뒷좌석의 살인마

FolktaleUnited Kingdom · Western EuropeLegendFear 7/10

Description

뒷좌석의 살인마 혹은 하이 빔스(High Beams)로 잘 알려진 이 도시전설은 미국과 영국에서 잘 알려져있는 자동차 범죄 관련된 괴담이다. 이는 민속학자 칼로스 드레이크가 인디애나 대학교 학생들에게서 이야기를 수집해 1968년 처음 언급했다.

Origin & Background

This story has been confirmed to have circulated at least since the late 1960s, and it may have become more widely known after appearing in a letter sent to advice columnist Ann Landers in 1982. David Mikkelson, founder of Snopes, speculated that this legend may have been inspired by a similar incident that occurred in 1964, in which an escaped murderer was hiding in the back seat of a car and was ultimately shot by the car's owner, a police detective. Subsequently, similar incidents were reported by folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand.

The Legend

This legend deals with a situation where a woman is driving her car while being chased by another car or truck. The mysterious pursuer flashes their high beams, closely tailgates her vehicle, and sometimes even rams into her car. When the woman finally arrives home, she realizes that the pursuer was trying to warn her about a man (a murderer or an escaped lunatic) hiding in her back seat. Every time the man tries to rise to attack, the driver uses the high beams to scare the murderer back down. In some versions, when the woman stops at a gas station, the attendant asks her to come inside to resolve a credit card issue and informs her that there is a man in her back seat.

In Popular Culture

A story by author Alvin Schwartz is included in the 1981 children's horror short story collection 'Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.' The 1998 film 'Urban Legend' begins with this scenario. The 1998 episode 'The Pest House' from 'Millennium' deals with a situation where a patient escaped from a mental hospital tries to hide in her car's back seat, and the attendant saves her when she stops at a gas station. The 2003 detective series 'Jonathan Creek' features a variation of this legend in the episode 'The Coonskin Cap,' where instead of a murderer in the car, the pursuing driver tries to alert her to a body tied to the back of her car. In the 2022 episode 'Drive' of 'American Horror Stories,' Marcy encounters a Jeep flashing its high beams while returning home from a club, and her friend Piper talks about the legend. Later, the Jeep driver actually sees someone in the back seat, but it turns out to be Marcy's own kidnapping victim, subverting the legend.

This article is based on the Wikipedia article "Killer in the backseat" (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikipedia