Swamp 18

There’s an arboretum called the Bartlett Arboretum. There’s a bunch of trails through it, and there’s one trail that has a boardwalk that goes over a swamp. Years ago, there used to be a plaque on it that had “18.” Most likely a former trail marker, that one plaque stayed up for some reason. The local kids in the area started calling the area “Swamp 18.” Once you go down the boardwalk of Swamp 18, there are tall swamp trees, so you can’t see the person once they go more than ten feet down. The legend is once you go into Swamp 18, you don’t leave. Once you step into the water, it’s like quicksand, and it grabs you and pulls you under. Newer lore suggests that if you disappear into Swamp 18, you become a plank of wood on the boardwalk. And also that planks that fall into the swamp represent someone that has died.

Informant lives next to Bartlett Arboretum, so they find that they live in the prime area for these types of supernatural legends. Informant found the boardwalk really pretty during the day, but creepy at night, and the name made the area sound a lot creepier to them than it actually is. The newer lore was added by informant’s age group when they were in elementary school. Since the legends have come about, the Bartlett Arboretum has had a lovely renovation, but the informant says they don’t think the creepy legends ever left the public consciousness.

Bloody Mary in the Bathroom – Legend

Nationality: Canadian/White
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: March 27 2023
Primary Language: English

Context:

J is a screenwriting second-year at USC, raised in Canada but moved to American when J was 10 years old. The below text is a story told among the female students at J’s elementary school.

Text:

When J was in elementary school, there was a bathroom where people said that a girl had died in while she was a student in school who continued to haunt the bathroom because of how gruesome her death was without finding peace. Her spirit believed to be lingering there resulted in the creation of their own version of Bloody Mary. Students would say that “Bloody Mary lives in that bathroom.” They could tell because it was the very last stall and one of the pipes on the toilet had a splash of red paint on it, which students thought was blood. J themselves would go to the stall at the end of the day, and never got haunted by Bloody Mary. But, J was always on edge in the bathroom, where every little noise or motion may “summon” Bloody Mary, so J never did the “summoning” (saying Bloody Mary) to not chance the possibility of the ghost.

Analysis:

This narrative takes advantage of two legend themes: ghosts and Bloody Mary. Ghosts are an entity that lives on liminal boundaries: the line between life and death, human and non-human, and science and will power. The legend of a ghost forces the audience to question if one’s will truly is strong enough to overrule death, if a death with regret strong enough truly can provide haunting, or if there really is a line between life and death that is invisible to the living. Death itself is enigmatic and frightening for the living, so ghosts are a way people cope with it. For an audience as young as elementary students, ghosts not only become a way to deal with the permanence of death, but also a way to refuse grieving or accepting death, tying ghost narrative back to anti-hegemonic childhood folklore. So, the ghost itself as a literary object in a story subtly questions much of the real world’s ideas of death, maybe even denying them outright. Furthermore, because the legend is also about Bloody Mary, the story also becomes a coming-of-age for young girls. Bloody Mary serves the mark women’s menstrual cycle, a point at which blood comes out of the body, the girl is no longer chained to childhood and has to face harsh reality. Avoiding the bathroom stall avoids Bloody Mary, avoiding growing up as a young woman. An acknowledgement that Bloody Mary is not real (this childhood rumor is not real) marks a turning point in the young female world, that they have “risen above” childhood, gotten their period (marked by blood..Bloody Mary) and became women.

Bomb Shelter High School – Legend

Nationality: Canadian/White
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: March 27 2023
Primary Language: English

Context:

This legend is from K’s friend of a friend. K was born in Canada but moved to southern California when they were 10 where K went to school. K is currently a sophomore studying Screenwriting at SCA.

Text:

K’s high school circulated a story about a bunker under the auditorium that had built as a bomb shelter that had been built during the Second World War. “Which, in retrospect doesn’t really make sense because our high school was built after that.” Basically, one of K’s friends wanted to confirm if it was true. There was an upper-field area that he searched in, the auditorium area that he searched underneath, and eventually he gave up trying to find it. But, K’s AP Environmental Science teacher was like “Hey, don’t worry, it definitely exists.” So, K’s friend went back and tried to find it. K believes it might have originated from the orchestra pit, and a student seeing something freaky down there. Regardless, the story has become something the seniors tend to pass on to the freshman.

Analysis:

This narrative is a legend; it is set in a time in history that’s remained to the present and the basis of the story is whether or not it is real or fake. Legends often explore if the improbable or impossible is, in fact, possible and in doing so make their audience question whether or not the impossible truly is possible in the real world. The readers can examine their perception of what the real world may be. In the case of the school, the students will always have something to be curious and engaged about. Most children’s lore, including teenagers, are anti-hegemonic for the larger education system. For high school, this evolves into a more intentional and rebellious perception of the outside world. To have a story that introduces inherent falsehood in the school, I believe these teenagers will have something to place their growing pains and rebellious energy in. The backstory of the bomb shelter being built during World War II, or even the Cold War, easily becomes both a flashback into the power of the past and also the absurdity of it; the very thought of a nuclear bomb now seems ridiculous and unlikely. When students place their interest or belief into this possibly true blast from the past, they will place themselves on a high moral pedestal from which to judge history. This encourages childhood anti-hegemony and confidence in themselves, that we have evolved past a time where we needed bomb shelters.

Rosie the School Mascot – Legend

Nationality: Canadian
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: March 27 2023
Primary Language: English

Context:

A is a sophomore at USC studying Screenwriting. A was born in Canada but moved to the United States when A was 10. The below text is a legend at A’s elementary school and, according to A, was the origin of how the school is decorated.

Text:

A’s elementary school has a fox as a mascot and they circulated a story about how they had gotten a fox as a mascot. “Why did they choose Rosie the Fox? This is why, this is the story we heard from teachers and friends but it was never confirmed by the school.” Basically, decades before, while a teacher was taking her kids out for recess, they found an injured fox lying in a ditch near campus. The kids all pleaded with the teacher to treat the fox, and they ended up taking it to school (principal or nurse’s office). They gave the fox a splint and eventually nursed it back to health (A did specify that the fox did not bite). Over the course of days, all the students got super attached tot he fox and named it Rosie, after the school’s name.

It got to the point where the fox was very tame. When the leg healed, they released it and all the kids were super sad about it. But, after that point, the fox would always come back. At recess, kids would see it standing on the side of the woods watching them play at recess. Eventually, obviously, the fox died and the school ended up naming the mascot after the fox in order to carry on the legacy of Rosie. A’s elementary now has a lot of culture surrounding Rosie. During A’s time there, they even had a whole festival or day surrounding Rosie.

Analysis:

The above narrative is a story that is highly probable, so much so that the school themselves indulge in it as if it was truth even though it has never been proven legitimately. A specifies that it has not been proven historically, and perhaps there may never be a way to prove it, but here is an example of folk history secluded to a school. The contemporary setting of the narrative makes the story an urban legend, however the deep belief with which the school puts in Rose the Fox makes the truth of her existence inconsequential. In my opinion, even if the school did find out Rosie wasn’t actually real, it wouldn’t matter. She became a legend ingrained as almost fact for the school, therefore what they think happened matters more than the unknown of what actually happened. Furthermore, being good to nature, kind to all creatures, and community are values upheld and respected in schools. Not only is Rosie the fox a heartwarming story to tell young students, but an example of how to behave at school. Rosie’s story provides an almost-forbidden rule broken by the school itself; letting an injured fox’s leg heal. It almost gives the audience room to make mistakes, using something as sutble as a fox to encourage breaking rules for kindness. Here is another reason why it doesn’t matter if the legend of Rosie is true or not.

Two Dollar Bill

Text:

The informant was given a two dollar bill by a grandparent of a close friend from college. It acts as a good luck charm, and the informant carries it with them wherever they go in their wallet.

Context:

This particular grandparent had a unique tradition of handing out two dollar bills to those they deemed important in their life or in the life of their loved ones. The grandparent took a moment with each of the friends of his granddaughter, and gave each of them two-dollar bills. This moment created a sense of connection and solidarity among the recipients, fostering a shared bond through the common experience of receiving the two dollar bill. The intimate moment shared between the informant and the grandparent further highlights the significance of this gesture, as the grandparent acknowledged the informant’s importance to their grandchild.

Analysis:

The two dollar bill, often associated with luck due to its rarity in circulation, serves as a symbol of protection, good fortune, and well wishes from the grandparent. Additionally, the bill acts as a reminder of the informant’s college friends and their shared experiences, emphasizing the importance of maintaining connections with those who positively impacted their life. This moment acts as both a ritual and a superstition. The grandparent took the time with each individual, ensuring that the performance of handing over the bill was both sincere and impactful. Because the grandparent performed this ritual effectively, the informant continues to believe in the bill they carry around with them daily.