Tag Archives: ghost

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. 

Leyenda de la Mujer de Blanco en la Pérgola

Age: 21

Folk Narrative: Legend 

Text: Leyenda de la Mujer de Blanco en la Pérgola (Legend of the Woman in White at the Pergola)

“It all started in the early 1900s. The Johnson family came to Los Mochis, Sinaloa, and founded the city. It was just a few families and a very rural town. The Johnsons came in and built the city. In the city, there is a very famous hill, and at the bottom is a cemetery that the Johnsons founded. They call it Cerro de la Memoria, which comes from Memorial Hill. The story goes that at one of the parties they would throw at the park at the hill, a lady was dancing and a man was attracted to her. So he approaches her and politely asks to dance. She accepts, and they dance for a while. It gets late, so he takes her home, and it becomes very chilly at night, so he gives her his jacket. He drops her off at her house and leaves her his jacket with the excuse that he will come back for it. The next day, he goes to her house and knocks at the door, and an older woman answers. The gentleman asks if she has seen the young lady, and the older woman says, no but he should come in. They sit down, and she tells him that what he is saying can’t be real because that young woman was her daughter, who had passed away a couple of years ago. They proceed to go to the cemetery and see his jacket on the cross on top of the woman’s grave. Now, whenever a party is at the bottom of the hill, they say she might appear dancing or waiting for someone to ask her to dance”.

Context: When asked, my informant told me that he knows this legend by heart. It is a legend that all of his town knows and children learn at a young age. He said he doesn’t remember when he first heard it, but it was at his elementary school from the teachers or from one of his mom’s friends. He let me know that its setting is in the city’s first cemetery that still stands today, so it is a landmark legend for all the area’s inhabitants. He mentioned that everybody has been to that hill and knows to look out for the Woman in White may appear. My informant mentioned that when the narrative is told at a social gathering, everybody jumps in to correct the plot or to give their opinion on what happened, even coming up with their own names for the woman, and experiencing chills. When asked why people continue telling this story, he mentioned that it brings the community together. Los Mochis is a small town, so people rely on each other for entertainment, one of which is storytelling. When asked how he interprets this narrative, my informant mentioned that the community lives for the thrill of knowing that maybe one day they can see the Woman in White and experience a supernatural encounter. It also served as a way to warn people not to be out late at night because they may stumble into the undead. 

Analysis: Looking at this narrative, we can see that it fits the properties of a legend by taking place in the ‘real world’ in this case, Los Mochis, Sinaloa, and having a truth value dependent on whether someone believes in it or not. For the community of Los Mochis, there is a widespread understanding that this happened. However, until somebody is able to prove it, it remains a legend. Another legend that this narrative fits into is its overlap with history. My informant actually started the narrative by giving historical context to set the legend in our place and time. It makes it more believable and establishes what people believe. The community does not wonder if the legend is true because that is not what is essential. Instead, what matters is the relationship it builds by connecting the inhabitants of Los Mochis to a legend that overlaps with their daily lives. My informant’s experience also relates to the Friend of a Friend (FOAF) principle that we tend to believe things when they come from people in our inner circle. Because the legend of the Woman in White is so localized, those who tell it are all familiar with each other and most likely trust each other’s words for it. 

Haunted 4th Floor

Age: 21
Language: English

“I remember being told this story by my 9th-grade Spanish teacher. The story goes that sometime in the 80s or 90s there was a janitor who got super obsessed with one of the cheerleaders. He ended up stalking her and talking to her any time he saw her. After school one day, when she was alone, he asked her for help with something on the 4th floor. He ended up killing her, scalping her, then leaving her body on the 4th floor. Legend says that now it’s haunted because they left her body up there, which is why it was also boarded up and no one is allowed to go up there”. 

[Why would you hear this type of story from your Spanish teacher? Do you believe it?]

“It wasn’t just me she told it to, but the whole class during a kind of like Halloween storytime thing that she did every year. The scalping thing was something I heard from someone else. I’m not sure if it actually happened, but I could believe that someone could have died in our school at some point.” 

Analysis: 

Due to the inclusion of the years 80s/90s, we know that this particular story must have emerged from around that time or after (terminus ante quem), and that it could possibly have originated from this particular Spanish teacher. The legend is part of a larger, yearly ritual where she creates a more laid-back environment for her students during Halloween by telling stories. I think this story has succeeded in its purpose to have fun and bring students together due to the variation and addition of students creating their own theories and parts of the story (like the addition of the girl possibly being scalped). Besides this, in a more serious sense, it serves as a warning to incoming female students entering high school about the dangers that exist in the world.
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