A
web-companion to the case-centred study of Phantom
Hitch-Hikers & Phantom
Road Accident cases in Folklore and Fact, by
Sean Tudor
"She
didn't try to get out of my way but just looked at me and smiled as I
hit her."
All over the world
motorists report knocking down figures that wait or run suddenly into
the path of their vehicle. Often these events are found in close
association with tales of hitch-hiking phantoms - tales that folklorists
uniformly regard as a staple of 'modern' folklore: Urban Legends.
But can all such stories be so readily
dismissed? Or are we confronted by a phenomenon that, as evidenced by
the folklore and historical records of many nations, has been a genuine
feature of human experience since time immemorial?
