Author Archives: Victoria Houben

Camp Basement

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 2nd, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: French

K is a freshman majoring in psychology who attended the same camp almost every summer before college. The campers were told this story in the basement where the events occurred at nighttime to explain why one wall is newer than the rest.

“The camp used to be a homestead, around 1812, and the family who lived there was part of the underground railroad. The escaped slaves were hidden in the basement of the house, and one night confederate soldiers showed up to confiscate the slaves and punish the family for helping. As soon as the father opened the door, he was shot in the face, and the soldiers continued to kill everyone else in the family. When they reached the basement, they decided not to kill the escaped slaves – a mother and child – but rather make them suffer. They barricaded the two in the basement behind a new wall. It’s said that at nighttime you can still hear the child scratching the wall.”

K’s story encompasses many ghost story motifs, such as the wrongful deaths of those involved and the liminal space of the basement. It is also a lesson to young campers, both not to go out at night and not to go in the basement, and helps them to feel more connected to camp through the knowledge of it’s history.

Haunted Air BnB

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 1st, 2017
Primary Language: English

EC is a freshman majoring in International Relations and minoring in Marine Biology. This story takes place approximately six years ago.

“While my Dad was waiting for his new house to be built we stayed at Airbnb’s for a few months, usually one per week. I got a really bad vibes when I walked into one of them, and could tell something bad was there. When I went to bed the first night I jolted up from a dream and so did my dog after hearing a loud sound. I fell back asleep and woke up again, but I couldn’t move, and there was a silhouette of a person next to the bed. The next day when my brother and I left for school, we locked the house, but when we came home the door was unlocked and wide open, but my dad was away on a business trip.”

EC’s ghost story has many common ghost elements, including the dog’s reaction to the sound and the brother acting as a witness to the strange events. The story also takes place in a liminal space – the Airbnb is not home but it is not a hotel either.