Category Archives: Narrative

University of Toronto Freshman Luck – Legendary Object

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: College Student
Residence: Ajax, Ontario, Canada

Text

Informant: So during freshman orientation, or Frosh week, we are at Queen’s Park, that’s the park in the middle of the U of T campus, and there’s this horse statue. And they tell you that the legend is that you have to slap the horse’s ass, this metal horse statue, to pass all your first year classes. So you’re standing there, and you see all these other groups doing it before you hear the details, and then you hear the details, and you do it. And obviously… works better for some people than others (laughter)

Me: Right, so did it work?

Informant: It worked for me! I mean, I didn’t fail anything in first year. I haven’t failed any class actually.

Context

The informant is from Seattle, Washington and studies engineering at the University of Toronto (called “U of T” by people in Canada). They heard this in 2021 in the week before classes (called “Frosh week”) where freshman are meant to get to know each other. The informant isn’t sure how widespread this throughout the University of Toronto. They are pretty sure that it was told to all incoming engineering students because all their friends in engineering know it, but they aren’t sure if other people at the university do. The informant does not believe that this actually allowed them to pass their first year classes and mentioned that it clearly didn’t work for some people. They did find it fun as a short story and bonding activity before their first year classes started.

Analysis

This story about luck being told to first year engineering students at the University of Toronto might seem generic at first but the University of Toronto is well known for having a very good (and very hard) engineering program. On top of that, new university students are moving up from high school and might be concerned about the increase in difficulty that comes with higher education. The idea of having extra luck to pass all your first year classes at a program like this is likely very enticing to new students and possibly part of the origin of this legend.

The specificity of the direction to “slap the horse’s ass” in order to pass your classes is more than just a joke. Hitting a horse in such a manner is done to get them to start moving or to speed up. In the same way, these new students have to start moving and start learning the material as their first year classes are about to begin. The only way to pass your classes is to pay attention and learn the material, the students can not just stand stationary. In this way, the students are telling themselves to get to the pace of university level classes and start moving.

This story and corresponding action also allows incoming first year students to feel more connected to their school and the people around them. By hearing the story and then engaging in the practice alongside everyone else, they form an immediate bond with their group but also everyone else who came before them at the school. This community building is important, especially as these people are entering a new location (university) for the first time and likely not knowing anyone.

Vampire Hunting Club – Legendary Creature/Legend Sharing

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: College Student
Residence: Sudbury, Massachusetts
Language: English

Text

Informant: So when I was in elementary school, probably around fourth or fifth grade um, there was myself and maybe two other students in the same grade and we were reading a lot of vampire novels. Um, like, you know, elementary to middle school aged ones, not like Twilight or whatever. And so we got it in our heads that maybe vampires are real. And it’s kind of like when you are looking for something to be true so you start, like, seeing signs of it everywhere. Like “Oh, there’s mysterious blood on my sheets” cause I had a like, fucking paper cut and it got on my bedsheets.

Me: Ooo mysterious

Informant: But no, it was a vampire, came through the window and tried to attack me, you know.

Me: And you fought back in your sleep and won?

Informant: Yeah essentially, That wasn’t my experience that was somebody else in the club.

Me: What was your experience?

Informant: Um, I think it was, it was probably, now that I think about it, just some creep in the woods behind the school.

Me: Oh, that’s not good.

Informant: No…not good at all. But then I saw it behind the woods, and it’s like when you see the grainy photo of Sasquatch and you’re like “oh my god,” that was me.

Me: That was you?

Informant: Well I wasn’t Sasquatch.

Me: Oh, how old were you at the time?

Informant: How old would I be in fourth grade? 8? 7?

(Pause as we figure out how old a fourth grader is)

Informant: I was not the most observant of 8-year-olds, so clearly this creepy guy in the woods, I was like “oh yeah that’s a vampire.”

Context

The informant grew up in Sudbury, Massachusetts and had this club in the early 2010s. They told me that this club of three was isolated from the rest of their grade (“because everyone else thought we were freaks…and stupid”) and that everyone else believed that another student was a real fairy so they were part of the “fairy club” (the informant adds “but they believed in fairies so who’s the stupid one really”). The informant says that their club did try to hunt vampires in the woods during recess, but that their teachers would catch them and bring them back so they were unsuccessful in their legend hunting attempts. The club did not search for vampires outside of recess because they were not close friends outside of school. The informant no longer believes that they actually saw a vampire but, at the time, they did believe that there were vampires in both their friend’s story and their own experience.

Analysis

Vampire stories were on the rise at the time the informant was hearing and experiencing these stories. Twilight (one of the most popular vampire books ever written) came out in 2008 and a wave followed. These stories would have been easily accessible by children and intriguing as an idea. Vampires are scary in that they attack you and try to drink your blood, but many times, they don’t murder you. Vampires instead turn you into one of them. Along with the fact that vampires are distinctly humanoid, they are a less scary legendary creature or horror subject. This can make them an easier entrance into the horror genre for children. By playing with the concept of them being real, children are able to approach a topic (being attacked by someone or something you don’t know or understand) in a safer way. As the informant attempted to search with a group of friends, they were using the support of others to feel confident enough to explore the topic further by actually looking for a vampire.

By telling these stories to each other, this club was sharing memorates. As they retold their experiences to each other, they built up the legend of the vampire past what the books had told them and brought the creature into their world. They also reenforced the legend by proving to each other that vampires really did exist. The act of hunting and sharing stories also created a social group. The informant said that the reason they didn’t hunt more is because they were not close enough friends, however, this club did bring them together for a significant amount of time each day during recess so that they could share and engage in these stories. This group would not have otherwise interacted if they did not have this shared legend to bring them together.

Evil Feeling While Sleeping

Age: 61

Folklore: J. describes being asleep in bed and suddenly feeling something on top of him pressing down on his chest, trying to kill him. He said the energy of whatever it was that was pushing down on him was negative and not a friendly force. It was something that he felt had malevolent tendencies and was trying to kill him. He wiggled around and tried to get out of it until he changed his mindset and it dissipated. 

Context: J. experienced this himself while trying to sleep one night. He hasn’t forgotten it since and immediately came to mind when asked about if he had experienced any supernatural encounters.

Interpretation: This is a memorate, a personal supernatural experience, that J. went through. It felt like an external force that was trying to actively hurt him. It’s similar to the widely accepted concept of sleep paralysis, which is sometimes interpreted as a spiritual attack. There are many folkloric beliefs surrounding forces that prey on people in their sleep and reflect cultural anxieties around loss of control.

Phone Call Premonition

Age: 59

Folklore: “I remember going on a trip once where I saw a man and a woman in Chicago. They were my ex-husband’s aunt and uncle. We had talked quite a bit and spent time with the whole family. When we flew home and walked in the door the phone was ringing. I immediately knew that Mike had died and he did, that was the call alerting us that Mike had died.”

I asked to clarify if she saw them in real life and she said,

“Yes, I had been visiting them in person and then when I flew home from Chicago and arrived home opened up the door and the phone was ringing as the door opened. I knew that Mike had died and that is indeed what that phone call was telling me. There was absolutely no reason to think that Mike had died because the entire visit was perfectly normal and it was a surprise death like a heart attack or something.”

Context: This story came from my mother who said she was 25 when this happened. She had just met her ex-husband’s aunt and uncle that week, and said she “knew” just as much as I knew that I was talking to her. 

Interpretation: This is a memorate, a personal supernatural experience, that reinforces beliefs about death and intuition. This story is similar to a larger folkloric pattern where individuals have gut feelings, especially surrounding and near the death of people close to them. Experiences like these add to the belief that interpersonal bonds transcend physical space and reflect the broader idea that people are more in tune with the spiritual world. 

Communication after Car Crash

Age: 59

Folklore: “One day, I was in a car crash and that was before cell phones. I had to let my person at home know that I had been in a car crash and that I wouldn’t be home but I was perfectly fine. I reached inside a very specific part of my brain and I was sending messages that I was in a car crash but I was perfectly fine. I was in a car crash but I’m perfectly fine. I arrived home probably about five or six hours later and the person said to me, ‘I know you were in a car crash, but I knew you were perfectly fine, so I didn’t worry.’”

Context: This story came from my mother who was 22 when this happened. She was coming back from a skiing trip in Washington State with a friend in an old Volkswagen bus and a drunk driver crashed into them. She tried to mentally send a message home because cell phones didn’t exist then. 

Interpretation: Telepathy appears across the world in many forms and still circulates today. Culturally, this reinforces a belief that emotionally close people can sense each other, especially in moments of crisis. It is similar to how we often view gut feelings and intuition as trustworthy knowledge. Here it was an intentional act that speaks to the folk belief in the power of the mind.