Category Archives: Folk Beliefs

The Ghost of Doheny Library

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Cupertino, California
Language: English

1. TEXT TRANSCRIPTION

“So at the Catalina retreat, I got the chance to meet with one of my professors while I was there. And during our conversation, he brought up something kind of spooky, he said that Doheny is haunted. Apparently, there’s this whole story behind it. He told me that the original founders of Doheny, the husband and wife, both died under somewhat mysterious or unclear circumstances. And ever since then, there have been rumors that their ghosts still linger around the campus. He said people have reported strange occurrences, like unexplained noises, shadows, or that eerie feeling like someone’s watching you. It was just a casual story he shared, but it definitely gave off some haunted mansion vibes. I’m not sure how much of it is just legend or if people have actually experienced things, but it was still super interesting and kind of creepy to hear while being away at the retreat.”

2. CONTEXT

“The story was told to me by one of my professors during a school-sponsored retreat on Catalina Island. The setting was casual and conversational, we weren’t in a classroom, which made the story feel more intimate and less academic. The professor shared the haunted Doheny story in a lighthearted, somewhat joking way, but he didn’t deny its possibility either. This made me feel like it was something known within the university community, possibly passed down among faculty or students over the years.

As someone relatively new to the school, I hadn’t heard the story before, so it sparked my curiosity, not just about the haunting itself but also about the history of the Doheny building and its founders. While I took it with a grain of salt, the idea that our campus could have ghost stories gave it a sense of mystery and history I hadn’t thought about before.”

3. INTERPRETATION

Although the text may seem like just a spooky anecdote, it reveals several cultural and personal values. Culturally, it reflects the common human tendency to mythologize historic spaces, especially when the lives (or deaths) of those involved are unclear or mysterious. The haunting becomes a symbolic way to express unresolved history. In this case, the ghosts of the Doheny founders represent more than just fear, they symbolize the past still lingering within the present, a connection between generations at the university.

The story also speaks to the role of oral tradition in academic spaces. Even in an environment focused on logic and evidence, folklore finds a place, passed informally between faculty and students. This reflects a cultural value of storytelling as a means of building identity and community within institutions. Hearing this at a retreat, away from the usual routines of school, also made the experience feel more liminal, a space where the boundary between fact and legend feels blurred.

On a personal level, the story made me feel more connected to the school. Whether or not it’s true, it gave me a new perspective on the campus and how spaces can carry emotional and symbolic meaning. It reminded me that universities aren’t just about academics, they’re also about shared stories, mysteries, and the ways people relate to the spaces they move through every day.

Haunted Freshman Dorm

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Cupertino, California

1. TEXT/TRANSCRIPTION

“So this happened to my sister when she was a freshman in college. She told me that she always felt really uneasy in her dorm room. Like, every night she would get this weird feeling, like someone was watching her. Not just sometimes, but every night. She didn’t see anything at first, but she said it was hard to sleep, and she couldn’t shake that heavy, creepy feeling.

Then one night, she was lying in bed and felt the same thing, so she looked out the window. And she swears she saw someone staring back at her. But the wild part is, she lived on the seventh floor. There was no balcony, no ledge, nothing. Just this figure, staring right at her from outside the window.

She obviously freaked out. And later on, she found out that someone had died on her floor years before she moved in. After that, everything made a little more sense to her, but it was still super disturbing. She doesn’t really like to talk about it much.”

2. CONTEXT

“She told me this after she moved out of that dorm. I think she didn’t want to scare anyone while she was still living there, but after she left, she opened up about it. It’s not something she jokes about either, like, she really believes what she saw.

It’s one of those stories that our family always talks about now, but not in a ‘haha, spooky’ way. More like, ‘Wow, that actually happened to her.’ She’s still kind of uncomfortable when she remembers it. It definitely stuck with her.”

3. INTERPRETATION

This story gave me chills when I first heard it, not just because of the creepy image of someone staring into a 7th-floor window, but because of how real it felt to the person telling it. The emotional weight and fear in her sister’s experience really stood out to me. It reminded me that ghost stories aren’t always about what’s visible, sometimes it’s about the atmosphere, the tension, the feeling that something isn’t right.

There’s something deeply personal and psychological about the idea of being watched while you sleep. That sense of vulnerability, especially in a space that’s supposed to feel safe, like your dorm room, heightens the impact of the story. When she finally sees something, it becomes a visual confirmation of what she’s felt all along. That moment turns her unease into fear, but also into belief.

What makes the story even more meaningful is the historical layer, that someone had died on that floor years earlier. It connects her personal experience to a larger, possibly hidden history of the building. It also speaks to how haunted places aren’t just abandoned mansions or creepy woods, they can be everyday, lived-in spaces like college dorms. Places where young people are supposed to feel free and excited are suddenly connected to past trauma, making them feel unfamiliar and unsafe.

To me, this story reflects how personal folklore can develop in intimate spaces. It also shows how fear, especially when validated by later discoveries, can reshape how someone understands their own memories. Whether or not there was really someone at the window, the belief in that moment, the fear, the isolation, the later context of death, gives the story emotional and cultural power.

Ghost of Starbucks

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Boston, Massachusetts
Language: English

1. TEXT/TRANSCRIPTION

“So this happened to me, like, I was actually there. I was at Starbucks with my friend, and we were just sitting there talking. Nothing weird was going on, we were just having coffee. And then suddenly, one of the glasses on the table literally lifted up by itself. Like, it just floated a little bit into the air and then completely shattered.

It didn’t just fall or tip over, it lifted and then shattered on the floor. And the craziest part was, it wasn’t just us who saw it. The people sitting nearby saw it too, and everyone just kind of froze. I remember we all looked at each other like, ‘Did that really just happen?’ My friend and I were both shocked. There was no explanation for it. No one had touched it. It was one of the weirdest moments of my life, honestly.”

2. CONTEXT

“I’ve told this story to a few people, and I think most of them kind of half-believe me. But I swear it really happened. Like, I know how it sounds, but I know what I saw. And the fact that there were other people around who saw it too makes me feel like I’m not crazy.

It happened in a regular Starbucks, just a normal day. I wasn’t expecting anything weird at all. But ever since then, I’ve been more open to stuff like that, like energy, spirits, or whatever it might be. It just made me feel like there’s more going on than we can explain. My friend still talks about it too, so I know it wasn’t just in my head.”

3. INTERPRETATION

What struck me most about AM’s story wasn’t just the ghostly or paranormal detail, it was how ordinary the setting was. Starbucks is such a familiar, everyday place, which makes the incident feel even more jarring. It’s one thing to hear about haunted houses or old attics, but the fact that something so unexplainable happened in a public, modern setting gives the story a lot of weight. It disrupts the idea that the supernatural only belongs in old or creepy environments.

What makes her story even more compelling is the communal experience. She wasn’t alone, there were witnesses, which adds credibility and changes the dynamic. It becomes less about one person’s strange memory and more about a shared reality that no one could quite explain. That element turns the story into something bigger than a personal anecdote, it becomes a moment that challenges how multiple people perceive and make sense of the world.

From a folkloric perspective, this story feels like a modern ghost tale that reflects a broader cultural interest in unexplained phenomena. It blends the ordinary with the extraordinary, suggesting that the supernatural can appear anywhere, even in the most routine, commercial places. I also think it reveals something personal about AM. She’s not trying to convince people, it’s more about how the experience shifted her worldview. Her openness to the unknown, her trust in her memory, and her willingness to share the story despite disbelief shows a kind of confidence in her own perception, which I find really meaningful.

Floating Cabbage Patch Doll

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Boston, Massachusettes
Language: English

1. TEXT/TRANSCRIPTION

“Okay, so my mom had this Cabbage Patch doll when she was a little girl, and she swears it actually levitated. I know it sounds crazy, but she tells the story like it’s the most normal thing. She says she was playing with it in her room, and out of nowhere, the doll just started floating. It wasn’t like a little bit off the ground, it was like it was rising up on its own. She said she freaked out and ran out of the room, but she still remembers it so clearly. She always says she knows what she saw, and she’s convinced the doll was… possessed or something. It was super weird, and she’s never forgotten it.”

2. CONTEXT 

“She told me about this when I was younger, like, she was laughing while telling it, but I could tell she was serious. She always brings it up like it’s no big deal, but she’s totally convinced it happened. It’s one of those stories that gets passed down in the family, and she tells it to make us laugh, but you can tell there’s something deeper to it.

It’s one of those things where she’ll say, ‘I’m not making this up, I saw it,’ and she stands by it. I don’t think she’s trying to scare us, it’s just something that happened to her, and it’s stuck with her. Honestly, I kind of believe her, just because she tells it with such certainty, even now.”

3. INTERPRETATION

This story stood out to me because it shows how personal experiences like this shape our understanding of the world. Even though it’s an incredibly strange and seemingly impossible event, AMs mom never doubted it. That kind of conviction makes it more than just a funny, creepy story, it feels like a foundational experience for her. It speaks to how people process strange or unexplainable events.

The Cabbage Patch doll levitating is especially significant to me because it blends something so innocent and familiar with something supernatural. A doll, something we typically associate with childhood comfort, becomes the center of something unsettling. The idea of it levitating is almost a perfect example of how childhood imagination, wonder, and fear can merge into something that feels both magical and terrifying.

What’s also interesting is how AM’s mom continues to tell this story with such seriousness. It’s clear that the event had a lasting emotional impact on her. I think that’s what makes the story compelling, it’s not just about the ghostly or supernatural element, it’s about the personal truth she attaches to it. The way she speaks about it with such confidence shows how this experience shaped her sense of reality, and I think that’s why it’s such an important piece of her identity. Whether or not the levitation actually happened isn’t as important as how it’s woven into her understanding of the world.

The Jinn

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: University Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California

Age: 18
Date of Performance: 4/01/2025
Language: English
Nationality: American
Occupation: University Student
Primary Language: English
Residence: Los Angeles, California

Text:
“Jinns—there are evil ones, good ones, Muslim ones—they’re basically spirits. They can possess you. There are certain things you’re not supposed to do, like stare in the mirror too long, stay in the bathroom too long, or listen to music in there, especially if you’re naked. That attracts Jinns. If a Jinn falls in love with you, they can possess you, stop you from getting married, and even have children with you.”

Context:
The informant is Muslim and grew up with strong cultural and religious beliefs around the Jinn. These stories were often told in the household to reinforce behavioral norms and maintain spiritual awareness. The mention of Jinns falling in love adds a layer of romantic and paranormal tension to the legend.

Analysis:
The Jinn is a foundational concept in Islamic theology and Middle Eastern folklore, often acting as both a spiritual metaphor and a literal belief system. This legend highlights behaviors that might be seen as immodest or spiritually vulnerable, reinforcing modesty and spiritual caution. The romantic element—Jinns falling in love and disrupting relationships—adds a psychological dimension, providing an otherworldly explanation for earthly struggles in love or marriage.