Story About a Priest at a Wedding Party

Nationality: Irish

Occupation: Horse Race Track Manager

Residence: Waterford, Ireland

Language: English

Text:

Back in the day Murphy got married, but he hardly remembers it because of how much he had to drink, oh far far too much. At one point during the ceremony the priest came over to him and said “Murphy you are drunk” and Murphy said “how do you know father?” and the priest said “Because you are lying on the floor”. Murphy looked up at the priest and said “that may be true, but the best man is drunker than me” and the priest says “don’t you mean ‘drunker than I’?” and Murphy says “no father, nobody is drunker than you”.

Context:

When my aunt told me this story, she acted like it happened at a wedding that she went to as a child growing up in Dublin; only when I pressed further did she admit it was a story she heard, not one she observed. It is unclear if there was a specific wedding that this actually happened at, but the story had been passed down from her mother, and her friends had heard similar stories elsewhere. When I pressed more, she said that one of her friends heard that story but said it happened in Kerry (in the West of Ireland), and if the story took place there that would feed into stereotypes Irish people have about Kerry.

Analysis:

The way that my aunt acted like this story had happened at a wedding she went to reveals a lot about Irish communities. The idea of a priest being drunk at a wedding is funny, but the story works as a joke because it isn’t completely unreasonable. In many parts of Ireland (less so in Dublin, which is how I knew the story wasn’t a true experience of hers), the priest is a major part of the town’s social network, where he would know everyone and be at any major event like a wedding. However, a priest would also be willing to join in the celebration, which opposes their day to day holy life. Many people in rural Ireland have experienced priests acting in a very normal way outside of their holy work, but this is generally not talked about; this joke is a way of bringing up how priests are human just like everyone else.

A Man in a Hospital Trying to Learn More

Nationality: Irish

Occupation: Horse Race Track Manager

Residence: Waterford, Ireland

Language: English

Text:

A few months ago, in a local country hospital, in County Cork a ways outside the city, a nurse picked up the phone and a voice said “I’d like to know how Aidan Sexton is doing, he just had a very serious operation and I’d like to know how his recovery is coming along. Was the operation successful, and if it was, how much longer will it be until he gets to go home again?” The nurse said “hold on please” and disappeared for ten minutes to find his file. When she got back she said “well, looking here he had his operation and it was very successful, he’s recuperating very well, and if it all keeps going well he will be home in about two weeks time.” The nurse then asked “by the way, who am I speaking to?” and the voice said “this is Aidan Sexton, nobody tells me anything in this place.”

Context:
I had to ask my aunt if this really happened, or if it was made up. At first I thought it was real because she chose to use a real sounding name, and the story isn’t clearly fake, but she confirmed that it was made up at some point and she wasn’t aware of anyone actually doing this. She added that Aidan Sexton is a real person she knows, and his name was the first to come to mind as she was telling the story, but he has no specific connection to the story. She also said that she first heard the story told at a pub, after a man complained about needing to drive for an hour to be able to see a doctor.

Analysis:

The story reflects an overall frustration with medical care, which is often even more significant in rural areas where hospitals are often understaffed, far away, and don’t offer the same quality of care as hospitals in cities. The fact that my aunt chose to say the fictional hospital was in County Cork, close to where she lives, and the fact that the name she used was the name of a person she lives across the street from, all point towards the story reflecting her own personal frustration with medical care. The fact that she first heard this story in a pub reflects a lot about it as a form of storytelling; it has just two characters, making it easy to recite, and it is a very quick story which means that it can be told by a less experienced storyteller (or a more experienced one who had a lot to drink), and it does not need to hold an audience’s attention for a long time.

The Snarly Yow

Age: 57

Date of Performance: 04/03/25

Language: English

Nationality: American

Occupation: Overseer of Data Centers

Primary Language: English

Residence: Tokyo, Japan

Another [legend] that was pretty popular as a kid was the Snarly Yow. Yeah, it was this phantom black dog that was kind of an omen. And guess what, it also has red eyes! Apparently, it’s been around for a while, since the Civil War, actually, and it’s typically harmless. A lot of the sightings were around the South Mountain, but I heard most of them in passing. Most people who have seen it had elected to shoot it, only to find that their bullets phased right through, ha! When I grew up, the most I heard it ever did was chase random cars of unsuspecting hunters or teenagers. Someone’s even claimed to have ran over it, too! Poor thing, really. They say it’s aggressive, but of course it’s aggressive when you shoot at it or throw rocks at it or run it over! So, that’s the Snarly Yow.

Oh, yeah, I did mention that it was an omen. I guess when I mean omen, I mean it’s ambiguous. It’s not good, but not necessarily bad. Just a sign of things to come, maybe. Forces beyond our understanding. The sort. With the cultural significance, it’s like the Mothman. I’m not sure the Snarly Yow even exists, but that doesn’t matter to me. It’s tied to my childhood and upbringing, and it’s something I love to share.

…

Analysis:

It appears the Snarly Yow is another type of cryptid, a legend that people share. I have heard of stories of animal spirits before, a liminality between the living and the dead. It serves as a reminder that not all fears come from what is seen, but what is believed. And greater, it is a distinct symbol of Appalachian identity and a warning to travelers who venture on its isolating roads.

The Rake

Age: 19

Date of Performance: 04/04/25

Language: English

Nationality: American

Occupation: Student

Primary Language: English

Residence: Irvine, California

Do you know what the Rake is? … Yeah, it’s like that. It’s like the Wendigo. I first saw it on a Youtube video and read about it on an online forum when I was like 9. The Rake is a Creepypasta and there was this awful photo of it hunched on the edge of a bed, and it terrified me.

It was like white, naked, hairless, long limbs, pale skin, hunched over, and huge eyes. It looks human, but it’s not. Really uncanny. Apparently, if you keep thinking about, it will target you next, which is a really bad intrusive thought to have when you’re in 3rd grade, haha.

Nowadays, it doesn’t really scare me anymore. Like, I’ve seen other similar Rake-like creatures and stories on the internet that have similar designs and the idea of being next. My theory is that the Rake is based on sleep paralysis. Like having sleep paralysis demons. I’ve had a few episodes, and sometimes you do see things you can’t really explain.

…

Analysis:

So, I have heard of the Rake. It fits an archetype of a pale, slender, unstoppable creature of the night, similar to the Wendigo and SCP-096. These are also adjacent to what are known as skin-walkers, creatures and entities that shape-shift and disguise themselves as animals and humans, often possessing uncanny and not quite human-like features. It often appears in bedrooms or forests, liminal spaces associated with fear and vulnerability.

Unlike many traditional monsters, the Rake doesn’t chase or stalk; instead, it watches, waits, and evokes a dread through pure silence. Its presence is unsettling not because it attacks outright, but because it signifies something more intimate, a kind of personal invasion. It sits at the foot of your bed, or stares by the edge of a forest, it whispers in the dark, it knows you. It reflects a deeper anxiety about what we consider safe and private.

Haunted 4th Floor

Age: 21
Language: English

“I remember being told this story by my 9th-grade Spanish teacher. The story goes that sometime in the 80s or 90s there was a janitor who got super obsessed with one of the cheerleaders. He ended up stalking her and talking to her any time he saw her. After school one day, when she was alone, he asked her for help with something on the 4th floor. He ended up killing her, scalping her, then leaving her body on the 4th floor. Legend says that now it’s haunted because they left her body up there, which is why it was also boarded up and no one is allowed to go up there”. 

[Why would you hear this type of story from your Spanish teacher? Do you believe it?]

“It wasn’t just me she told it to, but the whole class during a kind of like Halloween storytime thing that she did every year. The scalping thing was something I heard from someone else. I’m not sure if it actually happened, but I could believe that someone could have died in our school at some point.” 

Analysis: 

Due to the inclusion of the years 80s/90s, we know that this particular story must have emerged from around that time or after (terminus ante quem), and that it could possibly have originated from this particular Spanish teacher. The legend is part of a larger, yearly ritual where she creates a more laid-back environment for her students during Halloween by telling stories. I think this story has succeeded in its purpose to have fun and bring students together due to the variation and addition of students creating their own theories and parts of the story (like the addition of the girl possibly being scalped). Besides this, in a more serious sense, it serves as a warning to incoming female students entering high school about the dangers that exist in the world.
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