Legend Tripping: Haunted Fun or Potential Juvenile Delinquency and Death

Authors

Gordon A. Crews, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

2-2014

Abstract

On August 7, 2013, one juvenile was killed and 10 others were seriously injured when their truck crashed in Clay County, West Virginia. These juveniles, after drinking heavily, were investigating the Appalachian legend of the “Haunted Chimneys around Booger Hole”. The concept of legend tripping is at least as old as Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which contains several accounts of adolescents visiting allegedly haunted houses and caves said to be the “lairs of criminals”. This paper examines the extent and dangers of juvenile legend tripping across the United States. Many examples of cases will be given.

Comments

© 2014 the authors. All rights reserved.

Recommended Citation

Crews, G. A., Heinrich, P. (2014, February). “Legend Tripping: Haunted Fun or Potential Juvenile Delinquency and Death.” Presented at the 2014 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences conference in Philadelphia, PA.