing movie from the 80's. No clue of the name. But I've seen it other places, too. My question is, does anyone have a clue where this concept originates? Is it some obscure R.D.Laing essay that I've overlooked? Some folklore I am not familiar with?
posted by oog on Jul 23, 2004 - 15 answers