Lucky Horseshoe

Text:

“My grandparents on my mom’s side have a horseshoe hung up over the front door of their house. The horseshoe is supposed to both bring good luck and keep away bad luck or curses. It always has to be hung with the ends pointing up, so it can act like a cup to catch the good luck, and if it is hung upside down the good luck will spill out.”

“Do you follow the same tradition? Would you hang a horseshoe over your door?”

 “I don’t know if I would. My grandmother gave me a horseshoe keychain as a gift a while back. I don’t really believe in the superstition aspect of it, but it’s a way for me to feel connected to her so it has become a charm in a way for me.”

Context: My informant is a friend of mine who has Irish heritage on his mother’s side, where he first learned of the horseshoe superstition. He says that no one he knows shares the horseshoe superstition, but that it is more prevalent in Ireland and other European countries. While he does not necessarily believe in the superstition, it is clear that the practice on his mother’s side has made it an important part of the connection to his family. 

Analysis: 

The horseshoe superstition described by my informant has an interesting combination of both personal sentiment and cultural tradition. Even though my informant does not believe the superstition and may not continue it, the fact that the superstition was embedded in a gift from his grandmother highlights the deeper importance of superstitions and traditions. By gifting my informant with the horseshoe, his grandmother was using superstition as a way to give good fortune to my informant. This suggests that superstitions can be used to soothe worries and help us feel secure and optimistic for our loved ones. Additionally, my informant’s view of the gift shows the ability of cultural traditions and superstitions to be modified to fit the individual. While more broadly the horseshoe may represent attracting good luck and warding off evil, because it was a gift in good heart from his grandmother, the horseshoe transforms into a symbol of love and family connection between my informant and his grandmother.

Suburban Legend

Text: “When I was younger, I would play with the kids my age in the neighborhood …”

“How old?”

“This was in middle school, I think I was like 5th or 6th grade, and the neighbor kids were around that age too. But yeah we would always go to my one friend’s house who had a trampoline in his backyard that we all loved. I remember it was right up against this section of woods behind my friend’s house. We would hang out there a lot but especially when we were younger, we would never be there after it got dark because one day the older kids in the neighborhood told us that there was a guy that lived in the woods. The story went that he lived there before the neighborhood was put up, and that he was upset that people were like… intruding on his land or something, Im not sure exactly. But anyway they said he would roam around the edges of the woods with a mask and machete, watching people waiting for a moment to like pop out and attack some kid. This had become this kind of known thing among the kids in the neighborhood. I remember one day my friends and I decided we would explore in the woods to see if we could spot him. We found this abandoned house and convinced ourselves that was where the guy lived. We totally believed it after that, and any time we heard a noise from the woods it would always freak us out. 

Context: My informant is a friend of mine who grew up in the suburbs. He tells the story of a masked murder in the woods of his childhood neighborhood, which he heard from the older kids on his street. He says that while he doesn’t believe it now, it was an integral part of growing up in his neighborhood, and that the story still gets told today.

Analysis: While my informant’s story may have been a tactic to scare younger children, I think the legend of the masked man in the woods has some interesting themes. For example, the fact that the story is based on the woods behind a childhood home. While the story may have been originally formed as a way to scare younger children, it also teaches kids to be aware of their surroundings and stay alert for strangers. Additionally, the fact that he and his friends later found a house in the woods, whether or not it was really occupied by a masked murderer, hints to the possibility that the original story tellers had at one point explored the woods themselves and used the same discovery to form the story. This could show a kind of rite of passage for kids in that neighborhood to both confront their fear of exploring the woods while satisfying a childhood curiosity for the unknown. 

Babysitter Scary Story


Text: “There’s this girl who has been working on the side as a babysitter for a few families. One of the families recommends her to a couple they are friends with, and the couple hires her to babysit white they go out on a date night. The night comes, and everything is going well. The kids are fun and well behaved, and as it gets late, she puts the kids to bed, and tries to enjoy herself until the parents get home. Or wait- yeah So She’s trying to relax in the family’s living room watching tv, but the family has this weird statue of a clown in the corner of the room. As much as she tries to ignore it, for some reason she just can’t get it out of her head. So she’s really freaked out, and she finally decides to call the parents. She calls them and she’s like ‘hey, you know the kids were wonderful they’re asleep right now and I’m just hanging out, but do you mind if I cover up the clown statue? It’s really creeping me out’ The Father says ‘stay calm, grab the kids, and leave the house. We don’t have a clown statue.’”

Context: My informant is my younger brother who heard this story from a friend in middle school. He says he first heard his friend tell it at a sleepover and this was the one story that really got to him. He says while “the story feels corny now, I still remember it”. He said at the time he heard it, the twist in the final line was what really made it a good scary story for him

Analysis: While the story doesn’t make any claims to be based on a true story, like other ghost stories may do, it was still effective in scaring my informant at the time he heard it. This is likely because the story effectively plays on deep fears held by most. For example, the use of the clown statue hits on the fear of inanimate objects like dolls that are meant to resemble humans. Then when it is revealed that the clown statue was actually a real person, it portrays the fear that these inanimate objects may not be inanimate at all. Finally, the fact that he heard it at a sleepover, meaning it was maybe not the most familiar or comfortable environment sleeping in someone else’s home could have added to how scary the experience was.

Glacial Lake Origins

Text: “The story basically goes that long ago when the earth was being made by the gods, when they – “

“Is it a specific god or gods?”

“I’m not sure, I think it’s just whatever god you believe in. But basically when the earth was being created, the gods were painting the sky. They were using different hues and shades of blue and green to color the sky, and while they were doing that, they accidentally spilled some of the sky’s coloring from the sky onto the mountain tops. This then trickled down from the mountain peaks and through the valleys until it collected into small lakes scattered around. These became the glacial lakes that are known today for having a beautiful deep blue green color to their water.

“Is there a specific lake this refers to?

“No, I’m pretty sure it’s just a story of glacial lakes in general, because it’s told when a kid asks why the glacial lakes have their unique color.”

Context: My informant is my younger brother who heard of this tale of how glacial lakes get their bright blue-green color from his trip leader on a backpacking trip in the French alps. He says that while on a hike, he asked his trip leader what gave the glacial lakes their blue-green color. His trip leader provided the real explanation, but also this story, which he would tell on day trips with young children who were curious about the unusual but beautiful color of glacial lakes.

Analysis: I found it really interesting that my brother got to hear the story of how glacial lakes get their color that is meant for young children. This is because I think the simplistic/creation based explanation for how the color is formed is great to both entertain, but also spark curiosity in young children while hearing it. However, when my brother heard it, who was old enough to know the story was not true, the story gained a comedic aspect, as it is funny how the story plays on the children’s innocent curiosity, making it fun for the child hearing it and the teller.

Haunted Dorm story

“In my freshman dorm there was this kind of ghost story that would float around. It was one of those things where you didn’t really believe in it, but it was still kind of freaky to hear and share it. 

“Did you share it with people?”

“Oh yeah, everyone in the building knew it, and I think most people shared it. The story was that a while back there was a kid who died in the building during finals week, I forget exactly how the story said it happened. But anyways it was said that afterwards, every semester during finals week you would hear these weird noises coming from places that didn’t make sense, like right outside your window on the fourth floor, or students would get intense chills in their rooms. Some would even say they would catch glimpses of the dead kid turning a corner at the end of the hall or stairway.”

“Do you believe it?”

“It depends, it’s possible a kid died, but no I never really believed in the supernatural parts of it. I think the sleep deprivation of finals week and maybe excitement around spreading the story makes people think they see things but I’m not really sure.

Context: This is a legend my friend heard in his dorm while he was a freshman in college. He says that this story was spread around the freshman housing, and the excitement of being in an unfamiliar place added to the vitality of the story his opinion.

Analysis: I agree with my friend that the context around where/when this story was spread added to the impact of the story. As my friend said, the fact that it was a freshman dorm and everyone there is new to the school and in a liminal period of their life transitioning into college added to the believability. Additionally, the timing of finals week adds to the overall stress of students, making them more prone to attribute the supernatural to the natural. Further, this time of stress for the students could be a motivator to take their minds of the stress of school and exams in any way they could, like distracting themselves with the fun of sharing spooky stories with their new friends.