A young babysitter is tormented by creepy phone calls until the operator gives her some unthinkable information, "The call is coming from inside the house!" The legend has been in circulation for half a century and inspired multiple movies, but what's the truth behind the legend? Are babysitters really in danger? And what do these legends tell us about the anxieties of contemporary life?

Sources:

Berry, Craig. 2018. “The Unsolved Murder of Janett Christman.” True Crime Articles (blog). March 30, 2018. https://truecrimearticles.com/2018/03/30/the-unsolved-murder-of-janett-christman/.

Brunvand, Jan Harold. 1981. The Vanishing Hitchhiker:  American Urban Legends and Their Meanings. New York: W. W. Norton & Co.

———. 2002. Encyclopedia of Urban Legends. Illustrated Edition. New York; London: W. W. Norton & Company.

Greaney, T. J. 2010. “Who Killed Janett Christman?” Columbia Daily Tribune. March 7, 2010. https://www.columbiatribune.com/article/20100307/NEWS/303079884.

Sweeney, Gary. 2017. “This 15-Year-Old Babysitter Disappeared Over 60 Years Ago — And Was Never Found.” Woman’s Day. February 24, 2017. https://www.womansday.com/life/real-women/a58048/what-happened-to-evelyn-hartley/.

“The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs.” 2020. In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_babysitter_and_the_man_upstairs&oldid=991197865.