All towns have their urban legends, but the spooky or sometimes amusing tales seem to thrive on college campuses. In most cases these stories probably originate from a mischievous upperclassman who just wants to pull your leg. With Halloween just around the corner, we thought we’d take a “spooky” approach to this week’s blog post, knowing that urban legends are common at universities (and other places) all over the world. However, it’s highly unlikely that any of them are even remotely true.
The library is slowly sinking. The storyteller might inform you that the architects of the library didn’t account for the weight of the books in the building, and because of that little mathematical error the library sinks an inch or two each year. Hopefully you’ll detect a tall tale right away, but some people are better at telling these stories than others. If you fall for it, you might end up feeling silly.
If your roommate dies, you’ll receive straight A’s for the semester. This myth is usually proceeded by a tale about “some guy a few years ago”. We can assure you that “some guy” does not exist, but even if he does, he definitely did not receive top grades due to his roommate’s death. Hopefully his professors were understanding, though.
If you’re hit by a car on campus… You get straight A’s for the year, you free tuition, or some other absurd compensation. While those stories aren’t true, you might receive some sort of payout from the driver’s liability insurance, which will just go to cover your medical bills. Stay out of intersections and spend a bit more time studying!
“Aren’t you glad you didn’t turn on the light?” Several versions of the story tend to circulate around Halloween each year, but the basic plot is that a student arrives home at their dorm room late at night. Not wanting to wake their roommate, they go straight to bed in the dark. In the morning, they find their roommate’s body and a bloody message that reads, “aren’t you glad you didn’t turn on the light?” Yikes. This may be a scene from a horror movie, but it’s definitely just a scary story (and no, even this horror won’t result in straight A’s).
Organ harvesting. Finally, no, there are no confirmed stories of anyone waking up in the bathtub of a frat house to realize their organs have been harvested. It makes for a terrific, late-night creepy tale on the quad, but luckily this has never happened on any college campus.
Don’t worry about scary urban legends; they’re just stories created as a gag. But if going off to college is causing some anxiety, do continue to follow our blogs. We’ll keep updating you with tips to make the transition easier, so your college years can be some of the best of your life.