Category Archives: Rituals, festivals, holidays

Sleepy Hollow Road

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Primary Language: English

Background: This piece was a common piece of folklore within the informant’s community. He lived on Sleepy Hollow Road, so parents in the community adopted the tale of the headless horseman and used it to scare their children, and prevent them from wandering around unsupervised.

Context: This ghost story was performed to an audience of one, in the village dining hall.

Body: I lived on sleepy hollow road so in my neighborhood there was like the typical legend, I’m pretty sure the guy was headless on a horse or something, so we would stay with our parents and walk around. Whenever Halloween would come around, the kids on our street would be scared by it, so we would want to walk with our parents. Our parents would use it as a ploy to make sure people we not leave the house without them. Like he’ll get us basically. Ironically, like, I’m actually pretty far from the actual town of sleepy hallow.

I believe that this piece is a tool which parents who lived on the street of sleepy hollow adopted from a pre-existing myth to prevent their children from wandering off and misbehaving.

For another version of this legend, see “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving.

Biking Grandpa of Kaohsiung

Nationality: Taiwanese
Age: 25
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English

Background: This legend was commonly told in the area around Kaohsiung. The informant did not live in Kaohsiung, but nearby on the mainland.

Context: This story was performed in an Architecture studio, for an audience of two, in order to pass time while working on projects.

“There is a little island adjacent to my hometown called Kaohsiung. There are two ways to get to the island. The first is by ship, and the other is through a tunnel that we built under the sea. Usually the travel time using the tunnel is about half an hour, but for some people it will take up to two hours to get there. During that tunnel traveling people have found that the common thing is they have always met this grandpa biking. When they see that grandpa, it takes a longer time to travel. For some reason when you drive, you may be going 50 miles per hour, but the Grandpa is still biking fast enough to pass you. “

Car rides can be very boring, and in order to pass the time it is common to tell exciting stories. Providing a supernatural explanation to why your trip was is taking so long could be a welcome relief from that same monotonous travel.

Rice Ball/ Human Heart.

Nationality: Taiwanese
Age: 25
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English

Background: The Informant was enlisted in Taiwan’s Military for two years, where he heard this story from his fellow soldiers.

Context: This story was performed in an Architecture studio, for an audience of two, in order to pass time while working on projects.

Body: “I learned this in the military in Taiwan. When you are a scout especially at night there are not many residential areas around the base. There are mostly old people around the base, who make money by selling food to the military people. Sometimes when you are scouting you will see a granny with a little cart selling rice balls. When a scout asks to buy a rice ball, the grandma says “OK” and takes out a human heart. ”

This was likely a scary legend told amongst soldiers in order to create a sense of solidarity regarding the eeriness of their situation, considering that many of them relocated from more populous areas.

The Old Lady, and the Siblings

Nationality: Taiwanese
Age: 25
Occupation: Student
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English

Background: This story was told to the informant by his parents.

Context: This tale was performed in the Architecture studio, for an audience of two, in
order to pass time while working on projects.

“So when kids don’t want to go to sleep in Taiwan, their parents tell this to them. A brother and a sister when their parents left for the night hear a knock on the door. An old woman comes in. At night the old woman eats one of the siblings. One night the old woman woke up and ate the brother. The sister hears the sound of chewing, so she woke up and asks the woman what she is eating. The old woman says, “Oh, I’m eating peanuts” and then she just throws the sister one of her brother’s fingers, “Oh, here’s a peanut”. The sister freaks out because of this, and says “Oh, I need to go pee” and then she goes outside and climbs a tree. The old woman comes out and says “I want to eat you too.” The sister tells the old lady “First I need a pot of hot water.” So the old lady takes the hot water outside, and brings it to the sister. The sister says, “Ok, Im going to jump.” The woman opens her mouth so that she can jump in, but the sister pours the hot water into her mouth instead. “

This tale is likely a cautionary one told by parents to convince their children not to trust strangers, and let them into their house. It also encourages creative thinking on the part of the sister to get out of a sticky situation.

Senior Year Scavenger Hunt: Los Angeles High School Folk Tradition

Nationality: Italian American
Age: 21
Occupation: Screenwriter
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 03/21/19
Primary Language: English

Folk Custom:

“So basically it was off the grid, no one was supposed to know about it. All the students would get together. A couple students would organize it. If you got invited it meant you were cool cause the popular kids would do it. I got invited my senior year. You got this list of stuff you’re supposed to do thats really bad stuff. You drive around my neighborhood. You get points for the stuff you do on the list. Whoever has the most points by sunrise gets wins a bunch of money that everyone pools before. And so there are certain things that are automatic win like get a tattoo on your ass cheek that says senior scavenger hunt, or – they got rid of this before I did it – but it was drive to Vegas and back. It was all stuff like have sex on the football field. Go streaking. I did go streaking. Piss in a strangers pool. I did that. Most of us were drunk except for the drivers. They also gave you this bag of flour before you left and anyone you saw around the neighborhood (it was far out like 23 miles) you were supposed to throw flour at them or at their car which is so dangerous.” 

Context:

This was a senior year tradition at a high school in the valley in Los Angeles. It was done at the end of the year in celebration of graduation. Informant says, “It’s been going on maybe like 10 years. I think its definitely still going on. I vaguely knew about it before being invited. I heard whisperings and usually something bad about it. Someone got arrested during one of the senior scavenger hunts. “

Informant Background:

The informant is 21, from the valley. He only learned about this formally after being invited.

My Analysis:

There is a lot of children’s folklore created by adults that teach lessons. This is a children’s folk custom generated by children in celebration of the freedom of childhood. Your senior year of high school is regarded culturally as your last year of childhood before you turn 18, move out, and are recognized (at least in American law) as an adult. This final hurrah is a chance for the children of the school to act recklessly and carelessly while there are not the weighted responsibilities attached as they would be in adulthood.

This game resembles the one presented in the movie “Nerve”. In that movie, everyone is either a watcher or a player. Players are given risks at different levels. Completing risks earns players money. The bigger risks like jumping off crane or going under train warrant more monetary rewards.

The fact that both games use money to motivate people to do completely absurd and dangerous things they would never do otherwise speaks to the huge weight it has over our society. People today are willing to do anything for the right price. I think in the case of these teenagers from the valley, it could go the other way around. Since they are the ones supplying the money and setting the rules of the game, perhaps they want to use the money to justify actions they are not allowed to do otherwise.