Making sense of the city

People in 19th-century Britain used folk tales to adjust to the experience of city living. Folklore was continually updated. It expressed concerns about urban development, the threat of strangers, and a shrinking sense of community as people no longer knew one another.

In Victorian London, a tale was told about Spring-heeled Jack, a supposedly clawed, fire-breathing ghost that terrorised villages. The figure thrived in rumour. However, no person who had actually 'seen' the ghost could be found.

• Iris folkloric monsters such as the banshee are still spreading in modern urban living. These stories act as a warning to help police the boundaries between safe and unsafe areas.
• In 21st-century Beijing, the city's night bus has become the focus of frightening stories about encounte...