Tag Archives: ghost

Cemetery Etiquette

Nationality: Chinese-American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Oakland, CA
Performance Date: April 22, 2018
Primary Language: English
Language: Cantonese and Mandarin

Main Piece:

The following is transcribed from a conversation between the performer (HH) and I (ZM).

HH: When we go to the cemetery to visit our dead relatives. You, you can… well I feel like this is American too. You can never step on the tombstone of another person. And I did that once and my dad…

ZM: Uh oh.

HH: No, no I didn’t stepped on her tombstone, my hat flew on her tombstone and my dad threw away my hat and he made me apologize to the dead person.

ZM: Just your hat?

HH: Yeah. And he literally threw it away. Like, you touched dead, you touched someone’s… like a dead person’s tombstone.

ZM: But like, if it was like your relative that you’re visiting and you like touched it like in an endearing way…Is it still bad to touch the tombstone?

HH: I don’t think so… No, like if it’s an endearing way then not. Like it was just like me, like it was a stranger like…It was me sort of like disrespecting the dead and I literally had to… He literally had to um make me apologize to her like… He was saying like, “She’s just a little kiiiid. Don’t haunt us.” Like that kind of thing. Like, when you go to cemetery you don’t want the dead to follow you back.

 

Context: This is from a conversation I started with HH about her Chinese culture.

 

Background: HH was born in China and raised in Oakland, CA. Both of her parents are Chinese, and they speak limited English. She is a sophomore studying at the University of Southern California.

 

Analysis: I thought this practice was kind of extreme. I understand not wanting to disrespect the dead by stepping on their graves, but just a hat hitting the tombstone doesn’t seem like enough to cause harm in my opinion.

 

 

 

 

Halcyon House (Washington D.C.) History

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Washington, D.C.
Performance Date: 10 April 2018
Primary Language: English

Transcription: “I don’t know how substantial this actually is but there is a haunted house with 13 different spirits. The house is called Halcyon, and it was built in the late 1700s by a Revolutionary War veteran. He died in debt and is seen looking out over the Potomac River with a telescope waiting for his good fortunes to come up the river.”

My informant is a tour guide in Washington, D.C. One stop on his tour is an old house rumored to be haunted. The building is a residential property, therefore, my informant has never been inside the property himself, only heard the stories required as part of the city tour. The residential property is known as Halcyon House and it is intrinsically connected to American history. The property was built close to the Potomac River in 1787 by a Revolutionary War veteran. Instead of fulfilling the newly established “American dream,” the owner died in debt. Since the ghost stories take place in a real world setting and involve a historical figure, they fall under the category of legend.

Most major cities are built near water to provide access to trade. The Potomac River opens up Washington D.C. to trade with other cities, thus the river was reasonably associated with wealth and trade. The ghost of the Revolutionary War veteran is said to be seen looking out over the Potomac River with a telescope in the hopes that he will see wealth on the horizon.

A common theme in ghosts stories is that the ghosts remain trapped in the physical world because of unresolved regrets. The ghost story of the Revolutionary War veteran fits into this theme, possibly to provide an explanation for the spirit sighting or to romanticize the tragic failures of a man who fought for our country’s independence.

I was surprised when I learned that the house remains a residential property. As a historical landmark and spiritual haven for ghosts, the owners are living out a legend in more than one way.

 

Roosevelt Hotel Ghost Story

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Arizona, United State. Used to live in California.
Performance Date: 7 April 2018
Primary Language: English

Transcription: “I once was attacked by a ghost…I was staying at a haunted hotel with my girlfriend. I was asleep and something grabbed my arm. I think it was the Roosevelt in L.A. around midnight.”

This collection is a ghost story, which falls under the category of a legend since the story takes place in a real world setting. When I asked my informant if he had any folk stories to share, he quickly responded that he “was attacked by a ghost.” The setting is important to this story since my informant and his girlfriend chose to spend the night in a supposedly haunted hotel. The Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, California is known for its ghost sightings.

The time that the event took place is also a key part of the story. Most people, I would argue, feel less comfortable at night than during the day time. Moreover, the night is supposed to be the time most ghost activity takes place. The timing of my informants “ghost attack” at midnight follows with the traditional ghost legend.

My informant started his story dramatically by saying he was “attacked by a ghost.” His wording was intended to intrigue the listener and pique their curiosity in the story. Ironically, the meaning behind “attacked” was really “grabbed.” He likely exaggerated the violence of the situation to communicate the surprise he felt at the time.

The Roosevelt Hotel’s reputation as a haunted hotel could have contributed to my informant creating a preconceived idea of what would happen during his visit. Since he knew of the hotel’s history, he could have interpreted any unexpected movement or sound as a ghost. For example, his girlfriend could have bumped his arm while he was sleeping, but his fear could have translated the movement into a ghost sighting.

 

Haunted House Tale

Nationality: English
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: NY
Performance Date: April 10, 2018
Primary Language: English

Nicolette’s parents are fascinated by ghosts and purposefully bought a house that is haunted by the ghost of a previous owner who hung herself in it. They say that they regularly experience “chills” or the feeling of a spirit passing through their bodies at the same time when they are in the same room.

Haunted Photo Development

Nationality: American
Age: 26
Occupation: Status Coordinator at Walt Disney World
Residence: Orlando, Florida
Performance Date: 3/8/2018
Primary Language: English

Informant Info: The informant is a 26-year-old female who was born in raised in Hickory, North Carolina. For the past 3 years, she has lived in Orlando, Florida and has worked for Walt Disney World as a Status Coordinator.

 

Interview Transcript:

 

Interviewer: Have you ever had anything strange happen to you, like stuff you can’t really explain?

 

Interviewee: We actually did have a “ghost” in the dark room in photography class in high school. they called it the boohag! (Laughter) Anytime something would go wrong with a print in the wash stage of developing, they blamed it on the ghost — Because you literally just let your print sit in the water and nothing should ever happen to it in that stage.

 

Interviewer: Do you have any idea where the story of the boohag comes from? Is there any background to it?

 

Interviewee: Mrs. Gow, the photography teacher, started it to scare students into not taking her class for an easy elective. She only wanted students that were dedicated to photography and art.

 

Interviewer: So it was completely made up? Or did you ever have any experiences with it personally?

 

Interviewee: Well, it happened to me and a friend in the smaller darkroom one time when we were by ourselves and we purposely ruined our prints by opening the door before they were done because there were these creepy knocks on the wall going back and forth and then there was a dragging noise from one wall to the next and it was literally the most terrifying thing. We opened the door into an intro to art class of all freshman with the most horrified looks on our faces and no one knew what was going on. To this day, I think the boohag was actually a real ghost.

 

Analysis:

This story has all the motifs that a typical ghost usually contains. The story is set in a darkroom, which is a room with no light and is usually quiet and isolated. It can be argued that the dark room is a liminal space. I find it interesting that she mentions the teacher completely made up the ghost, but then that she later had an experience of “creepy knocks” and “dragging.” Since the ghost is made up, it could just be old pipes or a rodent in the walls that scared her… or maybe there really is a ghost! It is also worth noting that there are other stories of a “boohag” ghost, such as the one documented here: http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2010/05/boo_hag.html, but the stories are radically different and likely don’t share any connection other than the name.