The Boarding School Hanging

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: USC
Performance Date: 4/2/23
Primary Language: English

Text: “When I was in boarding school, all of the male students lived in one dorm while all the female students lived in another. I remember there were multiple nights during my 3 years of living there, where someone was walking around the hallways in the middle of the night. This was not allowed of course, because we had “lights out” at 10 pm and there was no reason to be walking around at 3am. Even the teachers lived with us, and they would do a walk through every night, 5 minutes before “lights out” to make sure we were all in bed. We also had bathrooms attached to our dorms, so nobody was ever in the hallways that late. The building was extremely old so the wooden floors creaked like no other. But one of the nights, I heard a knocking. I couldn’t tell if it was a knock on our door or someone else’s down the hall, but I got up to check. When I opened the door, nobody was there. Even though it sounded like someone was n the hallway, walking back and forth, sometimes knocking on a door. Anyways, when I woke up the next morning, I asked Mr. Q if he had knocked on our door around 3am. He said he was fast asleep and that nobody should be up and about at that hour. So I asked some of my floor-mates to see if someone was pranking us. A few of the other guys also told me about how they hear knocking sometimes and that it sounds like there is always someone walking down the hallway. And when they opened their doors, nobody was there. A little scared, I called my mom and told her about the situation. She thought it was creepy but made me feel worse about it by saying the dorm was probably haunted. I ended up doing some research, and to my surprise, one of the kids who lived in this dorm, on this floor, hung himself from the chandelier in the hallway. It happened about 15 years before, but none of the students knew about it. I’m not sure if this was the ghost of him haunting this hallway or if the building is just falling apart, but I knew from the start that something was up.” -Informant

Context: This is one of the most prestigious boarding schools in the country and has had multiple student-suicides. The informant learned that there may be a ghost haunting them when his other floor-mates had been experiencing the same thing. The school covered it up so much that he could barely find the article where the suicide was explained. This situation really scared him and he still thinks about it occasionally. He thinks it was for sure a ghost.

Analysis: This ghost legend features many common elements found in ghost stories. It takes place in an old, isolated building, where strange and unexplainable occurrences take place. The setting of the boarding school also adds to the belief in this legend, as it is a place where the students are already away from their homes and families, making them more susceptible to feeling scared and vulnerable.

The knocking sound that the informant hears is a common motif in ghost stories, as it adds to the suspense and mystery of the story. The fact that the knocking is heard at 3 am, which is often considered the “witching hour” in folklore, adds to the sense of foreboding and suggests that something supernatural is at play. The revelation that one of the students hung himself from the chandelier in the hallway is a classic element of ghost lore. Tragic deaths, particularly suicides, are often believed to leave a lingering presence behind, which can manifest as ghostly apparitions.

The Mud Lady

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: USC
Performance Date: 4/2/23
Primary Language: English

Text: “In my town, there was a woman we called, the mud lady. She was a homeless woman, who wore so much makeup that it made kids scared of her and made it look like she was covered in mud. Even our parents would tell us to stay away from her whenever we went into town. If she was on the same side of the street as you, you would cross the street so you didn’t have to pass her. Everyone had different conspiracies of how she became the mud lady. I remember one kid said that she would steal people’s dogs, kill them, and bury them in the mud near the lake, others stated that she’ll stab you if you walk by her. Whenever you did walk by her, she had a very scary smile, every time. It didn’t look like a friendly smile, it looked like a psychopathic smile. Looking back on it now, she was just a poor old homeless woman trying to live her life. However, it was kids being kids, making up stories about her that had no factual evidence. I don’t believe she ever did anything bad, but as a kid, I was terrified of her.” – Informant

Context: The informant is from a small suburb in New Jersey, that probably didn’t have many homeless people, most likely why these stories were made up about her. The informant was about 10, and he would see the mud lady almost on a daily basis. This woman did make him very aware of his surroundings, starting as a child and even the parents of these children told them to stay away from her.

Analysis: This is definitely an interesting piece of folklore because although this woman never did anything truly bad, it was the conspiracy theories made up about her that truly made her scary. I think this is definitely something that occurs in small suburbs with little homeless populations because even in my town, there was this one homeless man named Joe who was the kindest man ever. But as a kid, all of us were told to stay away from him and we would gossip about potential stories of his life. One was that he comes from a very wealthy family but did so many drugs that he refuses to live a life where he isn’t homeless. Someone said that his parents offered him money but he refused to take it. We were told to always stay away from him, but as we grew up, we realized Joe was no threat. He was a homeless man just trying to live his life, without any harm to others. It is also upsetting that as children, we use the stereotype that a homeless person is dangerous or on drugs, when in reality they are just trying to live their lives.

The Witch in the Woods

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: USC
Performance Date: 4/3/23
Primary Language: English

Text: “So my family and I used to live in Ohio, with a backyard that had a giant forest behind it. We were very isolated from others because this used to be an old golf course. There was this story about a witch who lived in this woods where this old golf course was, and that there were dead bodies buried beneath it when it was a cemetery. The witch apparently lost her kids and she was angry while living in those woods. One night, my sister had a dream about being in those woods, and getting taken by that witch. In the dream, M was hit with a frying pan several times. Days later, my younger brother, J, was in the woods exploring one day, until he randomly got really scared. He heard something, stopped in his tracks, and saw that there was a frying pan, sitting in the woods in front of him. He sprinted out of there as fast as he could because he was so freaked out.” – Informant

Context: The informant shared this spooky story about when he lived in Ohio, because he could “never forget it.” The sister was about 13, he was about 9, and the younger brother was 8. They still talk about this story today and how it gave them all nightmares as kids. They moved from Ohio to Florida a few years later, and left the spooky woods behind.

Analysis: This legend contains several elements of folklore, including the use of a supernatural figure, a witch, and the presence of dead bodies in the woods. The story of the witch who lost her children and now haunts the woods serves as a warning to those who dare to venture into the area, an oikotype to La Llorona, who lost her kids when they drowned, and now she haunts bodies of water in order for kids to be responsible and avoid bodies of water when they’re alone. There is definitely a connection between the two because the witch lost her kids in the woods, hence why children should not venture out into the woods alone. It serves as a cautionary tale and reinforces the idea that supernatural forces can be found in unexpected places. Overall, this legend highlights the power of folklore to shape our perceptions of the world around us and to warn us of potential dangers.

The Family of Ghosts

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: USC
Performance Date: 3/30/23
Primary Language: English

Text: “When I was fourteen, I was at a sleepover with some of my friends. In the middle of the night, I woke up to strange noises coming from the bathroom. When I walked into the bathroom, the light switch wasn’t working. I started getting freaked out because the power was not out. So anyways, I left the light switch on, used the restroom, and when I was looking in the mirror, the lights turned on, and my nose was bleeding. I was in tears and when I tried to wake up my friends, they kind of brushed it off and told me to just use a tissue to plug my nose. I tried to go back to sleep, but I couldn’t. There were still noises coming from the bathroom, almost as if someone was in there, but nobody was. When I tried to use a different bathroom later on, I ran into my friend’s older brother’s room, and he claimed that he had a very similar experience with the light switch, just no bloody nose. And he went on to explain how his father used to tell him and his sister a story of the family who previously lived in the house. It was something about how the dad went psycho and killed his wife and kids in this very house. He then said that his dad would freak them out by saying that the ghosts of the mother and children still live in the house, haunting it, decades later. The father would flicker the light switch in the kids’ bathroom while they were in there to scare them, hence why the light switch is messed up. Not sure if that’s true or not, but it was definitely the last time I had a sleepover at that house.” – Informant

Context: The informant was about 14 years old, sleeping at a friend’s house when she experienced this situation. She heard the story of the dead family from her friend’s older brother, who had heard from his dad, who he wasn’t sure made it up or not.

Analysis: This story contains elements of folklore, particularly in its use of legends and ghost stories. The legend about the previous family who lived in the house and the father who went insane and killed his family is a classic example of a ghost story passed down through generations. It serves as a warning to those who dare to stay in the house and suggests that the spirits of the deceased family still haunt the place, decades later.

The strange noises, malfunctioning light switch, and nosebleed experienced by the informant add to the eerie atmosphere of the story and heighten the sense of supernatural presence. The fact that the informant’s friend’s older brother also experienced a similar incident with the light switch lends credibility to the story and reinforces the idea that something unexplainable is happening in the house. This story showcases how folklore and legends can be used to explain unexplainable occurrences and to warn people of potential dangers.

Scraping On the Roof

Text:

“So this couple goes out on a date, in their car, and they’re driving along this country road and it’s very dark and isolated. And then the car breaks down or it runs out of gas, I don’t remember which, the car can’t go anywhere. So the guys says to the girl on the date- He says he’s gonna go get help and he tells her to get in the backseat of the car and get under a blanket and no matter what she hears, no matter what goes on outside the car, she should not get out from under the blanket. Under no circumstances should she open the car door or look out the window. So she gets in the back of the car and covers herself with a blanket and he gets out of the car, and then she hears a lot of noise, commotion. Yelling and noise and then all of a sudden it gets quiet. And while she’s laying in the backseat of the car she hears this scraping on the roof of the car. Just scrape. Scrape. Scrape. Very quietly. She’s very curious but she doesn’t look out. She just stays in the back of the car and waits for the boyfriend and she just keeps hearing that noise. That scraping noise on the roof of the car. So she’s in there all night by herself and I guess she falls asleep ‘cause in the morning she hears a bang bang bang bang on the door and she’s really scared. She huddles down even further into the blanket and she hears more bang bang bang bang on the car door and a voice says, ‘Ma’am this is the police,’ and so she looks up out of the blanket and sees it’s a police officer and he says, ‘Ma’am, get out of the car but don’t look behind you.’ So she gets out of the car and he says, ‘Were you out here with your boyfriend?’ And she says, ‘Yes.’ He says, ‘Don’t look behind you.’ And she turns around and she looks and she sees her boyfriend hanging from a tree limb over the top of the car and his feet on the car that are making the scraping noise.”

Background: The informant first heard this urban legend in highschool at band camp in Texas. She says it was likely around the 1970s. She says that she had heard a similar urban legend when she was living in New Jersey, though instead of a country road it was a road near a mental ward and the boyfriend just disappeared. 

Analysis:

The ending of this particular urban legend is very gruesome when you begin to think about what was happening during that time, especially with civil rights movements, and when you start thinking about the possible race of the couple. By the 1970s most schools and establishments had been desegregated, but racial discrimination was still extremely prominent. The legend itself is likely just used as a horror story to scare teenagers and kids from going off on their own at night. But when coming from a place like Texas that has a history of heavy racial discrimination, the implications have a different meaning.