Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

The Red Balloon Ghost Story

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: College Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Language: English

My informant told me a story about her deceased Nana sending her red balloons for her birthday. Her Nana, whom she was very close to, passed away ten days after her 12th birthday. The next year, when her 13th birthday was approaching, she, my informant, felt a lot of grief, because the approach of her birthday meant that the anniversary of her Nana’s death was approaching as well. She prayed to God and her Nana to feel some comfort from her grief. The next day, when she came home from school, there were a bunch of red balloons in the tree in front of her house. My informant told me, “Red was my favorite color, and they were birthday balloons; one or two said “Happy Birthday.” She only took one of the plain red balloons: “because I did not want to be greedy.” That night, she prayed that the balloon would float for seven or ten days (she could not remember the exact amount of time) and the balloon stayed afloat for the amount of time she had prayed for.

Context:

My informant shared with me that she grew up with strong Christian roots. She was Catholic and attended the Catholic Church for several years when she was young before her family switched to a Protestant Church. She told me that she had developed the habit of praying to God to give her a sign as proof of His existence or to help her make big decisions when she was going through rough times. The balloons appeared when she prayed to her deceased grandmother My informant has shared this story with her mother and her mother shared other memorates with her about supernatural events regarding her Nana.

Analysis:

My informant presented this story to me as a ghost story, however, I would argue that there are sign superstition elements to it: praying to her grandmother and then finding the red balloons in front of her house. There is a supernatural element to her story, though, too: the balloons being her favorite color and the one balloon lasting the length of time she wanted it too. One can argue that the spirit of her Nana brought her these balloons for her birthday, therefore making it somewhat of a ghost story. In class, we talked about ghosts/spirits are mostly vengeful and to haunt the living, but I wonder if it is a possibility that there are some spirits that present themselves, specifically to their loved ones, to bring support and to show the living that they are not alone (in a positive way).

Burning House

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Full-Time College Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Language: English

I met with PM to discuss his ghost story.

Everyone thought my house that I lived in from ages 7-13 was haunted. Everyone in my family had their own encounter with the ghost. You know when it feels like someone is watching you? We all got that feeling something when no one was around, especially at night. My mom has a story where she was sleeping and woke up unexpected and felt like a presence standing over her. Super creepy stuff. I had my own encounters where I felt a presence watching or hovering over me when I was sleeping. My sister had it the worst though. From what I remember the ghost encounters were worse on the third floor where her room was. Things would break unexpectedly, she felt like someone was watching her a lot of the time, windows would open on their own, and the floorboards would creak up there when no one was there. Fast forward to my house burning down out of nowhere. Coincidentally, the fire started on the third floor and no one really knows how. They thought it could have been an electrically fire but who’s to say the ghost wasn’t involved. Later on, when we were looking at the pictures of our destroyed house my grandma actually thought she saw it or something eerie in one of the photos.

This is a first-person account of P’s house burning down. It’s almost as if the farther you went into the house, the more haunted it became. This is definitely a ghost story or legend, where shared experiences and personal encounters are physical manifestations of the ghost. Not only that, but the fact that the fire originated in the most “active” area of the house—and that, in a photo of the remains, Pearson’s grandma claimed to see something eerie—aligns closely with common folklore motifs. These elements are frequently seen in other ghost stories and legends.

The Origin of Ganesh

Nationality: American
Age: 32
Occupation: Unemployed
Residence: San Francisco, CA
Language: English

Text:

“As a child, my mother taught me that Ganesh has the head of an elephant because of a story involving his parents, Shiva and Parvathi. One day, when Ganesh was guarding the bath area to protect his mother, Parvathi, he saw Lord Shiva approaching and tried to stop him. Not recognizing Ganesh, Shiva became angry and chopped off his head. When Parvathi saw what had happened, she begged Shiva to save their son. To bring Ganesh back to life, Shiva said the only way was to replace his head with that of the first living creature he came across, which in this case was an elephant. And that is why Ganesh has the head of an elephant.”

Context:

This myth was shared by the informant, P, during a conversation about Hindu stories she heard during childhood. P first heard this myth from her mother, who used it to explain the origin of Ganesh and his unique image. To P, this myth is more than just a story; it is an explanation of Ganesh’s divine role as a protector.

Analysis:

This is a myth because it explains the origins of a sacred figure, Ganesh, using symbolic storytelling to express deep religious beliefs. The story involves gods, supernatural events, and moral values like sacrifice and protection. The elephant head serves both a literal and symbolic purpose, representing wisdom and strength. This myth helps explain not only Ganesh’s physical form but also his cultural role as the remover of obstacles and protector of beginnings.

Flying doll

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: college student
Language: English

Text:

“I was sitting in front of the couch on the floor and behind me I had my Jessie doll sitting with like some lion stuffed animal, I think, just like above– behind my head. And I was watching television, I didn’t move, I was just sitting there, I was content, and my doll flew across the room. To the other side of the couch. Like, as if it was thrown or something”

Context:

 “It would have been like first grade, or second? More like second grade, so around 8. And I was a latchkey kid, so it was one of those times I was left home alone. I had gotten used to being left home alone, but I couldn’t – I couldn’t stand the silence, I couldn’t stand the sounds because it was creepy and we would, like, I would always hear footsteps in the halls and stuff and it was just creepy. My parents said it was the cats underneath the trailer but you never know. Children are imaginative. 

Analysis:

This memorate of what the interviewee defines as a ghost encounter is interesting first because it happened while she was alone. Many encounters derive validity from multiple accounts of the same or similar events, but this person had strong belief in their encounter even without someone else there to witness it and without recollection of the same happening to other family members. They also did not tie this event to a greater expectation of their home being haunted in this way, although she did mention hearing footsteps. This implies that the movement of the doll was an isolated event, although the general haunting may have been consistent. As she describes being left home alone after school and being scared of the various noises, it seems that this space became a center of belief for the individual. Because of the increased eerieness of the trailer, especially as a child, her belief may have been augmented so she was more willing to correlate her memorate immediately with the existence of a ghost. This also speaks to the fear, not just as a child but as an adult, that one may not truly be alone when one expects to be. Mysterious actions only add to the fear that another person or being might be in the room and able to hide their presence, causing further mysteries to be interpreted more frequently as monstrous or magical. 

La Diablesse

AGE: 20

Date of performance: 04/03/2025

Language: English

Nationality: American

Occupation: Student 

Primary Language: English 

Title- La Diablesse 

Context- C shares a Trinidadian legend that he was told by his grandmother growing up—the legend of La Diablesse. C says that La Diablesse is a beautiful woman that has one cow hoof hiding underneath her dress. She aims to lure men, representing temptation and danger within Caribbean culture. 

Analysis- Legends are a sub-genre of the narrative genre of folklore, holding some element of truth that is not confirmed or denied. La Diablesse is a legend because she represents a part of the culture in Trinidad as they are very spiritually motivated. The legend of La Diablesse reminds me of Mexico’s La Llorona, both being legendary, beautiful women that seek attention while representing elements of their cultures. This is a telling sign of folklore—variations of similar genres amongst different regions and cultures.