OCTOPUS : When Legend Becomes Fact
“Ostension --
is a term borrowed from
The Discipline of Semiotics.
The Term We use, when
Legend, becomes Fact --
Because People like
to PLAY with Legends.
They'd like to Help Make
them Become Real.
(Deny, deny, deny, die, die.)
Hundreds of stories circulate
among millions of people —
In most cases, The Story
simply gets passed on.
But sometimes,
The RIGHT Story contacts
The Right Person; maybe
The WRONG Person.
And then The Legend is like
A Seed that starts to GROW
in that person's Mind, or like
A TUNE he can't get out of his head.
These are the people that might
be compelled to act-out The Legend story.
Pets HAVE been cooked in microwaves,
for a variety of reasons.
Several people who are
HIV-positive have DELIBERATELY slept
with new partners, with the INTENTION
of passing The Disease on.
All these events happened AFTER
The Legends describing similar events
had become popular.
Consider the 1974
Trick-or-Treat Murder
in Houston, Texas :
An 8-year-old boy really
WAS poisoned through
Trick-or-Treat Candy;
His Father had taken out
Life Insurance on
The Boy previously, so
he was the one accused.
His Defence was, that he'd seen
A Hairy-handed Stranger PUT
The Candy in the boy's bag.
The Father was convicted.
The Judge set the following Halloween
as the date for his execution.
Murder by LEGEND.
Defense by LEGEND.
A Judge set on creating
his OWN Halloween Legend.
We as Folklorists must acknowledge that
so-called Urban Myths or contemporary Legends
exist not simply as Verbal Texts to be collected,
transcribed, and tucked into The Archives.
They are also Maps for Action,
sometimes VIOLENT Action.
I mean, that's what Ostension should Teach You :
Folklore, can KILL You..!”
