Category Archives: Game

Bloody Mary

Nationality: American/Chinese
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 20th
Primary Language: English

Main Piece: “There is a scary story that I used to play when I was a young girl during sleepover parties with my friends called Bloody Mary. It’s basically when you go into a bathroom and you turn off all the lights. Then you say “Bloody Mary” three times and flush the toilet. Then you are suppose to see Queen Mary appear in the mirror and then she kills you and scratches out your eyes and your spirit is forever in the mirror and you can’t escape. I was actually never brave enough to play the game because I thought I was gonna die. Still to this day it freaks me out a little bit but it was a big part of sleepovers with girls.”

Background Information: The informant learned this story from her other friends who were girls when she was around age 7. The informant would play this game during every sleepover and the informant describes it almost like a social experience with her friends. The informant said the game had a deep impact when she was younger and still bothers her today even though she knows it is not true.

Context: In the informat’s dorm room

Thoughts: This story seems symbolic of womanhood. As Alan Dundes said/analyzed, this story can be seen almost like a transition of young girls to womanhood since there is blood involved (mesntration cycle). For young girls, this transition into womanhood is terrifying so this story may be symbolic of those emotions. The number three is also important as well, because three is a very common used number in American culture.

 

 

Girl and the red skirt

Nationality: Japanese
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego
Performance Date: April 23rd
Primary Language: English

Main Piece: “ If you go into the girl’s bathroom on the third floor of the building, and walk to the third stall,  knock 3 times and call her name a little girl in a red skirt will be there named Hanako-san. She will have a bloody hand and grab you, or be a animal that eats you. I was so scared going to the bathroom when I was in middle school in Japan, it was a game that a lot of girls would play but it really made me scared as a kid. I don’t know why it was so popular to be honest.”

Background Information: The informant learned this story in Japan through her friends in middle school when she was about eleven. The informant says that this is a very popular story and game in Japan among girls. She hasn’t played it since or heard it since being the United States.

Context: In a coffee shop in San Diego

Thoughts: This story seems very similar to Bloody Mary and has a lot of parallels. First, the number three is in both of the stories. Second, blood is in both stories and the “scary” being is a female. I wonder if this story has the same meaning as Bloody Mary, that it symbolizes the transition of girls becoming women and going through their period. It is interesting how this story, even though it is in Japan, is similar to an American story.

 

La Llorana

Nationality: American/Korean
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 20th
Primary Language: English

Main Piece: “There use to be a game I played with my friends called  La Llorona where if you say that name three times and splash water on the mirror a lady called La Llorona would appear and kill you. La Llorona was a Mexican lady who had two kids but they were abducted. After that she was traumatized and would always cry in the middle of the street trying to find her kids. My earliest memory of the game was being in elementary school and being in the girl’s bathroom. My friends and I would splash water on the mirror and say her name three times which was “La Llorona. La Llorona. La Llorona. But to be honest was just seeing who could stand being in the darkroom and seeing how long we could stand there waiting for her to come out of the sink and my friends and I would just start screaming and run out”.

Background Information: The informant learned this game with his friends in middle school, and most of his friends were female who were also Mexican. He said this was a very popular game for young girls and he was one of the only boys who would play but he was always too scared to actually do it.

Context: Next to a park in Los Angeles

Thoughts: This story seems to also have parallels with Bloody Mary in terms of it being popular with young girls, and that a mirror is involved, and the number 3 is significant. I am curious why the number 3 is also significant in this context in other cultures and not just America, and if the origin of these bathroom stories came from one person or one culture specifically.

 

 

Whiffle Ball

Nationality: Russian
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: 4-3-18
Primary Language: English
Language: Russian

Nationality: Russian

Primary Language: English

Other language(s):  Russian

Age: 22

Occupation: Student

Residence: California

Performance Date: 4-3-18

 

What it is: Whiffle ball

“Growing up my dad,.. I don’t know he always played sports so he played and passed it down, taught us this game. In teams of two, in my backyard and on a tennis court, we played this game that had made up rules. So they kind of changed as you played. Every Friday in the dark we’d play with certain rules. If you hit over the left side, automatically 3 outs and next inning, if you hit to the right you get to hit again. All the same baseball rules apply with differences. If you hit and run to base, you are on offense and get the ball but can’t get to the base, you can throw the ball at the runner and if it hits them they are out. This was a game we played often, every Friday night and holidays, with the whole family (we’d have huge teams).”

Why they know it:  This game was passed on from her father who played it a lot growing up and showed it to Whitney and her siblings.

When is it played: In her family fairly regularly; however, this could be played everyday (during recess, at picnics, family dinners, etc).

Where did it come from: She wasn’t quite sure. All she could tell me was her father played it as a kid.

Why its done: The game offers pure enjoyment. There isn’t a specific meaning other than this game brings people together and allows them to joke and play.

How they know it: Whitney knows this game because of her father.

Also seen as/played by: In elementary school, I would play a similar game… at least it was also called whiffle ball. While Whitney’s version was similar to baseball, our version was more closely aligned to the “hot lava monster” or “hot potato. We would stand/sit on desks and throw a soft ball across the room. Before you threw the ball you had to make eye contact, say something that pertained to the topic of choose (for example, birds) and throw the ball. If the person you’re throwing it too didn’t catch it, they were out. And the game would continue till one was left, then they choose the next topic and it continued.

Thoughts: While our versions are completely different, I can understand the game Whitney’s father passed on to her because of my experiences. Thus, I feel as if I am connected to Whitney in a closer way because of our shared experiences. In my opinion, I think games, like the one above, are one of the best examples of folklore, how the folklore changes, and how its incorporated into everyday life.

Song/Celebration

Nationality: British
Age: 25
Occupation: Product Design
Residence: Manchester/LA
Performance Date: 4/9/18
Primary Language: English

When talking to one of my brother’s good friends, who is from Manchester England, I asked if he had any songs that he knew of that he has learned from any of his friends or relatives.

 

He told me of a song that him and his friends always sing when they go out, “We like to drink with (insert name) because (name) is our mate! And when we drink with (name) he takes it down in 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!”

 

 

Background Info: This song is some that Edward grew up hearing amongst people in England. When you call someone out and sing the song, they have to finish whatever drink is in their hand by the time the singers get to the end of the 8 second countdown. “It is something that is fun and gets you to finish more beer” –Edward.

 

Context: Edward told me about this song while I was at lunch with him and my brother.

 

 

Analysis: Once Edward told me about the song, he sang it but for me—it was a fun experience to say the least. Edward said that this is a very popular song in England, and is normally sang at universities at their get-togethers, next time I visit England I will be sure to ask people about this chant!

                                                                

 

For similar write-ups, and some videos of other people singing this same song, see:

 

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=down%20it%20fresher

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c02U02efg6U

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tblxOzPiNOA