Author Archives: cmbourne

Soarin’ Around the World, with ghosts

Age: 19
Performance Date: 3/31/2024

Text:

“So apparently there is a ghost in the A theater of Soarin’ Around the World at Epcot. Some people say that they have seeing a man walking around inside the theater or making noise inside the theater like voices and whispering when they’re sitting in tower alone or when they have closed the theater. Oh and “tower” is a position for cast members at Soarin’ where they sit alone and watch cameras in the dark and frequently after people say that they have had an experience with said ghost the attraction has some sort of malfunction or downtime. I don’t know exactly where it came from but some people say it’s from somebody who used to work at the ride that passed away. When I have been there in the past after a long shift and I’m closing, sometimes it feels like I’m not alone even though I am, and I get a sort of vibe or energy change in the empty theater as I’m checking it to shut it down. Some people say they’ve seen things move or heard things fall and never found whatever the noise came from, but I haven’t experienced that, just gotten a weird vibe or sometimes think I hear someone say something but no one is there. In the end I don’t really think anything of it though, it’s just a lot of hours of work and people’s stories that make you imagine things that aren’t really happening.”

Context:

A is a friend of mine who worked at Disney World’s Soarin’ Around the World for a few years in the past, they are currently 20 and a student in Florida. He says that he originally heard it from fellow cast members there at the ride, and figured it was just a way to scare the newbies, and thinks it is just his brain getting to him after a long shift. A does not believe in ghosts, and says he has never had a “real” supernatural experience.

Analysis:

A’s story of the ghost in the Soarin’ Around the World theater embodies themes of folklore, skepticism, community, and resilience. It reflects the ways in which humans create and share stories to make sense of the unknown, while also highlighting the importance of critical thinking and rationality in navigating the complexities of the modern world. The tale of the ghost haunting the theater reflects a common cultural phenomenon found in many societies – the creation of urban legends and ghost stories. These stories often emerge from a combination of shared experiences, hearsay, and the desire to add mystery and excitement to mundane surroundings. The sharing of ghost stories among cast members at the ride suggests a sense of community and camaraderie within the workplace. These stories serve as a form of entertainment and bonding, especially for those who work long hours in sometimes monotonous or stressful environments. Despite the prevalence of ghost stories, A expresses a rational and skeptical attitude towards the existence of supernatural phenomena. This skepticism reflects a broader cultural trend towards secularism and scientific thinking, where individuals are encouraged to question and analyze their beliefs in the absence of empirical evidence.

Led by Spirits, Dreamscape Exploring

Age: 19
Performance Date: 3/31/2024

Text:

“So basically, after my brother passed away, his boyfriend had a dream probably a few weeks after he passed, where my brother walked with him around our high school. The thing is, he had never been to our high school before. The next day after he had the dream he described what he had seen in the dream to some of my brother’s other friends and they said what he described matched perfectly.”

Context:

L is a 19 year old student, from Redwood City, CA, but at the time of the story lived in Saratoga. Her brother passed while they were in high school, and she told me this story about his boyfriend who experienced something inexplicable. She heard the story about his dream from her mother who had been told it originally by the boyfriend.

Analysis:

L’s story delves into themes of grief, connection, and the mysterious nature of dreams, while also touching upon cultural and personal beliefs regarding the afterlife and the power of spiritual connections. it centers around the loss of L’s brother, highlighting the profound impact of death on individuals and families. It underscores the enduring bond between siblings and the ongoing process of coping with grief even after the loved one has passed away. The boyfriend’s dream, in which he is accompanied by L’s brother around the high school they both attended, suggests a belief in the possibility of spiritual visitations from deceased loved ones. This reflects broader cultural and personal beliefs in an afterlife or continued existence beyond physical death. The inexplicable nature of the boyfriend’s dream raises questions about the boundaries between reality and the subconscious mind. It prompts contemplation on the mysterious aspects of human experience and the potential for spiritual encounters that defy rational explanation.

The Girls Bathroom, Home of Bloody Mary

Age: 19
Performance Date: 3/31/2024

Text:

“So when I was in 1st grade I hung out with this group of girls, and the main, like, ring leader girl always told us that um, that Bloody Mary lived in the girls bathroom and it was like a ghost that would put bloody hand prints on the wall and you could like summon her or whatever, and there was like these hand prints, they were probably just mud or whatever or paint or something but they like looked like dried blood like against the wall near the bathroom walls of one of the nearby buildings so everyone was like OMG bloody mary lives there and the ring leader girl was like OK so like why don’t we go in there and try some bloody Mary stuff. We’re like OK why not, so it’s during school hours it’s like lunch or something lunch recess we go in there and so we go in there right and I remember there being like twine on the floor like random pieces of like twine or sticks, I don’t know, but like for some reason we danced around them but I don’t think we put them there, I don’t know, but we all held hands and we danced in a circle and she said if we say bloody Mary three times like she’ll be here like OK so we do that and then we all get super scared once we’re done chanting. I mean nothing happens but once we’re done chanting we’re like Oh my gosh and we all run out of the bathroom right, so I’m pretty much last out of the bathroom and I run out the door and I’m stuck on something like caught on the door and the thing with the door is it’s a push door so it doesn’t have handles. It doesn’t have like a knob just kind of like push either way um and I’m totally, yeah, stuck on the door there’s someone like holding me, it felt like someone was holding me just for a split second there. Then I, you know, I could go and then I ran and I was scared and whatever but it’s like I was like held there for a second and I was like well I wasn’t caught or anything because there’s no knob on the door to like catch me so I don’t know maybe the spirits were mad at me and they’re holding me but yeah”

Context:

V is a 19 year old student from Orinda, CA, and she told me a story from when she was in elementary school. She believes in ghosts and spirits and explained that she always has believed in them. She believes in them because she says she “has no reason not to” and has had various experiences like that or known people who have experienced similar things with the supernatural.

Analysis:

While V says that she believes in ghosts and spirits, and pretty much always has, I think this is in part due to having experiences like these starting from an early age. Childhood is a huge part of developing beliefs in one’s life, and especially if they experience things themselves rather than just hearing about them. I think that this story/experience of the supernatural has had an impact on V’s belief in ghosts and spirits, as she does believe that some force was holding her there in that bathroom. I also think that Bloody Mary is an interesting gateway into believing in ghosts, as many young women, or just young people in general have been told the story of Bloody Mary at some point in their life. What I find most interesting, however, is that her story is extremely similar to one of my own. While I didn’t experience anything actually happening with a spirit, it was a common belief in my elementary school that one of the girls bathrooms was haunted by Bloody Mary, and for that reason girls were afraid to use that bathroom. I find it interesting as I grew up in Virginia, without internet or a way to have heard of it from across the globe, yet at the same time in California, other girls were having the same experience.

Richard, the School Theater Ghost

Age: 20
Performance Date: 3/31/2024

Text:

“Ok so basically, Richard loved the kids at our school, he didn’t really care about the things we did, he enjoyed our performances but you could tell when he was angry. Richard lived on the catwalk, which was only accessible by the ladder. RARELY USED because nobody dared to disturb Richard. The only time students were allowed to go up the catwalk was at the end of their senior year to say “I’ve been on the catwalk”, but really was to say goodbye to Richard. Richard also protected us. We had a really mean director, who shan’t be named, but anyways this woman would always degrade us whenever she had the chance because she had power over us. The last show she did, she was really pissing everyone off, rude to everyone and made morale really low. Richard must have not liked this and decided to go to work during hell week. Our opening night was on Friday, and Richard clocked in on Thursday. Thursday however was considered a “performance” because we invite all faculty and staff to watch the show for free while we are polishing our performance. Our director decided to go back stage and started screaming at us. Richard saw the opportunity to have her trip and took it. Out of no where a paper was on the ground, my director slipped and fell face first. (She deserved it). The following day, Richard even left the school campus. The end of the school day was an assembly to promote our show, but the director was NO WHERE TO BE FOUND. (She was supposed to be there by 12:30, assembly started at 2), she shows up and lets everyone know that she was in a minor car accident (she was fine just a fender bender), but was it a coincidence that it happened during Richards wrath? No. Anyways the show was not looking good until very last minute. After that assembly, our show was performance ready. We had our performance, everything was good. Richard made sure the show was good for us. The following year, our director was fired. Thanks Richard”

Context:

C is a 20 year old student from Chester, NY who was a part of their school’s theater productions for many years. He first heard of the ghost that lived in the catwalk of the school theater from an older classmate (about 4 years older) that had been in previous productions at the school. It had been a sort of legend among the students at his high school, and pretty much everyone knew about it, even if they weren’t a part of theater. C says that he feels “a little bit of both” when asked if he believes in ghosts or if this experience is a sort of joke from high school. He believes that people who passed away can still send us messages, but he doesn’t know the full origin of Richard, therefore making it sort of mysterious as to if it is real or not.

Analysis:

The story of Richard from C’s high school theater encapsulates various themes of community, tradition, justice, belief, and transformation. It reflects the values and dynamics inherent within high school culture, while also exploring the human need for connection, justice, and the transcendence of oppressive forces. The story reflects a strong sense of community within the school, particularly among students involved in theater. The tradition of visiting the catwalk at the end of senior year to bid farewell to Richard suggests a shared ritual that binds students together across different graduating classes. Richard, the alleged ghost inhabiting the catwalk, symbolizes a connection to the past. Despite being a spectral figure, Richard is revered by students, indicating a respect for the history and traditions of the school’s theater program. The story portrays Richard as a protector of the students, intervening to rectify injustices perpetrated by the director. Richard’s actions, such as causing the director to trip and orchestrating events that lead to her dismissal, serve as a form of retribution for her mistreatment of the students. The ambiguity surrounding Richard’s existence blurs the lines between reality and folklore. While some may view Richard as a fictional construct or a product of collective imagination, others, like C, entertain the possibility of supernatural intervention, reflecting a belief in the existence of forces beyond rational explanation. It is also common across history for theater and the supernatural to be combined, as shown in the tale of “Macbeth” being a word never spoken in a theater or else bad things will fall upon the actors/show.

The Lady with the Pearl Necklace

Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Performance Date: 3/31/2024

Text:

“My mom told me a story about when she saw a ghost/dead person before, she said that she was walking down the street with her cousin, and then she saw this woman and she had a pearl necklace. The lady was like ‘oh would you like to buy this from me?’ and she said ‘oh I can’t buy the necklace let me go just tell my mom and see if she has any money’. Then the lady was like ‘no just like, like you can have it, you can have it you don’t have to pay for it I just want you to have the necklace’ and my mom said ‘ no no I can’t take it for free let me go see’. So then my mom remembers that this like elder lady had a green sweater on. Then she goes back into her house and there were a bunch of people surrounding her dining room table and she was very confused so she goes in and she’s like ‘oh mom this one lady like she was asking me to buy her pearl necklace, can I have some money to give to her?’ and then her mom was like ‘oh what did she look like, who was this woman, have you ever seen her before?’ and my mom was like ‘no I haven’t seen her’ so then my grandma was like ‘okay what did she look like’. My mom starts describing this woman and telling her like that she had a green sweater on and then the entire room goes silent, and just goes quiet, and they’re like ‘okay go to the other room’ and then my mom was like ‘okay that was weird’ so then she goes to the other room but stays near the door. Then my grandma was telling her sister that the woman that my mom had described had just been like, they had just had her funeral mass. Like the woman was dead and they were going to put her body in the ground and my mom was freaked out and she got chills and everything and then they never saw the woman again, obviously, because she had died.”

Context:

M is a 19 year old student from a town right outside of Chicago, IL, and she explained to me a ghost story that her mother told her about when she was younger. M explained that her mother grew up ‘not wealthy’ which is contextual to the story where she declines to buy the necklace, as this was when she was younger. M’s mother grew up in a small town in Mexico, El Sauz, Guanajuato. She thinks that this was around October when she was very young, probably about 9 or so. Although her mom experienced this and fully remembers it, M doesn’t think her mom fully believes in ghosts. M also doesn’t fully believe in ghosts herself, she thinks she would first try to explain a situation with logic and reasoning, before fully believing that it was a spirit.

Analysis:

M’s ghost story reflects a complex interplay of personal beliefs, cultural narratives, and family dynamics. It highlights the enduring significance of folklore and tradition in shaping individuals’ perceptions of the supernatural, while also underscoring the human capacity for skepticism and rational inquiry in the face of mysterious encounters. It encapsulates the tension between belief in the supernatural and skepticism. While M’s mother experienced a seemingly paranormal encounter, both she and M approach the story with a degree of skepticism. M’s mother’s hesitation to accept the pearl necklace for free and her subsequent confusion when she learns about the woman’s death reflect a blend of belief and rationality. The story takes place in a small town in Mexico, where beliefs in ghosts, spirits, and the afterlife may be deeply rooted in cultural folklore and traditions. The encounter with the ghostly woman wearing a green sweater and offering a pearl necklace resonates with traditional ghost stories that often feature encounters with benevolent or unsettled spirits. The story unfolds within the context of family interactions, with M’s mother consulting her own mother about the encounter. The family’s reaction to the description of the woman and the revelation of her death underscores the importance of familial connections and shared experiences in processing supernatural events. The story’s setting in a small town in Mexico adds layers of historical and cultural significance, contextualizing the encounter within a specific geographic and temporal framework. The time of year, possibly around October, may also carry symbolic meaning, aligning with cultural traditions such as Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) when the boundary between the living and the dead is believed to be particularly porous.