Background: The informant experienced this occurrence in his junior year of high school around November near Thanksgiving. The informant only experienced ghostly occurrences in his bedroom which was on the second floor. His room is overall an interesting shape and he has two steps that lead to a somewhat elevated area. Before this story they had remodeled the house and his room had been redone during this time. 

AP: To start off, my lights would flicker in my room whenever they were on. And we got it checked out, but the electrician said that there wasn’t and shouldn’t be any issue because everything was new and remodeled. 

Me: Had they ever flickered before then? Or was this the first time? 

AP: No they hadn’t flickered before. But in addition to the flickering lights, there were parts in my room that had colder parts. But it was only the upper parts of the room. 

Me: Mmm I see. Had you believed in ghosts before this experience? 

AP: Yes I did. I had heard other friends’ stories that I believed. 

Me: Did any other rooms in the house experience ghosts?

AP: No, it was only in my bedroom. So now I’ll go into a new part of the story. This was at night time. For a few nights in the span of the month while doing homework in my room, I sometimes get a feeling that something is there. And like okay, something is there, sometimes the lights flicker, sometimes its cold, just somethings up. I just have a really good sense that something is there. So one night, I go to bed and then wake up in the middle of the night and in the archway of the door there is this young woman wearing this old vintage dress carrying a woven basket. It was very faint, but it was there. 

Me: Were you frightened? Did you scream?

AP: Oddly, I didn’t freak out which was weird and I just stared at the doorway. Then I grabbed my phone and turned on the lights and it was gone. It happened once, but I still have the sense that that woman is in my room. 

Me: That’s so scary. Did you encounter her again?

AP: Actually yes. On Christmas night of that year, I was asleep and I felt a hand caressing my back and then an old woman whispered Merry Christmas. But I checked and my mom was asleep.

Me: Woahh

AP: I have one more part to share about the story. The next spring I visited family in New York for my break. We were all looking at photo albums and in one of the photo albums I recognized a lady that I had never met. She looked exactly the same as the one in my doorway. I asked my mom who that was and she said that it was my great grandmother, who I had never met. 

Me: Was your mom really close to her?

AP: Actually yeah. They were really close. And apparently she would visit a lot during the seasons, which was interesting since she only came out during the holidays. 

Me: Why did this story have an impact on you or why do you think it holds such importance to you? 

AP: It was my first personal interaction with a ghost. Like before it was all stories and folklore but now it was real. Also the fact that it was my great grandmother that visited me and I don’t even really know her. It was oddly comforting. 

Me: Are you more aware of paranormal-like experiences after this occurred? Or how did this play a role in your life?

AP: I’m definitely more observant and believe more stories I hear now. 

Reflection: I really enjoyed interviewing AP. He’s one of my newer friends I’ve made at USC so it was interesting to see this side of him. I liked this story in particular since it regarded a family member. I feel as though it’s very common to have paranormal experiences with deceased ancestors or family members. It reminded me of my own experience with my grandparents, which was comforting, as well. 

Background: This story is the one and only encounter that the informant has had with a ghost. The informant just graduated from Amherst College in 2015, and she moved back home to Arizona. The informant was frantically looking for jobs, and her college reached out to offer a job in admissions for the following week. The informant accepts, and is looking for places to live and comes upon the Amherst Women’s Center as her new home. 

RM: … I was looking for new places to live and I found a house on a hill. It was the perfect location near the school. It was a historical home, built in the 1800s and the first floor was used for events and the second had 3 very large apartments. Also, keep in mind that Emily Dickinson’s old house was across the street from this house. I think the people who originally owned the home I moved to knew Emily Dickinson. Anyways…when I got to the house the lady giving me a tour told me that slaves used to live here and that was why there were mini entrances and exits throughout the house — so they could leave from anywhere in the apartment and get to where they were going quickly.

Me: Oh, wow. And what was the vibe overall in the house? I imagine it was older, but did you feel a presence among you? 

RM: No, I didn’t feel a presence among me when I first entered. Insulation wasn’t great throughout the house because it was old, so only the bedroom was comfortable to be in, especially since there were windows all around the apartment. I spent most of the time in the bedroom. 

Me: So when did the first ghostly encounter occur?

RM: The first instance was within a few weeks of moving in. I had just gotten a headboard for my bed and I installed it myself and made sure the headboard was directly touching the wall. So I go to sleep and then I abruptly wake up at 3 AM because the bed is violently shaking. Whenever I opened my eyes or would turn around in bed the shaking would stop. At first, I thought it was an earthquake, but when I looked around nothing else was moving. Then after a while I hollered “stop” with annoyance and then it didn’t happen again. 

Me: Wow, so had you ever believed in ghosts before this experience?

RM: No. I never believed in paranormal experiences until that moment.

Me: Okay. Did the ghost leave for good after that interaction?

RM: No, there were a few more instances where it appeared. The second instance, I was laying in my bed doing work online at night and then I felt a punch next to me on the bed. Like you know when you punch a bed and it leaves an indent for a second.

Me: Yeah 

RM: That happened right next to my foot. And then the third instance involves a cup of water. For a little bit of context, my mom didn’t like the water there when she visited me so she would send me huge packs of water every month or so. The ghost liked to tap on the top of the water bottles. I could see the ripples in the water bottle. So, one day I had a cup full of water and I was on Facetime with my boyfriend, when this happened. And so I drink the entire cup and go to the bathroom, but when I come back the cup was full of water. It was so weird. 

Me: Omg! Did you drink it after that?

RM: No, I poured it out hahaha. The fourth instance with the ghost happened while I was in the shower. I was listening to music and I heard my phone begin to type. I thought nothing of it until later that day my boyfriend texts me saying “What??” The ghost had texted him saying, “It’s possible.” That was extremely freaky. 

Me: That’s very scary omg. 

RM: Yeah, and then the last experience with the ghost was when my Mom was visiting me. She was upset with me and left to go to Home Depot so it was just me in the house. 

Me: Did your mom experience encounters with the ghost?

RM: No. It weirdly never did anything when she was there. But anyways, she had this brown bag with a charm tied super tight onto it– so tight to the point where you couldn’t move it back and forth. All of a sudden the charm lifts up, turns left then right as if someone is examining the charm. 

Me: Wow. So why did this story hold so much importance to you?

RM: Because you would never expect it to happen to you and its a very unique experience. 30% of people believe you when you tell ghost stories. It’s almost like I have to hold a secret that no one else knows about the world. 

Me: And how did this play a role in your life after experiencing this?

RM: My perspective of ghosts and death have completely changed. Before I used to think you die and go into the ground and that’s it. Now, I believe you go into this other unseen spectrum. You’re always there and roaming, you’re just energy

Reflection: I thought this interview was extremely interesting. I have known RM since I was in middle school, and I had never known that she experienced such a thing like this. I also haven’t heard any ghost stories from people I know personally, so it was fun to hear what she had gone through.

Background: the informant was my roommate and we had already been discussing supernatural occurrence during the Halloween season, just before this interview was conducted. They agreed to share a few for submission into the archives as we bonded over our similar experiences with superstitions in hispanic culture.

Me: Have you had any supernatural experiences, or general freaky things happened to you? 

Informant: I have 2 stories, one time was at my cousin’s house in Mexico, and recently their grandfather passed. She’s pouring out the soda and the cup just moved. (moves water bottle as an example) We all just froze. She then stood up and pointed behind us saying “guys there’s a shadow behind you!” We tried to calm down and I left soon. Later my cousin called and she said that one of the dishes fell off her drying rack, like randomly. And that’s something that doesn’t happen naturally, especially since the timing was close to her Grandfather passing. 

This next one is me telling what my Mom told me. I was around 5 or 6 and I would fall over, and she described it as a shadow always behind me when that happened. Then when I was about 10, I would wake up every morning and in the mirror, I would always see a tall man looking straight at me in the mirror, dressed in a long coat. Like something out of a detective movie. I would also wake up in the middle of the night and see this shadow right next to me. Almost as if the shadow was waiting for me to wake up in the morning. 

But the reason why we think this happened is that apparently someone committed suicide in that apartment before we moved in. And my mom fully believes that it was that man who for whatever reason was watching over me. I don’t know for certain if someone actually did die in that apartment, or if it was just a rumor, but for me it’s just too much of a coincidence. Like, my mom tells me that a shadow always followed me when I was younger and then when I was 10 I also saw that shadow of a man. 

In Hispanic culture too, you ask like any grandparent and they will tell you thousands of stories about witches and curses and things like money being buried in the grounds. They go on and on, haha.

Background Information: JX presents her second story from her own perspective. She goes to retreat once a year to pray and learn how to redeem her sins. Starting from one year, a aunt whose kid she is very close to begin showing symptoms of being possessed. JX explains the theory of why the aunt is possessed and gives a detailed description of what happens when people pray around her.

JX: So here’s the second story. Our church has a special meeting on National Day every year. We name it after the burning fire. During this meeting we will stay at a hotel for three days. There would be a conference room in which we listen to the pastor pray and guide us to repent for sins.

Me: Is it similar to a retreat? I have friends in the US who often go to retreats on weekends.

JX: Oh that’s possible… I think it is. There seems to be a lot more retreats in the U.S. Since the Chinese government has stricter control over religion, we can only do it once a year. There would always be a very powerful pastor to pray for us. Ok so there is a kid two or three years younger than me who I am very close to. Her mom, who I call aunt because we are very close, also comes to church and retreats. That aunt is… in our words, she is possessed by a ghost. This aunt was raped when she was in the house when she was very young. Then she could not forgive her parents, because she thought it was her parents’ negligence and indifferent attitude towards her that caused the tragedy. So she had a strong unforgiveness of her parents in her heart, and that’s why she was possessed by ghosts. In one year’s retreat, she started to twitch in the middle of the prayer. She was lying on the floor, and then there will be… my mother and one of them will be chosen to pray for her. So they put their hands on her in a circle and prayed to her. This is called an exorcism ceremony, and they just prayed for her. That aunt would twist with unnatural movements, and then she would keep wiggling and twitching. Then her voice will change, that is, it doesn’t sound like hers at all. It wasn’t her who was talking… the ghost is just using her body to communicate with us. My parents, oh my dad was not there, my mom and the other people just sat around her and prayed for her, trying to drive the ghost out. But I remember that for many years, they didn’t get rid of this ghost because she always had this unforgiveness for her parents in her heart. Only when she sincerely forgives her parents, there would be a chance that the pastor can drive the ghost out. We have a small prayer meeting every Thursday which my mom participates every time. Occasionally the aunt would just collapse to the ground, or suddenly the became very unnatural, began to have all kinds of strange symptoms. I didn’t know exactly what happened later, but I knew that the ghost is still in her. We heard from the pastor that there are many cases of exorcism similar to this.

Me: But why does she go to church every week if the ghost inside her is afraid of prayer?

JX: Yes, yes. Her belief in God in very very faithful, but she really…she still has that unforgiveness in her heart, so she has contradicting thoughts in her body.

Me: So she has not yet been… Her self-consciousness and soul were not swallowed up by the ghost yet?

JX: No it hasn’t. The ghost just comes up like that when people are praying for her. Because the ghost didn’t like to be prayed. It felt uncomfortable if people are praying around it, so it comes out. And that aunt is super nice. I ate lunch with her, but I can’t anything wrong with her. She seemed very normal. The ghost will only come out when a very powerful pastor or when a lot of people pray for her.

Me: Thank you for sharing! I feel that hearing these stories from people I know feels really different.

Chinese Transcript:

JX: 是这样的，我们教会每年一年一度在国庆节的时候会有一个特会，我们叫他烈火特会。然后这个会当中我们会去组一个酒店，住三天两夜。然后里面有一个会议室，每天就是听牧师讲道理，然后祷告。牧师会引导我们忏悔以前做过的事。

Me：是类似retreat吗，我在美国也有朋友周末常去。

JX：哦有可能，应该就是，这边美国好像很多。但是中国政府对于宗教管得比较严，所以我们只能一年一次，整下就没有了。然后会有很牛逼的牧师来帮我们祷告。有一个跟我关系很好比我小两三岁的小孩的妈妈，那个阿姨就是…用我们的话来说就是她被鬼附了。就是这样的，这位阿姨她很小的时候在家里被人入室然后强奸了。然后她一直不能原谅她的父母，因为她认为是她父母对她照顾的疏忽，对她那么冷漠，那么不理她，她才会发生这种事情。然后她心中就有对父母的不饶恕，所以才会被鬼附身。就是有一年烈火大会的时候，祷告到一半她就开始抽搐。就是躺在地上之类的，然后就是会有…我妈和其中一个人被选中给她祷告。所以他们就围了一圈把手放在她身上给她祷告。其实这是个驱鬼仪式嘛，然后就一直祷告。那个阿姨就会用很不自然的动作扭曲，然后呢还会一直在抽搐。然后她的声音还会变，就是变得完全不像她的声音。说的话也不是她…鬼就等于是用她的身体在和我们沟通。那种…这种情况下，我爸妈，哦我爸不在，我妈和其他人就是一直围着她然后帮她祷告，试图把这个鬼驱出去。但是我记得很多年都没有驱除这个鬼，因为她心中一直有对她父母的不饶恕。她就真的原谅她的父母才有可能把这个鬼驱出去。我们每周四都会有小的祷告会，然后我妈都回去。然后有几次那个阿姨都会就是倒在地上，或者突然一下整个人变得很不自然，然后开始抽搐，就开始有那种症状。后面我也不知道，就是我知道现在那个鬼应该还没被驱出去。但是我们听牧师说有很多这种驱鬼的案例。

Me: 但是她为什么每周还会去教会，如果那个鬼怕祷告的话？

JX：对，对。她就是信的很虔诚，但是她实在…她心中还是有那个不饶恕，所以她其实是很矛盾的。

Me: 所以说她就是，应该是说她还没到自我意识被吞噬的情况？

JX：对，她还没有。她只是类似被祷告的时候那个会浮上来。因为那个鬼不喜欢被祷告，一直围着它祷告它觉得不舒服，所以它就出来了。而且那个阿姨真的还挺好的，我还和她一起吃过饭，就完全看不出来，很正常。只有特别厉害的人帮她祷告的时候鬼才会出来。

Me: 谢谢你的分享！我感觉听我认识的人说这些故事感觉真的很不一样。

My thoughts: When I was researching for ghost stories to tell on Halloween for this class, I listened to tenths, if not hundredths of storied told by normal people. These stories are all collected from people who shared their personal experiences, but I found it hard to really believe in these stories. It felt more like listening to urban tales than personal experiences. However, I feel really different when I listened to JX, one of my closest friends back in middle school. As mentioned by Professor Thompson, the way humans believe is very interesting. They tend to believe in close friends or relatives because they assume that these people won’t lie to them. That’s exactly how I feel after listening to JX’s story. I think it’s totally probable. I’m really curious about what the ghost actually said when people prayed for the aunt, but JX does not recall the specific words. Why do ghosts like people with unforgiveness or hate in their heart? Do they eat hatred like food? What would happen to the aunt if the ghost continues to stay in her? These are all questions I wonder about after listening to this story.