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In October 2006, the spooky story about a teen (sometimes named Carmen Winstead, other times Jessica Smith) who was killed by a fall into a sewer after five other girls shoved in her began circulating in e-mail and on MySpace, imploring readers to repost it lest they meet a gruesome fate at the hands of the deceased Carmen No adolescent girl named Carmen Winstead or Jessica Smith died in such fashion, in Indiana, or in any other U.S. state about six years ago (i.e., around 2000). We searched for news reports about such a death and found none. This tale is nothing but fiction, a typical chain letter of the sort favored by pre-teens. Its key difference lies in its recommended mode of transmission: rather than imploring recipients to mail (or e-mail) it to others, it requires them to post it on social networking sites (originally MySpace, now Facebook). As is common with luck generation or ill luck avoidance chain stories, particularly the infamous Bloody Mary tale, a specific dire outcome is promised those who do not speed the tale on its way (the ghost of the murdered girl will seek them out and kill them), with proof of the danger provided via the included news about the sorry fate that befell someone who failed to heed those instructions (his dead body discovered in the sewer, his neck broke and his face skin peeled off). We discuss two other examples of this type of chain story here: one (Bed Reckoning) uses a seemingly spooky photo; the other (Skinned Flick) builds upon a fictitious Instant Message exchange.
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