Tag Archives: ghost

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.

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.