This story was told to me in the middle of the day in a large crowded area.  I mention this because, when giving the proceeding interview, my informant was skeptical that what happened was the work of ghosts.  Part of this is probably due to our bright, highly populated environment.

Q: So, who told you this story?

A: A teacher back from my middle school told our class this story.  I don’t really believe that it’s a ghost story, but it is definitely pretty creepy.

Q: Okay, so tell me what happened.

A: So, one summer day my teacher went camping.  She was with her friend.  They basically went because they wanted to go hiking.  It was just the two of them, and throughout the day, they were taking pictures of the scenery and each other, and each other in the scenery.  That night, they pitched their tents, and they went to sleep.  They slept fine, and then in the morning, they continued on their trip.  When the trip was all over, they went to Walgreens to develop their film.  Upon receiving their developed pictures, they found pictures of themselves sleeping in their tent.  What they figured was that this was the act of ghosts.

Q: Where was the camp site?

A: I mean it was camping.  Like it was away from everyone.  I really don’t see how anyone could have gotten to them.  I mean, best case scenario, some really creepy guy just wanted to fuck with them, so he somehow found their site, which was out in the middle of nowhere, and took a picture of them, and then rearranged everything perfectly so it looked like nobody had been there.  But like, that is the BEST case scenario.  The only other option was that there were some creepy forces at work.

Q: Was the camera out of place in the morning?

A: The thing was, it was like a perfect trip.  Like, they had a fantastic time.  (Laughs) And I know that really doesn’t make for good narrative structure, but like, everything seemed perfectly normal.  It was only after they had the pictures developed that they were like “What the fuck!?”

Q: How soon after the event did they get the pictures developed?

A: They really almost forgot about the camera.  It was like two months later, they found the camera and were like “We never got this developed.  We should do that.”  And then they found the pictures.

Analysis:

            The story itself is a memorate, in the sense that the explanation surrounding this strange occurrence is dictated by societal beliefs.  Specifically, it is societies acceptance of ghosts that dictated the teacher’s belief that it was ghosts that took the pictures.  If the teacher’s peers and social groups believed in Leprechauns, it is very possible that she would explain the strangeness of this event with that explanation.

The story is actually very intriguing, as there doesn’t seem to be any greater message or purpose, other than to scare the listener.  The haunting does not seem to result from any fault of the main characters, or strange events surrounding their campsite, it is simply a single strange occurrence.  The fact that it lacks any supernatural events (such as odd noises or ethereal beings) surrounding the creepy photographs does seem to add to the creepiness of the story.  Overall, this memorate is actually quite terrifying, and will make me think twice before bringing a camera on my next camping trip.