Category Archives: Legends

Narratives about belief.

Haunted store

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: College student
Language: English

Text:

“ It was shortly after Halloween, so we had put up our Halloween decorations back upstairs and there’s this big witch, sort of an animatronic thing. We usually set it up by the door so– it has a sensor– so when you pass by it it’ll say things like “Oh, my pretty”. It’s really funny, but it was upstairs and we were just chilling down in the main sales floor, and we heard faintly upstairs the witch talking. We heard it saying those lines just faintly upstairs. And my boss goes upstairs to check it out and I just hear him yelp. And it’s because the witch was positioned– neither of us had positioned it this way and we don’t know if any of our coworkers did– but it was positioned just so it was hiding around the corner of the stairs. So it scared the crap out of him. But then we saw up there that there were several helmet boxes strewn across the floor, which is really weird because it’s usually very well organized up there. And no one had been up there all day yet, so there was no reason they’d be on the floor and no reason why the witch would be making noises up there without anyone to activate the sensor. So that was pretty freaky.”

Context:

“ I work at a motorcycle gear store. We sell helmets, gear, tires, parts, just stuff like that. But it’s kind of a known thing that our location is haunted. It’s right near OldTown so that area has a lot of history and we have an upstairs area that we just use for storage, all the empty helmet boxes we have up on the giant wall and stuff. Our holiday decorations are up there and there will be times when coworkers hear footsteps up there and there’s no one. “

Analysis:

The informant specifies that this location is rumored to be haunted, and that odd things happen all the time. However, he seems to recall more minor auditory hauntings such as footsteps and was shocked by this occurrence. Especially with the addition of the physical change in the witch’s location, the informant clearly viewed this as an escalation, not a maintenance of the store’s folklore. 

The actions of ghosts is often linked to changes in ownership or the physical wellbeing of a home, but ownership and occupancy of a store is a more difficult matter. Though the store is located in the Oldtown part of the informant’s city, and he believes that it’s history influenced the presence of ghosts in the area, metropolitan ghosts do not fit the stereotypical view of ghosts. In a lot of memorates, they are tied to ancestral homes or worn down locations, not capitalist chains that are highly organized. Therefore, the appearance of any ghost here is notable. 

In addition, the escalation described happened at a very auspicious time, on the day after Halloween (All Saint’s Day and Dia de los Muertos). This is a time where it is commonly believed that the veil between the living and dead, or the earthly and the spiritual, is lifted. It is possible that the events or the informant’s perception of these events, were enhanced by the recent holiday and transition between months. 

Pop Rocks and Soda

Nationality: American
Age: 52
Occupation: clerical staff
Language: English

Text: So this kid from the cereal commercial. Well supposedly when he became a teenager, he ate Pop Rocks and soda and died. It was supposed to be a thing that if you ate Pop Rocks and soda at the same time, they will cause a chemical reaction in your stomach and you will die. So of course kids wanted to do it.” 

Context:

“There was a kid on a cereal commercial for LIFE cereal, his name was Mikey. Originally, it was like they got him to eat the cereal and were like, “Oh he won’t eat it, he hates everything.” And then he eats the cereal and they say “hey, Mikey, you like it!”

Analysis:

This specific variation of the “A+B eaten together will make your stomach explode” legend uses Pop Rocks and soda, both sugary and therefore likely liable to make someone’s stomach upset if eaten in excess. That isn’t even mentioning the carbonation and release of gasses that may disrupt the stomach biome. It’s incredibly likely that the story was originated by a concerned parent, but it is just as likely to have originated from other kids and altered through word of mouth. Whatever the origin, the focus for the informant seems to be on the repetition. 

The context is based around who the person was and how he was known from a commercial. His visibility, then, is what granted this legend more credibility and status than if it had happened to some random person. The object of legend matters immensely. Then, other kids wanting to try the combination as well perpetuates the legend. By knowing people want to or do try this, the legend can become a theory for an absence or an expectation from even a minor stomachache. 

Las Vegas Legend

Nationality: American
Age: 52
Occupation: Clerical staff
Language: English

Text:

This is about the guy who went to Vegas and he went to a club and was drinking and just partying and picked up some girl and was planning to leave the club with her. But when he woke up, well, the last thing he remembered was the club and then when he woke up, he was in a hotel in the bathtub with ice around him. And blood. And on the mirror of the bathroom, there was a note and it basically said ‘call 911’. Come to find out, the guy had gotten drugged and someone stole his kidney. 

Context:

Back in the mid 90s when I turned 21, we were going to go ahead and go on a trip to Vegas, my first trip. I went with my sister and my mom. I don’t remember if I went with a friend, too, or who, but anyway. Before we went, my sister and her friend, Jennifer, who were both older than I am, told me this. Well, I found out after the fact, this was a story that was actually going around at the time and pretty much everyone I knew was told this story before they went to Vegas for the first time.”

Analysis:

This legend seems to relate, in a way, to another saying: What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. While that usually is used as a cheeky reference to wild parties and sex, it manifests within this story both as a practical joke and as a warning. The informant describes how she heard this story from her older sister, as many other people going to Vegas for the first time also had. It seems to have been a way to scare them; the older tellers of these legends may have believed less in their validity, but the younger one who doesn’t know what to expect will be more inclined to believe. On the other hand, this serves as a real warning about going to a city with a big club scene. The guy in the legend drank at a bar and was going to go home with a girl but woke up in an unfamiliar place instead. The same thing happens all the time as people try to take advantage of others or spike their drinks. This legend reflects the valid fears about being drugged or hurt when partying, especially in an unfamiliar place on vacation, away from home and family.

Internet Legend

AGE: 20

Date of performance: 04/04/2025

Language: English

Nationality: American

Occupation: Student 

Primary Language: English 

Title- Chain messages 

Context- A shares that in middle school, there was a period where a mass text would be circulated throughout the school with a message along the lines of “send to x amount of people or something will happen”. A recalls the first time he experienced this—he was genuinely scared of the consequence if he didn’t send it to the correct amount of people. He still is apart of some text chains, but now isn’t afraid of them. 

Analysis-  Legends are a part of the narrative genre of folklore—stories that are located throughout the world with unknown truth. The mass text chain A shares is an internet legend, circulating throughout different regions that carried an uncertainty of its validity when it was trending. 

Latin Legend

AGE: 20

Date of performance: 04/04/2025

Language: English

Nationality: American

Occupation: Student 

Primary Language: English 

Title- the Chupacabra

Context- The Chupacabra is a legend prominent in countries such as Mexico and Latin America.  A shares that his mom, who is from Mexico City, initially told him that they weren’t real, but started to tell him that they were real as he grew older and got into trouble to scare him. 

Analysis- The chupacabra is an animal feared for its blood-sucking abilities—a legend popular in Latin America and Mexico. Legends are a subgroup of the narrative genre in the folk world—they are stories that may or may not be true located throughout various regions. A felt the uncertainty of the chupacabra’s existence since his mom first believed they weren’t real, then started to tell him they existed when she needed him to behave.