Tag Archives: ghost

Haunted Freshman Dorm

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Cupertino, California

1. TEXT/TRANSCRIPTION

“So this happened to my sister when she was a freshman in college. She told me that she always felt really uneasy in her dorm room. Like, every night she would get this weird feeling, like someone was watching her. Not just sometimes, but every night. She didn’t see anything at first, but she said it was hard to sleep, and she couldn’t shake that heavy, creepy feeling.

Then one night, she was lying in bed and felt the same thing, so she looked out the window. And she swears she saw someone staring back at her. But the wild part is, she lived on the seventh floor. There was no balcony, no ledge, nothing. Just this figure, staring right at her from outside the window.

She obviously freaked out. And later on, she found out that someone had died on her floor years before she moved in. After that, everything made a little more sense to her, but it was still super disturbing. She doesn’t really like to talk about it much.”

2. CONTEXT

“She told me this after she moved out of that dorm. I think she didn’t want to scare anyone while she was still living there, but after she left, she opened up about it. It’s not something she jokes about either, like, she really believes what she saw.

It’s one of those stories that our family always talks about now, but not in a ‘haha, spooky’ way. More like, ‘Wow, that actually happened to her.’ She’s still kind of uncomfortable when she remembers it. It definitely stuck with her.”

3. INTERPRETATION

This story gave me chills when I first heard it, not just because of the creepy image of someone staring into a 7th-floor window, but because of how real it felt to the person telling it. The emotional weight and fear in her sister’s experience really stood out to me. It reminded me that ghost stories aren’t always about what’s visible, sometimes it’s about the atmosphere, the tension, the feeling that something isn’t right.

There’s something deeply personal and psychological about the idea of being watched while you sleep. That sense of vulnerability, especially in a space that’s supposed to feel safe, like your dorm room, heightens the impact of the story. When she finally sees something, it becomes a visual confirmation of what she’s felt all along. That moment turns her unease into fear, but also into belief.

What makes the story even more meaningful is the historical layer, that someone had died on that floor years earlier. It connects her personal experience to a larger, possibly hidden history of the building. It also speaks to how haunted places aren’t just abandoned mansions or creepy woods, they can be everyday, lived-in spaces like college dorms. Places where young people are supposed to feel free and excited are suddenly connected to past trauma, making them feel unfamiliar and unsafe.

To me, this story reflects how personal folklore can develop in intimate spaces. It also shows how fear, especially when validated by later discoveries, can reshape how someone understands their own memories. Whether or not there was really someone at the window, the belief in that moment, the fear, the isolation, the later context of death, gives the story emotional and cultural power.

Ghost of Starbucks

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Boston, Massachusetts
Language: English

1. TEXT/TRANSCRIPTION

“So this happened to me, like, I was actually there. I was at Starbucks with my friend, and we were just sitting there talking. Nothing weird was going on, we were just having coffee. And then suddenly, one of the glasses on the table literally lifted up by itself. Like, it just floated a little bit into the air and then completely shattered.

It didn’t just fall or tip over, it lifted and then shattered on the floor. And the craziest part was, it wasn’t just us who saw it. The people sitting nearby saw it too, and everyone just kind of froze. I remember we all looked at each other like, ‘Did that really just happen?’ My friend and I were both shocked. There was no explanation for it. No one had touched it. It was one of the weirdest moments of my life, honestly.”

2. CONTEXT

“I’ve told this story to a few people, and I think most of them kind of half-believe me. But I swear it really happened. Like, I know how it sounds, but I know what I saw. And the fact that there were other people around who saw it too makes me feel like I’m not crazy.

It happened in a regular Starbucks, just a normal day. I wasn’t expecting anything weird at all. But ever since then, I’ve been more open to stuff like that, like energy, spirits, or whatever it might be. It just made me feel like there’s more going on than we can explain. My friend still talks about it too, so I know it wasn’t just in my head.”

3. INTERPRETATION

What struck me most about AM’s story wasn’t just the ghostly or paranormal detail, it was how ordinary the setting was. Starbucks is such a familiar, everyday place, which makes the incident feel even more jarring. It’s one thing to hear about haunted houses or old attics, but the fact that something so unexplainable happened in a public, modern setting gives the story a lot of weight. It disrupts the idea that the supernatural only belongs in old or creepy environments.

What makes her story even more compelling is the communal experience. She wasn’t alone, there were witnesses, which adds credibility and changes the dynamic. It becomes less about one person’s strange memory and more about a shared reality that no one could quite explain. That element turns the story into something bigger than a personal anecdote, it becomes a moment that challenges how multiple people perceive and make sense of the world.

From a folkloric perspective, this story feels like a modern ghost tale that reflects a broader cultural interest in unexplained phenomena. It blends the ordinary with the extraordinary, suggesting that the supernatural can appear anywhere, even in the most routine, commercial places. I also think it reveals something personal about AM. She’s not trying to convince people, it’s more about how the experience shifted her worldview. Her openness to the unknown, her trust in her memory, and her willingness to share the story despite disbelief shows a kind of confidence in her own perception, which I find really meaningful.

Floating Cabbage Patch Doll

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Boston, Massachusettes
Language: English

1. TEXT/TRANSCRIPTION

“Okay, so my mom had this Cabbage Patch doll when she was a little girl, and she swears it actually levitated. I know it sounds crazy, but she tells the story like it’s the most normal thing. She says she was playing with it in her room, and out of nowhere, the doll just started floating. It wasn’t like a little bit off the ground, it was like it was rising up on its own. She said she freaked out and ran out of the room, but she still remembers it so clearly. She always says she knows what she saw, and she’s convinced the doll was… possessed or something. It was super weird, and she’s never forgotten it.”

2. CONTEXT 

“She told me about this when I was younger, like, she was laughing while telling it, but I could tell she was serious. She always brings it up like it’s no big deal, but she’s totally convinced it happened. It’s one of those stories that gets passed down in the family, and she tells it to make us laugh, but you can tell there’s something deeper to it.

It’s one of those things where she’ll say, ‘I’m not making this up, I saw it,’ and she stands by it. I don’t think she’s trying to scare us, it’s just something that happened to her, and it’s stuck with her. Honestly, I kind of believe her, just because she tells it with such certainty, even now.”

3. INTERPRETATION

This story stood out to me because it shows how personal experiences like this shape our understanding of the world. Even though it’s an incredibly strange and seemingly impossible event, AMs mom never doubted it. That kind of conviction makes it more than just a funny, creepy story, it feels like a foundational experience for her. It speaks to how people process strange or unexplainable events.

The Cabbage Patch doll levitating is especially significant to me because it blends something so innocent and familiar with something supernatural. A doll, something we typically associate with childhood comfort, becomes the center of something unsettling. The idea of it levitating is almost a perfect example of how childhood imagination, wonder, and fear can merge into something that feels both magical and terrifying.

What’s also interesting is how AM’s mom continues to tell this story with such seriousness. It’s clear that the event had a lasting emotional impact on her. I think that’s what makes the story compelling, it’s not just about the ghostly or supernatural element, it’s about the personal truth she attaches to it. The way she speaks about it with such confidence shows how this experience shaped her sense of reality, and I think that’s why it’s such an important piece of her identity. Whether or not the levitation actually happened isn’t as important as how it’s woven into her understanding of the world.

Blue the Glue Ghost

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: University Student

Informant Information:

Age: 18
Date of Performance: 3/25/2025
Language: English
Nationality: American
Occupation: University Student
Primary Language: English
Residence: Hayward, California

Text:

“Once upon a time, there was a ghost named Blue who would steal people’s shoes. Every time he did, he left a trail of glue behind. The police followed these sticky clues from house to house and apartment to apartment until, after three weeks of shoe thefts, they finally found Blue. When they caught him, he was released back into the spirit world. And that was the end of Blue.”

Context:

The informant recalled that her mother used to tell her this tale before bed. It served as a form of childhood entertainment and likely helped ease the transition into sleep with its mysterious yet harmless narrative. She believes her mother created the story herself, indicating a form of generational oral creativity.

Analysis:

“Blue the Glue Ghost” functions as a bedtime folktale with mild suspense and whimsical absurdity. It demonstrates the creativity of parental storytelling and the way minor mischief (stealing shoes) is framed through a playful ghost figure. The use of rhyme and alliteration (Blue/glue/clue) adds charm and memorability, making it ideal for oral transmission. Though it lacks the typical “moral” of traditional tales, it emphasizes curiosity and resolution, which keeps children engaged.

Japanese ghost tradition

Age: 20
Language: english

My roommate told me of the legend of a ghost named Hanako San. There are a lot of different versions of her, but the one he remembers is of a girl who killed herself in a school bathroom because of bullying, who haunts every school bathroom in Tokyo. Many elementary school children will go into a school bathroom on the third floor, turn off the lights, and knock on the third stall door three times. This is supposed to summon Hanako San. If you hear her respond to the knock, it’s in your best interest to leave. He likened this to the tradition of Bloody Mary in the states. He learned this from other classmates. This ghost could’ve been based on a real girl, or it could have been used to try to prevent kids from bullying others. It’s also a bit of a game, similar to bloody mary. This practice adds some entertainment to a normally dull day in grade school.