The Nail in the Skull and Other Victorian Urban Legends

Simon Young examines 70 urban legends associated with 19th-century Britain and the wider English-speaking world, treating them as folklore rooted in a particular historical period. The collection includes stories of buried-alive victims, child pie, sewer monsters, suicide clubs and the nail in the skull, alongside less familiar tales such as “Beetle Eyes” and “Hands in the Muff”.

An opening discussion considers what makes an urban legend and how such stories travelled through Victorian culture. Young traces the material through newspaper reports and related sources, arranging the evidence by recurring story types. The result links memorable tales of danger, crime, medicine and death to the media and social concerns of the Victorian age.