The Story of Black Aggie
Urban legends are the supernatural folklore of our modern society. From one generation to the next, they orally travel throughout the world, constantly changing from one region to the next. Although cultural variations exist, the core of all these urban legends remains the same, to unveil the universally known individual and societal fears. “The Graveyard Wager” is a timeless urban legend told again and again, and the one of which I will explore more in depth.
A 19-year old female from Harford County, Maryland, narrated the story of Black Aggie, the urban legend of an overnight stay in a cemetery. She grew up Christian, and still lives in one of the more rural areas of Maryland with her younger sister and parents, who own and work at an electrical contracting business. Accustomed to hearing many ghost stories and urban legends, she first heard the story of Black Aggie during a middle school slumber party. Late one Saturday night over pizza in our Hagerstown dorm, she was more than willing to share her favorite urban legend with me.
In a cemetery in Baltimore there is an enormous black marble figure by the grave of a deceased general. It’s a magnificent statue of a grieving woman, cloaked in darkness, a black angel…named Black Aggie. During the day the statue’s arms mourn the tombstone [slight pause] but at nightfall, the statue eerily gazes on. If anyone were to return her terrifying stare, they would be struck blind! Supposedly during a full moon the ghosts of the dead would rise from their graves and meet at Black Aggie’s feet. My friend’s father’s fraternity wanted to scare all of their new members, and during one of the initiation nights, they ordered all the fresh candidates to spe...
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...hen the watchman finally discovers the dead fraternity boy. When describing Black Aggie’s eerie gaze, she scowled while narrowing her eyes to a demonic expression. Even though the original story was told to her many years ago, I was surprised to hear her perform the storytelling in such a passionate way. She fluently elaborated, and was able to fill in crucial details when necessary in order to narrate a suspenseful and entertaining story of Black Aggie.
Works Cited
Mikkelson, Barbara and David Mikkelson. Black Agnes. 10 October 2004. 3 April 2005.
http://www.snopes.com/horrors/ghosts/agnes.asp.
Taylor, Troy. "Black Aggie of Druid Ridge Cemetery." 2000. 3 April 2005. http://www.prairieghosts.com/druidridge.html.
Urban Legends and Modern Myths. 2003. Warped Images Unlimited. 5 April 2005. http://www.warphead.com/urbanlegends/creepy.htm.
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