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“The Ax Man”

Context

At summer camp when he was younger the informant was told a legend about an Ax man. It was about this guy who had an ax and apparently hid in the woods behind the cabin in the back corner, cabin 13. One night he axed through the roof of the cabin and killed the campers. You could allegedly hear the campers scream on the rock by the cabin even still. He got told it when he was a first year camper and it scared him a lot. He was always scared every year he would get placed in that cabin and he never walked back towards it.

Analysis

This narrative highlights the importance behind the number 13. As a society we have created this idea that 13 is bad luck or haunted. Thirteen is known for being universally bad luck, this superstition has been around for many years. This also relates to the idea of Friday the 13th, anytime the 13th lands on a Friday people tend to get worried. Since the Ax Man was associated with the number 13 I think that was able to make the story more believable and frightening for the campers. This story has become a legend because many other campers knew of this story. The campers are able to connect over this story and pass it on to new campers.