Tag Archives: ghost

The Exorcism

The informant told me this story in person, and said that her great great grandmother in Italy was praying in the upper level of the church, when the priest of the church and a little girl’s family came in to perform an exorcism on the little girl. The priest of the church even brought in an elder, higher ranked priest to help perform the exorcism. They said that it was a battle, and that the high-rank priest was exhausted psychologically and physically after.

ANALYSIS: The informant’s story has been passed down throughout her family and seen as a legend in the family, and believed to be true. This story falls in the category of being a ghost story, as well as family lore. This lore also has religious context, as the informant’s family is Catholic.

AGE: 24
Date: February 15th
Language: English
Nationality: Italian/White
Occupation: Student, Musician
Primary Language: English
Residence: Los Angeles

The Ghost Hand Story

The informant was sitting in his room with his siblings in San Diego, and was extremely ill in bed. He was praying that someone would take his pain away, and he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, which he says was a ghost that was haunting the house. He then started to feel better, and the family swears that there was a ghost in the room.

Date: February 21, 2025

Language: English

Nationality: White/Hispanic

Occupation: Father/Lawyer

Primary Language: English

Residence: California

Analysis: The informant lived in a very old house, which had lots of ghost stories that had been passed down from previous owners, with new stories being made within the informant’s family as they experienced new strange occurrences. This folklore is shared within the family to scare the new generations and also bond people together.

The Haunted Storage Space

The informant lived in a historical San Diego home, which had many stories about the prior owners. He told me this story verbally in person, and said that the owners reported strange activities in the downstairs closet of the home. There was a secret door inside the closet, which opens up to a small dark storage space. When the informant was a child, he and his siblings would light candles to see if anything happened. One day, the candle blew out by itself and he and his siblings ran away, and never went inside of the closet again. This story is now told in the family, and scary ghosts stories were passed down about what blew out the candle.

Age: 60

Date: February 24th 2025

Language: English

Nationality: White/Hispanic

Occupation: Lawyer, Father

Primary Language: English

Residence: California

Analysis: This story falls into the category of ghost-lore, and this story was shared within the informant’s family and among the siblings. It reinforces the belief of ghosts and has been used to scare different family members. This story has been passed down to younger generations, and the new owners of the house are also aware of strange occurrences.

Moisesito

Age: 20

Folk Narrative: Memorate 

Text: Moisesito 

“Growing up, I would visit my grandma’s friend’s house. One day, she handed me a toy teaset, and when I was trying to grab it (she had already let go of it), I felt a force pulling the teaset away from me. I specifically remember pulling it; something invisible was pulling it on the other side. I couldn’t pull it toward me until my grandmother’s friend yelled “aplácate ya” or “calm down now,” I could finally pull it. Then, the lights started flashing, and she again asked it to stop. I looked at her, confused, and she told me not to worry because that was Moisesito. Apparently, when he was two or three years old, he died in a car crash, and now he just stays at her house because she was his caregiver. He doesn’t harm anybody but does like playing tricks”. 

Context: My informant had this experience when she was in elementary school, visiting her grandmother’s friend’s house. She mentioned that the woman had asked her if she remembered Moisesito (implying that she had met him before), but she did not. When I asked her if she knew it was him, she said she had no idea and thought she wasn’t strong enough to pull it. She didn’t realize it was Moisesito until her grandmother’s friend told her not to be scared because it was just him playing tricks. She also mentioned that after this happened, her grandmother told her not to fear if she hears noises or other strange things happening because it’s just him. When asked if the existence of Moisesito was born from the grief of his loss, she told me she wasn’t sure but that her grandmother’s friend dreams of him often and sees him walking around. She believes that people who died in a tragic accident stay here until somebody helps them complete their pending last wishes. Because of this, they believe Moisesito is still active in this world. 

Analysis: Looking at this memorate, we can see how what may have been a simple matter of lack of strength was quickly addressed and named Moisesito. In this case, the story of Moisesito—a ghost child who died tragically and now resides in a caregiver’s home—emerges not from a community-wide legend, but from a deeply personal and intimate encounter that was later explained through familial belief. At the heart of this memorate is a moment of confusion and physical resistance: the informant attempts to take a toy tea set, only to feel an invisible force pulling it away. She initially interprets the situation as a mundane struggle—perhaps a lack of strength or clumsiness—but the caregiver immediately intervenes with a supernatural explanation, identifying the force as Moisesito. This recontextualization of the event is critical to understanding the memorate as a genre: an ordinary experience is interpreted through supernatural terms based on existing belief systems. The story is tied to a specific house, the caregiver, and a specific spiritual entity—Moisesito. The informant does not initially ascribe any supernatural quality to her experience; the narrative only takes on a spiritual dimension after being filtered through the caregiver’s worldview. This moment illustrates how memorates are shaped: the individual experiences something unusual, and cultural or familial frameworks help interpret it. The explanation that Moisesito died tragically and lingers in the house until his final wishes are fulfilled aligns with common folk beliefs across cultures that spirits of the dead, particularly those who died young or suddenly, remain in the liminal space between worlds. The familial responses further reinforce this framework. After the event, the informant’s grandmother validates the experience by telling her not to fear future encounters, solidifying Moisesito’s presence as a known and accepted figure within the household. 

The Man in Black

Age: 21

Folk Narrative: Memorate

Text: The Man in Black 

“The rancho (in Los Mochis, Sinaloa) we used to live in was owned by a middle-aged man before we bought it. He lived in a small house with his crops and cattle. He had a rifle, and one day, while he was cleaning it, he shot himself. It was a slow death because there was nobody there to help him, so he eventually bled to death. My dad then bought the rancho from his brother. Now, they call the man the Man in Black because you can only see his shadow when he appears. Our rancho was close to the rest of the town, so it was widespread knowledge that the Man in Black might appear. Years passed, and people said they sometimes see the Man in Black, just a shadow of a man walking around. In 2013, we celebrated my sister’s birthday party at the rancho. We were in the back of the truck, and I saw a shadow behind me. When we got home, I ran inside and told my mom what I had seen. My sister said she saw it too. My dad’s workers were inside the house, and they said not to worry because that was the Man in Black. I’ve seen him, my sister, brother, and dad’s workers have all seen him.” 

Context: When asked, my informant told me that this is an individual experience affecting only those connected with the rancho, yet it is widespread knowledge. He mentioned that when he first saw the shadow in 2013, he did not know what it was because nobody had told him until it happened. People knew about it because they were close enough in time to witness the man’s funeral. They all accept his existence and act normally around him. There is no curiosity about it because there is no purpose in looking for an explanation for what happened since it happened so long ago. People in the small town live complicated lives and need to worry about their crops, cattle, and next meal, so they don’t have time to worry about the Man in Black. My informant mentioned that these stories appear during parties or social gatherings, but not in day-to-day life. He noted that people need to focus on their survival so they are not bothered by him. When asked how he interprets this, my informant also mentioned that part of his culture in Los Mochis involves understanding entities and supernatural beings. The community believes some people are stuck in limbo and can’t pass on to the next life. They think the Man in Black stays around the property because that is all he knows. The entity does not understand ownership, so it cannot distinguish between its old rancho and the one that now belongs to my informant’s family. Being a very Catholic town, they grew up believing in the afterlife, and during uncertain moments of one’s existence in space and time, they resorted to less institutionalized beliefs. Because of this widespread understanding of these beings and the communal teachings of wishing them luck and light, the members of Los Mochis have peacefully co-lived with the Man in Black. 

Analysis: Looking at this narrative, we can see how it fits the criteria of a memorate. First, it is a personal story that my informant and his family experienced at different times. This reinforces that the encounter with the Man in Black is not just folklore passed through hearsay but something rooted in lived, personal memory. My informant is connected to the memorate by having ties to the rancho where the Man in Black died and still wanders. Additionally, it is rooted in a real-world place—Los Mochis, Sinaloa, and is tied to a specific, known individual’s death. It is grounded in firsthand experience and is not widespread or passed down enough to be considered a legend. However, it could become one. Because the figure has taken on well-known characteristics such as a shadowy presence and always wearing black, it suggests that the narrative could eventually develop into a legend. This memorate also reinforces the idea that ghost stories exist because people keep seeing ghosts. Others like my informant may see a shadow on or near the rancho and translate it into seeing the Man in Black because that is the widespread communal knowledge. This narrative also fits into the Friend of a Friend (FOAF) property because the family members are reassuring each other that what they saw was indeed the Man in Black. They continue believing this narrative by reinforcing the narrative amongst those closest to them.