Author Archives: Benjamin Ma

Colorado Tunnel Ghosts

Nationality: USA
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/15/21
Primary Language: English

Main Piece

JJ recently took a cross-country road trip with his girlfriend. While in Colorado Springs, they visited a friend of theirs from high school. As they drove to a hike, the road goes through many tunnels, one of which is allegedly haunted, according to his friend:

“It’s a super tight tunnel, one car wide. The road is super dusty, as you drive through you kick up a ton of dust.

100 years ago, 50 years ago, whatever–when buses were around, a tunnel collapsed on a school bus with elementary school kids on a trip up to the Rockies. If you drive through at night, or with your headlights off… you’ll have kid handprints in the dust on your car.”

The haunted tunnel (picture courtesy JJ)

Informant background

JJ is a student at the University of Southern California. He is from Newburyport, MA.

Performance context

This story was told during a folklore collection event that I set up with a diversity of members from the USC men’s Ultimate Frisbee team. We were in a classic folklore collection setting: sharing drinks around a campfire, in a free flowing conversation.

Analysis

JJ’s story, along with every scary story I collected for this project, professes to be a “true story.” While the plausibility of this is in question, the effect of even the plausibility of this story having happened causes an extra layer of fear and fascination for the story—especially since the story is almost always told while the listeners are actually at the site.

Pogo Game

Nationality: USA
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/15/21
Primary Language: English

Main Piece

JD described a game called Pogo, where all participants take turns in a circle claiming, “I can pogo from X to Y” (filling in an arbitrary X and Y). After each statement, the person running the game will tell them if they can or cannot do it. The game continues until everyone realizes the pattern that allows them to pogo from one place to another. JD learned this game from his friend PJ from Las Vegas, who “knows a bunch of these games.” JD also mentioned, “it’s more fun once you’ve figured it out to not say but to demonstrate and watch other people struggle.”

Some selections from our rounds:

JD: “Okay. I can pogo from this roof to Cy’s fire pit.”

CT: “Okay… I can pogo from the Empire State Building to the ground.”

               JD: “You can.”

BM: “Can I pogo from this roof to the fire pit?”

               JD: “No.”

JD: “Okay, okay. I can pogo from Las Vegas to Los Angeles.”

After a long while of us not getting the pattern, JD made it very obvious by starting to repeat “okay” many times before speaking. The answer was that you have to say “okay” before you speak – this and only this allows you to pogo from X to Y.

Informant background

JD is a student at the University of Southern California. He is from Las Vegas, NV.

Performance context

This story was told during a folklore collection event that I set up with a diversity of members from the USC men’s Ultimate Frisbee team. We were in a classic folklore collection setting: sharing drinks around a campfire, in a free flowing conversation.

Analysis

These interactive riddle games are often constructed so that the answer appears more complicated than it actually is. They often involve pointing out concrete objects, people, or places, so that the guesser’s attention is diverted to those specifics, while the real answer is something more abstract about the words used or delivery of the speaker. This paradigm shows up across almost all of the question-and-answer riddle games I have experienced.

Crush Spoon

Nationality: USA
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/15/21
Primary Language: English

Main Piece

CD used to go to a camp every year in the Midwest when he was in high school. He told us about a tradition at the camp:

“If you had a crush on someone you’d give them a spoon in the dining room. You’d take your spoon and if you were into someone you’d give your spoon to someone and walk away.”

He then told us about something that happened with this tradition and his younger sister:

“My sister’s boyfriend (at the time) gave her a spoon and she kept it. At some point he took it back and fashioned it into a ring or something for her.”

Informant background

CD is a student at the University of Southern California. He is from Zionsville, ID.

Performance context

This story was told during a folklore collection event that I set up with a diversity of members from the USC men’s Ultimate Frisbee team. We were in a classic folklore collection setting: sharing drinks around a campfire, in a free flowing conversation.

Analysis

As young people mature into adults, relationships are one of the most – if not the most – stressful aspects of that transition for many. Having a ritualized tradition like the “crush spoon” may be a way to relieve teenagers of some of the doubt and angst that arises when trying to figure out how to confess your feelings to another person.