Urban Legend of the Kidney Thieves

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The Kidney Thieves

Urban legends are apocryphal stories involving incidents of the recent past, often including elements of humor and horror that spread quickly and are popularly believed to be true (1). They reflect society's deepest fears and anxieties. One urban legend can be retold with different settings and people, but the central theme or idea remains constant. The appeal of these legends is the possibility they can be true and that they bring out the listeners' deepest fears.

The storyteller in the following urban legend is a nineteen-year old man from Annapolis, Maryland. He is currently a freshman at the University, majoring in mechanical engineering. His mother is a nurse and his father, a dentist. One dark Thursday night, he sits me down in his dorm and tells me a chilling story in a hushed tone:

A couple years ago a friend of one of my best friends traveled to L.A. on a business trip. One night he went to a bar that reminded him of one back in Annapolis. He went in and played a round of pool and won--the guy he beat offered him a round of drinks and they got to talking. They talked about home and after a few more drinks, Bob lost track of time.

The last thing he remembers is deciding to call it a night before everything went black. The next thing he knew he woke up in a strange hotel room with a pain in his lower back. He went to see a doctor who told him that he had had major surgery, and one of his kidneys had been removed cleanly and professionally.

HISTORY

While seemingly not a tale of the supernatural or of ghosts, this story definitely includes elements of the uncanny. Many versions of this story are circulated, and one potential source for the story dates to 1988.

In 1989, ...

... middle of paper ...

...nce to decide exactly who these menacing “kidney thieves” are.

Works Cited

(1) Webster's New Millennium Dictionary of English, Preview Edition. Lexico Publishing Group, 2004. http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=urban%20legend.

(2) Mikkelson, Barbara and David P. You’ve Got to be Kidneying. Urban Legends Reference Pages, 2004. http://www.snopes.com/horrors/robbery/kidney.htm.

(3) Emery, David. The Kidney Snatchers. About Inc, 2005. http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/weekly/aa062997b.htm.

(4) Mikkelson, Barbara and David P. Organ Nicked: Vegetable. Urban Legends Reference Pages, 2004. http://www.snopes.com/horrors/robbery/kidney2.htm.

(5) NIH Publication No. 03–4241. Your Kidneys and How They Work. National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse, 2003. http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/yourkidneys/

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