Gail de Vos

The author focused on "the visible evolution of the transmission of contemporary legends and the noticeable lack of fresh and new legend content...as they interest, influence and reflect young-adult audiences..."

Scholarly and straightforward, not stuffy or bogged down by jargon. Of the four books I read in 2014 about contemporary legends aka urban legends, What Happens Next? was by far the most interesting, and it also felt the most relevant and modern. Filled with analyses by theme and media appearances with dozens of references to worldwide pop culture, I could spend another three months reading this book and still find lots more to ponder and investigate.

"Contemporary legends are definitely not disappearing, even if their content has remained essentially static for some time (p.227)." Conclusion: Technology allows for faster, wider spread sharing of contemporary legends but the tales themselves are only being reworked, not invented. No new tales yet.

4 stars

Note to self: The brief glossary at the beginning of chapters two and three was helpful.… (mehr)