Category Archives: general

The mountain ghost! Trip which turned haunted

Age: 75
Performance Date: 04/10/2026

Context: My grandfather did his K-12 studies at a boarding school in India. His school was in a remote location, and it was built on top of a hill. Right below the hill was a graveyard, and a famous legend had its way around campus – whenever children of his school would go out for an excursion and return late at night, they’d see a woman with a veil selling corn, late at night, by the roadside along the mountainous curves. As his school was on top of a hill, people had to be careful when driving around the corners of the mountain, especially at night, to avoid accidents. Residents would call this ghost the “corn seller” as she and her family had died due to an accident on this road. The story is that one day, a group of young boys was driving a super-fast car on these narrow roads. Suddenly, they saw a truck coming from the front. As there was no time for them to brake, the boys took a sharp turn towards the side to save themselves, but unfortunately ran over the corn seller’s canopy, killing her and her two-year-old child.

Story: Let us call my grander D for the story. His school allowed these excursions only for students in high school. Excursions were two-day-long trips from Saturday morning to Sunday night, and the students would travel during the nighttime to attend school on Monday. D had heard many stories of his seniors spotting this corn seller when coming back to school from the city. This time it was D’s turn.

D, as usual, left campus on Saturday morning. On the way down, he was vigilant to find the corn seller and bust the legend, but to his surprise, there was no canopy or woman selling corn. As his trip came to an end, D told me all his friends were super tired, yet they were trying to scare each other by pretending that they saw the women.  

Suddenly, the bus got a flat tire as they were about to reach the hostel, right after they passed the graveyard. It was around 10 pm, and all the children went silent. However, the bus driver was confident and let D and his friends come out of the bus to help him fix the flat tire. Most of the children were either sleepy or too scared to come out of the bus, but D and a couple of his friends decided to step out and help the driver. 

As the bus driver started to repair the puncture, D did not have anything to do. As he and one of his friends (let’s call him V) started talking to each other, paying almost no attention to the flat tire. Suddenly, they saw a deer. It was not moving, but its eyes shone like a diamond. For some reason, it caught their attention. Being young boys, they wanted to see what it was. D told me, “I was not sure if it was a deer, a dog, or some other wild animal, though the eyes looked like those of a deer.” Without thinking much, D and his friend V moved towards this weird creature.

The headlights from the bus barely reached that part of the jungle/road. As they stood there, both heard a faint voice from behind, “Bhutta le lo” ( which means please buy corn in English). V looked at D and said laughingly, “Did you hear that?” Before D could respond, the voice came again, this time sharper than before, as if the person was much closer. D and V slowly turned their heads for a brief second, and though they saw a faint figure on the other side of the road, they moved towards the bus. 

They were merely 200 meters away from the bus, but when they came back, the driver asked where you guys were and why you were both sweating. Both together said, “Kuch Nahi, we were just checking if we could get a lift, that’s why we went a little forward.”  They both did not share this with anyone at school, but now, when they think about it, they still do not know what exactly it was. Did they see the corn seller, or was it just their mind telling them that you are tired?

Their Thoughts: D brings this story almost every time we have a celebration at our house. He says that this incident made me believe in ghosts, and even since he never dared to be curious about spirits or haunted things in general.  He told me, “I still remember not being able to sleep at night, and the next morning when I met V, he too was in a similar situation.

My thoughts: I think D was tired, but if the story is true, then in my analysis, the ghost was wanted and was there to help people by scaring them to not stay on the road, as it was not safe due to the narrow roads. She was there not to scare people, but in reality to save their lives as they were standing on an accident-prone road.

Grandma’s House

Age: 18
Occupation: Student at USC

I interviewed my close friend who lives in the same dorm building here at USC. I asked him if he ever had an interaction with a ghost, to which he replied with his story:

So this happened there was like a sleepover at my grandma’s house and so basically, it was September, I want to say 2017. So me and my cousins, we all had to go to sleep early because my grandma didn’t really like us being up. And we all wanted to go outside. And so it’s like 12, and we snuck out and then came back I think, like an hour later, because again, we were no more than 12, so like you really can’t stay up that long, however, I still didn’t go to sleep. So, I was sitting there and I’m hearing things slam but like no one else is noticing it since they were all asleep. She had like an older house, and there wasn’t really a lot of stuff that was renovated or whatever, but it was like this older house and I was always scared of it, her doors would slam, and things in the kitchen were rambling and the water wouldn’t stop pouring so I got up.I turned off the water, but then the water would not move. Like it was stuck so hard. So then I got scared and went to sleep and then woke up.

I then asked If he believed it was an actual ghost to which he replied ‘yes’. It didn’t have a big impact on his life, it was just something that happened to him. I personally don’t believe in ghosts and believe that he was just young, in the dark, and the only one awake in an old house that he was already afraid of.

Haunted House

Age: 18

In an interview with my close friend and roommate, I asked if she had any ghost stories that she would be willing to share. For some short background information, she grew up in East Los Angeles in a Latino religious family. Her story is as follows:

In the back of my Aunts home, there’s a room there, which is often used as a guest room. And a lot of the time, family members would go when they visit to sleep over there, and that room was known to, like, have some kind of ghost or spirit in there. So, it’s happened a lot of times where people who go and stay there, they wake up and see a lady in a white gown, and they just see her there. A lot of people don’t know who it is. And people have experienced dreaming with family members in that room for some reason. I don’t really think there’s like a spirit in there. And even for many years, there’s a man who lived there that was renting out the room, and he would even talk about things that he would experience, like the lights would turn off randomly, or just random coincidences that would happen, that weren’t just coincidences. And I’m not sure, but they feel like it might have something to do with across the street, there was a an abandoned hospital, and for some reason that abandoned hospital, there was a lot of like, weird stuff that happened there, so they kind of feel like maybe it has something to do with that.

I then asked if she believed the story to be true or an odd coincidence. She replied:

I feel like I wouldn’t believe that it was a coincidence if it would have only happened to one person, I wouldn’t have put this much thought into it. But I think because so many people have experienced this and like, they go in and feel something there, I don’t know, I can’t say, because I haven’t experienced it myself. But I think just because it’s been more than like, one person who has experienced the same thing, I think it is true. 

I continued by asking if the story had a lasting impact on them, since they seemed to truly believe what was happening had supernatural reasoning. She replied:

Yeah, I think it did have a long lasting impact. I think it’s something that they still talk about a lot, but I think they don’t put too much attention to it. Because I feel like, when it comes to ghosts and stuff like that, at least in my opinion, I feel like when you pay attention to those things, it kind of feeds off of that. Yeah, so I think the more thought you put to it, the more you attract that energy.

Finally, I asked if she believed religion to play a role in their belief of ghosts. She replied:

Speaking for myself, I think because I’m a believer in God, I try not to put my energy into that. Yeah, I do think they exist, but I think I feel like there’s a greater power that protects me, that’s my God. So, like, I don’t fear it. And I feel like if I were to fear it, then that’s when I give it my energy. Because I don’t give my energy, I haven’t experienced that and they go to my family. I don’t know where their faith is, so I don’t know how that plays a role in their experiences, but I can only speak for myself. 

Since I am not a firm believer in ghosts, I feel as though it could have been coincidental noises combined with their preconceived notions about the hospital that was across the house that made them believe they were having an interaction with ghosts.

La Llorona

A girl named KG used to live in a house near the border of The United States when she was a kid. She lived in a small Mexican town, being the only child at the time. KG had always heard stories of ghosts roaming the town as a kid. She believed a little in these stories, due to her being young, but ultimately she did not think that ghosts were real. She believed that these stories were told to ensure she would act correctly around her family. She believed these stories were used as a scare tactic, never truly being afraid by these stories. One day, she heard the story of La Llorona. This story stuck with KG, as she knew La Llorona only went after kids. This story stuck with her for some time, but then she forget about it.

About a few months later, KG was on the walk to a nearby store to get a snack. KG didn’t realize how late the time had gotten, suddenly noticing a fog come over the town. As KG was walking back from the store, she almost could not see her feet in front of her due to the thick fog. This fog became troublesome to breathe in, and KG tried rushing back home. On the walk, she said she could almost hear a woman crying. This instantly reminded KG of the story she learned as a kid, causing her to start running out of fear. The crying soon started to fade, but KG swears that she saw a white dress of a woman before she got home.

KG fully believes in this story, and she does not think that any part of it was made up. Tales of ghosts are very common in Mexico, so she has full belief this occurred. Similarily, I also believe this story is true. La Llorona is a spirit that my family has believed in for years, so it is not uncommon for me to think she is truly out there.

The Night Stalker

Age: 19

Interviewer: Okay, so you said something happened on campus?

ML: Yeah, um… okay, so this was like my second week here, right? I didn’t really know the campus that well yet.

I was coming back from studying kinda late, like, maybe 1:30 a.m., and I cut through this area near one of the older buildings… I don’t even remember which one.

And, uh, I saw someone sitting on a bench. Just like… completely still.

It was this guy, I think? Or… okay, I’m not even sure, actually. They were wearing, like, a hoodie, head down.

At first I didn’t think anything of it, ‘cause, like, yeah, college campus, people are out late.

But then… I walked past them, and I got this really weird feeling.

Like…

You know when it’s quiet, but it feels wrong quiet?

Interviewer: Yeah…

ML: Yeah, like that.

So I keep walking, and then I hear-

“Hey.”

But it was, like… really close. Like right behind me.

Interviewer: Did you turn around?

ML: Yeah, I did.

And they were still on the bench. Same position. Didn’t move.

And I was like, okay, maybe I imagined it, right?

So I start walking faster, and then I hear it again, but this time-

“Why did you come?”

So I turn around again… and now they’re standing.

But I didn’t hear them get up.

Yeah, and their face was still like… shadowed. I couldn’t see it.

And then they took a step toward me, just one step, and I just… I ran.

Like I didn’t even think, I just ran straight back to my dorm.

Interviewer: Did you ever see them again?

ML: No… and I don’t go that way anymore.

Like, I’ll literally take the longer route, I don’t care.

And, um… I asked my mom about it later, and she was like, “Don’t answer when something calls you at night.”

So yeah… I just… I don’t mess with that anymore.

Context:

This story was told to me at around 11am after a get-together with a friend at a restaurant near the USC campus. On the way back, I asked him if they knew of any ghost stories, and they recalled a creepy experience they had early at the start of his freshman year. The interview was roughly transcribed from a video recording of the interview.

The Informant’s Thoughts:

They were skeptical as to whether it was really a ghost. They admit that at the time they were very much convinced that the supposed ghost in question was in fact some sort of malevolent spirit. However, they also talked about how, looking back, there was in fact some suspicious individual who talked to them, but now they believe that many of the paranormal effects they observed may have been due to the nerves evoked by starting their transition into college and the naturally scary circumstances they were in.

My Thoughts:

I am inclined to believe the informant’s analysis of the situation. Being skeptical of ghosts myself, I am more willing to belief that any mystical effects were simply side effects of stress and superstition. However, I did find it fascinating how the environment can have such a massive impact on belief. I know the informant to be similar in disposition to myself, in that they are not particularly superstitious or spiritually inclined and that they display substantial suspicion of any accounts detailing mysterious encounters and phenomenon. However, the combination of several influences, such as the time of night, the lack of other people nearby, the somewhat spooky architecture, and most pressingly the presence of a suspicious unknown individual all cause the plausibility of a ghostly encounter to skyrocket.