Author Archives: Erik Beltz

Legend – Hairy Man Road – Texas

Nationality: American
Age: 50
Occupation: Construction
Residence: Austin, Texas
Performance Date: April 2011
Primary Language: English

Legend – Texas – Hairy Man Road

“There’s this old country road in Round Rock, Texas outside of Austin… it’s not really a country road anymore.. it’s kind of suburban now. But anyway, they say this road has been there since, like, covered wagon times. Apparently there’s a Hairy Man who lived in the area there for years… my uncle used to tell me he saw him when he was a young boy. Apparently this hairy man fell off a wagon back in the day and was raised by animals or just, uh, raised himself in the wilderness… but he would harass people passing through because he was like an animal.. and unusually hairy. They say now his ghost haunts the road and that’s what people will see when they say that they’ve seen him. I’ve driven on the road but I’ve never seen anything unusual.”

The informant seems to believe this legend since his uncle has lived near the road for over thirty years and claims to have seen the ghost. I, being from Austin, have heard that the Hairy Man was actually a homeless man that was killed by a group of high school students in their car on the way to prom. Either way, this legend has become extremely well known in the Austin area, to the extent that this road was officially named “Hairy Man Road.” I find it interesting that this legend mixes different types of legendary creatures. The hairy man seems to be part Sasquatch, part savage man, and now a ghost. It’s interesting how different types of folklore can intermix to create legends such as this one. Furthermore, the high school prom variation that I have personally heard seems to exemplify a liminal time, but also a rite of passage. In this respect, the legend seems to represent the uneasiness that the transition from adolescence into adulthood can create. Perhaps it is even more interesting that this story has made the road itself a legend, as almost everybody in Austin knows what it is. Furthermore, the legend contributes to the identity of Round Rock residents, and they have even started having an annual Hairy Man Festival. In effect, the legend serves as a way for locals to form their own identities as citizens of this town. It gives them something unique to celebrate and discuss.

Contemporary Legend – Ghosts – Texas

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: student
Residence: Austin, Texas
Performance Date: March 2011
Primary Language: English

Contemporary Legend – Ghost Story

“My dad lives in a big, old house in the country outside of Austin, Texas. The house was built in the 1850’s, and sits on fifteen acres of land that are pretty much in the middle of nowhere. After we moved into the house, nothing happened for a while, but one night it was storming really bad. I remember it very vividly. The roof was made of metal, so the sound of the rain scared me. I went downstairs and slept on the couch because it was closer to my older brother’s room, and because the TV was on. I even remember what was playing on TV, it was a marathon of that movie ‘Teaching Ms. Tingle.’ Anyway, besides the point. I fell asleep, and for some reason I woke up in the middle of the night.. and kneeling right in front of my face on the floor in front of the couch was a little boy.. around 12. He was transparent, had messy clothes and hair, and was wearing overalls.. he looked like a farm boy. I rubbed my eyes thinking I was imagining it, but he was still there. After a few seconds, he slowly vanished. Not believing what I saw, I fell back asleep eventually. After that, we began hearing noises all over the house on a regular basis. Doors rattled, stations would change by themselves on the TV, and sometimes we could hear an office chair rolling around upstairs. The creepiest thing was when you could hear somebody walking down the stairs, but nobody was there. My whole family heard these things… even my dad got spooked a few times and searched the house with a gun, thinking there was a burglar. One night when he was home alone, he says all the sudden all the doors in the house starting rattling and sounded like somebody was beating on them. Sometimes my sister would see the boy standing at the top of the stairs by her bedroom door. All this was fine.. we accepted that the house was haunted… but then we met an old man who knew the family that used to own the house.. he said he played there as a child. Anyway, he told us that a young boy and an older woman with a bun of gray hair haunt the house. He said this without us saying anything about the house being haunted.. and he basically confirmed that a young boy haunted the house. There was also this one time when a little girl was at our house and we thought she was talking to herself… when her mother asked who she was talking to, the little girl said that she was talking to the boy standing next to her… but there was nobody standing next to her!”

This story describes the supposed haunting of the informant’s house in Texas. She was extremely effective at telling me the story, and was very believable. I honestly believe that she wholeheartedly believes that this house is haunted. It is freakishly believable, and I have a hard time disbelieving myself. That being said, the story serves a very important social purpose for the family. They often host parties with hundreds of people, and everybody knows this story. I spent a lot of time with the informant growing up, and she often told these stories to groups of friends, and usually at night in a creepy setting. The story provides a very strong case in support of belief in ghosts in general, especially considering the story from the old man, who allegedly was unfamiliar with the family’s firsthand experiences in the house. Although this story began as a personal story within this family, it has expanded to the small town community around them and has become somewhat of a local legend. It is also interesting that this legend exists in such an old house and in such a rural area that is not inhabited by many people. In some ways, it seems to reflect how much of folklore stems from human uncertainty and the unknown.

Legend – Jake’s Hill – Ghosts

Nationality: American
Age: 29
Occupation: Treasury Dept., ex-military
Residence: Austin, Texas
Performance Date: April 2011
Primary Language: English

Legend – Jake’s Hill – Ghosts

“There’s a bridge in Hutto, Texas where if you go there at night in your car, park on the bridge, put your car in neutral, and turn off your lights, the ghosts of children will push your car across the bridge. I’ve heard of people who put flour on their car and then they can see the handprints of the kids after they leave. We didn’t want to put flour on the car, so I dunno about that. But I went with three friends during high school and did it, and our car did move across the bridge. And then we were followed by this truck that put on it’s brights… it tailgated us for a few miles and then just.. kind of.. disappeared… there wasn’t even a road. That’s another part of the legend.. they say a truck will fly around the corner and chase you away from the bridge. I dunno if this was a coincidence, but I won’t lie, it scared me. So the story… apparently back in the 1800’s or something there was this dude that was a cotton farmer… and his family was hit by a drought and went broke. Then, story goes, he murdered his wife and kids on the bridge and then committed suicide. They say the ghost kids are pushing your car away from the bridge to save you from their father. Another story I’ve heard is that a school bus full of kids drove off the bridge and everybody died.. so the kids push your car away from the bridge because they are protecting you from driving off. I dunno which is true. And I have no idea where the truck part of the legend came from. All I know is that this worked when I went, and I haven’t been back.”
The first variation of this legend seems to reflect the importance of farming in this area in the past, and even today to an extent. The fact that it is children makes the legend that much more disturbing, because children are the embodiment of innocence. The part of this story that struck me was that the informant went and investigated this legend during high school, and was with his male friend and two girls. There seems to be an aspect of liminality in that they were in high school and about to graduate, so they were sort of exploring their independence. There also seems to be a sexual or romantic aspect in taking two girls with them. It is similar to horror movies, where the young woman will seek protection and comfort in the young man out of fear. In reality, both parties are perfectly aware that they are merely finding excuses to be close to each other. Overall, the investigation of this legend exemplifies these young peoples’ transition into adulthood, and the uneasiness that comes with that. Additionally, the social aspect of doing this with friends is notable. By sharing emotional experiences such as this, people build commonality and bonds with their friends.

Legend – Giant Man Eating Catfish – Texas

Nationality: American
Age: 50
Occupation: Construction
Residence: Austin, Texas
Performance Date: April 2011
Primary Language: English

Legend – Giant Man-Eating Catfish in Lake Travis

“I’ve heard my whole life that there are catfish in Lake Travis that are the size of Volkswagens. Right by Mansfield Dam the water gets to be like 200 feet deep, so they say the catfish down there have just had years to grow so large. Apparently divers have gone down there and seen these giant catfish… they’re so big that they could just swallow a full-grown man. I mean, catfish don’t eat people, but if you accidently, like, swam under them and they were sucking something up, they could swallow a human. At least that’s what they say.”

The informant is fifty years old and grew up on this lake in Austin, Texas. Catfish as a meal is very popular in this area, and there have been instances of big catfish being caught, though not as big as the ones that are said to dwell at the bottom of the lake. This legend, in many ways, is similar to the legends of the Loch Ness Monster and Giant Squids in the ocean. It seems that, wherever there is a large body of water that is generally untouchable by humans, a legend like this is formed. It is as if all areas undeveloped and untouched by humans are somehow savage and monstrous, almost to prehistoric extremes. Uncertainty is, apparently, a breeding ground for folklore. There was an article about this legend written in a local hill country newspaper, in which the journalist attempted to debunk the legend. According to this article, a local man made jokes to tourists, which they apparently they took seriously, and the legend of giant catfish in Lake Travis began. Also, the article addresses the fact that the water at that depth contains too little air to sustain fish, so all the fish stay closer to the surface. Overall, this seems to be just another legend of a monstrous sea creature, but adapted to the culture of Central Texas.

Annotation:
Williams, John. “A Body in Mansfield Dam? Man-eating Catfish in Lake Travis? Are These Stories True, or Are They Urban Legends?” The Hills of Lakeway Messenger [Lakeway, Texas] Feb. 2008, 2nd ed., sec. 2. Print.

Folk Tale – Armenian – Mother’s Heart

Nationality: American, Armenian
Age: 22
Occupation: Graduate Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA/Phoenix, AZ
Performance Date: April 2011
Primary Language: Armenian
Language: English

Folk Tale – Armenian

“There’s this story about a man who betrayed his mother. So he’s a momma’s boy but his wife hates her and so gives the husband an ultimatum: kill your mother or I will leave you. He’s sad, but he does it… rips out his mother’s heart, throws it on the ground. Then weeks later, he is walking home from the market and he trips on his mother’s heart and falls, skinning his knee or something. The mother’s heart says from the ground, genuinely concerned: ‘Oh my dear boy, please don’t be hurt.’ I believe this story is a metaphor for a mother’s infinite and unconditional love, even in complete betrayal.”

I agree with the informant’s interpretation of this tale. Even in the ultimate betrayal, being matricide, the mother is still loving and concerned for her son. Even in death, she reaches into his life. This story very effectively portrays the power and scope of a mother’s love for her child. Furthermore, the conflict that exists between a mother, her son, and his wife is portrayed in this tale. Often wives and mothers become jealous of each other, because both want to be the primary woman is the man’s life. The mother has cared for her son throughout his life, and now another woman has entered and, in some ways, replaced her. On the other hand, when a man remains too dependent on his mother after marriage, his wife may also become jealous and believe she is not enough. This dynamic is extremely gendered, but it nonetheless is depicted in an exaggerated manner in this story. The son is too dependent on his mother, so the wife forces him to murder his mother to prove his love and dedication to his new wife. This dynamic between these roles is exaggerated in this story, but it effectively exhibits the conflict that often exists.
This jealousy between new wife and mother is depicted in many stories, and often is portrayed as a struggle between the women. An example of this is the film, Monster-in-Law (2005), directed by Robert Luketic. In the film, a humorously violent struggle ensues between a mother and her son’s new fiancé (Jane Fonda and Jennifer Lopez).