Death by Folklore: Ostension, Contemporary Legend, and Murder

Abstract

We present a paper by folklore and contemporary legends scholar Bill Ellis. Here the phenomenon of folklore ostension is analyzed in extensive detail as exemplified by legends of Satanists. Translated after: Bill Ellis (1989). Death by Folklore: Ostension, Contemporary Legend, and Murder. Western Folklore, 48(3), 201-220. with support from the Russian Science Foundation (project № 14-18-00590-П «Folklore texts and practices as cultural tradition model: a comparative typological research»).