Tag Archives: Baby

The Baby Thief

Age: 18

Context: The following story was told on April 28th, 2026, in my dorm room to me by the informant, who is one of my close friends.

NB: “Okay, so basically, my mom has explained to us over and over again that each time she’s had one of us, she’s been visited by, like, an evil, dark presence in the middle of the night when she’s, like, half asleep, trying to take us from her. And every time that the evil spirit like comes, she like senses it. She’s like half asleep. I personally think it’s just sleep paralysis. But it’s just weird and too much of a coincidence that this has only happened to her each time she’s brought us home from the hospital. It happened to my oldest sister, I believe, and then my other sister, me, and then my brother. She recalls it every single time, where this evil spirit will basically visit her in the middle of the night of our first time, like, coming to the house, and she just has to say no, like, not yet. Like… Not yet. Basically, like..”

Me: “Is it, like, the devil or like?”

NB: “I think it’s like trying to take us while we’re young. Like, kind of trying to take us from her or something. Like, kind of maybe trying to, like, kill us, maybe. I don’t know? It’s really weird. And, um, yeah, she kind of explains that it’s a really weird energy. She gets the same feeling every time that it happened, and she doesn’t know how to explain it. And she just, yeah, she kind of just, like, says that its an evil, dark spirit or whatever. She said that she sees like kind of like a cloud of black like mist. So it’s not like a… And, like, it’s not like a figure. No, like a cloud of black in the shape of like a… Like, kind of like, um, I don’t even know how to describe it, like, just, like, it’s not smoky, maybe not. Yeah, like, it’s, like, really weird, and it’s just, like, moving close to us and, like, trying to approach us.

Me: “So it doesn’t like talk and say like, I’m going to take your baby…

NB: “No, she just kind of has like an energy and like feels it. And then she’ll wake up the next morning and she’ll just like go back to normal.

Me: “So do you know, like, what does she think it is? Like, does she think it’s, like, a demon or, like, just like what?”

NB: “Well, my mom is like a really spiritual person because she has a lot of like dreams that she believes are kind of like almost premonitions. She, like… one of her dreams predicted my grandfather’s death. So, um, I think that she kind of, like, had, like, she can, like, sense that energy, and I think she thinks of it more like, yeah, maybe a demon. But my mom isn’t, like, religious or anything. So I think she just senses, like, maybe it’s, like, I think one time she said maybe it’s, like, the angel of death or something. Like, trying to take us too soon, or maybe it is a demon, like, trying to latch onto our innocence or something. Yeah, very, very strange…”

Personal thoughts and analysis: I thought this story was very interesting, not only because of the story itself, but also the informant’s reaction. The informant is a supernatural believer, but their first thought was to dismiss their mother’s belief and write it off as sleep paralysis, almost like they were too scared to consider it truly being a supernatural entity that attempted to abduct the informant at their most vulnerable state. Initially, as the informant described the entity, I thought of a kind of demon Papa Legba esc figure, so it was interesting to hear the informant’s mom’s perspective that it might have been some sort of grim reaper figure. However, overall, I think I would tend to agree with the informant that this was some kind of postpartum sleep paralysis, but it is an interesting coincidence nonetheless.

The Baby Monitor

Age: 19

Context:

This story was told to me during a car ride at night back from a camping trip with friends. Everyone started going around and telling creepy or weird paranormal experiences they’ve had and when the topic shifted to technology the informant went on and told this story about their experience with their baby sister’s baby monitor as a kid.

CL:

“So this happened when I was around fifteen, and I still don’t really know what to make of it. My baby sister had just been born, so my parents had one of those baby monitors set up in her room, the kind that only does audio.

My room was right next to hers, and since she cried a lot at night, I got used to hearing little noises through the monitor when my parents left it on in their room or in the hallway.

One night, I was home alone babysitting while my parents went out to dinner. My sister was asleep, and I was downstairs watching TV. Everything was normal. Then I heard the monitor crackle. At first I ignored it because it always made static noises.

But then I heard someone whisper. Like… an actual whisper. I couldn’t make out what it said, but it sounded like a woman’s voice. I muted the TV and just sat there listening. Then I heard it again. Really soft, like right into the monitor. It sounded like, ‘It’s okay… go back to sleep.’ I froze. I remember staring at the monitor and thinking maybe my mom had come home without me hearing, but I would’ve heard the front door or footsteps. So I ran upstairs. My sister was asleep in her crib. Nobody else was in the room. I checked the closet, under the crib, the bathroom, everything. Nothing.

I grabbed my sister and brought her downstairs with me because I was so freaked out. I called my mom crying and told her to come home. She thought I was overreacting until they got back. My dad brought my sister upstairs and plugged the monitor back in to prove it was just static or interference or whatever. And then we all heard it. The monitor crackled and this voice came through. ‘Shhhhhh…’ Like right into it. My mom literally unplugged it immediately. The next day my dad bought a new monitor and threw the old one away. And it never happened again.

Later, my dad said it was probably signal interference from another house because the monitor was old and not encrypted or whatever. Like maybe someone else’s monitor or a walkie-talkie got picked up. But… I don’t know. The voice sounded like it was in the room. Not through a machine. It sounded close. Like someone leaning over her crib.”

Interviewer:

“Did the voice sound threatening?”

CL:

“No, honestly that’s what made it weirder. It sounded calm. Like soothing. If it had sounded creepy, I think I would’ve just assumed it was in my head. But it sounded… normal.”

Interviewer:

“Do you think it was paranormal?”

CL:

“I don’t know. Probably not. The interference thing makes sense. But hearing it with my whole family there made it harder to brush off.”

The Informant’s Thoughts:

She does not fully believe the event was paranormal, but she remains disturbed by how clearly she remembers the voice. The fact that it happened twice, once when she was alone and again in front of her parents, validated her fear in the moment.

She says what scared her most was not the possibility of a ghost, but the idea that a real stranger’s voice could somehow reach into her house and speak to her baby sister. In some ways, that felt scarier than anything supernatural.

My Thoughts:

I think what makes this story so creepy is how realistic it feels. Unlike a lot of ghost stories where someone sees a full figure or something impossible happens, this one has an explanation that actually makes sense. The signal interference idea is believable, which somehow makes it even scarier because it could happen in real life.

I also think the fact that the voice sounded calm instead of threatening makes the story way more unsettling. If it had been some distorted or obviously creepy voice, it would almost feel fake. But the fact that it sounded normal and soothing makes it feel more personal and invasive.

I find it interesting how technology changes the way ghost stories are told. Instead of hearing strange voices in a hallway or through the walls, now people hear them through baby monitors, phones, or speakers. It’s like modern devices create new ways for people to interpret weird experiences as paranormal.

I think the scariest part of this story isn’t even the idea of a ghost. To me, the thought that it could have been an actual stranger’s voice somehow reaching into the house is worse. That makes the story feel less like a supernatural haunting and more like a real invasion of privacy.

Always shave your hair so it grows faster?

AGE

51

Date of performance

4/30/25

Language

English

Nationality

American

Occupation

Business Owner

Primary Language

Arabic

Residence

San Diego, CA

Ritual: Shaving a baby’s head once they grow hair so it can grow back faster and healthier

Context + Text: The individual is my father and has told me the story of when I first started to grow hair, they immediately cut it all off because they believed it would grow back faster and healthier. “You know, it seems a little odd, but hair rituals have been a part of my culture for so long, some parents combine this with letting their kids grow unibrows because they believe it’s bad luck to cut that”. He explained further that while it may not have ever proven to work, as much of his family including himself are all bald men, he said that it’s been such a long tradition there’s no way they stop it now. According to him, the ritual went as far back as his grandfather, and he tells me that it is something I have to do when I have kids. The ritual does not only apply to men, as even the baby girls are shaven bald so that their hair can be healthier. He believes it is a little funny that it only works on the women, as they always grow long healthy hair while the men are going bald by 30. 

Analysis: The idea of shaving hair so that it can grow back faster and thicker has been adopted and transformed in so many different ways. Growing up, I had always learned that if you shave your beard with a razor, it will lead to thicker and quicker hair growth. Some of my friends took it as far as to shave even when they had no beard, so they could ‘cut their skin’ and promote hair growth. There are no scientific reasons for any of these rituals, but if we can convince ourselves that it does work, then we will believe that it works. A large part in the belief for these hair rituals is especially due to the lack of science that was around for this individual when he was in Iraq. There was never anything to disprove the idea that a bald baby would have the best hair, so the ritual was continued for generations as no one wanted to be considered an outcast. While I may not believe that this ritual plays a true role in hair growth, I may fall into still participating in this with my future children simply due to the fear of breaking the chain. 

Greek Mountain Village Tale

Text: In the remote mountain villages of Greece, connected by deserted roads, there’s a tradition: when faced with the unfamiliar, one should make the sign of the cross. A young woman was traversing these paths alone, a rarity as custom dictates that she should be accompanied by a male relative. Along her journey between two villages, she stumbled upon an infant. Initially, she felt no need for the protective ritual because it was only just a child. However, instinct prevailed, and she made the sign of the cross just before touching the baby. To her astonishment, the infant spoke in a chilling tone, revealing itself as a demon. It confessed that had she not performed the sign, it would have taken her to hell.

Context: When he was 12 years old, the informant  heard a story during a coffee hour following a Greek Orthodox church service. An elderly Greek woman, who had grown up in a small village but now lived in the Bronx, shared the tale, alternating between Greek and English. His mother helped translate parts of it for him. He noted that he hates the story and thinks it is “hickish” and backwards. He thinks that it’s very uneducated and the type of thing you would hear in a small town. As a Christian he doesn’t like that type of superstition/ fear element being connected to his faith.

Analysis: This story reflects the deep rooted christian beliefs held by those communities and their diaspora here. Greece has one of the highest rates of Orthodox Christianity in the world and when isolated in small mountain villages, stories like that definitely will arise. I think it reflects the dangerous conditions of the time, the informant specifically made sure to point out that the woman shouldn’t have been traveling alone because it was too unsafe but she was anyway. At the time in these tiny villages The churches were the sources of protection and knowledge for the people living there, and this story reflects that they listen to the Church’s authority. 

Miracle During Birth and Visit from an Angel (Memorate)

Text

Informant (talking to daughter): “When you were born, they took you away to check you. They did a scan and they said there were calcifications in your brain. I was really sad and really worried, plus you were premature— you were born early— so you were really tiny, you needed oxygen and all different things. But anyway, when I was in my bed in the hospital, I was crying because I was just sad and I had been worried about you and I was sleeping. In the middle of the night, I felt a smooth whisper of wind go across the side of my left cheek and a Voice said, “Trust and believe.” It woke me up out of my sleep and I was like, ‘Oh my god, oh my god,’ so I rang for the nurse and I said ‘Was somebody here in my room?’ The nurse said ‘No, nobody came into your room we’ve been sitting out here.’ And I said, ’But I heard somebody I heard a voice, I felt them.’ The nurse said this was the cancer ward prior and you’re not the first person who has felt things on this floor. So somebody was there and somebody wanted me to be okay. The next day, they took you in for scans again and the calcifications were gone.”

Context

The Informant is a 48-year-old Black-American woman who is having a conversation with her daughter about the girl’s birth. This story is from the Informant’s personal experience. Informant believes this was an interaction with an angel, rather than a “ghost” or “spirit.”

Analysis

Similar to other memorates I collected, this spiritual experience took place when the Informant was sleeping. The dream space seems to be a common realm for spiritual contact and connection. The Informant’s experience also took place during a significant life event (birth) and time of uncertainty (medical complication). During emotional turmoil, the words “trust and believe” communicate faith and signify guidance. This may be a reason why the Informant classifies the Voice as an “angel” rather than a “ghost “or “spirit.” The reversal of fortune shortly after, when the baby’s medical complications magically resolve, could be another reason why the Informant perceives this as a divine interaction.