Category Archives: Legends

Narratives about belief.

Birdsong

Story: It’s very specific to my family, but my grandma had this story that was passed down to her from her mom, my great grandmother’s friend used to sing this tune, and basically that friend passed. For weeks my grandmother was really sad about it and one morning she went out onto the porch like she did every morning, and there was a bird there. And the bird looked directly at her and started singing the song that her friend used to sing. Not with the vocals obviously, but it chirped out the tune. And it kept coming back and doing that morning after morning. And to my great grandmother that… that was proof that her friend was reincarnated. And that’s how the story goes.

Context: I was told this story by the informant in person, and recorded them so that I could better transcribe later on.

Thoughts: When asked about their own thoughts on the story, the informant paused thoughtfully, and said that they don’t really believe in ghosts, however this story really touched their heart to hear. They don’t know if it is true, but they hope it is.

Analysis: I thought this legend was a very heart warming take on reincarnation and the afterlife. I have heard other stories similar tot his one, and people seeing or hearing signs from animals after a loved one passes seems to be a common story.

Herobrine

Story: So Herobrine is a mythical being in the world of Minecraft. So, basically in the early development stages of Minecraft, Notch, who was the creator of Minecraft, would put in the developer logs, like removed Herobrine. And the story that was eventually developed around that very innocuous term, was that um Notch had a brother who died at some point in development who played the game, and his brothers soul became trapped in the game, and essentially began haunting players by attacking them.and the avatar of the character, herobrine, was like the default character, Steve, but without pupils in his eyes just like white in his eyes. And he was basically invincible, and could set you on fire, and just do very awful things to you. And multiple times during the beta development cycle, notch would put in removed Herobrine, and for the young kids who played the game who knew that story, we were always like: [in a quiet yell] ‘Oh my god! Hes back! He came back. Like what the fuck.’ and we would always be really freaked out, because the devoloper was confirming that herobrine was a real thing, and it wasnt just a bunch of kids, it was also like the developer of the game that was talking about it.

Context: I was told this story by the informant in person, and recorded them so that I could better transcribe later on.

Thoughts: The informant said that they loved telling this story, as it helped them to remember some great times with their friends playing Minecraft. They think the story stuck in their head so much because it is the only ghost story that they ever genuinely believed in.

Analysis: I remember the Herobrine legend – me and my friends also were also terrified of a potential encounter with him. I know this folklore was more widespread, but it was crazy meeting someone who grew up on the opposite side of the country talk about it, especially with the developer log detail which I had never heard before.

Rat King

Story: There was once a rat king, who lived in the walls. After bothering animators for years we used our collective might of modeling and drawing to capture him into inanimate form. Now his avatar, the sacred rat king plush, is handed down through generations and safeguarded by the animators.

Context: I was told this story over text, as the informant has COVID and was unable to meet in person, and also did not want to call or FaceTime. This informant is an animation major, and part of a very small cohort. They have a stuffed rat that they circle between everyone in the cohort week by week.

Thoughts: When asked about how the informant feels about the story, they say that while they loved the story origination, they are a bit sad that it has died down a bit. Due to other circumstances, they feel as if they aren’t as close as they used to be to the people in the cohort, and haven’t gotten the rat in a while.

Analysis: I war torn between calling this a legend or a tale because of the animal component, and ultimately decided that it was in fact a legend. I thought this story was particularly interesting because while it might not be true, the cohort had built up lore around the stuffed rat and actually maintained the practice of passing the rat between them throughout their years at USC, through quarantine, and even now.

Haunted House

Story: Where I grew up, there is a house on the edge of my block that everyone says is haunted. No one has lived in it for as long as we were there which – we moved there when I was three. Anyways, I don’t even remember who told me it was haunted, it was just a thing everyone knew. The house is super old and looks like it is falling apart, the yard is over grown and sometimes the boys in my neighborhood would throw rocks at it. Anyways, everyone thought it was haunted but I had never seen anything to prove it, until one night when I was around 17 and I was walking home from a friends house late at night. I had to pass the house and I would always glance at it when I walked by because it freaked me out. Anyways, I was walking by and I got the most terrifying feeling ever. I saw the door was open which was so weird because it was always shut, and in the doorway was the shadow of a person just standing there! I nearly screamed and ran all the way home.

Context: The informant is a senior at USC from New York, and told me this story over the phone.

Thoughts: When asked what they think about the story looking back on it now, the informant says that it still terrifies them, and even when they go home to visit they will walk all the way around the block just to avoid walking next to the house.

Analysis: I have never experienced a ghost encounter, however this was definitely creepy. The informant also mentioned that other people had experienced encounters at or around the house as well, and I was wondering if I could find anything that happened at the house in the past, like a death or some sort of tragedy. However, no results came up when I researched it.

Dead Body

Story: There was a story told in my neighborhood about a murderer who lived in the park behind our houses. Our whole neighborhood bordered a woodland park about three or four miles square. The story we told was that a kid was walking along a path through the park at night when they disappeared. Months later, after the police search for them had been called off, a passerby found their body inside of a trash can at the bottom of a hill. As the story went, if you stayed too long in the park after dark, the same thing might happen to you.

Context: The informant told me this story over text, as they were unavailable for FaceTime. The informant is from Seattle, WA.

Thoughts: The informant was told this story by their mother, and it became a well known story within their friend group. When asked how they feel looking back on the story now and if they believe it, they say that they aren’t sure if it’s true anymore, since they think their mom just told it to them so they wouldn’t stay out too late at night.

Analysis: While this legend is intriguing, I was genuinely curious as to whether or not it is true. I searched the park online and found that there was indeed a cold case in the park that dates back to 1984. A body of a 30 year old man had been found, and it wasn’t until 2020 that they identified the body (Staff). It isn’t exactly the same story that his mother told him, but I can see where the inspiration came from.

Staff, Author: KING 5. “1984 Cold Case Death at Seattle’s Carkeek Park Solved through Fingerprints.” king5.Com, 21 Feb. 2020, https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/seattle/man-found-dead-in-1984-identified/281-ac988edc-d73a-4552-876f-b98edc6001f8.