HIV contaminated needles have been found in movie theater seats and coin returns of payphones and vending machines.

The email claiming that HIV contaminated needles are being attached to gas pump handles is a hoax.

See the stories here.

While there are news reports of needles being found in coin return slots, these discoveries came well after the stories were circulating. They may have been the work of copycats or pranksters.

A variety of stories featuring HIV tainted needles have been circulating since 1997.

1998 was the year of the Needle story.

Several needle stories were popular:

• Women dressed in Western clothing are attacked with HIV contaminated needles in Singapore and Pakistan.
• Random people in a bar or disco are stuck with a syringe bearing a note saying "Welcome to the world of AIDS" or "Welcome to the AIDS club".
• HIV positive drug addicts are putting used syringes in coin return slots of payphones.
• Evildoers are hiding HIV contaminated needles in movie theater seats with a note saying "Welcome to the real world, you're HIV Positive."

All these stories are similar to 'AIDS Mary' and 'AIDS Harry' legends circulating in the 1980s. Urban folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand describes the legends in his books Curses! Broiled Again! and The Baby Train. The legends go something like this: a man or woman engages in a one night stand with a stranger and awakes the next morning to find the lover gone and a note left or message written on the mirror saying, "Welcome to the world of AIDS" or "Welcome to the AIDS club."

The similarity in the punchlines of the earlier 'AIDS Mary/Harry' legends and recent needle stories shows them to be related. Urban legends often have a 'punishment' theme. Those who flout societal norms - casual sex with strangers, frequenting bars and discos - are punished with a deadly disease. However, the social rule has shifted from casual sex, to frequenting bars and discos, to undue parsimony (checking coin return slots for left change). It is more difficult to discern what social norm has been violated in the 'needles in movie theater seats' stories. Perhaps the movies are seen as cause of social decay or maybe it is just part of a general urban angst of depraved criminals and evildoers striking anywhere.

Folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand discusses 'AIDS Mary' and 'AIDS Harry' legends in:

• Curses! Broiled Again! (1989)
• The Baby Train (1993)

Web references:

• Urban Legend Zeitgeist: Pump Fake: Needles on Gas Pumps
• Are these stories true? from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Dirty Needles and Pay Phones from About.com
• HIV Needle-Stick Rumors Still Thriving Online from About.com
• Slots of Fun from the Urban Legends Reference Pages
• AIDS Mary from the Urban Legends Reference Pages
• Pin Prick Attacks from the Urban Legends Reference Pages
• The Needle and the Damage Done from the Urban Legends Research Centre

Got a new legend?
Got a question?
Send it to ulz@tafkac.org