Category Archives: Tales /märchen

Stories which are not regarded as possibly true.

“The Boy Who Cried Wolf”

MAIN DESCRIPTION:

CL: “This is a good one and has been a common one for generations and especially among brothers where you don’t complain constantly for no good reason or make a big deal out of nothing because if you are always ‘crying wolf’ then no one will really listen to you when it is something important that requires others to help or when you actually need their help. Also don’t lie or embellish something to get attention because when you do have a truth to tell, no one will actually believe you.”

INFORMANT’S OPINION:

JL: What do you think this phrase means, and why is it important?

 CL: “It means that if you keep exaggerating or making problems out of nothing, people will eventually stop taking you seriously. It’s a warning against being overly dramatic or dishonest. When you truly need help or have something important to say, others won’t believe you because you’ve lost their trust from constantly ‘crying wolf.’ The phrase teaches the importance of honesty, credibility, and knowing when it’s truly important to speak up.”

PERSONAL INTERPRETATION:

JL: I have heard this phrase many times growing up with my two older brothers when we would fight. Since I am the youngest, I would constantly tattle on them over the little things and my parents would eventually get tired of me complaining.However, I do understand the lesson behind it. It’s about being responsible with your words and actions. Specifically when seeking help or attention. If you constantly overreact or lie about things, people will stop believing you when something serious happens. I can see how this idea is useful in day-to-day life, as it teaches us not to exaggerate small problems and to value the trust of those around us. I’ve tried to apply this in my own life by making sure I speak truthfully and only make a big deal out of things when it truly matters. It’s a reminder to keep your credibility intact and be careful with your words.

The Ghost Hitchhiker

Age: 19

Story: This is a story about a ghost that still scares me to this day. One night, my family and I were going on a roadtrip from New Jersey to South Carolina, and it was late at night. I was tired, and I was staring out into the distance as we were driving south down I-95. This is when my mom would tell me a story that would shake me to my core, and I don’t know why, it’s not even that scary. Okay, anyway, she told me the story of the Ghost Hitchhiker. 

We were driving, and she said “Look out the window, have you ever seen a hitchhiker?” 

Now, I actually had never seen a hitchhiker in real life, but I’ve seen movies, so I said, “Yeah, I’ve seen one before.”

And my mom goes, “Well, chances are that was the Ghost Hitchhiker…” 

So I said, “Who is the Ghost Hitchhiker?”

And my mom would go on to tell me that the Ghost Hitchhiker looks like any other hitchhiker, just a guy sticking his thumb out, and if you pull over and let him in, he’ll get in the back seat of your car, and say something like, “Just up the road,” or “Not too far.” However, you would drive a couple miles up the road, waiting for him to give you the heads up for when you were approaching his destination, and then you’d turn around to find…that he was no longer in the car. He had disappeared.

I remember my mom started laughing after telling me this, but I did not laugh at all. I think she felt bad because she said, “Don’t worry, I’m not picking up any hitchhikers…but if I do, keep an eye on them, okay?” But, like I said, to this day, I always think about the Ghost Hitchhiker whenever I’m driving on any highway…and unfortunately, I don’t think I’m picking up any hitchhikers anytime soon.

Analysis: This ghost story, shared by my friend about their mom’s tale of the Ghost Hitchhiker, highlights the way folk narratives are passed down casually through family storytelling. The Ghost Hitchhiker legend is a great example of the vanishing hitchhiker tale, a widely recognized motif in ghost folklore where a seemingly real passenger disappears without explanation. These stories often blur the line between imagination and belief.

What’s especially interesting is how this story fits into broader cultural meanings of ghosts in folklore. In many ways, ghosts often symbolize warnings or trauma, but in stories like this, they also serve as a reminder of the thin line that exists between the natural and supernatural world. The hitchhiker’s request to be taken somewhere, but never actually reaching their destination  becomes a metaphor for the unreachable, or the liminal space of the unknown. Stories like these are obviously very powerful, as this one has found its way into their adulthood. 

The Ghost That Saved my Grandmother’s Life

Age: 20

Story: I remember being like 12 or 13 when my aunt started having crazy… and honestly terrifying dreams.  There was maybe a period of 4 or 5 months where my aunt would call my mom every other week or so and tell her about a ‘ghostly figure’ that appeared in her sleep that night. She was never really able to explain what happened or what the ghost looked like, but she would always call feeling a little shaken up, and she would always ask how her mother (my grandmother) was doing, who was living with us at the time. Not that it was odd for my aunt to ask about my grandmother, but it was every single time that she had one of these dreams, she would start the call with “How’s Momma doing?” Luckily, my grandma had been doing good for these 4 months. 

It wasn’t until the 5th month of my aunt having these dreams that they became more prominent and more specific, to the point where she had 3 dreams, or I guess nightmares, 3 nights in a row, and she could make out the ghostly figure to be her grandmother, my great grandmother. On the first night of the dream, her grandmother stood at the foot of her bed and just stared at her. On the second night of the dream, she had moved to the side of her bed where she slept and was leaned over staring at her, and on the 3rd and final night of the dream, her grandmother pulled in closer and said “Your mother is bleeding. My daughter is dying. She needs you”

That morning my aunt woke up and called my mom immediately, screaming that we needed to take my grandmother to the hospital. Of course, my mom was freaking out about this and was trying to make sense of why in the world my aunt would call like this out of nowhere, and she just kept saying “Trust me on this. Please, Mommom says we have to.” So, we did just that. We trusted her and we took my grandma to the hospital, and lo and behold… she was bleeding internally.

My grandma got the help she needed, she stayed in the hospital for a few days, and came back home with us, healthy and happy. My aunt never jokes about ghost stories, so I believe her on this one… To this day, I believe that my grandma wouldn’t be alive today if it wasn’t for those ghostly dreams.

Analysis: When my friend first told me this story about her aunt’s dreams, it immediately struck me as a powerful example of a personal ghost narrative—one that really blurs the line between the supernatural and the everyday. Her aunt started having dreams of a ghostly figure, and over time it became clearer and more intense, eventually revealing itself as her own grandmother. The final dream—where the ghost says, “Your mother is bleeding. My daughter is dying. She needs you”—is a classic turning point. That’s when the dream crosses from eerie to urgent, and her family actually acts on it.

What makes the story so compelling is how it follows a narrative rhythm we see a lot in oral traditions: three escalating encounters, each one more specific than the last. That repetition builds tension and gives the story weight. It also shows how ghost stories, especially in families, often function less as entertainment and more as a way to convey emotional truths or even life-saving warnings. In this case, the family listened, and found out her grandmother was indeed bleeding internally. That outcome gives the story legitimacy and reinforces the idea that dreams and ancestral presence can hold real power.

Even if someone doesn’t believe in ghosts, stories like this show how folklore is deeply woven into how we process fear, intuition, and care for loved ones. My friend’s story is more than just spooky—it’s a reminder of how personal and meaningful ghost stories can be, especially when they exist within family bonds and generational memory.

Grandma’s Superstitions

AGE: 20

DATE OF PERFORMANCE: 04/01/2025

LANGUAGE: English 

NATIONALITY: Taiwanese-American 

OCCUPATION: Student 

PRIMARY LANGUAGE: English 

RESIDENCE: San Jose, CA

INTERVIEW SUMMARY:

When asked if there were any particular horror stories or tales, fables, etc. that she grew up hearing as a kid to prevent bad behavior, MS shared that her grandmother loved to tell tales surrounding hair—specifically having long hair.

A lot of the stories she shared, if not all of them, had some connection to do with death or getting hurt in some way.

Interviewer: Could you provide some examples of tales she would tell you?

MS: “Sure. I’m not sure if this is true or not, but there was one tale she told where this lady got clamped down by the train doors because her hair was too long. Another was this lady who was cooking with her hair down and got hurt.”

Interviewer: Are there any distinct superstitions that she shared with you or that you grew up hearing too?

MS: “She would say to not walk over drains because people have fallen through before. And also not to walk under tall buildings because something can fall or drop and kill you.”

PERSONAL INTERPRETATION:

It’s really interesting to hear superstitions that other people believe. We’ve discussed in class that there’s no distinct reason why one’s believes what they believe, but I think culture and the environment around you definitely play a part in it. In the case of hair, some cultures have very important connections to their hair. While both MS and I were not entirely sure of why in particular her grandmother had so many stories related to hair, I think it plays a role in her deep infatuation with warning tales of that nature. There are also a lot of horror tales and folklore surrounding a woman with long hair and something related to death or injury. After all, people always say hair holds memories.

Behind Chinese New Year

AGE: 20

DATE OF PERFORMANCE: 04/01/2025

LANGUAGE: English 

NATIONALITY: Taiwanese-American 

OCCUPATION: Student 

PRIMARY LANGUAGE: English 

RESIDENCE: San Jose, CA

Interviewer: Are there any distinct folktales or myths that you grew up hearing about?

MS: “One was about this lady on the moon, and another was the story of Chinese New Year and the reasons for the different traditions.”

Interviewer: Can you expand a little bit more on the second story?

MS: “I was told that there was this dragon that would come and haunt this village. And every year the people of the town would evacuate the village, until one year this grandma was too old to walk up the mountain and evacuate. So she lit firecrackers and put red all over everyone’s door…to make it look like blood, I guess…and she successfully scared away the dragon. And when everyone came back down, they noticed she was still alive, and so that’s where the tradition began.”

PERSONAL INTERPRETATION:

I think it’s safe to say that most people in America (and definitely countries where Lunar New Year is celebrated) know what Chinese New Year is and the typical decorations and celebrations that take place. And even though every year growing up I had attended my high school’s Chinese New Year festival, I never really quite knew why everything was the way that it was. It’s incredibly interesting to learn where certain traditions, especially one as big as this, come from. I would love to hear a little bit more about this said dragon and maybe dive deeper into this tradition’s history, but this explanation shows (to me at least) that there were definitely real fears that occurred back then, that via word of mouth, traveled and transformed into what this tradition is today.