A Call from Screaming Jenny

  • Informant: HB
  • Nationality: American
  • Primary Language: English
  • Other language(s): n/a
  • Age: 51
  • Occupation: Author
  • Residence: Wilmington, Delaware, United States
  • Performance Date: November 22, 2023

Text

“In 1995, I was living in Charlestown West Virginia, going to Shepherd University and taking a photography class with an actual camera- so you would develop pictures in the blackroom.

I vaguely knew a ghost story about Jenny on the train tracks, but I ignored it because I didn’t believe in these things. 

I went to take photographs around West Virginia and at one point I went to one of the train stations along the train tracks in between Charlestown and Shepherdstown, and I parked my car at what used to be the train station, but this train station had been closed for years. I walked across the street and there was this really cool old fashioned telephone booth- the kind that had like an ear handle and then you spoke into the actual box- but I was nowhere near the phone, at least twenty feet away, and I hadn’t gone near it. I was taking pictures of it just because it was a great photography project picture: this phone booth in the middle of nowhere.

And then the phone started ringing, which I thought was very strange because I was in the middle of nowhere, with no one around me, and it was late at night too.

I actually thought I was on.. what was that show called? Oh! candid camera, where they prank people and put it on TV. I thought this had to be a joke. 

So, I walked up to the phone booth to pick it up and when I picked it up, I realized that the handle was no longer attached to anything and, actually, the phone itself was attached to nothing – there were no wires going in or out of this phone booth, it was just ringing, and it actually terrified me and I ran to my car and drove away as fast as I could.

So, the story I researched later- because that had freaked me out so badly – was that, this girl Jenny – and this is true actually – she caught on fire and died on the train tracks, and then people who ride the train say they hear her screaming at night – which I did not hear her screaming, but I had the weird phone booth thing right on the train tracks by the train station”

Context

The original legend referenced in this collection, The Tale of Screaming Jenny, is a common folklore story throughout West Virginia that took place in the town of Harpers Ferry. In order to contextualize the encounter of the informant, I familiarized myself with a few versions of the legend that have been shared online. According to the legend, there was a woman named Jenny who lived in one of the storage sheds that were abandoned after the construction of the B&O railroad. Jenny had no friends or family to look after her, forcing her to inhabit one of the small sheds. Although no specific date is provided, all recountings of the story indicate that it was on a cold autumn night when Jenny went outside to warm herself by a fire that a spark landed on her skirt and quickly engulfed her in flames. Jenny began screaming for help, running towards the train station, and blindly stumbled onto the train tracks. A train approached the woman, now appearing more as a “ball of flames”, but Jenny was unable to detect the train in the midst of her panic, and there was not enough time for the engineer to stop before running her over. Although recountings vary, many indicate that Jenny’s screams are heard by train passengers when passing through the area of Harpers Ferry and that train engineers have repeatedly encountered the same “ball of flames” at the very spot where Jenny died.

Everyone at Shepherd University had heard the story of Screaming Jenny, and HB had heard about it from a classmate. The informant shared that, before this encounter, she had never given the legend of Screaming Jenny much thought because she did not believe in ghosts or anything of that nature. However, following the strange occurrence she experienced by the train tracks, her opinion shifted. As the informant mentioned, the encounter terrified her and provoked her to further research what happened to Jenny and encounters which people had associated with her spirit. The encounter was able to shift HB’s thoughts on the story, as her initial disbelief gave way to some semblance of plausibility. 

Analysis

This encounter paired with HB’s explanation for the occurrence can be viewed as a memorate, or an oral narrative told from memory recounting a personal experience that is interpreted in the context of an existing legend or folklore belief. In my opinion, what caused the experience to be so memorable to HB was not the paranormal aspect of the experience, but more so the availability of known legend to which she could attribute this occurrence. If the informant had not been familiar with the tale of Screaming Jenny, she likely would have ignored the ringing phone on the train tracks, or at least would have forgotten about it after some time. However, because the tale of Screaming Jenny instantly came to mind when she encountered the phone ringing without any wires, she remembers it as a supernatural encounter with a legendary ghost. 

A ghostly interruption

  • Informant: AW
  • Nationality: American
  • Primary Language: English
  • Other language(s): n/a
  • Age: 19
  • Occupation: student
  • Residence: Bay Area
  • Performance Date: November 29, 2023

Text

“One time when my dad was a teenager both of his parents were working at like midnight because his mom was taking the nursing shift and his dad was working too. It was the middle of the night, he was home alone, and his door was closed and he was playing video games and then he stopped, and he heard footsteps coming down to his room and then he heard breathing on the other side of his door, and he was really scared he was like ‘Oh my god what the f-’ and then he was just like scared and didn’t know what was happening so he was just like frozen. Then later when his dad came home they looked around and obviously there was nothing there, there was no one there, but my dad thinks it was a ghost”

Context

This story was shared with me by a peer at USC who had mentioned that her dad had some ghost stories from his childhood. The informant’s father told her this story a while ago, and she believes him because it seems to her like this would be a weird thing to lie about. The informant shared that this story took place in a small community in Western New York.

Analysis

This story is a great example of people using ghosts to explain things they can not otherwise explain. While it is possible that the informant’s dad heard both footsteps approaching and breathing outside the door, it is also quite possible that he heard a creak on the stairs and filled in the rest with his imagination. As humans we are all naturally curious about the phenomena of the world and instinctively pair them with whatever explanation brings us the most comfort so as to avoid living in fear or uncertainty. Ghosts and ghost stories often function as a means to that end, as the ghost in this story likely did for the informant’s father. 

Strangers Out in the Woods

Nationality: American
Primary Language: English
Other language(s): none
Age: 18
Occupation: High School Student
Residence: Colorado

Text: I am on a backpacking trip when one of our guides tells us a story of the past guide who quit a few years ago. The story goes that this guide Kate was very confident in her backpacking abilities so on her weekend off she decided to take a short solo backpacking trip. She leaves the next morning wanting to set up camp before dark. The trail she chooses is unfamiliar to her becuase she wanted to see a new place. She isn’t totally sure of her way but eventually finds a good flat place. Once she reaches her first camp she sets up her tent and goes to fill up on water near the river. When she is down near the river she has an odd sensation that someone is watching her. She looks around but no one is around. She didn’t see anyone else on her way up and there were no cars at the bottom either but she shakes the feeling. She decides to explore around her camp a little and see what the area is like. As she is kiking around she keeps hearing weird noises, rustling of leaves and twigs snaping behind her. She again get the feeling that someone is watching her and she heads back to camp a little shaken but still determained to stay the night. The sun sets and she goes to bed in her tent ready for some sleep. Sometime in the middle of the night she is woken up by a strange noise. She jolts awake and peaks out of the tent. At first she can not see anything, so she slowly gets up and out of the tent. Then a flashlight turns on. It is far in the distance but it’s pointed right at her. At this point she is a little nervous because she hadn’t seen anyone around during the day. Then two more flashlights appear, one on her right and another on her left, all equally spaced from the first. At the same moment all of them trun red and start moving towards her. She totally panicing at this point grabs half of her stuff leaving most of it behind and runs back to the trail. She keeps running until she has to stop and even then she keeps a quick pace down the rest of the mountain.

Context: Lots of modern ghost stories in Colorado center around the open spaces that are not very populated including deep in the mountains. Many of these stories are passed down amoung hikers and people that work in the moutain industries. Many of these stories are exaggerated or completely fake in order to provide a breif scare tothose new to the enviroment. Being out in the wilderness late at night with only fire as a light sorce is spooky already and a perfect atmostphere for aa good ghost story. The secluded and unknown nature of the protected parks and spaces in the mountains are ideal to create a spooky tale.

Your thoughts: I like these stories cause there is often a personal element about where you are or the people who have worked or been there before you. It is always a good scare when you hear these stories but most do not have any deeper meanings that some other ghost stories do. Colorado is a western state and therefore there is lots of Native American burial grounds and access to Native American culture that involves many, deeper in meaning ghost stories.

The Woman In the Window

Nationality: American
Primary Language: American English
Other language(s): none
Age: 21
Occupation: Full time student
Residence: New Jersey
Performance Date: 11/23/2023

Text: When I was a young girl about 10 my mom was looking for a new house so we spent a day touring different houses throughout this neighborhood in Jersey. She found this really nice one that she was really set on but when we went up to this house to tour it, I got this horrible feeling. It was like someone was breathing down my neck and I was just so scared all of a sudden. I told my mom this and I was adamant that we can not buy this house. My mom thought I was silly and told me that it was the perfect house and that it was very likely that we would buy this house. While she was talking with the relator person I started to wander around the house hoping that the feeling would go away. As I started up the steps the feeling staying with me prickling the back of my neck. Soon I got to this one room and the feeling was so intese and so scary just looking into that bedroom I simlpy turned around and ran out of the house. I don’t remeber how long I stayed out there but I couldn’t have been long and my mom came out, ready to leave. Ony then did I look back at the house and see a woman looking out of the upstairs bedroolm window. I turned back around with chills from head to toe completely terrrified of that house. I again pleaded with my mom not to buy the house but she would not here of the woman that I saw and could think of a hundred different possiblities for what I saw but I knew what I saw. I could not live in that house ever. Later maybe a week or so after our visit my mom was seriouly considering buying the house until we heard the history of the house. Some people who had lived in the surrounding neighborhhood to us the story of the late owner. She was an older woman about 60-70s and had commited suicide right in the upstaris bedroom where I saw the woman in the window. This was a deal breaker for my mother escpecially after she had heard me complaining and insisting for the past week about the house.

Context: This story was told at a Thanksgiving dinner table in Colorado by a family friend. We were sharing stories and simply talking around the table when she spoke up about a ghost story. She has a very interesting life and lots has happened to her in her lifetime so a good story is always expected though the ghostly twist was new. She thinks that the ghost of the former owner is hostile and still haunts the house. She has never been back to the house and never wants to see it again. It really frightened her and she does not like to mess with spirits like this.

Your thoughts: I think this ghost stroy fits some of the basic plots of ghost stories and is a common one heard in America. In America it is a goal to own a house so many people have houses and therefore could relate to some sort of previous owner story. This also has some common motifs like

Semana Santa in Sevilla, Spain

S is 17 years old, and lived in Sevilla, Spain for four years. I had a conversation with him about Semana Santa, a week-long religious procession that’s celebrated in the Andalucían province of Spain. During Semana Santa, antique wooden sculptures are carried throughout the city, each float representing a part of the biblical journey of Jesus’ crucifixion and burial. 

“Semana Santa is like a holy week in Spain, where they do a big parade, and it’s very, very exciting, because they close off all the streets and everybody lines up to catch snacks and sunflower seeds. It’s a very magical time because everything smells like incense and they got funky outfits on and they’re just being holy and stuff. So it was a very 10-out-of-10 week. Many of the processioners wore a white robe with a colored pointed hat. They also had people dressed up as priests and stuff. Well, there were actual priests too. And there were nuns, and then people carrying big crosses and lanterns and doohickeys. They also had a big band playing and marching along. And on the floats they had very religious statues like the Virgin Mary and Jesus.”

This account of someone’s experience at a Semana Santa (“Holy Week”) reveals some of the ways that religious holidays can stagnate between a celebration of faith and a celebration of culture. For this person, Semana Santa was an opportunity to have fun and absorb the culture of the city, while for other Catholic practitioners, Semana Santa can be intrinsic to their religious identity. There’s a bit of magic and allure to the procession itself—antique wooden statues that tell the story of Jesus’ death, which is a very somber event in the Christian diaspora. All of the decorations and Spanish details bring a unity to the city, inviting groups together to enjoy a procession that’s both symbolic of national pride and religious holiday.