Tag Archives: ghost

Haunted store

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: College student
Language: English

Text:

“ It was shortly after Halloween, so we had put up our Halloween decorations back upstairs and there’s this big witch, sort of an animatronic thing. We usually set it up by the door so– it has a sensor– so when you pass by it it’ll say things like “Oh, my pretty”. It’s really funny, but it was upstairs and we were just chilling down in the main sales floor, and we heard faintly upstairs the witch talking. We heard it saying those lines just faintly upstairs. And my boss goes upstairs to check it out and I just hear him yelp. And it’s because the witch was positioned– neither of us had positioned it this way and we don’t know if any of our coworkers did– but it was positioned just so it was hiding around the corner of the stairs. So it scared the crap out of him. But then we saw up there that there were several helmet boxes strewn across the floor, which is really weird because it’s usually very well organized up there. And no one had been up there all day yet, so there was no reason they’d be on the floor and no reason why the witch would be making noises up there without anyone to activate the sensor. So that was pretty freaky.”

Context:

“ I work at a motorcycle gear store. We sell helmets, gear, tires, parts, just stuff like that. But it’s kind of a known thing that our location is haunted. It’s right near OldTown so that area has a lot of history and we have an upstairs area that we just use for storage, all the empty helmet boxes we have up on the giant wall and stuff. Our holiday decorations are up there and there will be times when coworkers hear footsteps up there and there’s no one. “

Analysis:

The informant specifies that this location is rumored to be haunted, and that odd things happen all the time. However, he seems to recall more minor auditory hauntings such as footsteps and was shocked by this occurrence. Especially with the addition of the physical change in the witch’s location, the informant clearly viewed this as an escalation, not a maintenance of the store’s folklore. 

The actions of ghosts is often linked to changes in ownership or the physical wellbeing of a home, but ownership and occupancy of a store is a more difficult matter. Though the store is located in the Oldtown part of the informant’s city, and he believes that it’s history influenced the presence of ghosts in the area, metropolitan ghosts do not fit the stereotypical view of ghosts. In a lot of memorates, they are tied to ancestral homes or worn down locations, not capitalist chains that are highly organized. Therefore, the appearance of any ghost here is notable. 

In addition, the escalation described happened at a very auspicious time, on the day after Halloween (All Saint’s Day and Dia de los Muertos). This is a time where it is commonly believed that the veil between the living and dead, or the earthly and the spiritual, is lifted. It is possible that the events or the informant’s perception of these events, were enhanced by the recent holiday and transition between months. 

La Diablesse

AGE: 20

Date of performance: 04/03/2025

Language: English

Nationality: American

Occupation: Student 

Primary Language: English 

Title- La Diablesse 

Context- C shares a Trinidadian legend that he was told by his grandmother growing up—the legend of La Diablesse. C says that La Diablesse is a beautiful woman that has one cow hoof hiding underneath her dress. She aims to lure men, representing temptation and danger within Caribbean culture. 

Analysis- Legends are a sub-genre of the narrative genre of folklore, holding some element of truth that is not confirmed or denied. La Diablesse is a legend because she represents a part of the culture in Trinidad as they are very spiritually motivated. The legend of La Diablesse reminds me of Mexico’s La Llorona, both being legendary, beautiful women that seek attention while representing elements of their cultures. This is a telling sign of folklore—variations of similar genres amongst different regions and cultures.

Haunted Apartment Complex

Nationality: American
Age: 53
Occupation: Escrow Officer
Residence: Orange County, California
Language: English

STORY:

“I used to live in an apartment complex that was supposedly haunted. I guess there was a stabbing there, with some guy stabbing his wife. I don’t remember if the stabbing happened or not, but I had neighbors who would say that they would see the wife walking in the halls. They said she must be searching for her husband so she could get revenge. I never saw anything, but my neighbors swore they did.”

CONTEXT:

The informant heard this legend when she was younger. She lived in a lower-income apartment complex, which she stated did not have very well kept infrastructure. She heard this legend mainly from neighborhood kids, and she has never double checked if a stabbing had actually occurred.

ANALYSIS:

This legend is an example of an injustice haunt. Many ghost stories originate from an injustice being committed against someone or many people. In this case, a woman was murdered and now she is dedicated to getting revenge on her killer. These stories come about due to people’s desire to see justice for an atrocity, and this is no different. The location being a lower-income apartment complex also adds to the legend. There is an element of systemic neglect that would drive people to focus more on spiritual concerns that they can have more influence over. When people feel neglected by the present world, as the rundown complex would imply, they tend to embrace spirituality which is an area they may feel heard. This ghost story could be a component of this.

Ghost at The Casino

Nationality: American
Age: 24
Occupation: Client Relationship Specialist
Residence: Orange County, California
Language: English

STORY:

“So when I worked at The Casino, we all believed the place was haunted. Chairs and stuff would just fall over after we stacked them, and we would hear like weird noises and creaking too. And it wasn’t just us who thought it was haunted too. We would have customers say something too while planning their wedding. And like the other employees who worked there before me would say so to any new hire.”

CONTEXT:

The Casino is a very old venue in San Clemente that the informant worked at when she was a teenager. She had several strange experiences that aligned with the building’s supposed haunting.

ANALYSIS:

This legend has a few traits that align with literature about ghost legends. First, the venue being for weddings imbues it with spiritual importance. Weddings are one of the three most momentous occasions in a person’s life, often signaling their ascension to adulthood. Thus, hauntings could be seen as a potential concern when planning a wedding. Next, the building itself is very old. Old buildings are seen as having a long history that is often troubled. If this were the case, it would be seen as more likely that the building is haunted. Lastly, it is an example of work folklore. This means that it could be seen as a unifying belief amongst the workers who all get to take part in this legend together. Uniting all these components together is a collection of memorates. When people experience strange occurrences that they cannot explain, people often turn to ghosts to account for the experience.

Disneyland Ghost

Nationality: American
Age: 24
Occupation: Client Relationship Specialist
Residence: Orange County, California
Language: English

STORY:

“There’s a legend at Disneyland that the Haunted Mansion ride is actually haunted. People say that sometimes people will sneak ashes of their loved ones into the park, then get on the Haunted Mansion, and while on the ride dump the ashes. I think the legend said it started with a couple who poured their child’s ashes because their kid always wanted to go to Disneyland. And the kid’s spirit just haunts the ride now along with the other people’s ashes.”

CONTEXT:

The informant is very involved in Disneyland news and has heard many legends about the park. She does not know exactly who she heard this legend from, but says it must have been from a TikTok account that she follows.

ANALYSIS:

Theme park hauntings are a fairly common urban legend. These locations are heavily associated with children and innocence, which drives many people to search for some hidden dark history within the park. This story is unique because often the park is haunted due to some unfortunate accident in its past, however in this case the park is being haunted by a child who never got to go there. This could be seen as a type of injustice haunting where the child gets to correct the injustice of being unable to go to Disneyland by remaining at the park after death. It is also interesting that the center of the haunting is the Haunted Mansion ride. The ride is seen as having some spiritual significance due to its subject matter, so it makes sense that a grieving parent would want to put their child’s ashes there.