Category Archives: Legends

Narratives about belief.

Senior pranks- Tradition

Prank: Goldfish in the Amphitheater

Text:

Informant: “Someone way before us did this, and it became kind of a legend because it was so crazy. My school had this Greek-style amphitheater that was basically a lower area, like a pit, and it was probably about five feet deep. Apparently one graduating class decided to do their senior prank there. In the middle of the night they filled the whole amphitheater with water and put a bunch of goldfish in it. The next day everyone showed up and was like, ‘What the heck?’ I have no idea exactly when it happened. It must have been in the late 2000s or early 2010s. Eventually the school had to drain the water and all the goldfish died.”

Interviewer: “How did you hear about the goldfish prank? Does everyone know it?”

Informant: “Everyone knows it. And then I would tell other people about it as the craziest prank I knew about. I don’t even know if it really happened, it was just something people said. Everyone agreed it was the best graduating prank that ever happened.”

Context:

The informant heard about this prank at their high school, where the story circulated widely among students as part of the school’s shared culture. According to the informant, the prank was said to have been carried out by a graduating class sometime in the late 2000s or early 2010s, before the informant attended the school. Although the informant did not witness the event and is unsure whether it actually occurred, the story was commonly told among students and was often described as the most extreme senior prank in the school’s history.

Analysis:

These pranks usually occur right before graduation, a transition period when seniors are about to become graduates. This time can be stressful as students finish classes, exams, and prepare to leave school, so pranks can serve as an outlet to release tension. They become both a way to leave a final mark on the school and an act of rebellion. At the same time, organizing and carrying out a prank can unite the graduating class by giving them a shared goal and experience before they leave. In this sense, senior pranks function somewhat like a rite of passage, allowing students to assert their independence and mark the end of their time at the school through a visible and memorable act.

Senior pranks also reflect the folkloric concepts of multiplicity and variation. While the tradition itself exists at many schools, the specific prank changes depending on the graduating class. Each class attempts to create something memorable, often using recognizable parts of the school’s infrastructure or shared spaces, which leads to different versions of the prank across grades and schools.

In this case, the story about the goldfish prank also takes on the form of a legend because it continues to circulate even though the informant is unsure whether it actually happened. The exact time and details remain unclear, yet the story is still widely known among students and passed down to underclassmen because of its extremity. Over time, stories like this become part of the school’s folklore, as repeated retelling keeps the event alive within the folk group.

Ghost at Winchester Mystery House- Folk Legend

Age: 20

Text:

Informant: “One time I went and visited the Winchester mystery house when I was 12 and the tour guide was telling us different stories of things people have witnessed while being in that house. And so one of the stories was that in the living room there was a fireplace and one of the men that worked there was a wheelbarrow guy and helped clean up. In the middle of the night, you can see his ghost cleaning the fireplace very rarely.”

Interviewer: “What is his ghost supposed to look like?”
Informant: “His ghost is covered in the ash.”

Interview: “Did you see the ghost or experience any paranormal activity yourself?”
Informant: “No, we went in the daytime.”

Context:

The informant heard this ghost story while visiting the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose with their family when they were about 12 years old.

Analysis:

This story is an example of a legend, a form of verbal folklore that takes place in the real world and is presented as something that could be believable or believed. The ghost of the wheelbarrow worker is tied to a specific location, the Winchester Mystery House, which helps make the story feel more realistic since there’s a tangible location already associated with anecdotes of experiences with paranormal activity. Legends are often connected to real places because the setting encourages listeners to question whether the event might actually be true.

At the same time, legends allow people to debate beliefs and explore uncertainty. Listeners may not fully believe the story, but they also may not completely dismiss it, and creating that sense of ambivalence that is central to how legends function. This specific tension between belief and skepticism encourages discussion about whether ghosts or supernatural events might exist. Even though the informant did not personally witness the ghost, sharing stories of reported sightings through tours or conversations help keep legends alive and continue to circulate and renew the legend for new audiences.


The Ghost story of Catalina Island

Text

“While on my CIMI trip to Catalina with my 7th grade class, one of our chaperons who also was our economics teacher gave us the option to hear a ghost story late at night. Me and my boys, who I was rooming with, were all confident that we wouldn’t be scared so we went. When he started telling the story, I was spooked when he told us that the burned down house on the hill we say today was haunted. Several of my friends were too scared to sleep alone, so eight of us piled into a 4 person room. One of my friends was the only one who thought our reactions were funny and felt we were dumb to believe the story. The rest of us slept like sardines on the floor of the dorm and were scared the rest of the trip. When I would open my eyes at night I sometimes thought I would see red hair in the window, but to this day I do not know if I was hallucinating or not.”

Context

“Apparently, it was the home of a red headed girl who got lost one day in the canyon and never came back. After she died, he claimed that she came back to haunt the island and would show up at night to terrify kids. I remember him saying she comes and grabs your feet if they are not covered by a blanket and takes you away. After hearing this story, we were all petrified and I remember how our fear brought us all together. This story is known by many Catalina natives, especially the ones who work near or at CIMI.”

Analysis

This ghost story is a good example of a legend because it shows how they could be true but there is no concrete facts to prove it. Many forms of folklore are similar to legends because they are often informal and lack historical evidence that is proven. Like this ghost story, legends and other forms of folklore are created through belief, and when there is belief there are usually contradictions. However, when legends are performed and passed on, they are shared with confidence as if they are proven to be true. Like his friend who did not believe the story, there are many who follow and live by legends such as religion, and others who strongly refute it. Legends are important as folklore because they create uncertainty and debates, prioritizing belief over facts. The location and time of day this story was told also shows how environment contributes to folklore. Since it was a dark night and the story took place where they were, their fear was heightened and they were able to bond on shared trauma, showing how legends mysterious aspects create connection.

Armenian Genocide

Text

“This is the story of my great grandma. At four years old, the Ottoman Empire came bursting into her city, raiding houses and killing anyone who resisted. On a snowy night, she escaped, and would never see the rest of her family again. Trudging through the snow with no shoes, she could see a church steeple. The nuns saw her and invited her in with open arms. At first, they spoke a langauge she did not understand. Eventually, a nun spoke to her in the Armenian language. “We are lucky to have found you. You may stay here as long as you like.” Still too weak to speak, she nodded yes.

They lived together for several years. My great grandma learned she was living in a German convent, and the nun learned that the little girl’s name was Heghine. Every day, Hegine studied reading, writing, and speaking the Armenian language. With the teachers, she learned many wonderful things as she grew up. After years passed, Hegine grew to be a happy, humble, and very smart girl. One day, her favorite teacher came by to sit with her in the rose garden and said “My dear Hegine, the time has come that you continue to a bigger school. There is an Armenian school in the city of Jerusalem. Would you like to go there?”

“I will be a little nervous to go, but I will also be happy. I am very very thankful for this time I have had with you here at the convent.” Just before sunrise, Hegine and her beloved teacher arrived at the train station. They said their goodbyes, and Hegine got on the train. On the train, Hegine sat in a seat by the window, and while the train started moving, she watched the mountains as the sun began to rise.”

Context

“I heard this story from multiple people in my family. In particular, my uncle even made a short story describing her story which gave me a strong sense of what she went through to eventually raise a family that I am part of today. It is very important to my family because her resilience to survive a genocide resulted in my family and I getting to live a fortunate life in the US. Her story is a lesson to us to always be grateful for our opportunities and never give up hope.”

Analysis

This story reveals how family narratives serve as folklore due to their passing through generations. These type of folk stories create cultural identity and connect personal history to larger groups such as the Amerian people. The story demonstrates the value of perseverance and gratitude in everyday life. This survival story connects Amerian identity to family history and maintains the memories of the past. Because of this family lore’s importance in their family, it shapes their collective family identity and becomes a story they all learn and continue to pass it down to future generations. Through the creation of a short story, the varied narratives of the great grandma’s story are reduced and everyone in the family gets the same account, allowing them to all resonate with the same messages.

Metropolitan state hospital

Text

“My boys and I snuck into the hospital in Waltham and once we were in, it was abandoned and disgusting with trash such as beer cans everywhere. There were eerie sounds in there and we reluctantly were scoping around the area. Legend commonly says that this hospital is haunted and noises we heard we thought to be the mythical ghosts. We searched the deserted building for a bit til we ran out of fear, finding nothing but trash but I swear we heard these weird sounds constantly.”

Context

This ghost story is commonly known by teens in Massachusetts familiar with the Waltham area. Kids often talk of the area in a spooky manner due to its past being a psychiatric institution. Rumor has it that the abandoned hospital is haunted with ghosts of past patients. This sparks curiosity in the young kids of the area who explore the building often.

Analysis

This folk story is a common example of an abandoned building with an emotional back story becoming associated with ghosts. The psychiatric hospital has cultural ties to suffering and isolation which permit horror stories and supernatural beings. This story is a legend because it is based in reality and believed to be true by some and false by others. In society, people often use folklore to rationalize factual events. This specific legend is used to make sense of why the hospital is abandoned and show how the suffering within that building created ghosts. Him and his friends’ exploration is legend tripping because they are experiencing and testing their belief first hand.