Category Archives: Tales /märchen

Stories which are not regarded as possibly true.

The ghost that pulled me back

Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Performance Date: April 22, 2018
Primary Language: English

“I think my house is haunted. It was built in like the forties. Maybe it’s not fully haunted but definitely a little. One of the reasons I think it’s haunted is because there is a little spot in my parents’ room that you look at and just think to yourself… what is this? My dog will not step foot in that corner. One summer there were a bunch of flies flying around it with zero explanation and my parents had to hire special exterminators to get rid of them.”

“Anyways, unrelated to the corner… one time, I was sleeping in my bed and I awoke to this strange feeling of a hand grabbing my side. So, I get up and I start screaming at the top of my lungs and I tried to run to the light switch to turn them on. But I could only get to the middle of my room because this mysterious hand pulled me back. I tried to get the hand off of me by pulling on it super hard. I was somehow able to get to door but I could not find light switch. Then I tried to open the door but I felt myself being dragged backwards. My parents found me in my room screaming and were like ‘CLAUDIA WHATS GOING ON?’ I was fully in high school like I was not a young kid. I told them I felt a hand grabbing at my side and it felt extremely realistic and weird. They told me not to worry and that it was just my own hand. I told them that I grabbed the hand so hard so if it were my own hand I would have felt the residual gravity. Clearly they didn’t know what to do so they left me alone and I didn’t go to sleep the rest of the night.”

“I know I sound crazy but the hand feeling was so scary and realistic I swear there’s some type of haunted spirit in my house. Also the fact that my dog gets spooked out by a corner with all these flies makes me think so as well. I think there must be some eerie history that makes my house kinda haunted.”

 

My interpretation of the story:

 

Because the storyteller has no knowledge of the history of her home, it is hard to determine a link as to why it would be haunted. What stood out to me in this story, was the actions made by the family dog. Dogs have amazing senses that humans do not, they are able to sense emotions, hear things better, and have a general knowledge of what is going on even though they are unable to communicate with us. I have always thought that dogs have somewhat of a “sixth sense”, that allows them to develop strong relationships with beings of other kinds. The fact that the dog shows caution towards this corner makes me think that there most definitely is a reason for this beyond human knowledge. The dog must sense something that we cannot, making it not want to go in that corner because it knows there is something wrong, although it us unable to communicate that to us. A lot of times, dogs try to communicate with us through their actions, so also, the dog may be trying to tell the family that there is something wrong in that area or in the house as a whole and that they should either move or not be in that area. Another aspect of the story that I found interesting was the tangible physical contact between the teller and the supposed ghost. In many ghost stories, there is no physical contact between the actual person and the ghost. It can be thought that ghosts do not have a real foot in this world and cannot make direct physical contact. Of course, there are other cases of ghost stories that do involve physical contact, but these cases usually have deeper ties than just the random thought of a place being haunted. Indeed, there can be other factors that the teller is unaware of that can support their story, but until more information is discovered, I don’t believe this story can be determined as a true supernatural exchange.

Dime House (A Ghost Story).

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Flemington, New Jersey.
Performance Date: 4/22/18
Primary Language: English
Language: N/A

Michael Gordon, a junior studying Pop Music at the University of Southern California, who hails from Flemington, New Jersey, provided four pieces of folklore for this collection.

The interview was run, within his studio, at Orchard Avenue, on the outskirts of the University of Southern California.

Folk-Type: Legend.

Folk Performance: Dime House (A Ghost Story).

“Any Ghost Stories or weird happenings in Jersey?” – Stanley Kalu

STORY: I lived by a house and it was like, they called it the Dime House and there’s like a couple of ghost stories or like ghost books and the Dime House was in it and I lived right by it and apparently, no one has inhabited the place for 10 years but when you’d go inside they’d be this ghost that would lay dimes everywhere. And, if you touch one you’d get, like, really bad luck. My friend went in it and there were a bunch of dimes everywhere. It was pretty crazy.

Background Information: Michael heard about this through his friends. He likes it because it’s apart of his local identity.

Context of Performance: Teenagers will enter the space and check if there are actually dimes in there.

Thoughts: I wonder if people place dimes in the dime-house in order to keep the legend going.

 

 

The Gray Man (A Ghost Story).

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Charleston, South Carolina.
Performance Date: 4/10/18
Primary Language: English
Language: N/A

Owen Lord, a sophomore studying anthropology at the University of Southern California, who hails from Charleston, South Carolina, provided two pieces of folklore for this collection.

The interview was run, amidst dinner and drinks, at the University of Southern California located Greenleaf, a popular post-class bar for many students at the prestigious institution.

Folk Type: Legend.

“Tell me a scary story Owen, I want chills!” – Stanley Kalu

STORY: um, when it was thundering outside my grandma would tell us that the Gray Man was rattling his chains. The Gray Man was this kind of ghostly figure that haunted the beaches in South Carolina. I assume she told us that because she didn’t want us to go outside but it didn’t really seem like that was why. She seemed to just love getting us scared.

Background Information: The Gray Man, according to legend, is a ghost situated on Pawleys Island, South Carolina that appears before storms and hurricanes. The first recorded sighting of the ghost was in 1822, which predates the towns’ official formation. The Gray Man is said to be the ghost of a man on his way to visit his fiancée. He was then caught in a terrible storm and died. He now roams the beach, searching for his lost lover.

Context of Performance: As Owen mentioned, his grandmother would tell the story of the Gray Man in part to keep her grandchildren safe and indoors and, in part, for her own entertainment.

The context of Owen’s rehashing of the tale was done after our “Forms of Folklore” class taught by Tok Thompson because the both of us had a folklore collection project due.

Thoughts: I find it interesting that the ghost story tradition often uses heartbreak/lost love archetype to describe the un-dead. I suppose it reflects our societies obsession with love and, perhaps more so, the lack of it. Is a life without a partner akin to death? I’m also interested in The Gray Man’s practical function of appearing before storm. This seems to invert the tradition of a ghost being a haunting, menacing nuisance and turns it into something that actually serves the community.

The painting in the living room

Nationality: Jewish
Age: 52
Performance Date: April 15, 2018
Primary Language: English

“Whenever someone asks if I believe in ghosts, I instantly shout ‘YES’ because one time I had the most bizarre experience that convinced me that there are, in fact, spirits existing amongst the living. Most of my friends think I am crazy and hardly believe this story but I am going to tell it to you anyways.”

“So when I was 15, my family moved in to a new, smaller home on a creepy street in New Jersey. My dad lost his job so we had to downsize big time. The house gave off a haunted vibe but I swallowed my pride and acted content with our new place. The previous owners had cleared their things from the house but decided to leave a single painting hanging above the fireplace. Of course this painting was an outdated portrait of an old couple; both the woman and man depicted in the painting looked pretty creepy and somber. My brother and I were not fans of the portrait and demanded that our parents find a replacement for it. They laughed at us because we were so freaked out by it but they agreed.”

“Before they even had the chance to take down the painting, I experienced some really freaky paranormal activity in my new home and I am convinced that painting has everything to do with it. I had just gotten a new phone so my little brother begged me to play with it before he went to sleep. I handed him my phone and went in my room to watch some Netflix. In the middle of the night, around 4 AM, I realized that my brother still had my phone so I went in his room to grab it. I was shocked to see that neither my brother or my phone were in my room, so I walked in to the living room.”

“My brother, who almost always sleeps through the night in his own bed, was sprawled out on the floor in the living room sleeping right under the painting. I picked up my phone, woke up my brother, and put him back in to his own bed. When I got in to my own bed to go to sleep, I decided to check out my phone and see if my brother had done any damage. When I opened up my photos, there were about fifteen new photos on the camera roll. They were photos of my brother sleeping, above the painting, with the shadow of an old woman in the corner, taking the photo. I jumped up, went in to my parents room, and asked them if they had taken the photos. ‘Honey, no. I’ve been asleep since 11! You must have done it in your sleep’ my mom told me. I know for a fact that I did not do this in my sleep. I’ve never slept walked in my life and I am also a light sleeper! My parents took the painting down shortly after but the event was so weird that I looked in to it further. Turns out that the painting was 100 years old and depicted the faces of two serial killers. Try telling me that’s not a coincidence!!!”

 

My Interpretation of the story:
I have heard many ghost stories throughout my life and this one seems to be the most fascinating to me. There are many aspects to a ghost story that can help support the idea that it is true. In this story, there is photo evidence of a shadow that is thought of to be the ghost. In many myths and tales, ghosts are thought to be invisible to the naked eye, but sometimes can generate shadows. This story seems like a classic case of a shadow ghost. In addition, all other events leading up to the photos support the idea that there was actually a ghost haunting this house. The house contains many aspects of something that could be haunted. It was originally owned by someone else, therefor it has a history beyond this specific family. The fact that the painting depicts serial killers from over 100 years ago enforces the mystery of this story and gives it some sense of truth, noting that it could be possible that this painting is the link between the weird stuff that had been happening in the house.

Frog Went A-Courtin (English Language Folk Song.)

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Charleston, South Carolina.
Performance Date: 4/10/18
Primary Language: English
Language: N/A

Owen Lord, a sophomore studying anthropology at the University of Southern California, who hails from Charleston, South Carolina, provided two pieces of folklore for this collection.

The interview was run, amidst dinner and drinks, at the University of Southern California located Greenleaf, a popular post-class bar for many students at the prestigious institution.

Folk Type: Folk Music.

“Tell about your childhood in North Carolina, were there any stories, songs, or proverbs that your parents would tell you growing up?” – Stanley Kalu

STORY: Hmm, lemme think, lemme think. Um…, wait okay so when I was a young lad, my mom used to bounce me on her knee and sing “froggie went a courtin’ and he did ride, he did ride.” I don’t really remember the rest but she would always sing that and I remember my first baby-sitter, um, wouldn’t do it and I was mad but I also understood. It’s kinda really awkward to bounce another person’s child on your lap. I remember being very conflicted.

Background Information: Owen, as aforementioned in the story section, learned this folk-song from his mother. The attachment he has to it is a nostalgic one, deriving from a place of comfort between he and his mother. The song was learned in Charleston, South Carolina.

The song itself, first appeared in Wedderburn’s Complaynt of Scotland (1548) under the name “The Frog cam to the Myl dur.” The earliest musical version of the tune is said to be in Thomas Ravenscroft’s Melismata  (1611).

It is noted that the original version of the song referred to Francois, Duke of Anjou attempts to woo Elizabeth I of England. This would make some historical sense, due to the fact that Elizabeth nicknamed Anjou, her favorite suitor, “the frog.”

Context of Performance: Owen’s Mother would perform the song in order to get him to sleep. This recontextualizes the song, at least in this instance, into a lullaby.

The context of Owen’s rehashing of the tale was done after our “Forms of Folklore” class taught by Tok Thompson because the both of us had a folklore collection project due.

Thoughts: I’m particularly interested in the way folklore changes over time. the original version of the song was, in a sense, political satire about an over eager lover. The irony of said song being sung to child is both hilarious and baffling. It also forces me to reflect upon angry rap songs about Donald Trump. Once they lose their political context, will they be sung to toddlers?