Tag Archives: ghost story

The Wolf Spirit

Nationality: American
Age: 31
Occupation: Physical Education teacher
Residence: Virginia
Performance Date: 3/18/23
Primary Language: English

Text:

PS: So, I went to the college bar and it was really late at night, and I was obviously okay to drive back to school, and um, it’s kind of in the middle of nowhere, so it’s a lot of farmland for miles–there’s this open space, but it’s really dark, there’s not many lights and so I was nervous about driving home by myself. And then, as I was driving out of the bar, there was this open field, and I was driving forward, looking ahead, making sure I didn’t hit any deer or any wildlife, and all of a sudden I see this white blur–it looked like a running white wolf from my peripheral vision on my right side. Immediately, I turn to see like what animal was running beside me, and it disappeared. It was too short to be a deer and also, you can see for miles, so if it was actually there, I would be able to see it running away, but I didn’t see anything–it just disappeared. But after that moment, I felt like that family friend’s spirit was with me to support me in a time where I felt really unsafe–I felt lonely and vulnerable, and then I actually felt comforted after that moment driving the rest of the way home because I felt like he was watching over me somehow.

I stopped the recording after she finished performing her folklore, but she had more to add right afterwards.

PS: So, I felt like his spirit was with me for about a month after his passing, and another spiritual event happened. Our grandparents were still living in the townhouse and there wasn’t parking close by, so I had to park like way across the street of the busy road and I had to park in a parking lot over there and cross over. It was again, also at night with lots of heavy traffic and cars that might not be able to see you while you’re crossing the ways, so I just sprinted from point A to point B to the other side. And it hadn’t been windy all day, so after I finished running across to this street–there were like leaves from the fall, and it started like circling around me as I crossed the street, saying like “Hey, good job for being brave. You made it. You’re going to be fine.” So it felt like another experience where he was there watching over me. I think after those two things, after a month had passed, I felt like he wasn’t there anymore, but in a good way, like he moved on.

Context:

These encounters take place a few weeks after PS’ family friend passed away. She used to tell these more often, but now they only come up when people are talking about tattoos and that if she were to get one, it would be a “tribal outline of a wolf running on my right forearm.” She also has decorated her house with a framed drawing of a wolf that hangs over her front door. This loved one was a really influential role model in her life: “if I were to describe him, he’s like a human Jesus because he was so selfless. He was always looking after other people–he never had any money in his bank account and would give it away to someone who needed it.” PS is certain that she’s not the only one he was spiritually watching over.

We were spending time together with the rest of the family when this story resurfaced. She decided to go to a more private room to tell me this piece of folklore, mostly to get away from the noisy mahjong games going on in the background.

Analysis:

Sensing the spirits of loved ones can be a form of comfort, as if they are still guiding us through difficult times until we can let go. With wolves, there is this protective aura that creates the feeling that we are watched over by a cosmic being that is beyond our world. There are an infinite number of stories where a loved one’s spirit arrives in animal form. When we lose someone’s physical presence, we tend to see them in other people, objects, or animals–animals in particular are similar to humans in that they are sentient, living beings that can transmit emotion, but they are different enough where communication with them is almost magical. Grief can place us in a liminal realm between the present and the past–in this dreamlike state and altered consciousness, we may try to verify the existence of spirits. PS mentioned how gracious this family friend was–we often associate goodness with upwards movement, as if there is a higher plan beyond life for good people. Not only does what we do in life speak about our character, but maybe how we communicate through death does as well.

Tattoos, as a permanent mark, often carry deep, symbolic meaning associated with a truth that’s more complex than its external manifestation. In fact, I’ve asked people what tattoos they’d get if they were to get one, and it usually leads to a personal story because most people want to choose something that holds weight and significance in their lives. If you want to know someone’s folklore, ask about what they’d turn into tattoos; the story is often inseparable from the tattoo itself.

Legend: Haunted Classroom

When I asked my informant M about any stories they might have had about surrounding legends, they thought of the time when their high school English and Creative Writing teacher was sure that her old classroom was haunted. M said that she would always stay late after school was over to finish work, and suddenly one day, people started asking her if she was at school when she wasn’t there because they saw someone in the window of her classroom. The description of the figure was always the same, a woman dressed in white. She told them that it wasn’t her that they saw and that they must have mistaken her for someone else, but it kept on happening and people would joke that a ghost was haunting her classroom. She was staying late one night, as usual, when she suddenly encountered the womanly figure that everyone was talking about. M said that nobody knew exactly what had happened, but apparently, things started to fall over in her classroom. The experience spooked their teacher enough that she made the administration give her a different classroom the next year and now she always leaves the school as soon as the bell rings. 

I found this story funny, but I also felt bad for their poor teacher. I’m not going to deny that her classroom was haunted, but she might have also been especially tired after a long day of work that day and her brain conjured the figure up. I also don’t think people telling her that a woman-like figure dressed in white is always inside her classroom when she is not there helped her imagination. It sort of reminds me of Sydow’s term, memorate, where she is relating a personal experience to a spoken narrative. I never thought a classroom of mine was haunted, but a lot of people, including myself, in elementary school thought that our language teacher wasn’t human. She was not a nice person and she had a way of smiling and staring through to your soul that frightened many of us and we thought that she was a creepy alien in disguise as a human.

La Llorona

Nationality: Mexican/American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 5/1/22
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

CONTEXT: 

RR is one of my best friends and roommates. She is a sophomore at USC who enjoys crocheting, writing poetry, and making me laugh. 

TEXT: 

Me: “Tell me the story of La Llorona.”

R: “Well, the way my mom learned it is that she’s a witch.”

Me: “Who did your mom hear it from?”

R: “Her aunt told her—her aunt is from Mexico. 

Her name is Evangelina—we call her Vengie 

That’s my grandpa’s sister. 

So my great aunt. 

And when they used to live in this neighborhood, they would run around and if there was like wind blowing, 

or like my grandma said, when cats mate, you know how they kind of sounds like babies crying, 

and so they would say oh, that’s La Llorona. 

She is coming back for her children who were swept away in a river. 

Other versions of the story are that they drowned or she drowned them in the river and then she comes back. 

My mom heard that they were swept away in a river so she didn’t do it. 

She lost them. 

And so she cries 

and she’s coming back and haunting the kids because she’s looking for her own.”

Me: “So did she want to steal kids to replace them?” 

R: “Yeah. 

So her kids were swept away

but she’ll drop other kids in the river to take their souls

My mom and her older sister, Paula used to say.

They would get really scared when they heard wind blowing or like crying.

ANALYSIS:

La Llorona is also known as The Weeping Woman or The Cryer. Her tale originates from Latin America—specifically Mexico. The most common version of the story states that La Llorona drowned her own children, however, it is interesting that R’s’s family grew up telling the story that the children got swept away on their own.

For another version of the story you can check out this link:

La Llorona – Weeping Woman of the Southwest

Electrician Ghost Story

So my uncle was at this bar, in like Philly, and he’s sitting there. My Dad and his brothers are so talkative, and they will just talk to strangers. And so my uncle introduces himself to the person next to him and they start talking and the guy says that he is an electrician. My uncle asks if he has any crazy stories from his job and the guy says “actually I do. I’ll never forget this day”. So the electrician begins to tell the story: “This old lady asks me to do work on this closet. And this guy comes into the room and I freak out because I thought just the old lady lived there. And I explain I’m there to do the electricity and the guy just leaves. And the old lady comes and I explain, oh your husband comes in, and the old lady says that she does not have a husband. I find a photo of the man and I explain that this is the man I saw, and the old lady says that’s her husband but he died ”. So the electrician freaked out and left. And my uncle goes “That’s so crazy, I’m also from rural pennsylvania, what area” and the electrician goes “Westchester” and my uncle goes “wait so am I, what street” because Westchester is a small area and he says the street and the house he was in and my uncle goes “Oh my god, I used to live there and my mom still lives there”. So supposedly, this electrician saw the ghost of my grandpa. 

Context:

The informant is a college student explaining different folklore from their family, diving into how their family has lore and traditions that are particular to their folk community. 

Personal Thoughts:

This particular ghost story shows how different folk groups can overlap, sharing similar lore. As the electrician shares this legend, the uncle is able to connect with him on being related to the ghost, allowing for lore to grow between them. This also demonstrates how folklore can live on in different folk groups, as both the uncle and the electrician are a part of other folk groups, and as this legend gets shared by both of them to their respective communities, this will allow the ghost story to continue to spread. And since they may have their own interpretations of it, more variations of the legend will come up, allowing for this legend to live on even more. 

Bloody Mary

Informant Information — GD

  • Nationality: American
  • Age: 57
  • Occupation: Teacher
  • Residence: San Pedro, California
  • Date of Performance/Collection: March 20, 2022
  • Primary Language: English

This informant learned about Bloody Mary in elementary school in the late 1960s. Most of her friends from school also attended the same church and Bible study group, so they felt like they were a part of a very tightly-knit religious community. She shared this information with me in an in-person interview. 

Interviewer: 

Can you tell me the story of how you first experienced Bloody Mary?  

Informant: 

When I was in fourth or fifth grade, my group of girlfriends and I learned about the Bloody Mary game from some older girls. Our school bathrooms were really dark– they didn’t have any lights except for windows near the ceiling so they were really creepy. 

In the game, you had to lock yourself in the bathroom alone and stand in front of the mirror. You were supposed to close your eyes, say “Bloody Mary” three times, and then open your eyes. When you opened your eyes, you were supposed to be able to see a ghostly woman in a ballgown with black eyes and crying tears of blood. 

If you were a true Christian and believed in God, she wasn’t supposed to be able to touch you because you were too holy. If you only believed a little bit, she supposedly scratched you and left three bloody lines on your face. And if you didn’t believe in God at all or if you were evil, she was supposed to bring you into the mirror with her. 

Interviewer: 

Did you ever play the game? 

Informant: 

My friend went first, and she said that she saw Bloody Mary. I went after her but didn’t see anything in the mirror. I wasn’t sure what I did wrong so I lied about it and never admitted that I hadn’t actually seen her. 

Analysis:

This adaptation of Bloody Mary is very interesting to me as it reveals the large role of religious belief in the informant’s folk group. In this story, being exposed as a non-believer results in removal from the community as they are dragged into the mirror and disappear with Bloody Mary. Those of wavering faith are physically marked, seemingly teaching the person a lesson and informing others that the individual needs to be brought back into the community.