The Legend of Elmer (Pinecrest Lake)

Age: 38
Hometown: Menlo Park, CA
Location: Pinecrest, CA

Context:
Since the 1930s there has been a tradition to call out the name “Elmer” in the Pinecrest Lake/Camping ground. The real identity is debated with some thinking Elmer is a lost child, hiker, or even a bear. Although there is no confirmed missing persons case of someone named Elmer, the tradition continues through generations just like it has with my mom and our family.

Content:
Interviewer: “Can you tell me about the legend of Elmer you taught me when we went camping?”

Interviewee: “When we were kids my Dad used to take me and our family to Pinecrest, CA and there was legend of a lost boy from about 100 years ago. Every evening we would all shout out “Elmer!” And other campers from farther away would chime in, which made it such a fun tradition.

I always looked forward to doing it as a kid, which is why I continued the tradition with you.”

Analysis:
This example is a place-based legend that is sustained through participation in the tradition. The story of Elmer reflects characteristics of a legend because it is potentially true but doesn’t have any confirmed evidence. Its tie to a specific location also allows the story to gain meaning and the act of calling out the name transforms the story into a performance. This performance has created a sense of community among campers and residents of the area helping to pass down the tradition and legend through generations.

“Dracula is Real”

Context: While in discussion a student and I were talking about monsters and creatures that the whole town believed in. We ended up talking about the infamous Dracula, to which she explained that that was no tale in her country (Romania). People defended and protected themselves from a king that practiced many of Dracula’s methods.

Text:

“Dracula is real. I think you can google this, but there was basically a king a long time ago named Dracula. He thought that if he drank the blood of his citizens he would live forever. He would kill people in the town and like bathe in their blood or drink the blood, or eat the heart or liver. That’s where the story of the vampire came from. But for us it’s not a story, it’s like real. Even in our food, there’s so much garlic or onions. I don’t think it’s the breath, like I think it does affect your insides so that they wouldn’t want your blood or something.

My parents, when they eat, they will bite out of onions, which is part of the culture.”

Analysis:

It was very interesting to talk to someone whose country followed the practices to protect itself from a monster. When I think of Dracula or vampires in general, I’ve never imagined them as actual people, which led me to wonder whether monsters are monsters at all. It would be interesting to see whether there is greater recognition of the source of monsters, and whether people from the places they originated from see them differently. We’ve modernized so many creatures in our own image in films and TV that I think it blurs the root of where the supernatural actually spawns from.

The Electrician’s House

Context: While in a class discussion, the student told me about an eerie experience she had at her old house in Connecticut, previously owned by an electrician.

Text:

“My house is pretty old in Connecticut and it was created by an electrician — and so there’s like seven outlets in my room alone. There’s so many places to charge things, which is actually very useful, but there’s a lot of switches in the house that don’t do anything. Obviously they connect to something, but we’re not sure what they connect to.

There’s two different switches for the fan on my ceiling. One of them doesn’t really do anything, but the other is a sliding switch so you can choose how fast the fan moves. There was one night where the fan kept spinning on its own. And so I turned it on and turned it back on, and I went to my parents’ room and told them the fan was spinning. I said that I feel like there’s something weird. I feel like there’s something in my room.

My parents were like it’s probably a ghost, cause we believe in that stuff a lot. My mom was like ‘go in and tell the ghost that you know that you’re here and you know something’s the matter. I need to go to bed and you have to go. You are not welcome here.’

I go back and jump into bed and I’m under my covers. I’m sitting there look up at the fan and I say all that stuff. And then the fan stops.”

Analysis:

One thing that I found so interesting about this story was the similarity we shared in our interactions with weird phenomena in our spaces. I had shared my own story about telling a possible spirit to “stop,” which was followed by a complete cessation of action. The student and I shared that the scariest part about that situation was when the mysterious force halted. As she told me the interaction, it was alarming to imagine something listening to her fears and realizing that they were finally getting a reaction. I’m curious to see if other people who have had ghost stories where they were scared and decided to face it head-on ended up having similar responses.

As Cowdell notes in the article on scary folk elements, “folk horror is a feeling.” Stories like these are passed through performance and the thrill of imagining oneself in that type of situation.

“Please Take One”

Context: While in class, a student and I discussed creepy Halloween events that occurred when we were kids. They shared with me that there was one old house that always had a bowl of candy in the front, but it never looked like anyone was in the house.

Text:

“During Halloween, we would always go to my friend’s house — this was in middle school — she lived near a swamp in Connecticut. All the houses were very spaced out, and so trick or treating would be really fun because we would always chat and play music in between each house. But it would be scary because it would get dark and we’d have to sprint from one house to another.

There was always one house that was haunted on the walk because it had a basket outside. It was probably an old lady that didn’t want to come to the door, so she’d leave some candy outside, but it was always good candy.

So each year, we would force someone to go and we’d always stand outside like ‘Okay…who’s going to do it?’ And they would sprint up to the house and grab the candy as fast as possible. We’d make them go for everybody, and we’d always look in the windows because we were scared. The basket had a sign that said “please take one”. So we’d take one and then we’d be like [to the person who’d been selected] you have to get another one.”

Analysis:

This was a humorous tale that reminded me of Halloween kids in movies, who always naturally name the house that doesn’t look like the others as “haunted.” It’s so interesting how children can come up with monsters and their own cautionary tales. Despite knowing the risk, they still advocate for the cause, which in this case was the candy. On the flip side, I’m curious whether the possible adult in this case recognized the repetitive initiation and played along by letting the kids be kids. Additionally, our discussions about popular culture’s influence may have encouraged kids to test this theory more often during a scary event (movies like Scooby Doo and Goosebumps).

Dancing in Spain

Age: 22

Context: A roommate of mine from Spain shared a picture of her cousin in a pretty dress. Then she described the dance practice and what people do during the celebration.

Text:

“When I lived in Spain, when I was like a kid from 7 to 10 years old, um we would go to the Feria de Sevilla, which is a fair that happens, like, after Holy Week, every April. Um, and it’s basically a week-long party where people stay up until like 3 in the morning, like dancing and stuff. But it’s very communal because, um, every family gets a casita, which is like a little tent where they have a little wood floor so people can, um, dance.

People are just like dancing flamenco and having a good time and drinking beer and listening to music and wearing really pretty dresses, flamenco dresses for the ladies and very like, nice suits for the guys.

Um, it’s just really fun. And they have like um, and they have a fairground on the side as well. But people usually go for the family and for dancing and having a good time.”

Analysis:

The festival happens at a specific time of year and gives people the responsibility and prep required to put on a successful celebration. As Stoeltje states, this festival sets a scene and a tone, bringing groups of people together with purpose. Additionally, as we’ve discussed in lectures, this is a multigeneric festival. The costumes, food, and dancing are all pivotal parts of the whole. If I didn’t live in a quiet suburb, I would love for us to have celebratory festivities such as these.