Category Archives: Legends

Narratives about belief.

Bob and Mary Still Live Here?

Nationality: American
Age: 45
Occupation: Educational consultant
Residence: Redwood City, California
Performance Date: 10/31/21
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Context: The event happened some time during 1997. The informant was a young volunteer missionary for her church working in rural North Carolina. Part of her work involved knocking on doors and talking to people. Although most people were not interested in her message, virtually everyone they contacted was kind and respectful. The visit described in the following story was unlike any other that she encountered during her 18-months service as a missionary.

Text: 

Me: Tell me something strange that happened to you. Where were you and what happened? 

Informant: So I was a missionary for, um, a year and a half, and you get assigned to a place, uh, where you don’t know where you’re going to end up. You could end up in Russia, Japan, Argentina, or North Carolina. And I happened to have ended up in North Carolina. So they sent me there for a year and a half. And you spend about two to four months in each town, and you get transferred to different towns. And your main, main goal, main purpose there is to teach people who are interested, teach them about our church. And during the time I was a missionary, I eventually arrived at this old house in Sailsbury, North Carolina.

Me: What was so special about this house?

Informant: Ok, so we are at this old house with the antique furniture. I’m like 21 years old. I have this young lady, a companion, with me who is very scared and nervous and doesn’t say a thing. And I’m making small talk with the people who live at the house, asking them about their house. And they start in on ghost stories. 

Me: Ghost stories! Now we’re getting somewhere!

Informant: I had no idea what I was getting into. And with the most normal looks on their faces and the most sincere tone of voice, no exaggeration, no drama. Um, very matter of fact, um, they start telling me, oh yeah, there’s ghosts in this house. And I kind of froze. And I said, oh, *laughs* that’s interesting.

Me: That is interesting. Tell me more.

Informant: And they start pointing things out and they say, yeah, the rocking chair over there on the porch. He said, the old owners, the original owners of the house were, let’s say, you know Bob and Mary, and you know Bob comes and he’ll just sit on the porch. We’ll just see him out there in the evening, every now and again, I mean, just rocking in the rocking chair. I said, oh really? They said, yeah. And then they tell me that they see Mary, she walks over — and see that tree over there? Um, and that little street? So Mary just goes walking across the yard. And then, uh, they’re up in the attic. So we hear them up there, they’re kind of moving things around and we often hear that. 

Me: How did you react to this?

I wasn’t really scared because I don’t believe in ghosts, and I believe that if you don’t believe in things, you won’t see them. But my companion was petrified. She was sitting in her chair frozen, and I looked over at her, and I could tell that she was scared out of her wits. Um, and I tried to change the subject, but they kept going on in this very matter of fact way, telling me about all of these times they had seen Bob and Mary, and they said, they’re just part of the house. And we just, um, we just, you know, we’ve gotten used to it and like, it was no big deal. And so I started to kind of laugh, to laugh off the situation because I can see how nervous my companion was, and I didn’t want her to be scared. 

And it’s dark in this house. They had turned the lights down. I mean, it was just like one of those old, um, it’s different in North Carolina. It’s just different in the South, just older houses with, you know, the dim lighting. And so I started to laugh a little bit and said, oh *laugh* that’s kinda funny. You know, houses have stories, you know, something like that to laugh it off.

Me: But they took it seriously, didn’t they?

Informant: Super seriously! The man turned to me and he said, do you think we’re lying? That we’re just making all of this up? And I said, oh no, no, no. I didn’t want to offend them. Um, I tried to handle it as best as I could without offending them. And these people were not, um — I met a lot of people out in the country who were very, uh, very poor and very uneducated. And these people were not that. These people were middle-class and educated. They were intelligent people with a lot of books around, and you could tell they were educated. 

But anyway, that guy just turned on me and basically accused me of saying that he was lying. And so I could tell that this was just going to be uncomfortable. So as soon as it, you know, seemed okay to leave, we, uh, thanked them for their hospitality and left and never went back to that house again. 

But when we got back to the car and we’re driving back, my poor little companion was just shaking. She had never left home before. This was one of her first experiences away from home, and she was utterly terrified. *chuckle* And while we were in the house, I could see her kind of looking around the room a little bit to see if maybe Bob and Mary were going to show up. And she had been worried that they were just gonna, you know, come into the room and take a chair.

Me: And how did you feel about it?

Informant: I was definitely shaken up, too. Not that I thought I was going to see a ghost, but, uh, it’s just really — it was a strange situation to have intelligent, educated people sit there and tell you in your face that they have ghosts in their house and see them frequently. And, uh, it’s hard to know what, what to say. So my conclusion is I don’t, I don’t know. I don’t think they were lying, but at the same time I thought about it a lot afterwards. And I thought I would never see a ghost in that house because I guess, because I’m not a believer. *laughs* So, um, maybe it’s if you’re open to it and you let yourself go there, maybe you’ll see something, but, um, I don’t think I ever would. So that’s my ghost story.

Thoughts: This story surprised the informant and myself because neither of us expected belief in ghosts to be associated with middle class, educated people. In this case, it is educated, middle class people who see ghosts on a regular basis. An important element in the story is the man’s irritation, and his accusation that the informant thought he was lying. This would indicate how deeply he held his beliefs in ghosts. Another interesting element is how nonchalant the residents were regarding ghosts in their house. They grew accustomed to it, somewhat ritualizing it. The informant didn’t know how widespread these types of beliefs are in the South. The story presents a conflict of belief: the missionary doesn’t believe in ghosts, but the residents accept ghosts as part of daily life. I personally do not believe in ghosts but found the entire discussion between the resident and the missionary fascinating. I certainly would have liked to question the residents myself and find out more details about their belief in ghosts — and more about Bob and Mary.

Girl in the Fireplace

Nationality: Korean-American
Age: 18
Occupation: N/A, student
Residence: USC currently, hometown is San Jose
Performance Date: 10/25/21
Primary Language: Korean
Language: English

Background: The informant and her sibling both went to the same middle school and the library, where the ghost story took place, was within walking distance of the school. The informant remembered this story because it was frequently mentioned at the library, and it was a terrifying experience considering they were only at the age of 11. 

JL: We heard from students all the time, like “there’s something weird in the fireplace of the library”. The way the library was set up was that there was the children’s section to the left, adult section to the right, then very far to the right was a little nook that was blocked halfway by a bookcase, and that nook had a fireplace plus magazines. It was mainly where all the old people hung out during weekdays; nobody under the age of like…60 ever went into that area. And the deal with the fireplace was that it was never lit ever, just a completely bare old-style fireplace. It was middle school, so there were lots of rumors always flying around. But someone said at some point that one of the more socially active guys named Ben and his girlfriend at the time went into that nook during a weekend and were fooling around when they suddenly smelled smoke and heard someone crying. We’re in California so smelling smoke isn’t entirely uncommon but it was like apparently super strong and weirdly sickly sweet. And when they (the couple) turned around to face the fireplace, they saw this little girl dressed in a white old-fashioned nightgown that had been burned and the skin was sloughing off her in places. Like a barbecue grill, they said. They basically screamed then ran out, and they swear that it was some girl who burned to death where that library was built or something. Honestly, I doubt it’s real but it sure freaked us all out when we were like 11. And it was so awful that everyone was like “Google burn victims to see what she looked like”. It wasn’t a super common rumor, but if you were someone who went to the library frequently, you were pretty guaranteed to hear it. 

Me: So did the school also know about it? Or how was everything eventually settled? 

JL: Honestly it was one of those things that we never really talked about unless you frequently went to the library because these two places weren’t connected. It was a public library completely separate from the school and the two places just happened to be near each other, I think? So it wasn’t ever addressed by the school administration. I think they’re remodeling the library now actually, so the fireplace might be taken out because of the fire safety code. My sibling’s graduated middle school now so I don’t know how the rumors are spreading with that, but at the time it was basically one of those things you’d hear if you stayed a little too late in the library. I stayed overtime a lot working on robotics projects so that’s how I came to hear of it.

Me: Apart from Ben and his girlfriend, were there any other people in your school who used to experience or witness similar scenes in that fireplace as well?

JL: Yeah! But nothing quite as serious as they did I think. People would say randomly that it smelled like smoke. Again I was kinda skeptical on this because living in California means you smell smoke every other day. A lot of people claimed they saw the curtains over the windows in that nook randomly flutter, and there were random hot spots in the room for no reason. 

Context: This piece was collected via a text interview over Discord. 

Thought: The story is interesting, and the library seems to always be one of the popular places for spooky stories. I agree with the informant that some details may have been exaggerated, especially considering the nature of children at that age who tend to “make a fuss” about things. The story itself reminds me of the idea that children being murdered or simply people who have been framed cannot go to the afterlife; they may need someone to help them release their souls from purgatory. However, I wonder if souls, for example in the case of this story, would always “rest on” the objects or places where they were murdered. If the fireplace is removed, would the little girl appear again then?

Tahoe Tessie

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: 4/29/21
Primary Language: English

Background: The informant frequently visited Lake Tahoe growing up. She knows a lot about the Lake itself and told me she’d heard this legend.

SD: So this is the story of Tahoe Tessie, uh, named after Nessie which is, uh, the more colloquial name for the Loch Ness Monster, they like to call–I don’t know who they is in this scenario–the people of the Loch, I guess, like to call her, I believe it’s a woman, I believe that the Loch Ness Monster is a female according to the lore. But yeah, so it’s Tahoe Tessie, it’s Lake Tahoe, the supposed monster that lives in Lake Tahoe, I would assume it’s akin to the Loch Ness Monster–kind of a vague, dinosaur-esque crypted. No one has confirmed a sighting, I don’t believe that anyone actually believes in it, uh, but the lake is one of the like deepest lakes in California, uh, or the US I think, uh, there’s an underwater forest, all that good stuff.

Me: And how did you hear about Tahoe Tessie?

SD: I don’t know, actually. I think it’s just, you go somewhere a fair amount, you pick up the lore. Who knows which time I picked it up?

Me: Do you think many people believe in Tahoe Tessie?

SD: Uh, I really don’t. I think it’s just more people making fun of the Loch Ness Monster, uh, and making their own thing out of Lake Tahoe. But I think it’s a legend, so maybe I do think some people think it’s true.

Context: This piece was collected during an in person conversation.

Thoughts: It’s interesting that a very tourist attraction like Lake Tahoe has developed their own legend, and the informant–being a tourist–picked it up on one of her trips there so it’s not just a legend perpetuated by the people that live or are from there. This legend is passed on as perhaps a way to entice people to visit and make it even more of a tourist destination. It builds on the idea that it could be true and would exist in our own world. Since the informant said there have not been any confirmed sightings, I wonder if people have memorates that they perhaps told others and it caught on that way. It makes me think about what would be considered an official sighting if this idea is believed by some people. Or maybe it was a creation simply for the tourism industry, in which case Tahoe Tessie would be fakelore. This is an example of cryptozoology.

For another version of this legend, see History.com’s page on the Loch Ness Monster: https://www.history.com/topics/folklore/loch-ness-monster

The Ormondale Pony

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/29/21
Primary Language: English

Background: The informant likes this piece because it reminded her of the kinds of stories she’d used to hear in elementary school. Belief in the pony was shared by her classmates although it didn’t affect them in their daily lives, often forgetting about it.

SD: So this is the story about a horse, Ormondale, who is allegedly buried under my elementary school gym or something. Uh yeah, so I was always told this story as a child. This school, our elementary school was split up, we had, uh, K-3rd, and then there was a 4th-8th, so this was at the first one, this was at the K-3rd school, uh, it was called Ormondale and it was named after a horse, or I think maybe a pony, I don’t really know the distinction personally, but yeah, and I guess it was a race horse, I don’t know how the school ended up named after the horse, I mean, uh, oh it was a pony! Yes! Our mascot was the Ormondale ponies. Um, I don’t know how the, I think, I don’t know, maybe the person who founded the school, it was their horse or something, but, legend says that uh, well the pony is supposedly buried underneath, uh, the school gym, and I don’t ever believe that I was ever told that it haunts the school, I think that it was more of a, a freaky thing that there’s a corpse underneath the gymnasium rather than like a, like a ghostly, like a friendly ghost. I think it’s more corpse related than an afterlife. But, I think, I think it’s a nice story. I never believed it, but I think there are a lot of children, now adults, still children if this story’s still being told today, which I would assume it is, uh, that would believe this story.

Me: Did you first hear the story when you were in elementary school?

SD: I did. I think I first heard this story, uh, maybe in first grade. We, we didn’t talk about it often–actually I think we talked about it for like a month when we first learned the story, and then it was kind of a big deal, and then everyone forgot about it. I mean, I forgot about it for like the past decade. It maybe came into my brain once or twice after I was six years old, uh, but, other than that, I don’t know. I mean, the weird thing about it is that it’s entirely plausible, but why would anyone do it?

Me: Are there behavior changes that come with being around the gym, like does anybody avoid it or try not to–?

SD: No I think, I mean, well, because you’re that young, I feel like things just go in one ear out the other. Sometimes you’ll think about it and sometimes you’re like yeah it’s gym time, let’s do the Pacer. So I don’t think that there are any behavior changes whether or not they are related to the supposed haunting, and/or corpse body of the pony. I honestly kind of believe it though. It’s not impossible. It’s not haunted, it’s not a ghost thing. Because that I wouldn’t believe.

Context: This piece was collected during an in person conversation.

Thoughts: This seems like a belief that may be somewhat of a legend, since it could be true. The informant was quick to say she didn’t believe in it, but later went back and qualified her response; that since the belief that the pony haunts isn’t as common as simply the existence of a corpse, she says she believes it. As with many beliefs shared in elementary school, looking back, it is easy to quickly say you don’t believe it and dismiss it as childish.

You will leave the world empty-handed – Arabic Story

Nationality: Palestinian
Age: 78
Occupation: Retired
Residence: Long Beach
Performance Date: 5/2/2021
Primary Language: Arabic
Language: English, French, Italian

Context:

He heard this story in the 1960s from a family member of the man who passed away (منكو, pronounced “Mango” despite the “k” sound). The burial took place in Amman, Jordan, and said that “people talked about it for two decades but still old people in my age remember the story and talk about it till these days.” According to him, “it was not usual at all that deceased people have their body parts hanging out of the coffin.” He said that it is like a warning: no matter how much you have, money does nothing for you when you die. A peaceful life is therefore better than a life spent chasing money.

Text:

“A very rich man, multi-millionaire, knew that he was going to die soon because he was very sick. When he wanted to do his will, he asked that when they put him in the coffin, to put his hand out of the coffin, open and empty. He wanted people to see that he took nothing with him. He left empty-handed.”

Thoughts:

This story is profound because it acknowledges the temporary nature of material goods. Because there are stereotypes about Arab parents wanting their children to be either engineers or doctors so that they can make a lot of money, this story feels like a counterbalance. Although it is not bad to make money, encouraged by the stereotype, the story warns people to not focus their life on getting money for the sake of being rich. If someone does not heed the story, they essentially wasted their life; what good will their riches do when they die? Additionally, because having body parts hanging outside the coffin was “not usual at all,” the man must have known this as well, and went against the norm in order to make his warning memorable. This story acknowledges the presence of greed in humanity, and encourages its listeners to value moderation.