Category Archives: Narrative

Hauntings in a Hospital

My friend’s mom worked as an assistant nurse in the Hospice wing of a hospital. In that same floor of the hospital, there was a physical therapy room also near a crematorium. One day, a man walked past the physical therapy room and he claimed to have seen one of the exercise bikes moving by itself. He told my friend’s mom that strange things would happen in that room and things would feel off. This man was allegedly a medium and he would tell my friend’s mom of similar supernatural occurrences. The man went as far as to say the entire floor of the hospital was haunted. 

This was a story told to my friend by his mom and according to him, both he and his mom believe these ghost stories. When I asked why, my friend said it was especially the case something like this took place in a hospital because it was “so charged by death”.

I’ve heard so many ghost/haunting stories about supernatural activity at a hospital and like most ghost stories I am unsure of whether to believe them or not because the logic behind hauntings at hospitals does make sense, but then again, on what grounds?

Haunted Military Island

My friend, who is originally from Singapore, recalls them and their friends sharing stories about people who’d go off to Tekong Island, a training facility where those “shipped off” would receive military training, mostly mandatory. On this island, many have claimed to have heard strange noises deep within the jungle regions of the island and sightings of “shadowy” female figures. From within the facility, strange and random noises would appear during the night such as toilets flushing or the sound of moving objects. There have also been reports of people mysteriously disappearing while at the island or falling ill or dead without explanation during night marches. 

My friend has heard many stories like these from people in their school and amongst their peers, some of whom did end up going to serve on that island after high school.

I personally enjoy hearing about mysterious occurrences such as these ones. It seems like something I’d want to listen to a podcast about.

Nuno sa punso

Text: Nuno sa Punso

My informant is a friend of my family. 

Context: This creature is a small mythical creature that lives in the mounds. It is a dwarf (or dwende in the Philippines) creature that curses people who enters its home or forbidden areas. Usually people say that they live in anthills.

She said she first heard it during the time we first wandered around outside the house, or any unfamiliar older looking places. She believes in it’s message that you have to respect the old mounds or old places where you think the “Nuno sa Punso” lives. And you have to say “Tabi Tabi po” and repeat it 3x. It means “can I politely pass through your place”. It will protect you from them being angry and cause you to have bad luck, and sometimes cause you to get sick. She states that it’s relevant because the story has been passed down for generations. It also teach a good moral value of being respectful for the places and beings around you. Some people still think it’s real, especially in the province. The Philippines has a lot of old forest and mounds. So every time people from the city wandered around the place the locals usually educate them to pay respect to the inhabitants of the forest. Sometimes they have to do rituals and offerings for protection and safe passage of the travelers.

Analysis: 

Analyzing “Nuno sa punso”, this story comes across as a legend. The main drive of this story is of the creature that brings fear onto people who visit places they should not be in. The overall message of this story is to respect places you go to, as stated by my informant.

Though this message can hold to any place or anything because you should respect the places you go to regardless of whether they are sacred or not. The creature’s punishments show a consequence which is a punishment to people who go and do what they are told not to do. I think that this legend makes people become more wary of places but also more self aware. Doing bad things can lead to bad consequences.

I think this story circles back to how Filipinos deeply value respect to the elderly and respect in general. A lot of cautionary stories attached to creatures have to do with avoidance of bad actions. Filipinos deeply value their home in the Philippines, and this creature embodies that sentiment.

The Pineapple Story

Text: The Pineapple Story (Filipino Myth)

Context: My informant told me that the story is of a mother and daughter living together. The daughter Pina was very lazy. One day, the mom was busy doing work outside their house. She asked Pina to cook lunch for both of them. When Pina went to do so, she had to ask her mother where things were. every time she needed something, she didn’t know where it was in their own kitchen. After that, the mother became annoyed and wished her daughter had a lot of eyes like a pineapple. That way, her daughter would at least know where everything is. The next day, the mother noticed a pineapple had grown outside their house. She also noticed her daughter was missing. Then she remembered what she said and realized the pineapple was her daughter.

She interprets this story as a lesson to be more hardworking, and to be less lazy because it is important to contribute to helping your family. This story is something that she’s told to her own children and has heard it from her own family. 

Analysis: 

This Filipino folklore is a tale and myth. As it is a story that does not really get questioned, because a girl did not really turn into a pineapple. But it is also a myth because it gives an easier reason to understand that children should respect their parents and their elders. 

It is a family story with a lesson and a punishment. With the context provided by my informant, it does not seem to be something to believe that pineapples really come from a mother wishing that her daughter would become a fruit. But rather as a tale to respect your elders and to work harder. The daughter was very lazy and disrespectful to her mother. And as a result she was cursed, or in other words it was her punishment. Filipino culture and Asian cultures in general tend to have a heavy focus on respecting their elders. There are a lot of customs and polite actions and mannerisms in place for the young to pay respects to the previous generations.

El Chupacabra

Text: El Chupacabra 

My informant is the mother of a friend.

She said that El Chupacabra is a Latin American folktale about an unknown creature that sucks the blood out of living animals. El Chupacabra is mostly known for targeting the livestock of farmers, especially goats, hence the english translation of “the goat sucker”. There are different speculations of what it looks like, but the most common tends to be a sort of demented dog.

She also said the tale itself is at least a hundred years old, but became popular around 40 years ago when farmers began losing their livestock in a similar manner to that of a Chupacabra. People, mainly farmers, likely still tell this story as a warning of what to watch out for. El Chupacabra was used as something to scare children with in order to behave or else the Chupacabra would come after them. She thinks the Chupacabra whether real or not demonstrates the highly superstitious culture of Latin America as people quickly speculated the Chupacabra to be of an almost otherworldly nature rather than some animal. She personally believes el Chupacabra is likely just some animal that had perhaps gone undiscovered.

Analysis:

Upon analyzing the Chupacabra, it is a legendary creature or cryptid. The story of the Chupacabra is that it is mainly a monster that goes after farmers’ livestock. Although the Chupacabra is something that is not scientifically proven, people still speculate its existence.

I see this creature as a way to explain the unknown or the fear of something larger and powerful outside. While livestock could have been eaten by wolves or a large animal, the thought of the Chupacabra or a creature in place of a more rational explanation shows a part of the superstitious culture in Mexico that my informant mentions.

The Chupacabra is also used as a monster that parents or older people may use to scare their children, which diverts from it’s origins. Which show a development to its story on a surface level from a creature that is used to explain how livestock or farms get messed with to a monster that also want to potentially hurt humans, or in this case, children.