Teacher: Lia K.

Urban Legends

Similar to oral traditions, divine myths, and folk lore, urban legends enable us to learn a lot about modern culture. They are often complete stories with plot and characters and contain elements of mystery, horror, fear, or humor. Like parables, Urban Legends, often try to teach us a lesson of some kind, but are usually cautionary tales about behavior and perceptions. Elements of shock value can be found in almost every form of urban legend and are partially what makes these tales so impactful, especially with elements of the supernatural or paranormal. In Stories in Korean: Urban Legends, you will learn about some of the most well known modern tales that everyone in Korea knows, highlighting often traditional but important values or ideas regarding death and life, beauty and personal worth, etc. You will be presented with four unique urban legends: 처녀귀신 (The Virgin Ghost), 선풍기 사망설 (Fan Death), 화장실귀신 (The Toilet Ghost), and 빨간 마스크 (The Girl with the Red Face Mask).