Vanishing hitchhiker
Encyclopedia
The vanishing hitchhiker (the ghostly hitchhiker, the disappearing hitchhiker, the phantom hitchhiker or the hitchhiker) story is an urban legend
in which people travelling by vehicle meet with or are accompanied by a hitchhiker who subsequently vanishes without explanation, often from a moving vehicle. Vanishing hitchhikers have been reported for centuries and the story is found across the world, in many variants. The popularity and endurance of the legend has helped it spread into contemporary popular culture
.
Public knowledge of the term expanded greatly with the 1981 publication of Jan Harold Brunvand
's book The Vanishing Hitchhiker, which helped launch public awareness of urban legends.
In such tellings, the garment borrowed is often subsequently found draped over a gravestone in a local cemetery. In this and in the instance of 'imparted information', the unsuspecting motorist subsequently makes contact with the family of a deceased person and finds that their passenger fits the description of a family member killed in some unexpected way (usually a car accident
) and that the driver's encounter with the vanishing hitchhiker occurred on the anniversary of their death.
Not all vanishing hitchhiker reports involved allegedly recurring ghost
s. One popular variant in Hawaii
involves the goddess Pele
, travelling the roads incognito and rewarding kind travellers. Other variants include hitchhikers who utter prophecies (typically of pending catastrophe or other evils) before vanishing.
folklorists
Richard Beardsley and Rosalie Hankey, who collected as many accounts as they could and attempted to analyse them.
The Beardsley-Hankey survey elicited 79 written accounts of encounters with vanishing hitchhikers, drawn from across the USA.
They found: "Four distinctly different versions, distinguishable because of obvious differences in development and essence."
These are described as:
Beardsley and Hankey were particularly interested to note one instance (location: Kingston, New York, 1941) in which the vanishing hitchhiker was subsequently identified as the late Mother Cabrini, founder of the local Sacred Heart Orphanage, who was beatified for her work. The authors felt that this was a case of Version 'B' glimpsed in transition to Version 'D'.
Beardsley and Hankey concluded that Version 'A' was closest to the original form of the story, containing the essential elements of the legend. Version 'B' and 'D', they believed, were localised variations, while 'C' was supposed to have started life as a separate ghost story which at some stage became conflated with the original vanishing hitchhiker story (Version 'A').
One of their conclusions certainly seems reflected in the continuation of vanishing hitchhiker stories: The hitchhiker is, in the majority of cases, female and the lift-giver male. Beardsley and Hankey's sample contained 47 young female apparitions, 14 old lady apparitions, and 14 more of an indeterminate sort.
Ernest W Baughman's Type- and Motif-Index of the Folk Tales of England and North America (1966) delineates the basic vanishing hitchhiker as follows:
Baughman's classification system grades this basic story as motif E332.3.3.1.
Subcategories include:
Here, the phenomenon blends into religious encounters, with the next and last vanishing hitchhiker classification - E332.3.3.2 - being for encounters with divinities who take to the road as hitchhikers. The legend of St. Christopher is considered one of these, and the story of Philip the Apostle
being transported by God after encountering the Ethiopian on the road (Acts
8:26-39) is sometimes similarly interpreted.
Urban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
in which people travelling by vehicle meet with or are accompanied by a hitchhiker who subsequently vanishes without explanation, often from a moving vehicle. Vanishing hitchhikers have been reported for centuries and the story is found across the world, in many variants. The popularity and endurance of the legend has helped it spread into contemporary popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
.
Public knowledge of the term expanded greatly with the 1981 publication of Jan Harold Brunvand
Jan Harold Brunvand
Jan Harold Brunvand is an American folklorist. A professor emeritus of the University of Utah, he best known for spreading the concept of the urban legend, a form of modern folklore...
's book The Vanishing Hitchhiker, which helped launch public awareness of urban legends.
Basic form
The archetypal modern vanishing hitchhiker is a figure seen in the headlights of a car travelling by night with a single occupant. The figure adopts the stance of a hitchhiker. The motorist stops and offers the figure a lift. The journey proceeds, sometimes in total silence, and at some subsequent point the passenger appears to vanish while the vehicle is in motion. In many cases, the hitchhiker vanishes when the vehicle reaches the hitchhiker's destination.Variations
A common variation of the above involves the vanishing hitchhiker departing as would a normal passenger, having left some item in the car, or having borrowed a garment for protection against alleged cold (whether or not the weather conditions reflect this claim). The vanishing hitchhiker can also leave some form of information that allegedly encourages the motorist to make subsequent contact.In such tellings, the garment borrowed is often subsequently found draped over a gravestone in a local cemetery. In this and in the instance of 'imparted information', the unsuspecting motorist subsequently makes contact with the family of a deceased person and finds that their passenger fits the description of a family member killed in some unexpected way (usually a car accident
Car accident
A traffic collision, also known as a traffic accident, motor vehicle collision, motor vehicle accident, car accident, automobile accident, Road Traffic Collision or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other stationary obstruction,...
) and that the driver's encounter with the vanishing hitchhiker occurred on the anniversary of their death.
Not all vanishing hitchhiker reports involved allegedly recurring ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
s. One popular variant in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
involves the goddess Pele
Pele (mythology)
In the Hawaiian religion, Pele is the goddess of fire, lightning, wind, and volcanoes. She is a popular figure in many stories of ancient Hawaii known as Hawaiian mythology.-Legends:...
, travelling the roads incognito and rewarding kind travellers. Other variants include hitchhikers who utter prophecies (typically of pending catastrophe or other evils) before vanishing.
Classifications
The first proper study of the story of the vanishing hitchhiker was undertaken in 1942-3 by AmericanUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
folklorists
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
Richard Beardsley and Rosalie Hankey, who collected as many accounts as they could and attempted to analyse them.
The Beardsley-Hankey survey elicited 79 written accounts of encounters with vanishing hitchhikers, drawn from across the USA.
They found: "Four distinctly different versions, distinguishable because of obvious differences in development and essence."
These are described as:
- A. Stories where the hitch-hiker [sicSicSic—generally inside square brackets, [sic], and occasionally parentheses, —when added just after a quote or reprinted text, indicates the passage appears exactly as in the original source...
] gives an address through which the motorist learns he has just given a lift to a ghost.- 49 of the Beardsley-Hankey samples fell into this category, with responses from 16 states of the USA.
- B. Stories where the hitch-hiker is an old woman who prophesies disaster or the end of World War II; subsequent inquiries likewise reveal her to be deceased.
- Nine of the samples fit this description, and eight of these came from the vicinity of ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Beardsley and Hankey felt that this indicated a local origin, which they dated to approximately 1933: two of the version B hitchhikers in this sample foretold disaster at the Century of ProgressCentury of ProgressA Century of Progress International Exposition was the name of a World's Fair held in Chicago from 1933 to 1934 to celebrate the city's centennial. The theme of the fair was technological innovation...
Exposition and another foresaw calamity "at the World's FairWorld's FairWorld's fair, World fair, Universal Exposition, and World Expo are various large public exhibitions held in different parts of the world. The first Expo was held in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, United Kingdom, in 1851, under the title "Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All...
". The strict topicality of these unsuccessful forecasts did not appear to thwart the appearance of further Version 'B' hitch-hikers, one of whom warned that Northerly Island, Michigan, would soon be submerged (this never happened).
- Nine of the samples fit this description, and eight of these came from the vicinity of Chicago
- C. Stories where a girl is met at some place of entertainment, e.g., dance, instead of on the road; she leaves some token (often the overcoat she borrowed from the motorist) on her grave by way of corroborating the experience and her identity.
- The uniformity amongst separate accounts of this variant led Beardsley and Hankey to strongly doubt its folkloric authenticity.
- D. Stories where the hitch-hiker is later identified as a local divinity.
Beardsley and Hankey were particularly interested to note one instance (location: Kingston, New York, 1941) in which the vanishing hitchhiker was subsequently identified as the late Mother Cabrini, founder of the local Sacred Heart Orphanage, who was beatified for her work. The authors felt that this was a case of Version 'B' glimpsed in transition to Version 'D'.
Beardsley and Hankey concluded that Version 'A' was closest to the original form of the story, containing the essential elements of the legend. Version 'B' and 'D', they believed, were localised variations, while 'C' was supposed to have started life as a separate ghost story which at some stage became conflated with the original vanishing hitchhiker story (Version 'A').
One of their conclusions certainly seems reflected in the continuation of vanishing hitchhiker stories: The hitchhiker is, in the majority of cases, female and the lift-giver male. Beardsley and Hankey's sample contained 47 young female apparitions, 14 old lady apparitions, and 14 more of an indeterminate sort.
Ernest W Baughman's Type- and Motif-Index of the Folk Tales of England and North America (1966) delineates the basic vanishing hitchhiker as follows:
- "Ghost of young woman asks for ride in automobile, disappears from closed car without the driver's knowledge, after giving him an address to which she wishes to be taken. The driver asks person at the address about the rider, finds she has been dead for some time. (Often the driver finds that the ghost has made similar attempts to return, usually on the anniversary of death in automobile accident. Often, too, the ghost leaves some item such as a scarf or travelling bag in the car.)"
Baughman's classification system grades this basic story as motif E332.3.3.1.
Subcategories include:
- E332.3.3.1(a) for vanishing hitchhikers who reappear on anniversaries;
- E332.3.3.1(b) for vanishing hitchhikers who leave items in vehicles, unless the item is a pool of water in which case it is E332.3.3.1(c);
- E332.3.3.1(d) is for accounts of sinister old ladies who prophesy disasters;
- E332.3.3.1(e) contains accounts of phantoms who are apparently sufficiently solid to engage in activities such as eating or drinking during their journey;
- E332.3.3.1(f) is for phantom parents who want to be taken to the sickbed of their dying son;
- E332.3.3.1(g) is for hitchhikers simply requesting a lift home;
- E332.3.3.1(h-j) are a category reserved exclusively for vanishing nuns (a surprisingly common variant), some of whom foretell the future.
Here, the phenomenon blends into religious encounters, with the next and last vanishing hitchhiker classification - E332.3.3.2 - being for encounters with divinities who take to the road as hitchhikers. The legend of St. Christopher is considered one of these, and the story of Philip the Apostle
Philip the Apostle
Philip the Apostle was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. Later Christian traditions describe Philip as the apostle who preached in Greece, Syria, and Phrygia....
being transported by God after encountering the Ethiopian on the road (Acts
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of the Apostles , usually referred to simply as Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament; Acts outlines the history of the Apostolic Age...
8:26-39) is sometimes similarly interpreted.
Prophetic hitchhikers of the 1970s
The vanishing hitchhiker phenomenon took on a decidedly divinatory cast during the 1970s and early 1980s.- 1975 saw a rash of reports of a prophetic nun vanishing from cars after hitching lifts near the AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n-GermanGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
border. On 13 April that year, after a 43-year-old businessman drove his car off the road in fright at the disappearance of his passenger, Austrian police threatened a fine equivalent to £200 (1975 value) to anyone reporting similar stories.
- In early 1977, nearly a dozen motorists in and around MilanMilanMilan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
reported giving lifts to another vanishing nun, who (prior to her unexpected disappearance) forewarned her benefactors of the impending destruction of Milan by earthquake on 27 February (this disaster did not happen) (La Stampa, 25 and 26 February, 1 March 1977; Dallas Morning News 25 February 1977).
- In 1979, near Little Rock, ArkansasArkansasArkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, a 'well-dressed and presentable young man' was hitching lifts despite laws against such activity. When safely aboard, he would confide details of the forthcoming Second Coming of Christ to his startled host(s). After revealing his insights, he would vanish from the moving car. The 'presentable young man' continued his excursions for over a year. The last reported sighting took place on 6 July 1980, when the vanishing hitchhiker's prophecy was apparently a bungled kind of meteorology. He assured his worried driver (and passengers, thus making this a multiple sighting) that it would 'never rain again' - before vanishing from the speeding car a moment or two later. A named Arkansas State Trooper - Robert Rotten - later confirmed to the press (Indiana Star, 26 July 1980) that they had logged two reports of this character's behaviour, but were unofficially aware of many more.
- At around the same time as the above prophetic hitchhiker, a second itinerant soothsayer was vanishing from cars around Interstate 5, between Tacoma, Washington, and Eugene, Oregon. Described as a 50-60 year old woman, sometimes in a nun's habit, the hitchhiker would discourse on God and Salvation before vanishing from the car's cabin. Another witness had been warned to repent his (unspecified) sins, or die in a road accident. As 1980 progressed, this vanishing hitchhiker began to display a worrying interest in Mount St. HelensMount St. HelensMount St. Helens is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is south of Seattle, Washington and northeast of Portland, Oregon. Mount St. Helens takes its English name from the British diplomat Lord St Helens, a...
. She took to warning motorists that the eruption of that volcano in May 1980 signified God's warning to the Northwest and that those who did not return to the fold could expect to perish volcanically in the very near future (18 May, to be precise). Tacoma police logged twenty calls from motorists who had met this sinister individual. Latterly, the woman took on a new guise (or perhaps a new vanishing hitchhiker with similar preoccupations assumed her duties) and the roads were again busy with whispered intimations of pending disaster (this time, set for 12 October). The Midnight Globe (5 August 1980) quotes two police officers who had dealt with shocked motorists and one motorist who claimed to have met the vanishing woman or women.
Cultural references
- The vanishing hitchhiker was the inspiration for Dickey LeeDickey LeeRoyden Dickey Lipscomb , known professionally as Dickey Lee , is an American pop/country singer and songwriter, best known for the 1960s teenage tragedy songs "Patches" and "Laurie ."-Career:Lee made his first recordings in his hometown of Memphis for Tampa...
's recording on a 45 rpm single (TCF-102) of the song "Laurie", which is subtitled "Strange Things Happen ..." Country Joe McDonaldCountry Joe McDonaldCountry Joe McDonald is an American musician who was the lead singer of the 1960s psychedelic rock group Country Joe and the Fish.-Personal life:...
wrote and performed a song about a vanishing hitchhiker called "Hold On It's Coming", later covered by New Riders of the Purple SageNew Riders of the Purple SageNew Riders of the Purple Sage is an American country rock band. The group emerged from the psychedelic rock scene in San Francisco, California in 1969, and its original lineup included several members of the Grateful Dead. Their best known song is "Panama Red"...
. Other modern songs include "I Guess It Doesn't Matter Anymore" by Blackmore's NightBlackmore's NightBlackmore's Night is an English-American traditional folk rock duo led by Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night .-Early:...
on Village Lanterne and "Bringing Mary Home" by the Country GentlemenThe Country GentlemenThe Country Gentlemen were a bluegrass band that originated during the 1950s in the area of Washington, DC, United States, and recorded and toured with various members until the death in 2004 of Charlie Waller, one of the group's founders who in its later years served as the group's "focal point...
originally on Starday's subsidiary, Nashville Records 45 rpm # 2018 in 1964.
- Author Alvin SchwartzAlvin Schwartz (children's author)Alvin Schwartz was the author of more than fifty books dedicated to and dealing with topics such as folklore and word play, many of which were intended for young readers...
includes a variation of the vanishing hitchhiker legend in his book More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark along with copious notes detailing the origin and variations of the story.
- David Allan CoeDavid Allan CoeDavid Allan Coe is an American outlaw country music singer who achieved popularity in the 1970s and 1980s. He has written and performed over 280 original songs throughout his career...
's song "The RideThe Ride (song)"The Ride" is the title of a song written by Gary Gentry and J.B. Detterline Jr., and recorded by American country singer-songwriter David Allan Coe. It was released in February 1983 as the lead single from the album, Castles in the Sand...
" reverses the vanishing hitchhiker scenario. In "The Ride", Coe is the pedestrianPedestrianA pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In some communities, those traveling using roller skates or skateboards are also considered to be pedestrians. In modern times, the term mostly refers to someone walking on a road or footpath, but this was not the case...
hitching a ride in a CadillacCadillacCadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...
driven by Hank Williams from Montgomery, AlabamaMontgomery, AlabamaMontgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
(Williams' hometown) to Nashville, TennesseeNashville, TennesseeNashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
. At the end of the ride, Williams turns the car around, stops, and lets Coe out, saying "This is where you get off, boy, 'cause I'm goin' back to Alabam'."
- Keith BryantKeith BryantKeith Bryant is an American country music artist. In his career, he has released four independent studio albums, including one on Lofton Creek Records. He charted for the first time in 2004 with the single "Riding' with the Legend", which Bryant co-wrote as a tribute to former NASCAR driver Dale...
's version of "The Ride" is about an amateur NascarNASCARThe National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
driver that gets a ride to Daytona International SpeedwayDaytona International SpeedwayDaytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, one of the most prestigious races in NASCAR. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts races of ARCA, AMA Superbike, Grand-Am and Motocross...
from Dale EarnhardtDale EarnhardtRalph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. was an American race car driver, best known for his involvement in stock car racing for NASCAR...
.
- "Phantom 309Phantom 309Phantom 309 may refer to:* "Phantom 309" , a hit song by Red Sovine* A project by Ooberman bassist Steve Flett...
" depicts Red SovineRed SovineWoodrow Wilson Sovine , better known as Red Sovine, was an American country music singer associated with truck driving songs, particularly those recited as narratives but set to music...
thumbingThumbingThumbing may refer to:*The act of typing on a small keyboard solely using the thumbs. It is primarily used with mobile phones for SMS text messaging, and also with devices such as PDAs with built-in keyboards....
a ride with a trucker. When the driver lets Sovine out a nearby truck stopTruck stopA truck stop is a commercial facility predicated on providing fuel, parking, and often food and other services to motorists and truck drivers...
, he tells him to inform the truck stop crowd of who sent him. Silence overtakes the truck stop before one of the patronPatrónPatrón is a luxury brand of tequila produced in Mexico and sold in hand-blown, individually numbered bottles.Made entirely from Blue Agave "piñas" , Patrón comes in five varieties: Silver, Añejo, Reposado, Gran Patrón Platinum and Gran Patrón Burdeos. Patrón also sells a tequila-coffee blend known...
s tells Sovine the story of the driver, who died after crashing his rig to spare a group of teenagers he hadn't seen in time to stop after topping a hill. Sovine also recorded "Bringing Mary HomeBringing Mary HomeBringing Mary Home is an album by the progressive bluegrass band Country Gentlemen, recorded in 1966..- Track listing :# Bringing Mary Home# Down Where the River Bends# Battle Hymn of the Republic# Banks of the Ohio# Brown Mountain Light...
", in which he picks up a young woman standing by the road on a stormy night, only to have her disappear before he reaches the address she gives him. Her parents answer the door and tell him that he is the thirteenth man who has come to them, bringing Mary home.
- "Big Joe and Phantom 309" written by Tommy FaileTommy FaileTommy Faile was an American songwriter and singer best known for composing "Phantom 309" and singing "The Legend of the Brown Mountain Lights"...
and sung by Tom WaitsTom WaitsThomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
in his 1975 album Nighthawks at the DinerNighthawks at the DinerNighthawks at the Diner is a 1975 album by Tom Waits, released on Asylum Records. The title was inspired by Edward Hopper's 1942 painting Nighthawks....
.
- Hilton EdwardsHilton EdwardsHilton Edwards was an English-born Irish actor and theatrical producer. He was the son of Thomas George Cecil Edwards and Emily Edwards ....
directed a 1951 movie called Return to GlennascaulReturn to GlennascaulReturn to Glennascaul, also known as Orson Welles' Ghost Story, is a 1951 short film starring Orson Welles. It was written and directed by Hilton Edwards and produced by Micheál MacLiammóir....
, starring Orson WellesOrson WellesGeorge Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
, which centered around a Vanishing Hitchhiker event.
- In the Girl on the Road episode of the obscure TV series The VeilThe VeilThe Veil is the title of an American horror/suspense anthology television series produced in 1958 by Hal Roach Studios.The series was hosted by Boris Karloff, who also acted in every episode but one, and was allegedly based upon real-life reports of supernatural happenings and the unexplained...
hosted by Boris Karloff, a motorist aids a girl stranded on the highway. After she vanishes, he searches for her, eventually discovering she had died years before in a wreck on the stretch of road where he met her.
- In the 1960 British horror film The City of the Dead (aka Horror Hotel) actor Valentine DyallValentine DyallValentine Dyall was an English character actor, the son of veteran actor Franklin Dyall. Dyall was especially popular as a voice actor, due to his very distinctive sepulchral voice, he was known for many years as "The Man in Black", narrator of the BBC Radio horror series Appointment With Fear.In...
plays a centuries-old warlock who hitches a ride with two different characters in the movie and then vanishes from the car as soon as they reach an ancient New England witch village.
- The Swirling EddiesThe Swirling EddiesThe Swirling Eddies are a band that began as an anonymous spinoff from the band Daniel Amos, along with new drummer David Raven.-Career:For each Swirling Eddies release, band members adopted pseudonyms for the liner notes; "Camarillo Eddy" , "Berger Roy Al" , "Gene Pool" , "Arthur Fhardy" , "Spot"...
released a song on their Outdoor ElvisOutdoor ElvisOutdoor Elvis is the title of the second album by rock band The Swirling Eddies, released in 1989 on Alarma Records.The title track found the Swirling Eddies in search of the elusive Elvis Presley who, according to the song, escaped the city by faking his own death and decided to make his home in...
album (1990) called "Urban Legends". In the lyrics, the narrator critiques the naive belief in urban legendUrban legendAn urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
s by satirically having the vanishing hitchhiker tell the car driver to "stop telling lies" before he vanishes.
- Dust DevilDust Devil (1993 film)Dust Devil is a 1993 horror film written and directed by Richard Stanley. The film was described as being like "Tarkovsky on acid" by Steve Beard of The Face.-Plot:...
a 1993 cult film by Richard Stanley set in South Africa was, according to the DVD commentary, inspired by the director's memory of being told the Vanishing Hitchhiker legend as a youngster.
- The 1985 film Pee-wee's Big AdventurePee-wee's Big AdventurePee-wee's Big Adventure is a 1985 American adventure comedy film directed by Tim Burton in his full-length debut and starring Paul Reubens as Pee-wee Herman. Reubens also co-wrote the script with Phil Hartman and Michael Varhol. Supporting roles are played by Elizabeth Daily, Mark Holton, Diane...
includes a scene that is a variation on "Phantom 309". While hitchhiking across the country in search of his stolen bicycle, Pee Wee (Paul ReubensPaul ReubensPaul Reubens is an American actor, writer, film producer, and comedian, best known for his character Pee-wee Herman. Reubens joined the Los Angeles troupe The Groundlings in the 1970s and started his career as an improvisational comedian and stage actor...
) thumbs a ride with a female truck driver named "Large Marge" who relates to him the story of "the worst accident I ever seen," which concludes with Marge's face contorting very ghoulishly. When Pee Wee announces to the truck stop that Large Marge sent him, one customer recounts that this particular evening is the anniversary of said accident. It is also explained that this accident happened to Large Marge herself.
- The contemporary folk-style song "Ferryman" by Mercedes LackeyMercedes LackeyMercedes "Misty" Lackey is a best-selling American author of fantasy novels. Many of her novels and trilogies are interlinked and set in the world of Velgarth, mostly in and around the country of Valdemar...
and Leslie FishLeslie FishLeslie Fish is a filk musician, author, and anarchist political activist.-Music:Along with The DeHorn Crew, in 1976 she created the first commercial filk recording, Folk Songs for Folk Who Ain't Even Been Yet...
offers another version of the reversal. The encounter here is between a young girl seeking to cross a river in a violent storm, and a ferryman who agrees to take her without charge. Although the tone implies an unworldly nature to the girl, in the end it is the ferryman who is revealed as the ghost. This version includes a garment as a token: the girl’s shawl, left as a pledge for the fare, is found in the morning on the ferryman’s grave.
- A popular BollywoodBollywoodBollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
horror filmHorror filmHorror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
of the 1960s Bees Saal BaadBees Saal BaadBees Saal Baad is a 1962 Bollywood film. The movie was produced by Hemant Kumar, who also gave the music and sings some of the movie's memorable songs, the film is directed by Biren Nag. The film stars Biswajeet, Waheeda Rehman, Madan Puri, Sajjan and Asit Sen.The plot is loosely based on Sir...
has the sequence where the leading man gives a lift to a beautiful woman on a stormy night. Her manner is mysterious and answers questions vaguely and she asks to be dropped off at a gate. He says "But that's a cemetery!". She looks at him, smiles enigmatically and gets off the car and walks into the cemetery. The gate opens automatically for her.
- In 1942, the radio show SuspenseSuspense (radio program)-Production background:One of the premier drama programs of the Golden Age of Radio, was subtitled "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" and focused on suspense thriller-type scripts, usually featuring leading Hollywood actors of the era...
broadcast Lucille FletcherLucille FletcherLucille Fletcher was an American screenwriter of film, radio and television. Her full name was Violet Lucille Fletcher...
's radioplay The Hitchhiker starring Orson WellesOrson WellesGeorge Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
. The play contained a variation or subversion of the myth where it is the driver that is the ghost, and a hitchhiker (but not the title character) that is alive. A man (or woman in subsequent adaptations) is involved in a car crash that initially appears to have been a minor blown tire. "The Hitch-HikerThe Hitch-Hiker (The Twilight Zone)"The Hitch-Hiker" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.-Synopsis:The story begins with Nan Adams, whose vehicle gets a flat tire on a cross-country road trip from New York City to Los Angeles. A mechanic puts a spare tire on her car and directs her to the...
", an episode of The Twilight ZoneThe Twilight ZoneThe Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
, and the episode "RoadKill" of the TV series SupernaturalSupernatural (TV series)Supernatural is an American supernatural and horror television series created by Eric Kripke, which debuted on September 13, 2005 on The WB, and is now part of The CW's lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the brothers as they...
, were notable television adaptations of this particular variation.
See also
- Haunted road
- Belchen TunnelBelchen TunnelThe Belchen Tunnel is a motorway tunnel in Switzerland, and forms part of the A2 motorway from Basel to Chiasso. It is 3.2 km long, and lies in the northern part of Switzerland. It links Eptingen in the canton of Basel-Country with Hägendorf in the Canton of Solothurn. The tunnel was built in the...
(The "white woman" of the Belchen Tunnel, Switzerland) - Resurrection MaryResurrection MaryResurrection Mary is a well-know Chicago area ghost story. Of the "vanishing hitchhiker" type, the story takes place outside Resurrection Cemetery in Justice, Illinois, a few miles southwest of Chicago....
- John KeelJohn KeelJohn Alva Keel, born Alva John Kiehle was an American journalist and influential UFOlogist best known as author of The Mothman Prophecies.-Biography:...
- Highway hypnosisHighway hypnosisHighway hypnosis, also popularly known as driving without attention mode or white line fever, is a mental state in which a person can drive a truck or automobile great distances, responding to external events in the expected manner with no recollection of having consciously done so...
- CurseCurseA curse is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to some other entity—one or more persons, a place, or an object...
- Midnight BeautyMidnight BeautyMidnight Beauty is a ghost from Brazilian folklore. It is believed that she is the ghost of a beautiful woman, most often wearing red or white clothes....
- The Hitcher (1986 film)
- The Hitch-Hiker (1953 film)The Hitch-Hiker (1953 film)The Hitch-Hiker is a film noir directed by Ida Lupino about two fishing buddies who pick up a mysterious hitchhiker during a trip to Mexico....
- Shipley Hollow RoadShipley Hollow RoadShipley Hollow Road is a road in Sale Creek, Tennessee where there have been many variations of a common haunting. These stories go back 150 years and are mentioned in several local books, including Ghosts of the Southern Tennessee Valley by Georgiana C. Kotarski. The ghosts or creatures are...
Books
- Bielski, Ursula, (1997) "Road Tripping" from Chicago Haunts: Ghostlore of the Windy City (Chicago: Lake Claremont Press, 1997).
- Brunvand, Jan Harold, (1981), The Vanishing Hitchhiker (ISBN 0-393-95169-3)
- Goss, Michael, (1984), The Evidence for Phantom Hitch-hikers (ISBN 0-85030-376-1)