Author Archives: Eliott Lanz

Haunted Film Camera

Interviewer: “Tell me more about this haunted film camera”

TN: “Ok so basically I heard this story of this girls creepy experience with a film camera. She allegedly bought the camera from an estate sale for like 20 bucks because it was a dead guys camera. When she was on vacation she took pictures on it. It was a really old like vintage film camera where you have to get it developed.”

TN: “When she got it developed they shipped the photos to her house and in the package with her pictures was like old photos from the guy who died. Photos of him with family and like his kids, and some really blurry pictures it was really weird cause she didn’t know the camera was used.”

TN: “But the thing that was scary is that his face showed up in pictures she took of her and her parents. Like a shadow behind her in the pictures, and you could see his teeth and his eyes on a lot of the photos, like he was haunting her.”

Interviewer: “Wow thats really creepy, thank you for sharing!”

Context: The informant learned this story on a trip with friends. They all told ghost stories and tales at the fire at night, and this is one of the stories that was performed. The informant is aware that there is no verifiable truth to this story as it came from a friend of a friend of a friend, as is the nature of folklore. However, it has become a ritualistic practice for him where he tells the story whenever prompted, essentially acting as a mechanism for entertainment for audiences.

Analysis: This story is a classic example of contemporary legends or “urban legends” because it blends supernatural horror with relatability and modern technological mediums. This makes the story feel more modern and accessible because cameras are engrained in every aspect of daily life, making it feel visceral and contagious. The story also has “friend of a friend credibility” which isn’t completely valid, but the storytelling nature and the transmission of the story makes it folklore, regardless of its truth. The story essentially is a warning tale, cautioning listeners to not take from the dead, and to leave the past in the past.

New North Ghost

Interviewer: “So tell me more about this story, how did it start and become this huge legend?”

MA: Basically, I live in New North, and there’s always floods, or leaks, or water damage happening in the building. There’s this story where this girl died in the communal showers a long long time ago, and her ghost haunts peoples rooms. If your room gets a leak or water damage, she’s picked you to be her next victim.

Interviewer: Interesting, do a lot of people in your dorm believe this or is it more of a joke amongst residents”

MA: “Yea, honestly it’s a big deal and people get kind of freaked out going to the bathroom or showering late at night. My friends place had a leak and people have been teasing her about slipping and dying in the shower so she’s been extra careful”

Context: The informant first heard this story from her RA, and was told the entire dorm flooded the year before. She, and other residents her age tell this story for entertainment value, however some residents, including the one interviewed, believe the story enough to be wary and cautious when in the communal bathrooms.

Analysis: This is a classic ghost tale, however this could be employed from the RA’s to redirect attention from the water problems and convert it into folklore, as its transmission amongst residents is rapid and it seems to have grabbed their attention. This cautionary tale functions beyond a warning, it creates communitas between residents allowing them to bond over their shared belief, and the story evolves and changes the more exposure it gets, feeding more into the folklore.

First Sale: Bell Ringing

OB: At the Real Estate firm that I interned at, they have this massive brass bell in the lobby that no one is allowed to touch. When a new agent closes their very first deal, the entire office stops working and the intern rings the bell as hard as they can. We weren’t allowed to decorate our desk or put up our nameplate until the bell was rung.

Context: The informant is a senior majoring in business who I met during a group project. He witnessed and eventually participated in this ritual of initiation in a formal business setting. To him, the bell ringing felt like a public and declaritive validation of his professional worth.

Analysis: This is a ritual of initiation as well as a transformation ritual. He not only was initiated into a new group of people with shard folkloristic practices, he was also transformed into an official worker for the company, marking a period in which he became a legitimate member of a community. This status elevation ceremony transitions him from a state of dependency to a state of agency.

“Something Blue

Interviewer: “Can you please repeat what you just told me, because it is a great example of a ritual and folk tradition!”

OB: “In my Family, the “something blue” in wedding superstition has to be a blue thread sewn into the hem of the dress in the shape of an anchor. It is supposed to keep the marriage grounded, and supposedly keeps the couple together.

Context: OB’s cousin is getting married in the summer, and she wanted all her family members to sew blue anchors into the hem of their suits. He has learned this tradition for as long as he can remember in his family, however he has never participated himself because it is typically the bride. he is a gay male, and wants to eventually use the tradition in his suit when he gets married, carrying on the tradition in his own way.

Analysis: This is a great example of how a very broad and popularized tradition is localized into a more narrow specific familial tradition. This is an example of material culture, in which an object is representative of a folk belief of a tradition. This could be perceived as a ritual of intensification as it strengthens the bond between romantic partners as well as their families.

The Cursor Superstition

Interviewer: “Can you tell me more about this digital superstition?”

SG: When i’m downloading a huge game update, like the one we are downloading right now, I never leave the cursor on the loading bar. if the cursor is touching the bar, it feels like its ‘weighing it down’ and making it slower. I always move it to the corner of the screen.

Context: Sophie is a frequent gaming partner of mine. She told me this superstition and taught it to me while we were waiting a patch to download. In order for both of us to be able to log onto the game quicker, I attempted it and it worked. She learned this from a famous gaming YouTuber who has propagated this belief to his subscribers.

Analysis: This is an example of digital folklore. Even with modern technology, humans apply “magical thinking” to processes we cannot physically see or exert control over. Anthropoligcally, this is a control ritual, and the personification of the digital cursor having this weight over the loading bar is a form of animism applied to software. In applying real world physics to an intangible object, we are making the virtual space more intelligible.