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No Way!

  • Page ID
    12942
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    Franken-Swine makes an appearance on the cover of this supermarket tabloid called, The "Weekly World News."  The play of words combining Frankenstein and swine is irresistible.  In this case, the tabloid creates a fictional story to sell their publication.

    The "Weekly World News" was a largely fictional news tabloid published in the United States from 1979 to 2007, renowned for its outlandish cover stories often based on supernatural or paranormal themes and an approach to news that always seemed to make readers say, No way."  This tabloid was always located near the check-out line so shoppers would buy it out of curiosity.  The crazy covers were the hook (and it was pretty fun to read!).

    The tabloid claimed that it always printed the truth (typical slogan: "Nothing but the truth: The Weekly World News!"). Many stories, however, were just for comedic intent.  The scary thing is that some readers actually read the tabloid for what the believed were news stories that "regular" news outlets wouldn't print!

    Common "Weekly World News" stories involved alien abductions, the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, time travel, an oncoming apocalypse. There were also characters who became stock fixtures in the news stories, most famously Bat Boy, a half-bat half-boy superhero.

    Does it surprise you that I love goofy stories like this?  They took real stories and then made them crazy!


    No Way! is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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