Category Archives: Legends

Narratives about belief.

Grovers Mill Haunted House

Nationality: Indian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 26, 2013
Primary Language: English

Interview Extract: 

Informant: So there’s this legend in my community, and I don’t know if people outside of it would really know about it, but definitely all the kids in my class know about this because we all went to a field trip and we learned about the history of our little town in class and like, ok do you know H. G. Wells’ book, War of the Worlds?”

Me: “Yeah, I know it.”

Informant: “Well in 1938 Orson Welles did a reading of it on the radio, and he read in the style of a news report. And this was in Grover’s Mill, this small town inNew Jersey, but people didn’t realize that like, it was fiction, so they all actually thought that like aliens were coming in and invading earth, and people legit thought it was real, since it like, sounded like a news report. They all were running out of their houses, shooting with guns, and basically, it was just like, a huge disaster.

So in my elementary school, they taught us all about this, and I guess it was like, the history of our town. Also, so in the 80s, they created a time capsule and buried it in the area where the hysteria culminated, and it’s by this park that I always used to pass like everyday after my mom dropped off my dad, and there was this um, water tower behind this creepy-looking house painted gray. And it’s pretty big too. And like, I passed it all the time without ever really thinking about it, but I guess back then people thought it was a spaceship and started shooting at it.

And with my friends, we made up all these stories about it, because we didn’t actually know what the house was for or who it really belonged to. Like we’d see a car in front of it always, but never anyone actually going in and out, you know. It was just a staple in our community and everyone thought it was really old and weird. We made up stories, like ‘Oh, aliens live there, Oh, it’s haunted,’ that kind of thing.

It’s just the kind of creepy house and I have friends that definitely still believe in some of the stories, or the ones from before when people actually thought it was a spaceship. And like, honestly, if it turned out that aliens really did live there, we wouldn’t be surprised.

In the end, we learned when we were older that a chiropractor lived in the house, which took away from some of the creepiness, and he repainted the house a different gray so it’s less run-down looking. But there still is that vibe of creepiness, I mean, at night also, you see the lights come on inside but still you’d never see anyone inside!”

Analysis:

This is a good example of a memorate, or how someone will create a memory of an incident, such as a haunting or alien invasion, after hearing previous legends regarding the area or situation. My informant has been told about the mass panic in her town since she was a child, so it’s natural for her and her friends to fabricate stories about real aliens or sinister people in the strange house they often pass.

It also shows how important it is for a small town such as hers to distinguish itself in whatever way it can. Orson Welles may have done a reading there, but that was nearly a century ago, so new stories and legends have to be made up to keep people’s interest in the town. This is why the time capsule was buried in the 80s and why the children were led on field trips to visit the supposedly haunted house, which they in turn also believed was ghostly or inhabited by extraterrestrials. It provides interesting locations to visit for tourists and gives a sense of pride to townsfolk who live there.

I find it interesting that my informant remembered seeing a car parked in front of the “haunted” house, but because she and her classmates never saw a living person, they still had probable cause to believe something out of the ordinary was going on. This brings up the question of how much “creepiness” is necessary for a person to believe a haunting is real. My informant says the house was a strange gray color, but had she not heard that it was the location for the climax of hysteria in 1938, it’s doubtful she would have noticed what color the house was painted. It’s likely that the house itself would never have attracted any attention had she and her classmates not been taught about their peculiar town history.

Fraternity House Shark Burial

Age: 25
Occupation: Student
Residence: LMU, Los Angeles
Performance Date: March 9, 2013
Primary Language: English

Interview Extract:

Informant: “We have this story in our frat, about the shark. So apparently, one of the classes back in the 70s had a full-grown shark in their house. Like they kept it in a tank or something, I don’t know. But it was huge. And when it died, they had to carry it down to the beach, down to here in Dockweiler, and they buried, a full-grown shark, right under those crossing palm trees over there. They had to do it at like, the middle of the night obviously, but can you imagine, just a bunch of guys somehow carrying a giant shark and burying it, and they buried it properly, like six feet deep and everything,”

Me: “Do you really believe that?”

Informant: “I don’t see why it can’t happen. Our frat was really crazy back in the day, you know. They did stuff like this all the time. Now our class just has to figure out how to have a shark.”

Me: “So this wasn’t some hazing activity, it was just what the frat guys did?”

Informant: “Yeah pretty much. And the actives in the house all told us about it, and this goes back for a while, but they always talk about it. It’s well-known history of our frat.”

Me: “Do the other houses know too?”

Informant: “No, I’d doubt that. It’s probably actually illegal, you know, what they did and all, so um, it’s just what we all know, in our frat. It’s our own history.”

Analysis:

My informant realized the implausibility of his story as he was telling it to me, but he wouldn’t admit that it was untrue. He was still firm in his belief that it actually happened. As a new pledge member to his  fraternity at Loyola Marymount University, he proved to be very loyal to it, despite having just told me horrendous acts they had to do because of hazing. It sounds to me like a story the older members of the frat would tell the younger ones, in order to impress them, intimidate them, and ultimately initiate them into the house. Perhaps because the new members desperately want to believe they are joining an exciting and extraordinary organization, and that their hazing high-jinks will ultimately be worth it, the students willingly believe any such incredible story about their house. Additionally, maybe because I am not in the same situation as the members, I don’t often go to the beach where the shark is buried and I don’t personally know the actives who claim this is true, I don’t have the same contextual belief in the legend.

I was quite taken aback by how long this legend has survived. It’s obviously important they keep it a secret if it really did happen, and yet, through almost forty years of passing it on, it’s been contained to only this specific fraternity. They take pride in the fact that their brothers owned an adult shark of some kind and actually buried it on the beach. Incidentally, Dockweiler happens to host many of the frat’s meetings and activities, so the members have the opportunity to acknowledge the shark nearly every week, thus keeping the story in their memories. I wonder if there will come a time when the members try once again to house and potentially bury a full-grown shark, thus making a tradition of this legend.

From the Last Bite, Heroes Are Made.

Nationality: Bulgarian
Age: 46
Occupation: Bookkeeper
Residence: Palos Verdes, CA
Performance Date: March 16, 2013
Primary Language: English
Language: Bulgarian

Proverb: От последната харка, юнаци стават

Transliteration: Ot poclednata hapka, yunaci ctavat.

Translation: From the last bite, heroes are made.

Meaning: You have to finish all the food on your plate, especially the last bite, if you want to be strong.

Analysis:

I have heard this expression used multiple times throughout my childhood at nearly every meal. Whenever I had felt full and did not wish to finish everything on my plate, my grandparents and parents would insist I ate the last few bites, because otherwise I would not be strong as a hero or heroine. I had not heard the expression in a while, as it is reserved for children, but during spring break when I was home with my family, I heard it again when my younger brother, who is twelve, did not want to eat the remainder of his dinner. My mother prodded him to finish off his plate, reminding him that unless he ate everything, (in this case he was lagging on eating his salad), he would become a hero.

The motive behind the phrase is clear: caretakers want the children to eat all healthy components of their meals and be strong, and they encourage them to do so by comparing the kids to heroes. The word for hero, as it’s used inBulgaria, typically refers to the legendary Krali Marko, who was incredibly strong and brave, sort of like a Slavic Superman. Every youngster would hear tales about him and naturally wish to emulate such an incredible man. My grandparents would continue the expression by adding that even the strongest man was once a child, though he was a dutiful one who ate everything on his plate, and thus he became a great hero. It would be very difficult for any young person to refuse this offer, and my brother and I grudgingly ate the remainder of our meals each time we were reprimanded.

I should also note that although the term for hero is masculine in the expression, it would be used universally for both boys and girls. Female children such as myself were encouraged and urged to eat our dinners in their entirety as much as male children.

The Nazis of La Crescenta

Nationality: American
Age: 24
Occupation: Consultant
Residence: Pasadena
Performance Date: April 20, 2013
Primary Language: English

“In La Crescenta there is a legend that goes around students about the area. Many decades ago, La Crescenta used to be a Nazi area, so there are still remnants of that time present throughout La Crescenta. For example, they still have cannons in certain places, like near the elementary school. It’s said that on some days at night, small groups of people will still come out to these areas with Nazi remnants to remember their friends and family who were Nazi.”

This legend, to my informant, was something he experienced himself. He attended the elementary school where the cannon was at, and he and his friends would whisper about possible Nazi gathering. Although something like this is not very exciting or frightening to him now, back when he was a child, rumors like these made his life exciting.

Although I cannot directly relate to this legend, I do understand how it could have been something to make the boring local area a bit more thrilling. I had similar legends about my hometown area that could very well have just been randomly made up by one of my friends that spread. For example, there was a gated, rural area right next to my neighborhood with a lot of sheds and trees, and random farming tools that never seemed to be used or moved. My friends and I used to whisper that this area was used by a cult with strange traditions.

Turnbull Canyon

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Sudent
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 28, 2013
Primary Language: English

“Supposedly, at Turnbull Canyon between Whittier and Hacienda Heights, there’s a satanic cult that do rituals and sacrifice people and animals. I think there’s some history to the land going back from when the Spanish came and occupied the land from the indigenous people. There was also a plane crash that happened there in which every one died. Some church and religious groups are supposed to go up to the hill to pray and try to rid of the evil around the area. I think there were several reports of mysterious murders that happened around there. Supposedly some bodies were found, some mangled, some hanging by trees, all in very creepy situations. Also, I think authorities believe a lot of it is purely from the place being ideal to leave dead bodies of murder victims at or to cause mischief at rather than evil or cultist activity. Some ritualistic items or animal burnings have been found, or I’ve heard from some friends that their friends had accounts of seeing dead bodies or strange people show up on the side of the road while they were driving through. There’s also an area called the Gates of Hell in which there’s supposed to be an abandoned building or an abandoned asylum of sorts. Some say there’s other group activity like the KKK or some other groups.
I drove 4 friends through there not necessarily to go check out the myths of the land or get in trouble but just to see the city lights from the hill and road. We got out and explored around some. All of the myth stuff I hadn’t heard before until we began exploring and my friends began to talk more about it. Since it was dark we never really strayed too far from the road but not too close to the road either because crazy drivers are always speeding through. I think we went to an area where there was a gate, where I parked my car and we got out and walked along the road close to the ravine. Nothing major happened and we couldn’t see much into the canyon because most of the area was dark except for the homes on the side. The air and feeling was definitely pretty creepy and I probably wouldn’t go back there again. I’ve had some friends who walked through the area when it was daylight and said they never saw anything, no reported building, or remains of sacrifices. There are just a lot of contrasting accounts of what happens or what people see there that it’s hard to know what actually happened.”

My informant stated that he visited this area his junior year of high school, and that he really felt strange during his whole visit. Just being there in person made him believe in the possibility of satanic cults practicing rituals there. Even if he never really saw anything in person, he believes these kinds of things happen in other places in the US other than Turnball Canyon. The experience just made him realize that there really are some things and people out there that are evil or being influenced by something evil, so people should always be constantly watchful. He is not suggesting that people necessarily live in total fear of these areas or possible groups, but to take caution and not do foolish things.

I am not quite sue if I would wholly believe all the rumors surrounding this Turnbull Canyon, as it seems like something you would hear from a friend of a friend of a friend. The legends of human sacrifices and murders seem a bit far-fetched, but I can see how you would come to believe in these rumors if you visited the actual site, especially at night. The setting of the area itself could and the atmosphere of telling scary stories of the place. Also, in this world, I believe that there are people with strange beliefs or even possible mental illnesses that can be committing frightening deeds, as there are always horrific stories popping up in the news. However, if there was a real danger of the area, I think law enforcement would have investigated the area, so this legend may come from the eerie atmosphere surrounding the area.