Category Archives: general

The story about Hai Van Passage

Age: 42

Context:
My relative who really enjoys taking road trips on his motorbike in different cities in Vietnam told me about this legend about the Hai Van Passage. It was once the busiest passage that connected major cities in the central part of Vietnam. However, its poor infrastructure along with foggy weather due to high altitude led to many traffic accidents.

The Story:
A woodcutter lived at the foot of the Hai Van Passage. One cold, rainy day near Lunar New Year, he went into the mountains to gather wood but on his way back, he got completely lost despite knowing the mountain really well.

As the night fell, he found an abandoned shrine and fell asleep there. In the middle of the night, he woke up to loud voices. Peeking out, he saw a horrifying scene: dozens of oddly figured bodies with missing limbs or torn flesh. They were supposedly ghosts of people who had died in accidents on the pass.

The “leader” of the spirits said that the next morning at 9 a.m., a passenger bus with 38 people would pass by. Their goal was to push it off the cliff and kill everyone except one pregnant woman. The woodcutter was frightened but remained silent until dawn.

As soon as morning came, he rushed down the mountain and waited in the middle of the road. When the bus arrived, he stopped it and asked how many passengers were inside and whether or not there was a pregnant woman. Shockingly, every detail matched what the woodcutter heard.

Eventually, they canceled the trip and made offerings to the spirits. The driver of the bus retired after escaping death. That day, the woodcutter didn’t just survive the night, he saved 38 lives.

The Informant’s Thoughts: My relative found this a really intriguing story. Despite not entirely believing in superstitions or mythical creatures, he often told this story to his friends who share the same passion for cross-country road trips with him. Aside from that, he also thought that this was a marketing scheme for nearby temples and charm or amulet sellers.

Analysis: This story really creeped me out, especially when the interview was conducted at night for me, while my relative was enjoying his bright and sunny noon break. On reflection, this story truly adds cultural value to the area around Hai Van Passage, especially since Buddhism is dominant there. Not only that, the story also serves as a subtle warning for drivers to remain cautious, as the pass is well known for its challenging and potentially dangerous conditions.

Unexplained Events in Two Houses

Age: 19

Age: 19

Context:

This story was told to me by my roommate(PR) during a casual conversation in our living room while we were talking about ghost stories and unexplained experiences. The conversation was informal, and the informant shared these stories as personal experiences from their childhood and family life. The conversation began after I mentioned taking this GESM class and how I was interested in Ghost Stories.

The Story:

PR: “Basically, when I was in elementary school, we had just moved into this new house, and there was this period of time where really weird stuff started happening. Like, during the summer, we would walk into a room and see a glass of water flipped completely upside down, but the water would still be inside it. There wouldn’t be any water spilled anywhere, which made no sense.

PR: One time it happened on my brother’s desk. There was a glass flipped onto papers, and the ink from the papers soaked into the desk and ruined it. We had to get rid of it because it was permanently stained.

PR: This went on for a while, and then a few months later, we found out that the previous owner of the house had just died before we moved in. That’s when it started feeling a lot creepier.

PR: Also, my mom would hear footsteps at night, like someone walking up and down the hallway. Sometimes she would hear what sounded like us outside her door, and she’d be like, ‘Guys, just come in, don’t stand there.’ But then she’d open the door, and no one would be there.”

PR: “And then there’s my aunt’s house. That place was just… off. It was always super cold, especially in the basement, and I hated being there. I would just stay in my cousin’s room because the rest of the house felt weird.

PR: One morning before school, my cousin and I were alone in the house. We were in the basement and started hearing this creaking sound, like a door opening and closing. We went upstairs to check, but nothing was happening.

PR: Then we went back downstairs, and it started again. So we went back up and checked every door. When we got to one of the bedrooms, the door was literally creaking open and shut by itself, the same sound we heard.

PR: There was no one else in the house. And the dog started barking up the stairs like something was there. It was actually really scary.”

Informant’s Thoughts

PR: “I still don’t really know how to explain what happened, because none of it made sense at the time. Like, the water glasses thing especially. I wouldn’t say I 100% believe it was a ghost, but finding out that the previous owner had died definitely made it feel a lot creepier.”

PR: The stuff at my aunt’s house felt different though. That place just always had a weird vibe, even before anything actually happened. The door creaking by itself and the dog reacting made it feel way more real in the moment. It wasn’t just one thing, it was like everything together that made it scary. I still think about it sometimes because I can’t really come up with an explanation for it.”

Analysis:

This entry reflects common themes found in ghost stories, including unexplained physical disturbances, auditory phenomena, and an overall sense of unease tied to specific locations. The first part of the story includes a classic haunted house motif, where strange events, such as objects moving in impossible ways and unexplained footsteps, are later connected to the death of a previous occupant. This connection reinforces the idea of spirits lingering in places where they once lived. The second part of the story focuses more on atmosphere and perception. The informant describes a persistent feeling of discomfort in their aunt’s house even before any specific event occurred. This aligns with a common feature in folklore where environments themselves are described as “feeling haunted.” The creaking door and the reaction of the dog add to the tension, as animals are often believed to sense supernatural presences. Overall, the story demonstrates how personal experiences, environmental cues, and cultural beliefs about ghosts combine to create meaningful and memorable narratives. Even without clear evidence, the informant interprets these events through a supernatural lens, which is a key characteristic of folklore storytelling.

Nachito’s Tomb and the Fear of Darkness

Age: 19

Age: 19

Context:

This story was told to me by a friend during a conversation about cultural ghost stories and urban legends. It is a well-known legend from Guadalajara, Mexico, and is commonly associated with the Panteón de Belén cemetery. Stories like this are often shared within families or communities and are sometimes retold during visits to the cemetery or in discussions about local folklore.

Text:

TC: “There’s this really famous ghost story from Guadalajara about a little boy named Nachito. He lived in the 1800s, and apparently, he had an extreme fear of the dark. Like, he couldn’t sleep unless there was light around him.

TC: When he died, his family buried him in the cemetery like normal, but people started saying that strange things were happening around his grave. Some versions of the story say that his coffin would move or shift overnight, like something was trying to get out.

TC: Because of this, his mother believed that he was still afraid of the darkness even after death. So she had his coffin taken out of the ground and placed above it, where it could be exposed to light.

TC: People say she would keep candles or torches around it so he wouldn’t be left in the dark. Over time, it became a known spot in the cemetery, and visitors started leaving toys for him.

TC: Even today, people still bring toys to Nachito’s tomb because they believe his spirit is still there. Some say that if you don’t bring him something, his ghost might cause bad luck or tragedies.”

Informant’s Thoughts:

TC: “I don’t really think of this story as super scary; it’s more sad to me. Like, it’s about a little kid who was just really afraid of the dark, and that fear didn’t even go away after he died. I think that’s why people feel bad for him and leave toys, because it’s more about comforting him than being scared of him.”

TC: “But at the same time, it’s still kind of creepy that people say something bad could happen if you don’t bring him something. It’s like a mix of feeling bad for him and also not wanting to risk anything.”

Analysis:

This story reflects common themes found in Latin American folklore, particularly the idea that spirits remain connected to their emotions or fears even after death. In this case, Nachito’s fear of the dark continues beyond his lifetime, influencing the actions of the living, especially his mother, who tries to comfort him by keeping his coffin above ground and surrounded by light. The tradition of leaving toys at his grave also shows how communities physically interact with folklore. These offerings function both as a sign of care and as a way to avoid possible misfortune, which is a pattern seen in many ghost stories. Additionally, this legend blends tragedy with innocence. Nachito is not portrayed as a threatening or evil spirit, but rather as a frightened child. However, there is still an underlying sense of caution, since failing to acknowledge him could lead to bad luck. This balance between sympathy and fear is what makes the story both memorable and culturally meaningful.

Ghost Protector

Age: 18
Language: English

AH:“I remember the way my dad started acting after that dream like something in him had cracked open and never really shut again, and at first I thought it was just one of those weird things adults go through, but it wasn’t like that at all. He sat us down at the kitchen table the next morning, my little brother and me, and tried to explain it without sounding crazy, but you could tell he didn’t even believe his own words as he said them. He told us he saw this empty corner of a Ralphs parking lot, the late afternoon light hitting the asphalt, and then out of nowhere this ghost, or whatever it was, showed him a moment that hadn’t happened yet, me and my brother walking ahead of him, laughing about something dumb, and then this Ford F-150 came speeding through the lot and hit us like we were nothing. After that day, everything changed. He wouldn’t take us anywhere crowded, especially not grocery stores, and if we ever passed a parking lot he’d get tense in this way that made the air feel tight, like we were all holding our breath without realizing it. A whole year went by like that, and honestly I started to think maybe it was just a bad dream he couldn’t let go of, something that got stuck in his head and grew into something bigger. Then one afternoon, almost exactly a year later, he finally agreed to take us to the store. I remember thinking it felt normal again, like we were getting our old life back, and my brother was walking a few steps ahead of me, kicking a loose piece of gravel, and I could hear my dad’s footsteps behind us, slower than usual. We were just about to step into the lane between rows of parked cars when he suddenly yelled, not even words at first, just this sharp, panicked sound that made my whole body freeze. Then he shouted for us to stop, his voice cracking in a way I had never heard before. We both did, almost out of instinct, and in that exact second a truck flew past right in front of us, so close I felt the rush of air hit my legs, and it didn’t stop there, it slammed into another car and flipped, metal screeching, glass breaking, people yelling all at once. Everything went quiet after, in that strange way things do when something terrible almost happens but doesn’t quite reach you. I turned back and looked at my dad, and he just stood there, shaking, like he had been living in that moment for a year and had finally caught up to it.”

Interviewer: “Wow, that’s a crazy story! When I said Ghost Story, I didn’t think something like this could happen!”

Context: The story was told to the informant by a friend in college at USC in mid-late April while sitting and sharing stories from our childhood. We brought up the idea of watching a scary move, but then I brought up the idea of needing a ghost story for a class I was in.

Analysis: What stands out is that the ghost almost feels secondary and the real focus is the dad and how the dream changes him. He spends a whole year living in fear, which makes it feel more psychological than just a scary story. For most of it, you think maybe he is overreacting, like it was just a bad dream he could not shake. Then the moment actually happens and it flips everything. The ending hits because nothing happens, but it almost does, and that feels more real. It leaves you thinking about fear and whether what he saw was real or just something he believed

Something In The Hallway

Language: English

SG:”I still think about that night with my younger sister because it never really made sense, like I can explain parts of it but not the whole thing. We were just at home doing nothing, I was on my phone in the living room and she went into the kitchen, and then she called my name kind of quietly, which already felt off. When I walked in, she was just standing there staring at the hallway, and she told me she thought she saw someone walk past, even though we both knew no one else was home. I tried to play it off and said it was probably just shadows or something from outside, but honestly it didn’t feel like that. Then we both heard it at the same time, like actual footsteps coming down the hallway, slow and steady, not super loud but clear enough that we both just went quiet. I remember not even wanting to move, like if I stayed still it wouldn’t notice us or something, and my younger sister grabbed my arm and didn’t let go. The steps got closer and then just stopped right at the kitchen, and we were both just standing there waiting to see something, but nothing was there. The light flickered a couple times and for a second the room just felt off, like it didn’t look the same. And then it was just over, no more noise, nothing. We ended up telling ourselves it had to be something normal, like the house making noise or the lights messing up, but I don’t fully buy that even now, because we both heard the same thing and reacted the same way, and it really felt like something was there with us for a second and then just gone.”

Interviewer: “Do you feel as if the event could be explainable or as if it was really a ghost/paranormal event?

SG: “I think it could be explained because this event never happened again and could maybe have been an open window, but the event/ghost felt so real as if something was actually there watching us.”

Context: This story was told to the informant by a freshman at USC while the two were watching a horror movie. SG was reminded of the event while watching The Conjuring because of the house’s long hallways.

Analysis: What I like about SG’s story is that it doesn’t try to prove anything; it just tells what happened and leaves you thinking. The fact that both she and her younger sister heard the same footsteps at the same time is what makes it feel real, because that’s harder to explain away. At the same time, she never fully says it was a ghost, which actually makes it more believable. Nothing ever shows up, and that almost makes it creepier. It’s just the sound, the light flickering, and that feeling that something was there, then gone, and that uncertainty is what makes it stick.