Author Archives: cmcgartl

Suburban Legend

Text: “When I was younger, I would play with the kids my age in the neighborhood …”

“How old?”

“This was in middle school, I think I was like 5th or 6th grade, and the neighbor kids were around that age too. But yeah we would always go to my one friend’s house who had a trampoline in his backyard that we all loved. I remember it was right up against this section of woods behind my friend’s house. We would hang out there a lot but especially when we were younger, we would never be there after it got dark because one day the older kids in the neighborhood told us that there was a guy that lived in the woods. The story went that he lived there before the neighborhood was put up, and that he was upset that people were like… intruding on his land or something, Im not sure exactly. But anyway they said he would roam around the edges of the woods with a mask and machete, watching people waiting for a moment to like pop out and attack some kid. This had become this kind of known thing among the kids in the neighborhood. I remember one day my friends and I decided we would explore in the woods to see if we could spot him. We found this abandoned house and convinced ourselves that was where the guy lived. We totally believed it after that, and any time we heard a noise from the woods it would always freak us out. 

Context: My informant is a friend of mine who grew up in the suburbs. He tells the story of a masked murder in the woods of his childhood neighborhood, which he heard from the older kids on his street. He says that while he doesn’t believe it now, it was an integral part of growing up in his neighborhood, and that the story still gets told today.

Analysis: While my informant’s story may have been a tactic to scare younger children, I think the legend of the masked man in the woods has some interesting themes. For example, the fact that the story is based on the woods behind a childhood home. While the story may have been originally formed as a way to scare younger children, it also teaches kids to be aware of their surroundings and stay alert for strangers. Additionally, the fact that he and his friends later found a house in the woods, whether or not it was really occupied by a masked murderer, hints to the possibility that the original story tellers had at one point explored the woods themselves and used the same discovery to form the story. This could show a kind of rite of passage for kids in that neighborhood to both confront their fear of exploring the woods while satisfying a childhood curiosity for the unknown. 

Babysitter Scary Story


Text: “There’s this girl who has been working on the side as a babysitter for a few families. One of the families recommends her to a couple they are friends with, and the couple hires her to babysit white they go out on a date night. The night comes, and everything is going well. The kids are fun and well behaved, and as it gets late, she puts the kids to bed, and tries to enjoy herself until the parents get home. Or wait- yeah So She’s trying to relax in the family’s living room watching tv, but the family has this weird statue of a clown in the corner of the room. As much as she tries to ignore it, for some reason she just can’t get it out of her head. So she’s really freaked out, and she finally decides to call the parents. She calls them and she’s like ‘hey, you know the kids were wonderful they’re asleep right now and I’m just hanging out, but do you mind if I cover up the clown statue? It’s really creeping me out’ The Father says ‘stay calm, grab the kids, and leave the house. We don’t have a clown statue.’”

Context: My informant is my younger brother who heard this story from a friend in middle school. He says he first heard his friend tell it at a sleepover and this was the one story that really got to him. He says while “the story feels corny now, I still remember it”. He said at the time he heard it, the twist in the final line was what really made it a good scary story for him

Analysis: While the story doesn’t make any claims to be based on a true story, like other ghost stories may do, it was still effective in scaring my informant at the time he heard it. This is likely because the story effectively plays on deep fears held by most. For example, the use of the clown statue hits on the fear of inanimate objects like dolls that are meant to resemble humans. Then when it is revealed that the clown statue was actually a real person, it portrays the fear that these inanimate objects may not be inanimate at all. Finally, the fact that he heard it at a sleepover, meaning it was maybe not the most familiar or comfortable environment sleeping in someone else’s home could have added to how scary the experience was.

Glacial Lake Origins

Text: “The story basically goes that long ago when the earth was being made by the gods, when they – “

“Is it a specific god or gods?”

“I’m not sure, I think it’s just whatever god you believe in. But basically when the earth was being created, the gods were painting the sky. They were using different hues and shades of blue and green to color the sky, and while they were doing that, they accidentally spilled some of the sky’s coloring from the sky onto the mountain tops. This then trickled down from the mountain peaks and through the valleys until it collected into small lakes scattered around. These became the glacial lakes that are known today for having a beautiful deep blue green color to their water.

“Is there a specific lake this refers to?

“No, I’m pretty sure it’s just a story of glacial lakes in general, because it’s told when a kid asks why the glacial lakes have their unique color.”

Context: My informant is my younger brother who heard of this tale of how glacial lakes get their bright blue-green color from his trip leader on a backpacking trip in the French alps. He says that while on a hike, he asked his trip leader what gave the glacial lakes their blue-green color. His trip leader provided the real explanation, but also this story, which he would tell on day trips with young children who were curious about the unusual but beautiful color of glacial lakes.

Analysis: I found it really interesting that my brother got to hear the story of how glacial lakes get their color that is meant for young children. This is because I think the simplistic/creation based explanation for how the color is formed is great to both entertain, but also spark curiosity in young children while hearing it. However, when my brother heard it, who was old enough to know the story was not true, the story gained a comedic aspect, as it is funny how the story plays on the children’s innocent curiosity, making it fun for the child hearing it and the teller.

Haunted Dorm story

“In my freshman dorm there was this kind of ghost story that would float around. It was one of those things where you didn’t really believe in it, but it was still kind of freaky to hear and share it. 

“Did you share it with people?”

“Oh yeah, everyone in the building knew it, and I think most people shared it. The story was that a while back there was a kid who died in the building during finals week, I forget exactly how the story said it happened. But anyways it was said that afterwards, every semester during finals week you would hear these weird noises coming from places that didn’t make sense, like right outside your window on the fourth floor, or students would get intense chills in their rooms. Some would even say they would catch glimpses of the dead kid turning a corner at the end of the hall or stairway.”

“Do you believe it?”

“It depends, it’s possible a kid died, but no I never really believed in the supernatural parts of it. I think the sleep deprivation of finals week and maybe excitement around spreading the story makes people think they see things but I’m not really sure.

Context: This is a legend my friend heard in his dorm while he was a freshman in college. He says that this story was spread around the freshman housing, and the excitement of being in an unfamiliar place added to the vitality of the story his opinion.

Analysis: I agree with my friend that the context around where/when this story was spread added to the impact of the story. As my friend said, the fact that it was a freshman dorm and everyone there is new to the school and in a liminal period of their life transitioning into college added to the believability. Additionally, the timing of finals week adds to the overall stress of students, making them more prone to attribute the supernatural to the natural. Further, this time of stress for the students could be a motivator to take their minds of the stress of school and exams in any way they could, like distracting themselves with the fun of sharing spooky stories with their new friends. 

The traveler and the Monk Narrative Joke

Text: 

“There was a man who was driving down a long stretch of road in the middle of nowhere when his car broke down. He gets out, tries to fix it, can’t, and decides to walk down the road to see if he can find any help. He eventually comes across a monastery. He walks up, knocks on the door, and asks the monk at the door “hey my car broke down just down the road, could I spend the night here until I get it fixed?” The monk happily agreed, not only welcoming him in, but offering to fix his car and get the traveler on his way. The man is grateful to the monk for his generosity, and enters the monastery for the night. The man meets the rest of the monks, has a great meal, and they show him to his room. As they were walking down the hall to his room, he passed a locked door with a very strange sound coming from it. He asks the monk “What is that sound?” The monk replies “I cannot tell you, for you are not a monk”. The man accepts the monk’s response, goes into his room, and tries to get a good night’s rest. However, he stays awake all night, unable to sleep because of the mysterious sound. It gets to a point where the guy just can’t take it anymore. So he gets up, wakes up the monk, and says: “Please can you please tell me what that sound is driving me crazy” The monk gives him the same response: “I cannot tell you, for you are not a monk”. The man is frustrated, but tries to go back to sleep. Still, he is kept awake by the sound, and is dying even more now to figure out what it is. In the morning, the man goes up to the monk, and says: “I need to figure out what the noise is, how do I become a monk?” The monk says “you must first travel around the world and count every blade of grass. Only once you have counted every blade of grass, can you become a monk. The man sets out, travels the world counting blades of grass. He covers every plain, every mountain, every hill, until he finally counts the last blade of grass. He travels back to the monastery, and tells the monk: “I have counted all 1 quadrillion, 985 trillion, 743 billion, 892 million, 41 thousand and 6 blades of grass, can I become a monk now? The monk says that is correct, but to become a monk you must first travel the world, and count every grain of sand on the earth. Only once you have done that can you become a monk” The man is so eager to figure out what the sound is, that he agrees. He sets out, goes to every beach, every dessert, every sand dune, and counts every grain of sand on the earth. He returns to the monk, and says: I have counted all “58 quintillion, 8 quadrillion, 247 trillion, 133 billion, 21 million, 607 thousand, 522 grains of sand, can I become a monk now? The monk says, that is correct, you can finally become a monk. The man is overjoyed, and he immediately follows the monk up to the room where he heard the sound, and figures out what was making it. 

“What was the sound?”

“I can’t tell you, because you’re not a monk”

Context: My informant is my younger brother who heard this story from one of his friends in highschool. His friend told him this story on a road trip as a way to pass the time. My brother says the idea of the story is to drag it out as long as the other person will take, usually adding quests the traveler must continue to complete, and stretching out the set up and conclusion. Then once the traveler finds the sound, you wait for the listener to ask what it was, then deliver the punchline. 

Analysis: I found this joke to be especially interesting because the funny part isn’t necessarily the punch line, but how the storyteller has essentially tricked the listener into sitting through a long story that is building up to a climax that is never delivered. Furthermore, the longer the story is continued, the more and more the climax of learning the sound is built up, to the point where no possible source for the sound could explain the traveler wanting so desperately to find it. But by using the punchline as a sort of anti-climax, it both preserves the sense of curiosity in the listener, and instills the same frustration that the traveler felt throughout the story.