# Urban Legends That Turn Out To Be True

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-legends-that-turn-out-to-be-true/470570>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [November 1, 2008, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-legends-that-turn-out-to-be-true/470570 "2008-11-01T14:06:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-legends-that-turn-out-to-be-true/470570/21 "2008-11-03T02:22:13Z")

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> [@DocCathode](#):
>
> That show was utter crap. I first read the Dreamhouse story in a book of traditional British folklore published in the 70s. Beyond Belief set the story in California in the 80s and said it really happened.

Utter? I don’t know. I _did_ find myself wishing they had stuck more closely to the true story, which was often compelling enough.

The bottom line of the serie, I thought, was that we’re inclined to believe the fantastic without checking snopes etc. However, when presented with some stories that you _know_ are true or false, ferreting out the difference can be challenging.

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**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-legends-that-turn-out-to-be-true/470570/22 "2008-11-03T02:27:28Z")

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Beyond Belief presented itself as ‘some of these stories are true and some we made up’.

The truth was ‘Some of these stories we made up. Some are pre-existing ULs and stories’

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**Author:** ![Mbossa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@Mbossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mbossa)\
**Post date:** [November 3, 2008, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/urban-legends-that-turn-out-to-be-true/470570/23 "2008-11-03T03:01:13Z")

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Douglas Adams is adamant that [this one](http://www.snopes.com/crime/safety/cookies.asp) happened to him. But even discounting Adams’ experience, that particular legend is plausible enough that I’d be extremely surprised if it hasn’t occurred dozens of times.

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