Hour 1 of this 2-hour lecture will focus on how folklore is identified and how it differs from historical fact, as well as the value story-telling has in the preservation and integrity of a culture. Traditional definitions of folklore can be identified in many of our regions “ghost stories” and we’ll examine as well as clarify some of the most popular in our discussion.

Hour 2 of this lecture is a rather different approach to the traditional academic classification of “folklore”. We’ll include an examination of “mutated” folklore- from Reddit through Facebook- and how these stories spread into culture in general. And yes!... we will discuss the infamous Slenderman and how this one example shook up what academia thought they knew about the internet!