Tag Archives: ghost story

Ghost at Winchester Mystery House- Folk Legend

Age: 20

Text:

Informant: “One time I went and visited the Winchester mystery house when I was 12 and the tour guide was telling us different stories of things people have witnessed while being in that house. And so one of the stories was that in the living room there was a fireplace and one of the men that worked there was a wheelbarrow guy and helped clean up. In the middle of the night, you can see his ghost cleaning the fireplace very rarely.”

Interviewer: “What is his ghost supposed to look like?”
Informant: “His ghost is covered in the ash.”

Interview: “Did you see the ghost or experience any paranormal activity yourself?”
Informant: “No, we went in the daytime.”

Context:

The informant heard this ghost story while visiting the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose with their family when they were about 12 years old.

Analysis:

This story is an example of a legend, a form of verbal folklore that takes place in the real world and is presented as something that could be believable or believed. The ghost of the wheelbarrow worker is tied to a specific location, the Winchester Mystery House, which helps make the story feel more realistic since there’s a tangible location already associated with anecdotes of experiences with paranormal activity. Legends are often connected to real places because the setting encourages listeners to question whether the event might actually be true.

At the same time, legends allow people to debate beliefs and explore uncertainty. Listeners may not fully believe the story, but they also may not completely dismiss it, and creating that sense of ambivalence that is central to how legends function. This specific tension between belief and skepticism encourages discussion about whether ghosts or supernatural events might exist. Even though the informant did not personally witness the ghost, sharing stories of reported sightings through tours or conversations help keep legends alive and continue to circulate and renew the legend for new audiences.


The Ghost story of Catalina Island

Text

“While on my CIMI trip to Catalina with my 7th grade class, one of our chaperons who also was our economics teacher gave us the option to hear a ghost story late at night. Me and my boys, who I was rooming with, were all confident that we wouldn’t be scared so we went. When he started telling the story, I was spooked when he told us that the burned down house on the hill we say today was haunted. Several of my friends were too scared to sleep alone, so eight of us piled into a 4 person room. One of my friends was the only one who thought our reactions were funny and felt we were dumb to believe the story. The rest of us slept like sardines on the floor of the dorm and were scared the rest of the trip. When I would open my eyes at night I sometimes thought I would see red hair in the window, but to this day I do not know if I was hallucinating or not.”

Context

“Apparently, it was the home of a red headed girl who got lost one day in the canyon and never came back. After she died, he claimed that she came back to haunt the island and would show up at night to terrify kids. I remember him saying she comes and grabs your feet if they are not covered by a blanket and takes you away. After hearing this story, we were all petrified and I remember how our fear brought us all together. This story is known by many Catalina natives, especially the ones who work near or at CIMI.”

Analysis

This ghost story is a good example of a legend because it shows how they could be true but there is no concrete facts to prove it. Many forms of folklore are similar to legends because they are often informal and lack historical evidence that is proven. Like this ghost story, legends and other forms of folklore are created through belief, and when there is belief there are usually contradictions. However, when legends are performed and passed on, they are shared with confidence as if they are proven to be true. Like his friend who did not believe the story, there are many who follow and live by legends such as religion, and others who strongly refute it. Legends are important as folklore because they create uncertainty and debates, prioritizing belief over facts. The location and time of day this story was told also shows how environment contributes to folklore. Since it was a dark night and the story took place where they were, their fear was heightened and they were able to bond on shared trauma, showing how legends mysterious aspects create connection.

Scotty Pippia

Age: 20s

Informant: This is the story of Scotty Pippia. Scotty Pippia, I think, was legit a fake boy that my bus driver made up. We had a small bus, and in small buses, you can lift the windows all the way up, and you can like stick your head out. And to stop kids from sticking their heads out, I’m pretty sure my bus driver made up this legend of this boy named Scotty Pippia, who stuck his head out of the window and got it like chopped off, Hereditary style. And it just traumatized the s**t out of me. I was in like first grade and I went my head wasn’t even out the window. Like, I wasn’t even like someone to put my head out the window. My bus driver would just tell the story of Scotty Pippia. Like, really every chance she’d get. Her name was Paula. And Paula.. every conversation would somehow lead to,”Oh, Scotty Pippia died on my bus”. And I never Googled Scotty Pippia out of fear. This might just be a real story of a boy, but, like, would she keep driving buses? I remember as a kid being like, asking Paula questions like, oh, God, what is his family say? And she was like, his family was sad. And I was like, yeah, of course they were sad, Scotty Pippia died. So it’s like, I still, to this day, don’t know if this is- but my whole bus knew the legend of Scotty Pippia. And Scotty Pippia, I feel like we never really interacted with him, but he was a presence on the bus. You know, we sort of imagined where Scotty Pippia would sit, we imagined what classes Scotty Pippia took. So, um yeah, I guess this just. I want to dedicate this to Scottie Pippia’s family.

Collector: How old were you? 

Informant: First grade.. I was in first grade, and I was in the front of the bus. So the way my bus were got, like, I was in the front as you’d go older, you’d go to the back. So all the cool kids are in the back like being loud. And then I was up right next to the bus driver hearing like horrible tales of like little boys being decapitated. So that was, and then I don’t then of course, I told everyone at school and everyone at school knew about Scotty Pippia. But we never knew if he was real. So that’s kind of a ghost story. kind of a ghost story. I never- sure, I felt a chill on the bus every now and then. That could have been Scotty Pippia. That could have been an experience. And I never stuck my head out the window. That’s for sure. So thanks Paula, thank you for that. 

Context:

This legend comes from Middle Island, New York. The legend is that of a boy who at one point in time rode the same school bus as the informant and was decapttated after sticking his head outside of the bus window. The informant states that though he never stuck his head out the window prior to learning the legend of Scotty Pippia he most certainly was deterred after hearing the legend. 

Analysis:

Due to the inability to verify the existence of Scotty Pippia from Middle Island, NY and the fact that no one other than bus driver Paula had ever shared this information with the informant one can assume that the legend was created as a means to keep the children riding the bus from sticking their heads out the window and potentially putting themselves in danger, as well as a way to lessens distractions for Paula while driving the bus.

La Caballota or The Horse Lady

Age: 21

TEXT:

Informant- “There are a few like little stories about creatures and ghosts in Guatemala. My favorite one is called La Caballota, or the Horse Lady. My great grandma would tell me the story when I was a little girl. And pretty much just my great grandmama and my great grandpa saw her once. They were at the beach and they saw beautiful women with gorgeous, long hair. And when she was, they were just walking, right? And then she turns around and they see her face. She had a horse face, right? They got really scared and they started running away. But as they were running away, their feet got really heavy and it felt like they had bricks on their feet. So they were slowing down. Thankfully, they made it out. That was not the only time they met her, though, but I just find it really interesting because supposedly, this, like, ghost or creature or whatever, it only appears to men usually driving by themselves at night. So I thought it was really interesting that it appears to both my great grandma and great grandpa in a very different circumstance.”

CONTEXT:

A Guatemalan ghost story about a beautiful woman with long hair and the face of a horse, who traditionally only appears to men driving home at night. This story was told by a person of Guatemalan descent and nationality who currently resides in Chicago.

ANALYSIS:

The informant shares her connection with a ghost story that’s close to home as she has been told it from family members and her great grandparents have stated themselves that it happened to them and shared their account of the tale with her. This has created a stronger belief in the ghost story itself and cemented it, not as just a tale, but rather a legend.

Upstate New York Ghost Story

Age: 19

Text:
“Back in like 2010 I’d say, because I just turned four and moved into a new house. So my house is around 200 years old. It’s an old farmhouse. It was built in 1820, so however old it was at that point. I just moved into this house, and I was four, so I was asleep. My mom, apparently the first few nights we moved there, she smelled smoke. It’s important to know my parents are very anti-smokers. They’re very against smoking, so it clearly wasn’t them, but my mom would hear smoking and she’d smell cigarette smoke every night around the same hour. She would see a haze too in the kitchen, and the smell was cigarette smoke. It happened for three nights straight, and it was all at the same hour, same time. My dad would be at work and then it was just me and my brother, and we’d be asleep. She’d smell it every time at the same hour, so she thinks it’s a ghost that’s living in our house, which you know, could make sense based on how old it is. She went up to talk to the ghost one night around that hour, and she was just like, ‘Hey, listen, you’re free to stay here and welcome of course, but my husband and son have asthma and they can’t deal with the cigarette smoke. Can you just smoke outside on the porch?’ After that, she’s never smelt it again.”

Context:
A girl from upstate New York who heard a ghost story from her mom about when she moved into her house when she was around four years old. She has not experienced other paranormal activity since this experience.

Analysis:
While it is a ghost story, this story serves as excellent framework for efficient communication. Her mom could have called a priest or exorcist, like others do, and forced the spirit away from her home, but instead, she took a friendlier approach and simply communicated with the ghost. By asking nicely and explaining the reasoning behind her request, she got her wishes and was never bothered by the indoor-smoking ghost again. I think we can all take a page out of her mom’s book and apply her extraordinary communication and confrontation skills to our own lives. As for whether the story is true or not, only her mom knows. It’s possible it could have been fabricated to warn her kids against smoking.