Date_of_performance: 04/04/2025

Informant Name: IS

Language: English 

Nationality: American

Occupation: Student/Grammy U Ambassador 

Primary Language: English

Residence: USC

Interview:

IS: I remember once when I was either a little kid or maybe in middle school I was young that is what I know. I was going to the bathroom super late at night. The bathroom is right across the hallway from my bedroom, so it was a two-second walk.

IS: As I walked to the bathroom, mind you the house is fully dark aside from a few lights here and there so it was hard to see, but I swear I saw a tall, pitch black ghost looking figure move by in the living room. I looked back a millisecond later and didn’t see anyone, even went to the living room to check. It was so weird and I told my mom later that morning curious if she saw something like that before in the house, she told me she didn’t.

ME: Oh my god! That’s crazy! Seeing the tall figure would’ve freaked me out so much. Did you ever see it again after that?

IS: Nope! I thought there was something in the living room that looked like a quickly-moving figure at first, because I was rushing to the bathroom, but there was nothing in the living room that looked like it.

Interpretation

Out of the paranormal folktales that I have collected from my friends, this one is the story that I believe the least is a ghost. She mentioned how she was rushing to the bathroom and it was hard to see because it was dark, so it could be likely that the tall figure she saw was one of her family members grabbing a drink of water or going back to bed, and the figure didn’t say anything because they didn’t see her. The figure didn’t make any noises or approach her, like the spirituals in the other stories did, there was no action the figure did to show they were a ghost or a type of shadowy spirit. If the ghost speak to her in a hushed voice or in a voice that didn’t sound like anyone in her family, I would fully believe she saw a ghost or if they even made something fall down or make a light flicker. She said she didn’t see it again, so the figure wasn’t trying to haunt her or her house, which other ghosts might have done to show that their presence is there. There is also no other spiritual evidence that would back up the figure was a ghost, but she was young when it happened, so there is a possibility that she did forget details that made the figure be a ghost more believable, but in my personal opinion, I don’t see it as a paranormal figure but everyone’s experience with ghosts or spiritual figures is different and not every ghost is different in the way they show up or how they make themselves be seen as.