The Parking Lot Killer

Collected by Shannon Turley (turleysr@vuse.vanderbilt.edu)

Summary: Women are attacked/killed in parking lots late at night.

Text: Late at night a few weeks ago, a woman was leaving her office. She went outside alone and was attacked and murdered beside her car. Her Achilles’ Heel was slashed. Police think that the murderer was hiding underneath the car and surprised her when she tried to open the door. Because her Achilles’s Heel was slashed, she couldn’t run away. So, just be sure to always look under your car when you leave somewhere.

Notes: I checked with some other people that I knew, and about half of them had also heard this tale or a very similar version. I chose to include it in this assignment because the person attacked is always a woman, while the attacker is always a man. The respective roles can be seen to comment on gender differences when the tale is analyzed.

Context:
A. Brief summary of tale: Women are attacked/killed in parking lots late at night.
B. Tale type and motifs:
C. Comments on tale:
D. Approximate date informant first heard the tale: early 90’s (1992/1993)
E. Relationship of your informant with the individual from whom the informant heard the tale: old roommate
F. Circumstances when tale was first heard: it was told to her by her high school roommate
G. Give the following information on your informant:
Age: 21
Sex: Female
Place of birth: West Virginia
Ethnic group: Caucasian
Languages spoken: English
Religion: undeclared
Year in school (or education level if not a
student): Senior
Extracurricular jobs: N/A
Date Collected: 11/7/98