Author Archives: brotten

The Ghost of The Gardens at Marysville

Nationality: Mexican American
Age: 17
Occupation: Server, Waiter
Residence: Marysville, WA
Performance Date: October 26, 2020
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Informant: Since I work in a retirement home, something supernatural is bound to happen. Occasionally things would fall out of cupboards, or I’d feel taps on my shoulders and stuff, but I wouldn’t think much of it. One day a new cook named DB comes to work, DB tells me that her old boss who used to work here had passed away, and that she would spend all her time at work in the office. 

About a month later I am cleaning up the kitchen for the night and the power goes out in the whole building. It was only me and my co-worker, CW, closing up. I continue to mop, and CW says she will go grab the clock out sheets, as the time clock wasn’t working. This means she has to walk to the other side of the building to the breakroom. So I am left alone in the kitchen in the dark. I am currently standing right across from the director’s office and the door is open. I grab my phone to take a video and show my friends what it looks like at work with no power. As I am panning 365 degrees around the room with my phone. Right when I pass the directors office with my phone I see hands and a head pop out from behind the open door to the office. The figure had black hair, black eyes, pale skin and a suit. But I pretend like I don’t see it and continue to finish mopping.

Collector: What are you thinking at this moment? Why did you pretend not to see it?

Informant: I am thinking to myself that I need to pretend that I’m not scared, because when you show fear that is when spirits will want to scare you even more. Anyway CW comes in five minutes later, and gives me the clock in sheets. I ask her to close the director’s office door, and she says “no you close it.” I tell her no, and she asks me why. I explain to her what I had just happened, and convince her to close it. But she says that I have to come with her to close it. As she gets to the door, she tries to talk to them by saying “We’re just trying to get to work, don’t bother us, we’re sorry if we disrupted you, bye.” She closes the door, but as soon as we turn around the door opens again. I look back and go to close it. When I touched the door handle I could just feel how cold it was inside, while touching it I instantly got goosebumps up my entire arm. Just thinking about it gives me chills. I close the door, and I speed walk away from the kitchen, but when I get to the door of the kitchen I hear the office door open again, so after that CW and I book it out of there and leave. 

Collector: So what do you think happened? What do you make of this situation?

Informant: I think this was a bad omen that did not want me there, because it kept bothering us even after we told it we did not want any trouble. I definitely think that this spirit was Debby’s boss, Debby even told me so, and it wasn’t until she showed up that scary shit started happening, and I had already been working there for a year. And after all of the spirits I have encountered while working here this spirit in the kitchen was the one I felt the most fear towards. 

Context: The informant, is a Latino male, who was born in Los Angeles, California, and now lives in the Seattle Washington area. While working at The Gardens at Marysville retirement home.

Analysis: When people think about locations that culturally retain ghost stories, such as old houses, colleges, theaters etc. One place I do not believe has had as much mention is retirement homes, a place where people go to pass on, and live the final piece of their life, it seems very logical that this would be a hub for ghost stories. The informant’s story also offers some interesting ideas as to what the differences are between good and bad ghosts. It’s interesting to me that this ghost may very well be the past boss of the retirement home who is haunting his old office. This fact leaves me with questions such as how he died, or what events occured in the workplace that would cause him to haunt his old office. What makes someone become an angry ghost, versus a friendly ghost, and how can you read this in certain situations? The informant talked about dark energy, and how the ghost didn’t listen. It may be that the spirit of the old boss felt as if he had unfinished business. Whatever explanation one could point to, I think this story is very chilling, and intriguing.

Ghost Paralysis

Nationality: Mexican American
Age: 17
Occupation: Server, Waiter
Residence: Marysville, WA
Performance Date: October 26, 2020
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Informant: One night around 9:00 I am talking to my mom at the top of the staircase. There is a door at the bottom of the stairs, and I look down to see a full figure standing in the doorway. I looked back at my mom, and told her that I just saw someone. She asks what I mean, and I tell her that I saw someone looking at me right there, but when I look back and show her it’s gone. 

Later that night in my bedroom, which is right across from the doorway to the stairs. I am in bed, trying to sleep but I can’t, I feel something, like something is watching me. I look around the dark room, and at the corner of the bed you see a shadow standing with its head tilted. I flip over to try to ignore it, and I grab my phone to distract myself from being scared. But then I feel the presence right next to me and in the screen of my phone I see two shiny, bright eyes in the reflection right to the left of me. I then flip over to my back and feel the presence right on the side of my face, and I see the two eyes. Trying to ignore it I close my eyes, and try to fall asleep. But at three in the morning I wake up with sleep paralysis, and I see the same figure standing at the foot of my bed. I can’t move, talk or wake up.

Collector: So what do you think happened? What do you make of this situation?

Informant: After I woke up, I tried to not pay any attention to it to avoid fear. And I told my grandma about it, because I didn’t know what it was. She said that when sleep paralysis happens a dead person is laying on top of you. My grandma told me that if I feel like I am being watched or that there is a shadow in my room, to cuss at it and tell it to go fuck itself, because it scares them away. Ever since that night whenever I feel a presence I tell it to go fuck itself, and they don’t really ever come back. Also the more this stuff happens, the more you get used to it. But since the shape was a tall dark shadow, that means it was an evil spirit, and the fact that it got onto me tells me that it was not a good one. It was a bad spirit that I brought home from somewhere, I went to a cemetery before this and I didn’t wash my clothes, and that’s when I started noticing shit. But definitely since it was a dark shadowy spirit, I think it was trying to harm me. 

Context: The informant, is a Latino male, who was born in Los Angeles, California, and now lives in the Seattle Washington area. 

Analysis: The informant suggests a lot of compelling ideas, and mythologies about ghosts. Ghost belief, and interactions with the dead are much more prevalent within Mexican culture. The informant mentions taking spirits home with you from cemeteries, and washing your clothes after visiting a cemetery. Also what an evil spirit behaves, and looks like, and even how to ward off a spirit that is unwanted. I have never heard of the idea of sleep paralysis relating to a ghost encounter. But sleeping is a very liminal time, especially sleep paralysis. Are you asleep? Are you awake? Are you dreaming?  In regards to warding off spirits if the informant claims that this encounter has not occurred since he has yelled at this spirit, and ignored it, this it may point to evidence that this idea could be effective. An angry ghost wanting to haunt may not bother with someone who is not scared.