“In Old Town San Diego a whole family was murdered in a certain house and no one has lived there since.  There are tours that go through the house and they are extremely creepy.  Also, it has been documented a few times.  People have stayed there over night and have encountered odd things, such as voices, sightings (reflections of people not there), and sounds (screaming, creeks)”

My informant first heard this legend at the age of five (cerca 1992) when he and his family were driving by the haunted house and his parents told him the story.  However, he was a little too young to understand the extent of the scariness and creepiness that goes along with such a situation, but a few years later he fully understood the story.  My informant’s first reaction upon seeing and hearing about the haunted house was that he believed it and was “weirded out.”  Now at the age of nineteen, my informant lives about fifteen minutes away from the house, so he has gone a few times to take the tour.  During my interview with the informant he was emphatic when telling me that the legend is true, not just because of other accounts, but because he believes in ghosts.

These legends are meant to be told between teenagers who like to tell each other entertaining stories to either scare each other or tell each other something interesting.  The reaction of most teenagers is usually “REALLY, WOW!”  In our culture today it is common to see that girls are more afraid of these sorts of legends than men because men have some sort of desire for scariness.  While this is the case for most of our culture, I personally do not like scary movies or stories, because it makes me worried whenever I think about them.

The reason why this legend is important in my informant’s life is because of the location of the legend.  The location of the legend is in Old Town San Diego and my informant lives in the San Diego area.  Therefore, this legend affects my informant more than it affects me, since I live in Los Angeles.

When I asked my informant his reaction to the legend, he said that he initially thought the legend was unbelievable and scary, but ever since he has taken a tour of the house, the concept of the legend and its validity has been “set in stone.”

When I first heard this legend I thought it was incredibly believable.  When my informant was telling me the legend he seemed very serious, so it made me believe it that much more.  I think it is a very scary legend and I would be incredibly freaked out if there was ever a house like that near my house.  This is why legends are so interesting; they provide you with a story that you thought you would only see or hear in a movie.