Consequence , and Attempted Escape ( I-V-C-AE ). 17 The interdiction phase informs the characters not to do something although , in most urban legends , this phase is often implicit and relates to teenage social fears . The interdiction is then violated , and the consequences are outlined . These stories then conclude with the protagonists ’ escape , sometimes unsuccessful , sometimes not , from the consequences of violating the interdiction . Urban legends such as “ The Hook ” and “ The Boyfriend ’ s Death ” are often used to discuss the social issues in which young people find themselves , either at college or at summer camp , as both are liminal contexts between childhood and adulthood , where young people are forced to accept adult responsibilities while still maintaining their childhood . 18 This social-script theory of storytelling molds stock characters , such as the bitch , the practical joker , and the athlete , whose express purpose in the slasher narrative is to be dispatched . Their purpose is contrasted with what Clover defined as the final girl , who is presented from the outset as the slasher film ’ s main character and sole survivor . 19 She is not sexually active and is therefore vigilant ; the first character to sense something amiss and the only one to deduce from accumulating evidence the pattern and extent of the threat ; in other words , the only 17
Daniel R . Barnes , ‘ Interpreting Urban Legends ’, in Contemporary Legend : A Reader , ed . by Gillian Bennett and Paul Smith ( New York , NY : Garland , 1996 ), pp . 1-16 . 18
Mikel J . Koven , ‘ The Terror Tale : Urban Legends and the Slasher Film ’, Scope : An Online Journal of Film and TV Studies , 40 ( 2003 ), Retrieved from https :// www . nottingham . ac . uk / scope / documents / 2003 / may-2003 / koven . pdf [ accessed 06.21.16 ]. 19
Carol J . Clover , Men , Women and Chainsaws : Gender in the Modern Horror Film ( Princeton , NJ : Princeton University Press , 1992 ), p . 45 .
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