Main Piece

At Southern Methodist University (SMU), there is a rumor that there is an extensive tunnel system underground beneath the campus. In official building plans, there are some air vents that go between the buildings, but people say that there is much more actually there than indicated on the plans. Allegedly, during World War II, the tunnel system was built as an evacuation and shelter zone.

AB says that “the joke is, if you ask an old professor about it, they’ll wink at you.” He also says, “Some people who want to push the envelope a little bit, who are really into this stuff, claim that they have a catacomb… and the catacomb contains famous SMU people… like Robert Heyer, the first president of SMU, is buried underneath Dallas Hall.”

There is a student tradition at SMU of going to the Meadow School of the Arts (which is an old, not-well-maintained building), and going down to the basement, where “you can get lost easily.” From there, “If you open the wrong door, you can find a chasm; if you know the plan, you can find the chasm.” AB’s friend C claims to have brought climbing equipment to this chasm and rappelled down the chasm. C says there were marks of people having been there before, but it was sealed off at the bottom.

Informant background

AB is a university student at Southern Methodist University (Dallas), originally from the California Bay Area. He is a member of the SMU band.

Performance context

AB described this to me during a phone call when I asked him to tell me about SMU traditions, rituals, and rumors.

Analysis

These kind of secret-passages-and-tunnels rumors seem to be very popular among teenagers and early-20-somethings. The appeal is shown through the idea of the “legend quest,” of going out and trying to see if the rumors are true or not. The fact that AB has heard of many friends and acquaintances trying to explore the tunnels is evidence of this ongoing legend quest at SMU.

Main Piece

When JJ was growing up in Massachusetts, he used to go to a fishing camp that would take a day trip to a tiny island off the coast of New Hampshire. Every year, they would tell a “true story” about an abandoned red house on the island:

“A family used to live in that red house, with a wife and husband, and their maid. The husband made his living fishing from the island. The husband and wife would sleep upstairs, while the maid was downstairs. Once, the wife’s sister came to visit, and slept downstairs with the maid. There had been some longstanding conflict between the husband and the wife’s sister, since she hadn’t wanted her sister to marry him.

The maid woke up in the middle of the night to a scream. She found the wife’s sister dead in her room. She ran upstairs and woke up the husband and wife: “You sister’s dead! You have to get out of here!” The maid goes back down to check on the sister. The husband tries to help his wife escape through the second story window, but as soon as her head is out, her head got chopped off by an axe! Then the husband is freaking out. He runs downstairs and finds that the maid is dead, next to the wife’s sister.

He hops in his rowboat and starts trying to row to shore, but it’s the middle of the night, and it’s miles to shore. He starts rowing, he’s falling asleep, his hands are getting tired, he’s starting to let go of the oars. It’s winter so it’s freezing cold. He dips his hands into the water to freeze his hands to the oars. It works and he finally arrives to a city in New England, and goes to a hotel. He’s covered in blood trying to tell them what happened. His hands are completely frostbitten. They arrest him on the spot. He got convicted and sent to jail. Up until his death he denied it and said there was someone else on the island.

On his deathbed he admitted to murdering everyone.

Or so they say he confessed…”

Informant background

JJ is a student at the University of Southern California. He is from Newburyport, MA.

Performance context

This story was told during a folklore collection event that I set up with a diversity of members from the USC men’s Ultimate Frisbee team. We were in a classic folklore collection setting: sharing drinks around a campfire, in a free flowing conversation.

Analysis

JJ’s story, along with every scary story I collected for this project, professes to be a “true story.” While the plausibility of this is in question, the effect of even the plausibility of this story having happened causes an extra layer of fear and fascination for the story—especially since the story is almost always told while the listeners are actually at the site.

Main Piece

JJ was on a trip with some friends his senior year of high school, and they stayed in a cabin in the woods in Maine. He says this is a true story:

“It was from one of my friend’s friends who lives in Boston. This is why she says she’s never gonna live alone again.

She was living alone and she heard her front door open in the middle of the night. She goes to check it out, the doors are shut and she thinks she must be imagining things. She goes back to her room and hears noises coming from her living room area. She thinks ‘there has to be someone in my apartment.’

She’s freaked out and goes into the living room and nobody’s there. She calls 911 and they answer and she tells them `somebody broke into my apartment. I’m scared and I think there’s someone in here, I’m gonna hide in my laundry room.’

They ask where the phones in her house are. She has a phone in kitchen, dining room, and laundry room. They tell her they’re gonna send people on their way, but ‘whatever you do, don’t go into your laundry room.’

The police arrive, scan the apartment. She’s been in her room. They go into the laundry room. They find a man hiding behind the laundry room door with a knife.

She’s ecstatic. ‘How did you know there was somebody in the laundry room?’

When she called 911, they heard somebody breathing on the line, not her. The man had picked up the phone in laundry room to listen, and they figured it out.”

Informant background

JJ is a student at the University of Southern California. He is from Newburyport, MA.

Performance context

This story was told during a folklore collection event that I set up with a diversity of members from the USC men’s Ultimate Frisbee team. We were in a classic folklore collection setting: sharing drinks around a campfire, in a free flowing conversation.

Analysis

JJ’s story, along with every scary story I collected for this project, professes to be a “true story.” While the plausibility of this is in question, the effect of even the plausibility of this story having happened causes an extra layer of fear and fascination for the story—especially since the story is almost always told while the listeners are actually at the site.

Main Piece

CT heard this was a true story about a log cabin in the woods in Maine, before it became a popular vacation spot:

“This woman was camping in the area with her boyfriend. One day she wakes up early and decides, ‘I’m gonna explore before he wakes up. Get some solitude.’ She’s walking through the woods (around dawn) and she stumbles upon an uncharted cabin, didn’t appear on any maps or anything.

‘Ok, maybe I’ll see if anyone’s home.’

On the exterior it’s well maintained, not scary. Opens up the front door, walks in, it’s pretty nice on the inside too. Got some nice paintings on the inside.

She thinks, ‘This is a nice place.’

There’s one painting on the wall that catches her eye. She goes up to it and it depicts a family portrait. But something’s a little off about the family in the painting. It’s a hyper-realistic painting. The family is standing outside, and they all have exaggerated facial features — a bit surreal – their eyes are wide, unblinking. Their mouths are wide in an eerie grin.

She feels alone in the cabin. She wants to check the kitchen to see if they have any extra food, thinking she might just borrow something. There’s not much in the kitchen. She thinks, “I better leave before anyone comes back.”

She goes back to main room. Right before she leaves, she looks at the painting and the strange thing is… that in the painting the family is no longer there. It’s just a blank backdrop of the woods. She puts her face right up the painting and she realizes it was never a painting… it was a window.”

After hearing this story, CD mentioned that he had heard a version of the story where it’s “dudes camping, they can’t find a shelter, they find a cabin, go lay down for bed, and are disconcerted by paintings and in the morning they’re all windows.”

Informant background

CT is a student at the University of Southern California. He is from New York City.

CD is a student at the University of Southern California. He is from Zionsville, ID.

Performance context

This story was told during a folklore collection event that I set up with a diversity of members from the USC men’s Ultimate Frisbee team. We were in a classic folklore collection setting: sharing drinks around a campfire, in a free flowing conversation.

Analysis

For a popular internet rendition of this story (a “CreepyPasta”), see: https://www.creepypasta.com/the-portraits/