Author Archives: Katie Chorao

Ghost of Alabama Theater

Overview

The informant describes a ghost said to haunt his local theater in downtown Birmingham, Alabama. The informant was a competitive dancer and many of his dance competitions took place at this theater. Everyone said that the theater was haunted and there were many reported sightings in bathrooms. According to local chatter, if you flickered the lights and looked in the mirror you’d see the ghost behind you. Ghost hunters came to the theater to try to summon the ghost and at competitions the informant would always exchange stories with other kids. 

Other Citation

The Alabama Theater was documented as haunted here, too: http://www.southernspiritguide.org/but-a-walking-shadow-birmingham-alabama/ 

Thoughts

A place of performance and gathering seems to be a recurring location to find ghosts. The Phantom of the Opera is a prime example of this. The other citation also provides an interesting explanation as to why theaters possess ghost-related folklore: “theaters often harbor the ghosts of actors, writers, musicians and directors because something about their creative natures ties them to the place where they experienced their greatest successes or failures.” If places of great passion, triumph, and failure are the home to many spirits, I wonder which other general locations house ghosts. 

Lady Bugs as Good Luck

Overview

The informant is Italian-American and lives in Staten Island. She describes the tradition of collecting ladybugs for good luck. She says that every summer as a little girl, her and her friends would always get excited about finding ladybugs because their parents told them that they were good omens or brought good luck. 

Analysis

I asked the informant whether other bugs or animals also represented good luck and why the ladybug in particular was so special, to which she answered that “it’s a mix of color and numbers. The Italian community is very religious, so most of it roots back to that. There are usually seven dots on a ladybug, which are tied to the seven deadly sins in our eyes. By catching a ladybug, it’s like you’re stopping the sins. The ladybug’s red color also ties into the virgin mary and images of blood.”

Thoughts

The idea that ladybugs, an insect tied to so much negative religious reference in Italian’s eyes, is a sign of good luck is very interesting. It reminds me of other instances where something inherently bad becomes spun into a good thing (for example, many people think that getting pooped on by a bird is good luck). Do people simply want to reframe negative things into positive things? Or are we implying that there is no true good and bad?