Category Archives: Adulthood

Coming-of-age, courtship, marriage, weddings

The Dream After Death

“My brother was killed by me almost 20 years ago. And five days before he passed away, I had just moved back from Aruba and he had called me up and he’s like, hey, what are you doing?

It’s my birthday. And I’m like, I’m just. I don’t know, it’s my birthday, let’s hang out. So we hung out and we had a great time. And five days later I was sleeping and all of a sudden I woke up and I was like I couldn’t figure out why I, like, woke up, like in, you know, like, why am I awake? And about 30 minutes later, I get a phone call, 4:00 in the morning, 4:30 in the morning.

And it was my brother calling me, saying that, you know, my brother was found dead and, and I was saying “no way” because I had just talked to him that night.

I was supposed to go down there for Thanksgiving to hang out with him, and I was moving that same weekend. So I was like, you know what? I really shouldn’t do that. I should just stick to packing my bags and, you know, stay focused and so let’s go out next weekend.

And we hung up. It’s 11:30 at night. And then of course, my brother calls me the next morning saying he passed and I was saying “no”, I just spoke to him, you know, I’m like, “no”.

I kept saying “no”. He’s like, yes. He’s kind of like, well, how. Anyways, he, you know. By the way, the cause of death is basically unknown. Okay. I believe his wife killed him, in my opinion.

Just from what I have gathered, he was trying to leave her, and she didn’t want to grant the divorce for almost a year.

Trying to leave her. Anyway, there was a lot of turmoil that went online.

So I was sleeping and I was trying to figure out, like, how can I honor my brother, right?

And. And I was very upset. And he came to visit me in this dream and he said, “you’re not gonna know what happened to me”.

And I was like, what? Why? He’s like, “they don’t have testing for it”. I’m like, okay. He’s like, “but I’m okay. And, you know, you need to basically let go so I can move on”.

I was like, oh, gosh, okay. And I woke up from that dream, and I was like, I felt better because I’m like, at least he came to visit me, you know.”

Their thoughts

The teller believes this was genuine communication from her brother after death, reinforced by the psychic’s confirmation later. She thinks her brother showed up so they can both move on to the next part of their journey; she felt like she did not need to think about how to honor him, and he could move on to the other side and rest in peace.

My thoughts

I found this story interesting because it blends her grief over her brother with her belief in the afterlife.  This story showed how ghost stories can offer comfort and a sense of closure. I was also moved by the fact that after this experience, she chose to meet with a psychic, and that the psychic was able to share details about her brother that felt very specific and personal. That seemed to reinforce her belief that the person she saw in her dream was actually her brother, beyond any doubt she might have had before.

At the same time, I found myself having questions that I didn’t ask during the interview. For example, I was wondering about the timing – was the dream before or after the funeral, and how soon after his death did it happen? I also wondered whether her brother appeared to other family members, especially since she mentioned that her mother and her sons have similar abilities.

I was also fascinated by the uncertainty around his cause of death. The idea that there was “no testing” for it, and that this detail was repeated both in the dream and by the psychic, adds another layer to the story. It creates a sense that some things remain unknowable through conventional means, which may be why the dream and the psychic experience carry so much meaning for her.

The Presence in the Bed

“So one time I was over at my mom’s place and she just, you know, moved out.

This is later on in life. And I had this. This. This place where my mom was staying had this weird energy.

I mean, really kind of like you got a bad, you know, feeling in your stomach.

So I’m laying down in her bed, and she was in the shower.

And as I’m laying down in her bed, I’ve had my eyes kind of shut.

I’m just kind of relaxing. I felt what felt like someone kind of came up behind me and kind of spooned me.

That was weird. So I opened it. When I open my eyes, there is no one there but you. I mean, you literally clearly felt someone getting on the bed, you know, each step and then putting their body next to you and putting their arm around you.

And I kind of jumped up and freaked out a little bit.  What the heck? What the heck was that? That’s a little uncomfortable. It. And it didn’t feel like it. It didn’t feel like it had good intentions, if you know what I mean […] yeah, nefarious. So then, okay, so that’s just one other experience.”

Storyteller’s thoughts

The teller interprets this as an encounter with an unwanted or negative spirit. She mentioned the “place” had weird energy, the kind that gives you  “a bad, you know, feeling in your stomach”. And so the spirit was from the same space and gave her that bad feeling. 

My thoughts

Here were several points that made this an interesting story. The first one is the timing – she said it was much later in life, especially compared to the first story where she was a child. She also mentioned that her mom had “moved out,” and I didn’t ask for more details, but it made me wonder what led to that: was it a divorce, a death, or some kind of transition? She also refers to the space as just a “place,” not a home or even a house, which stood out to me. It almost makes it sound like the space itself is temporary or unsettled, and she even describes it as having bad energy, like nothing good can really happen there.

Another thing I kept thinking about is that she was lying on her mom’s bed. Why was she there? Was she stepping into her mom’s space, even temporarily? It made me wonder if whatever she felt might have been directed at her mom, and not at her – like maybe whatever presence was there didn’t realize someone else was in the bed, and then “left” once it did.

She says, “when I opened my eyes,” which made me pause. It sounds like there was a gap between feeling the touch and reacting to it. I wonder why – was she frozen, trying to process it, or unsure of what she was feeling? That moment feels almost suspended, like a liminal state between sleep and waking, where the body and mind don’t fully react right away.

This story stands out because it involves physical touch, which makes it more intense than typical ghost stories. It creates a strong sense of fear because the experience feels clearly unwanted by the teller. At the same time, there are still things left unsaid – like whether she told anyone afterward – which adds to the unsettling feeling, because the experience stays somewhat contained and unresolved.

The mountain ghost! Trip which turned haunted

Age: 75
Performance Date: 04/10/2026

Context: My grandfather did his K-12 studies at a boarding school in India. His school was in a remote location, and it was built on top of a hill. Right below the hill was a graveyard, and a famous legend had its way around campus – whenever children of his school would go out for an excursion and return late at night, they’d see a woman with a veil selling corn, late at night, by the roadside along the mountainous curves. As his school was on top of a hill, people had to be careful when driving around the corners of the mountain, especially at night, to avoid accidents. Residents would call this ghost the “corn seller” as she and her family had died due to an accident on this road. The story is that one day, a group of young boys was driving a super-fast car on these narrow roads. Suddenly, they saw a truck coming from the front. As there was no time for them to brake, the boys took a sharp turn towards the side to save themselves, but unfortunately ran over the corn seller’s canopy, killing her and her two-year-old child.

Story: Let us call my grander D for the story. His school allowed these excursions only for students in high school. Excursions were two-day-long trips from Saturday morning to Sunday night, and the students would travel during the nighttime to attend school on Monday. D had heard many stories of his seniors spotting this corn seller when coming back to school from the city. This time it was D’s turn.

D, as usual, left campus on Saturday morning. On the way down, he was vigilant to find the corn seller and bust the legend, but to his surprise, there was no canopy or woman selling corn. As his trip came to an end, D told me all his friends were super tired, yet they were trying to scare each other by pretending that they saw the women.  

Suddenly, the bus got a flat tire as they were about to reach the hostel, right after they passed the graveyard. It was around 10 pm, and all the children went silent. However, the bus driver was confident and let D and his friends come out of the bus to help him fix the flat tire. Most of the children were either sleepy or too scared to come out of the bus, but D and a couple of his friends decided to step out and help the driver. 

As the bus driver started to repair the puncture, D did not have anything to do. As he and one of his friends (let’s call him V) started talking to each other, paying almost no attention to the flat tire. Suddenly, they saw a deer. It was not moving, but its eyes shone like a diamond. For some reason, it caught their attention. Being young boys, they wanted to see what it was. D told me, “I was not sure if it was a deer, a dog, or some other wild animal, though the eyes looked like those of a deer.” Without thinking much, D and his friend V moved towards this weird creature.

The headlights from the bus barely reached that part of the jungle/road. As they stood there, both heard a faint voice from behind, “Bhutta le lo” ( which means please buy corn in English). V looked at D and said laughingly, “Did you hear that?” Before D could respond, the voice came again, this time sharper than before, as if the person was much closer. D and V slowly turned their heads for a brief second, and though they saw a faint figure on the other side of the road, they moved towards the bus. 

They were merely 200 meters away from the bus, but when they came back, the driver asked where you guys were and why you were both sweating. Both together said, “Kuch Nahi, we were just checking if we could get a lift, that’s why we went a little forward.”  They both did not share this with anyone at school, but now, when they think about it, they still do not know what exactly it was. Did they see the corn seller, or was it just their mind telling them that you are tired?

Their Thoughts: D brings this story almost every time we have a celebration at our house. He says that this incident made me believe in ghosts, and even since he never dared to be curious about spirits or haunted things in general.  He told me, “I still remember not being able to sleep at night, and the next morning when I met V, he too was in a similar situation.

My thoughts: I think D was tired, but if the story is true, then in my analysis, the ghost was wanted and was there to help people by scaring them to not stay on the road, as it was not safe due to the narrow roads. She was there not to scare people, but in reality to save their lives as they were standing on an accident-prone road.

Keys that Connect

Age: 20

Context:

The informant is not a college student who describes a family tradition that began in childhood. Each family member selected an old key and wore it as a necklace. Later, when the informant left for college, the key symbol was reintroduced in a more meaningful way, with the parents framing it as a representation of “home” and ongoing connection.

Text:

“When I was little, me, my dad, my brother, and my mom went to, like, an old home wall store. They had like a bucket full of like old keys. And we each got a key and tied it to like a string as a necklace. 

We were little. We were like young, so it was cute, silly then, but we would say, “Our keys unlock each other’s hearts.” And we all wore our keys. 

Then when I got when I left for college, I got a necklace with a key on it, and my parents told me this is the key to your forever home now. because you can always come home. So I like symbol of keys for me.”

Analysis:

This is an example of material culture, centered around the symbolic use of a physical object, in this case, keys. While the keys themselves are ordinary objects, their meaning is created through shared family interpretation making them a part of her family folklore.

In a broader context the keys work as a type of sympathetic magic where a physical object represents or influences an emotional connection. This connects to a broader cultural tradition, such as love locks places on bridges, where keys and locks are used as symbols of lasting bonds and a connection across distance and difficult waters. In both cases, the object becomes a way of materializing a relationship.

The practice also plays a role in creating group identity. By wearing the keys that share the same symbolic meaning the family establishes a sense of belonging that is somewhat exclusive. We see this often in gang culture with tattoos or friend groups with bracelets they get together. They key marks membership within a group and reinforces their ties materially.

Additionally, the meaning of the keys evolves over time. What began as a cute, playful childhood activity becomes something more serious as the informant grows older and leaves home. This is similar to promise rings, where a couple may be too young to make a formal commitment, so the ring stands in place of an engagement ring. In both cases, the object gains significance over time. It also reinforces the idea that objects in childhood may feel temporary or playful, but as a person gets older, those same symbols can take on deeper emotional weight and meaning.

Overall, this example shows how folklore can transform ordinary objects into meaningful symbols that help people navigate changes in relationships and distance. The key takes on a symbolic, almost magical quality as it maintains connection during moments of separation.

Late Night Newspaper Room Ghost

Age: 58

Location: Boston, MA (Tufts University)

Text:
“when I was in college, I worked for the student newspaper, and I pulled a ton of all-nighters. I was always in that newspaper office at like 2 or 3 a.m., laying out pages, fixing articles, doing all the last-minute formatting before everything went to print. At that hour the building was basically dead. There were never really any students, no professors. Most of the time it was just me and maybe a few others from the school paper.

One night I was alone in the office working, and I heard this knocking on the door. I got up and opened the door but nobody was there. The whole hallway was silent. I didn’t really think much of it though I thought it was a bit creepy. I figured maybe someone was messing around or walking by, so I went back to work. But about twenty minutes later, the same knocking happened again. Again, I opened the door and there was nothing there.

At this point I was still trying to stay focused, but I was definitely getting freaked out. Then, sometime around four in the morning, it happened a third time. Same knocks. Same pace. Like someone was trying to get my attention on purpose. Now i was scared.

This time I didn’t open the door. I figured that if whatever it was was trying to play tricks on me, then then now would be the time that there was finally something there. So I didn’t answer it. But then it knocked again. So I got up and opened the door. There was still nothing there!

After the fourth time it never happened again. Ever. No explanation, no ending, no clue what was going on. Just knocks in the middle of the night that stopped as suddenly as they started. It was weird. Part of me thinks it was just someone messing with me. But that room could’ve been haunted”

Context:

This memorate was told to the informant by their father, who experienced repeated unexplained knocking while working alone in his college newspaper office late at night during production deadlines.

Analysis:

This memorate fits perfectly into campus ghost lore, where late-night workspaces become settings for strange and unexplained events. The repeated knocking creates a sense of intentional but invisible presence. What gives the story its power is the lack of resolution: no culprit, no explanation, just unexplained knocks that never returned. The mystery itself becomes the haunting, turning an ordinary college office into a space marked by unease and unanswered questions.