Lovers' lane
A lovers' lane is a secluded area where people kiss, make out, or engage in sexual activity.[1] These areas range from parking lots in secluded rural areas to places with extraordinary views of a cityscape or other features. The Oxford English Dictionary records use of the phrase "lovers' lane" from 1853.[2]
While some traditional paths still maintain the name, in more recent generations "lovers' lanes" are often found in
van
for privacy.
Crime
Due to the typically isolated location of most lovers' lanes, they have occasionally been the setting for violent crime.[3] For example:
- Serial killer Charles Barr targeted couples at lovers' lanes in Memphis, Tennessee in 1923. He was executed for the crimes in 1926.[4][5]
- Three couples were attacked at a remote lovers' lane in Duck Island, New Jersey between 1938 and 1942. Clarence Hill confessed and was convicted of the murders two years later.[6]
- A series of unsolved murders and violent crimes in 1946, dubbed the Texarkana Moonlight Murders, began with two attacks which targeted couples at lovers' lanes in the Texarkana area.[7]
- In Palos Verdes, California, a gang of teens robbed multiple cars on a lovers' lane in October 1955, and were caught raping a thirteen-year-old girl.[8]
- In 1963, a lovers' lane site at
- Several of the Zodiac Killer's victims were murdered in lovers' lanes in northern California.[11]
- Victims of the Monster of Florence were couples murdered in lovers' lanes near Florence, Italy.[12]
- Several attacks perpetrated by the Son of Sam serial killer also took place in such settings.[13]
- Three couples were shot with a .38 caliber pistol by an unidentified perpetrator in the Atlanta Lover's Lane Murders of 1977, resulting in three deaths.[14]
- Two Mercer University students were killed by Andy Cook at a lovers' lane location in Georgia on January 2, 1995.[15]
In popular culture
- A lovers' lane is typically the setting of the urban legend "The Hook," about a young couple menaced by a hook-handed killer.[3]
- Lovers' lanes have featured in numerous FireHouse (1990), The Other (2006) and Hunx and His Punx (2011). The Go-Betweens' 1988 sixth album was titled 16 Lovers Lane, and the 1992 debut album by M.C. Brainswas similarly titled.
- Films titled Lovers' Lane have been released in (in 2004) also had this title.
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lovers' lanes.
References
- ^ "lovers' lane". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary.
- ^ "lover". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ a b Mikkelson, David (2 December 1998). "The Hook: An escaped killer interrupts a young couple's make-out session". snopes.com. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ "Trial Last Chapter in Memphis Murders". New York Daily News. October 12, 1924.
- ^ "Charles Barr 24th Victim State Chair". Kingsport Times-News. August 22, 1926.
- ^ "Justice Story: Cheaters slain on lovers lane on Duck Island near Trenton, N.J." New York Daily News. Archived from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
- ISBN 978-1-476-60578-4.
- OCLC 1004264026.
- ^ "Media Release: Who Killed Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler?" (DOC). Film Australia. 7 May 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
- ^ "Logie Awards". Australian Television Information Archive. 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
- ^ "'Zodiac Killer' Breaks Long Silence". The Lexington Herald (Kentucky). April 26, 1978. p. 6.
- ^ Preston, Douglas (July 1, 2006). "The Monster of Florence". The Atlantic. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
- ^ "Son of Sam shoots couple at a Brooklyn lover's lane". nydailynews.com. 2017-07-28 [July 31, 1977].
- ^ "CSI Atlanta exclusive: Lovers' Lane serial killer remains elusive". www.cbs46.com. October 17, 2019. Archived from the original on August 22, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
- ^ "Man convicted of killing Spencer valedictorian executed Thursday night". ledger-enquirer.com. February 21, 2013.