Category Archives: general

The Office Building Ghost

Age: 65

Story: This is a crazy story that happened to me in December that I still think about everytime I go to work. I think it was like December 10th or 11th or something like that and I was working in the homebase office of my job, which I never go to, and it seems like for good reason. 

Well this day, I got to work and my manager was acting a little odd. She seemed a little antsy, a little jerky, but I brushed it off as an off day. A few hours go by and she just is not letting up. She’s squirming in her chair, sighing, huffing and puffing… and so finally I go “Hey, is everything okay?” And my manager assures me everything is fine and that she just needs to take a breath outside. So, she gets up, and as she’s walking out the door, a box of tissues on her desk goes FLYING off. 

Now, I do not believe in ghosts, I never have, I don’t think I ever will, but I swear on my life that this box of tissues, on its own, went flying off my boss’ desk and onto the floor. 

So, my boss turns around and shrieks “DID YOU SEE THAT?” and of course I did but I said “Oh the vent must be turned up too high.” But, I knew damn well that there was no vent… there must’ve been a spirit or something in that office, but I didn’t want to freak her out more than she was that day. 

My boss then steps outside finally, I pick up the tissue box, and as I do, a tissue is YANKED out of the box and onto the floor … and again, I swear I did not touch the tissue. It flew out of that box and I felt a force. That’s when I went running outside to grab my boss, and she did not want to come back into that room…so instead she went home, grabbed sage, and we burned sage in the room to rid it of the spirits there. 

To this day, that is the craziest thing that’s ever happened to me. I don’t know if I believe in ghosts, but I do believe that happened.

Analysis: This personal ghost story reveals how supernatural beliefs and folk narratives continue to shape how we interpret unexplainable events, even in professional settings. What makes this story so compelling is the dichotomy between skepticism and belief. My friend begins by emphasizing that they don’t believe in ghosts, but what they experienced at work that day has possible caused them to reconsider, at least for a little bit. This is a common feature in ghost lore: even skeptics can become believers when faced with something they can’t logically explain. It also highlights how ghost stories often originate from direct personal experience, evolving into contemporary folklore through retellings and shared memory.

The role of the sage burning at the end of the story also speaks to the blending of traditional folk practices with modern life. Burning sage is a ritual drawn from spiritual traditions, and in this case, it’s used as a way to cleanse a space of any hauntings, demons, or spirits, which is something we see across many cultures. The fact that this person and their boss felt compelled to perform a ritual to fight back at a spirit shows how folklore is still deeply tied into our behavior, even if we don’t know it.

There’s a snake in my… Pocket?

Nationality: African American

Primary Language: English

Other language(s): French

Age: 65

Occupation: Management Consultant

Residence: Upstate, NY

Performance Date: 4/20/2025

Context: 

My informant, WB, is a family member of mine who lives in the Hudson Valley area of New York. They used to tell me a lot of riddles as a child, and loved to play games with riddles all the time. One day I decided to ask them if they ever heard of an original riddle that stuck with them personally, one they had not yet shared with me. This is what I got: 

Text: 

“‘What do you get when you put a snake in your pocket? You get bit.’ The meaning of this is to beware of trusting and getting too close to scrupleless people. While I hate that it puts snakes in a bad light, this saying has always taught me to take the time to get to know people who may become a business partners. AND, even then, you may still get bit!! I think this is one that my grandfather created, perhaps it was passed on from an experience his parents had who were in the restaurant business back in the 20’s and finally lost the business to their business partners.  This means a lot to me, it has taught me to pay close attention to the motives of people in general when it comes to finance, positive or negative. I know most people say ‘I trust people until they prove otherwise’ but for me, ‘I don’t trust people I meet until they prove trustworthy.’”

Analysis: 

Okay, so, this proverb they exemplified, I personally had never heard before, and upon looking it up, I found next to nothing, which is great! This might actually be unique to WB’s family (or at least not widespread) adding to the idea that it was coined by their grandfather or adapted from an older phrase. What’s interesting is how it uses the symbol of the snake, which in many global traditions (from the Bible to African trickster tales to Greek mythology) represents deceit, danger, or moral testing. In this case, the snake stands as a metaphor for untrustworthy people, especially in financial or business settings, with the “pocket” standing in as a symbol for closeness or vulnerability. It’s also compelling how the proverb serves not only as a warning, but also as a reflection of a real, generational experience. I think it’s cool that the personal history gives the phrase emotional weight and makes it more than just a casual saying, almost becoming a tool of survival and a form of inherited wisdom. What I find most fascinating is how WB uses it to define their personal philosophy on trust, flipping the more common belief that trust is given until broken. I honestly lean that way too. Plus, WB seems to approach trust as something earned, which they frame not as cynical, but as careful. It’s a great example of how even a small, family-rooted piece of folklore can carry over an entire worldview.

Grandma’s Superstitions

AGE: 20

DATE OF PERFORMANCE: 04/01/2025

LANGUAGE: English 

NATIONALITY: Taiwanese-American 

OCCUPATION: Student 

PRIMARY LANGUAGE: English 

RESIDENCE: San Jose, CA

INTERVIEW SUMMARY:

When asked if there were any particular horror stories or tales, fables, etc. that she grew up hearing as a kid to prevent bad behavior, MS shared that her grandmother loved to tell tales surrounding hair—specifically having long hair.

A lot of the stories she shared, if not all of them, had some connection to do with death or getting hurt in some way.

Interviewer: Could you provide some examples of tales she would tell you?

MS: “Sure. I’m not sure if this is true or not, but there was one tale she told where this lady got clamped down by the train doors because her hair was too long. Another was this lady who was cooking with her hair down and got hurt.”

Interviewer: Are there any distinct superstitions that she shared with you or that you grew up hearing too?

MS: “She would say to not walk over drains because people have fallen through before. And also not to walk under tall buildings because something can fall or drop and kill you.”

PERSONAL INTERPRETATION:

It’s really interesting to hear superstitions that other people believe. We’ve discussed in class that there’s no distinct reason why one’s believes what they believe, but I think culture and the environment around you definitely play a part in it. In the case of hair, some cultures have very important connections to their hair. While both MS and I were not entirely sure of why in particular her grandmother had so many stories related to hair, I think it plays a role in her deep infatuation with warning tales of that nature. There are also a lot of horror tales and folklore surrounding a woman with long hair and something related to death or injury. After all, people always say hair holds memories.

Behind Chinese New Year

AGE: 20

DATE OF PERFORMANCE: 04/01/2025

LANGUAGE: English 

NATIONALITY: Taiwanese-American 

OCCUPATION: Student 

PRIMARY LANGUAGE: English 

RESIDENCE: San Jose, CA

Interviewer: Are there any distinct folktales or myths that you grew up hearing about?

MS: “One was about this lady on the moon, and another was the story of Chinese New Year and the reasons for the different traditions.”

Interviewer: Can you expand a little bit more on the second story?

MS: “I was told that there was this dragon that would come and haunt this village. And every year the people of the town would evacuate the village, until one year this grandma was too old to walk up the mountain and evacuate. So she lit firecrackers and put red all over everyone’s door…to make it look like blood, I guess…and she successfully scared away the dragon. And when everyone came back down, they noticed she was still alive, and so that’s where the tradition began.”

PERSONAL INTERPRETATION:

I think it’s safe to say that most people in America (and definitely countries where Lunar New Year is celebrated) know what Chinese New Year is and the typical decorations and celebrations that take place. And even though every year growing up I had attended my high school’s Chinese New Year festival, I never really quite knew why everything was the way that it was. It’s incredibly interesting to learn where certain traditions, especially one as big as this, come from. I would love to hear a little bit more about this said dragon and maybe dive deeper into this tradition’s history, but this explanation shows (to me at least) that there were definitely real fears that occurred back then, that via word of mouth, traveled and transformed into what this tradition is today.

Urashima Taro

AGE: 18

DATE OF PERFORMANCE: 04/06/2025

LANGUAGE: English and Japanese  

NATIONALITY: American 

OCCUPATION: Student 

PRIMARY LANGUAGE: English 

RESIDENCE: New York 

CONTEXT:

The person I interviewed is Japanese and Caucasian. He can speak fluent Japanese and is deeply connected to his culture. I don’t know him that well, so it came as quite a surprise to hear him tell me a Japanese fairytale off the top of his head.

Interviewer: Are there any distinct folktales or myths that you grew up hearing about?

NS: “Peter Pan, Boy who cried wolf, urashima taro.”

Interviewer: I’m not familiar with the last one, could you tell the story to me?

NS: “Sure. It’s a story about this boy who is on the beach one day and saves this turtle. The turtle then comes back one day and takes the boy back to some fantasy Atlantis ocean world. There the boy finds a wife…who is a beautiful mermaid [he adds that part in]…and who is the princess of the ocean world… and the boy has to choose between staying there or going back to his family. And he chooses to go back to his family.”

Interviewer: Where did you hear this story?

NS: “Mom told it to me. But I also read about it multiple times in Japanese school.”

PERSONAL INTERPRETATION:

I had never heard this fairytale before, so his retelling of it definitely intrigued me. Upon a basic online search, I was shown a slightly different version of the tale. In the one I found online, the boy is a fisherman who is rewarded with the sea princess for saving the turtle. He spends a couple of days with her, but when he goes back home he realizes that he had been gone for 100 years. When he then opens the forbidden box given to him by the princess, he turns into an old man. After reading this version, it was really interesting to see the differences in the iterations. It is worthy to note that I did not do that deep of a search into the tale itself, so perhaps the version I read could have been “wrong.” But even then, that is still a viable version of the tale. It also intrigues me more because my interviewee seemed very familiar with this tale, as he told it so easily. If he’s read it multiple times I’m wondering if he had ever read the version I just saw, or if the iteration he told me was just from whatever he could remember. But I think even if the version of the tale he told me is not found anywhere else, it’s still a viable form of the tale too. I do wonder what the implications or meanings behind this tale were. Is it simply just a children’s fairytale, or does it intend to tell of a deeper life lesson?