Author Archives: gerobins

“Bowling in Heaven” (memorate)

by Grace Robinson

“When I was little, I was really scared of thunder storms and [my] Grandma would always tell me that the sound of the thunder was actually the sound of people bowling in heaven, -and after she told me that story enough I wasn’t scared of them anymore.”

My informant spoke with great passion about this short narrative that was replayed to her many times as a child. She told me her grandmother was very Christian, so she thought that claiming that the loud thunder was actually the result of heaven-dwellers indulging in a carefree recreation, would ease by fear. Her grandmother was ultimately right, as the reminder soothed her anxieties over thunder storms, having grown up in such a religious household, the familiarity to religion from the group she was raised with aided her, even though she doesn’t claim to be especially religious herself.

I also find it interesting that while I would still classify this short narrative as a memorate, since it pertains to a personal experience, it also shares many traits with that of ‘myths’. It is essentially a kind of creation story for a universal truth, seeing as folk everywhere hear thunder. It’s a sacred narrative about how something came to be (the thunder deriving from something holy), and it doesn’t take place in the real world (i.e. Heaven). So while I wouldn’t quite classify this piece as a myth, due to what I believe to be a small reach, it definitely seems to share its qualities.

“Noah Body” (Tale)

“My dad would tell me [ever since I was young] about this guy who was kidnapped by a huge cyclops. – He’s super scared and wants to make his escape but the cyclopes won’t let him go, so what happens is that he begins to befriend the cyclops, until the cyclops asks him for his name, and he answers “Noah Body”. He then goes and attacks [the cyclops] by stabbing him in the eye- but when the cyclops in in pain and runs to tell another cyclops what the man did and says ‘Noah Body hit me! Noah Body hit me!’ the other cyclops is slow to react asking ‘What do you mean nobody hit you? What’re you talking about?’ and the man was able to make his escape.”

This story was told to my informant by her father repeatedly in her youth. At the time, she considered it as something that entertained her, but as she grew into the story she realized, “It was about cunning and wit – my dad tried to use it as a lesson on being smart and how to cleverly get yourself out of situations.”

Her father would recite this colorful story to encourage her and her siblings to be consistently clever, so they may more easily navigate their way out of issues that arise.

What interests me as well is the sheer absurdity and nodes of violence in the story, especially as a mode to inform children of life lessons. Many children’s tales are outlandish or horrific in nature in order to be more captivating for their audience, like many iterations of Snow White, or Little Red Riding Hood. If children are more entertained or frightened by a story, the more likely the intention will stick with them.

“Hand Licker” (memorate)

“[In first grade] there was this scary story that [my classmates and I] would tell each other on the way to school – it was about this marries couple of homeowners with their dog who would always hear weird noises at night, so they’d stick their hands under the bed and let the dog lick it to make sure it was okay. One night when they heard an extra weird noise, the wife stuck her hand under the bed, and the dog licked it, but then they heard the noise again so the husband went to check it out and it was their dog locked out of the room, while something under the bed was still licking the wife’s hand.”

I asked my informant who it ended up being under the bed.

“Some guy who broke in.” she told me.

She said that the story was brought up by a classmate one day and spread through her grade level swiftly, many of her fellow first graders marveled by the disturbing narrative.

“It was mostly just entertaining to us.”

Though I don’t doubt for a second that children will pass around vulgar stories for the sake of entertainment or “shock factor”, I believe that this story can also be viewed as a warning against blind trust. Although the couple always heard the strange noises, they never investigated the cause of the news and therefore were late to catch the creepy man who hid under their bed at night.

“The Legend of the Jersey Devil”

by Grace Robinson

“In New Jersey During 2020 I was incredibly bored and depressed with my friends, and there’s this website called ‘Paranormal NJ” which has all these places in New Jersey that apparently are spooky and I went to almost all of them – one of them pertains to the Legend of the Jersey Devil “

She touched on what she’d heard about this creature, having grownup in New Jersey, but she admitted it wasn’t extensive knowledge. She told me that it was a folk legend about a beast closely linked with the Devil. It is apparently known for its number of chilling encounters with those who visit the Pinelands of NJ, appearing demon like and devilish in stature, and dark in nature.

“we were so scared and [my friends and I] ran around in this maze in the Pinelands of NJ and unfortunately we didn’t see it, but we heard other people screaming and saying they saw it or heard it, a lot of people said it’s screams sound like evil giggling.”

Though many people, including my informant, were fearful of this demonic creature, there is still an apparent level of intrigue in spotting the monster. The fear and anxieties regarding this creature haven’t overwhelmed the need to satisfy a curiosity for these hopeful viewers, which reminds me immediately of the legend of Bigfoot or Sasquatch. These legends haven’t been proven, but can’t quite be disproven, therefore they remain as long as it maintains their levels of intrigue and belief.