Main piece:

“So my cousins were staying in New Orleans, which is known for ghosts and everything, and they in their house and they hear a knocking outside saying “Hey, this is my house! Let me in!” and the door handle kept turning and shaking and so the people came downstairs cause they thought someone was trying to break in, and they thought it was just a drunk woman or something knocking on the door and everything. And the doorknob was shaking and they could hear it perfectly and then it was quiet for a short time and they open the door and there was nothing on either side, like nothing was there. And so they’re like, “what the fuck?” and they look it up and the house is haunted and they’re like “Oh my god” and then it happened again the next night. The same exact thing. And no one was there when they opened the door again. And the neighbor said that it happens to that house a lot and like it’s a ghost, it’s not anyone.”

Background:

Informant is a first year student at the University of Southern California who grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. She was told this story by her cousins.

Context:

The informant told me this story one night in her dorm room.

Commentary:

The informant learned this story from her cousins, who were the original experiencers. Although she was not there at the time of this encounter, she believes it to be true and fully believes that a ghost was present. Because this story came directly from a member of her extended family, it is much easier for her to believe in its truth value than it would be if it came from a stranger. From an outsider’s perspective, this story may not seem as compelling and may be easily disregarded in terms of factual truth, but for the informant it is very real.