Tag Archives: ghost

Ax Man

Text: “I had this story about an Ax Man I was told at summer camp when I was younger if that’s a legend. It was about this guy who had an ax and apparently hid in the woods behind the cabin in the back corner, cabin 13, and one night he axed through the roof and killed the campers and you could allegedly hear the campers scream on the rock by the cabin even still I got told it when I was a first year camper and it scared me a lot. I was always scared every year I would get placed in that cabin and I never walked back towards it.”

Context: The informant recounts a spooky story he heard at summer camp about an “Ax Man” who hid in the woods behind Cabin 13. The informant remembers hearing this as a first year camper, and it made him terrified of Cabin 13.

Analysis: The “Ax Man” taps into fears of being isolated in a scary place, especially at night. The idea of hearing the screams of past victims makes the story creepier, adding lingering danger. The informant’s fear of Cabin 13 shows how stories can stay with you, even influencing where you choose to go or avoid at camp.

Haunted Lake Lanier

Age – 20
Language – English
Nationality- American
Occupation – Student
Primary Language – English
Residence – Atlanta

Text: “Lake Lanier is a lake north of Atlanta and its man made but before it was a lake it was a moonshine town. It was a predominantly black town, but these developers said they were building a lake here and you have two lakes to evacuate the area because after that we’re flooding the area. Not everyone so a lot of people drowned in the lake when it got flooded. If you go deep enough into the lake you can see old buildings and the old town was called Oscarville and it was flooded in 1912. Everyone believes Lake Lanier is haunted and nothing good happens there, you don’t go there because people have found bodies there and there’s a belief if you swim in the lake you can feel people touching your ankles and will try to pull you down and drag you under.”

Context:
The informant talks about Lake Lanier, a lake just north of Atlanta, where he lives. Before it was flooded to create the lake, the area was a black town called Oscarville, and many people drowned when they were forced to evacuate.

Analysis: The idea of the lake being haunted by those who drowned reflects a cultural trauma. It’s about the spirits of a town that was forced to disappear. The belief that people can still feel the touch of those lost in the water shows how history and folklore intersect, making this lake a combination of both real and supernatural danger.

A Ghostly Encounter (Ghost Story)

Informant’s Story:
My informant shared a ghost story their dad has told since they were in kindergarten. “My dad was hired for a freelance construction job at a hotel, with compensation offered as an unlimited bar tab instead of cash. As he worked late into the night, a man who appeared to be part of the hotel staff served him drinks. Upon finishing the job, the worker thanked him, saying, ‘Thanks for helping my hotel.’ Later, when speaking with the hotel manager, my dad mentioned the drinks he’d received, only to learn that the hotel had no alcohol available that night. Confused, my dad pointed to a painting on the hotel wall, identifying the server. The manager, astonished, explained the painting depicted the hotel’s original owner, who had been deceased for over 40 years.”

Context:
This story was first introduced to my informant in kindergarten by their father, who regularly recounted it throughout their childhood. My informant vividly recalls the fascination and mystery surrounding this tale, noting the profound impact of hearing it from a trusted source like their father. This familial narrative holds special significance because it merges supernatural elements with personal and familial experience, creating a deep connection to the story that transcends mere entertainment.

Analysis:
At its core, this ghost story conveys powerful themes of reciprocity, karma, and moral responsibility. The informant strongly resonates with the lesson their father emphasized through the narrative: “If you take care of something, someone or something will take care of you.” The ghost’s gratitude and mysterious provision of drinks symbolizes the reciprocal nature of kindness, suggesting a deeper cosmic or moral balance at play. The informant interprets this as a powerful statement on karma: good intentions and actions inevitably result in positive outcomes.

Additionally, the informant highlighted a nuanced understanding of life’s interconnectivity, noting, “For every twenty dollars you find, someone has lost twenty dollars.” This insight demonstrates the story’s deeper exploration of life’s ethical and existential complexities. They also linked this lesson metaphorically to contemporary global issues such as climate change, further illustrating the story’s enduring relevance. Ultimately, the tale serves as a reflective medium, prompting listeners to consider deeper ethical responsibilities and interconnectedness in their everyday actions.

The Legend of Elias White (Ghost Story)

Informant’s Retelling:
“It all began in the dense, foggy woods of Bass Lake, a place so quiet you could hear your own heartbeat echoing through the trees. Legend has it that many years ago, a slave named Elias White escaped into these woods, never to return. Elias was a big man, known for his piercing white eyes that seemed to glow in the dark. Some said he had a gift for seeing things others couldn’t—things that weren’t meant to be seen.

One cold October night, Elias vanished. The slave owner searched for days. When they caught him, he was hung. A group of young campers watched from the brush. Elias, hanging from a tree branch, staring at the hikers, screeched in a strangled voice: ‘The forest keeps what it takes.’

The woods became a forbidden place after that. People whispered about strange lights flickering between the trees and an eerie voice that called out to anyone who dared enter. But the most terrifying part? Those who ventured too far into Bass Lake claimed they saw two glowing white eyes watching them from the shadows.

Fast forward to a summer night not too long ago. A group of teenagers, much like you guys, decided to test the legend. They laughed off the warnings, armed with flashlights and bravado, and headed into the forest. As they ventured deeper, the air grew colder, the trees seemed to close in, and a strange silence fell over the group.

Then, they heard it—a low, raspy whisper. At first, it sounded like the wind, but the words became clear: ‘The forest keeps what it takes.’

Panic set in, but when they turned to leave, they realized the path they came from had vanished. The forest had shifted, trapping them in its maze. One by one, their flashlights began to flicker and die. And then, they saw him.

Standing between the trees was a figure cloaked in shadows, his glowing white eyes piercing through the darkness. He didn’t move, but the teens could feel his presence, heavy and suffocating, as if the forest itself was breathing down their necks.

One of the teens, desperate to escape, shouted, ‘What do you want from us?!’

The figure tilted its head, and in a voice that sounded like leaves crunching underfoot, it replied: ‘To see what you’ve seen.’

The next morning, the search party found the teens huddled together at the forest’s edge, pale and trembling. They were alive, but something had changed. Their eyes—every single one of them—had turned a ghostly white, glowing faintly in the sunlight. To this day, they refuse to speak of what they saw, but they all agree on one thing: ‘Elias White is still out there, watching, waiting… and the forest keeps what it takes.'”

Context:
My information first encountered this chilling legend at a summer camp, narrated by an older counselor around a nighttime campfire. The setting enhanced the story’s eerie effect, amplifying its emotional impact and embedding it deeply in their memory. According to them, counselors would often use the tale of Elias White as both entertainment and a subtle warning to campers not to stray into restricted or dangerous areas of the forest. My informant recounted that the legend served as a rite of passage among campers, marking their initiation into the collective camp culture and identity.

Analysis:
The legend of Elias White embodies classic motifs found in ghost stories—escape, pursuit, punishment, and enduring hauntings—and taps into broader themes of historical injustice, lingering guilt, and retribution. Elias’s ghost symbolizes unresolved historical traumas and the oppressive past of slavery, turning a personal tragedy into a supernatural warning.

This narrative structure effectively uses fear to reinforce community boundaries, functioning as both a cautionary tale and a mechanism for social control within the camp environment. The transformation of the teenagers’ eyes symbolically conveys a loss of innocence or an irreversible awareness of darker truths.

Additionally, the phrase “the forest keeps what it takes” alludes to nature’s dominion over humanity, reflecting anxieties around human vulnerability and the unknowable mysteries lurking just beyond civilization’s edge. Thus, the legend of Elias White persists not only as entertainment but as a potent reminder of historical injustices and the enduring power of folklore to express cultural anxieties and collective memories.

La Llorona

1. Text

This folk narrative, commonly known as La Llorona (“The Weeping Woman”), was told to me by my godmother (RS). It is a widely known legend in Latinx communities, especially in Mexico, where my godmother is from, and the American Southwest. This folk narrative is typically used to convey cautionary lessons about motherhood, morality, and the boundaries between the natural and supernatural worlds.

In RS’s version, the story centers on a beautiful woman who lived in a small village. She fell in love with a wealthy man who eventually abandoned her and their two children. Overcome by grief, rage, or desperation, the woman drowned her children in a river. Immediately after realizing what she had done, she was consumed by guilt, sorrow and regret. RS informed me that in some tellings, she dies shortly after; in others, she takes her own life; in some, she kidnaps children, trying to fill the hole in her heart she created for herself. Either way, her spirit is said to wander the earth, especially near rivers or bodies of water, crying out for her children with an echoing, haunting wail.

RS emphasized that La Llorona is not just a ghost story, but a living presence in cultural memory. She described how, growing up, children were warned not to stay out too late near rivers or creeks, or La Llorona would come for them. The legend was often shared at night, especially during family gatherings, both to entertain and to instill a sense of caution and reverence, especially among young ones.

2. Context

This version of La Llorona was shared with me in an informal interview with my godmother RS, who has known this story since childhood. She grew up hearing it from older relatives, particularly her mother and aunts, and she began telling it to her children once she became a mother. Though RS does not take the legend as seriously as some of her relatives do, RS sees the story as deeply embedded in her cultural heritage and tied to her identity as a Latina woman raised in a multigenerational household.

Although she told the story to me in English, she often codeswitched and used Spanish phrases, which she said carried a power that couldn’t be fully translated. She emphasized that while people often treat La Llorona as a ghost story, in her family, it was treated with seriousness and even fear. It functioned not just as entertainment, but as a warning and a moral guide. For RS, the story also served to express complex emotions—grief, betrayal, guilt, shame—and it offered a way to talk about family responsibility, the consequences of despair, and the spiritual costs of abandonment.

3. Interpretation

La Llorona is best classified as a legend—a narrative that blurs the line between truth and myth, often grounded in cultural beliefs and reinforced through oral tradition. It persists in multiple variants across Latin America and the United States, demonstrating its function as a flexible and powerful narrative form that adapts to its audience while retaining core themes.

The story functions on multiple levels. On the surface, it serves as a frightening tale used to discipline children and discourage risky behavior, particularly near dangerous places like rivers at night. However, on a deeper level, La Llorona speaks to societal anxieties surrounding motherhood, gender roles, and emotional repression. The mother’s transformation into La Llorona reflects both personal trauma and collective memory, turning individual grief into a communal warning.

In RS’s telling, the emotional core of the legend was emphasized more than its shock value. The tale becomes not just a punishment narrative, but a reflection on the dangers of abandonment—both being abandoned and abandoning others—and the lingering pain that unresolved loss can leave behind. This emotional resonance helps explain the legend’s persistence over generations.

The continued telling of La Llorona, whether in traditional and modern contexts, illustrates how folklore adapts to shifting cultural realities while preserving key ethical and emotional truths. RS’s version demonstrates that the legend is not a static artifact of the past, but a living narrative that continues to serve social, emotional, and pedagogical functions. Its survival speaks to its ability to evolve in form while remaining rooted in the cultural consciousness of those who tell and hear it.

Date of performance: 4/06/25
Language: English
Nationality: Mexican-American
Occupation: Retired
Primary Language: English
Residence: Monterey, CA