Tag Archives: ghosts

Ghost Story – Rhode Island

Nationality: French-American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Groton Long Point, CT
Performance Date: March 3, 2008
Primary Language: English

“At school there is this story that has been circulating through my school about this ghost that is on our campus.  Apparently, there is a chef that used to work at the Salve Regina but died mysteriously a few decades ago.  Ever since then many students and teachers have claimed to see the chef at many different times.  Usually they see him around the kitchen or cafeteria.  In most cases it is after the cafeteria is closed that people will hear things coming from the kitchen.  Then someone will see a tall chef’s hat and a fat man in an apron often holding a meat cleaver.  The chefs that work on campus nowadays don’t wear chef’s hats.  My teacher claimed to see the chef one time.  He said one night he was walking past this hall near the cafeteria where there are absolutely no windows or doors and at the very end of it there is a payphone.  As he was walking past the hall the payphone rang, so he walked all the way down to the other end of the hall to answer it.  When he picked the phone up, there was nothing but static, so he hung up.  Then the phone rang again so he picked it up and there was static again.  He was wondering what was happening and when he turned around and looked down the hall he saw the chef standing at the other end holding a meat cleaver in hand.  He immediately hung up the phone and when he turned around again the chef was gone.”

My friend Andrew told me this story when he first got to school last year.  Salve Regina University is located in Newport, Rhode Island and all of the dorms and classrooms, including the cafeteria, are in old 18th and 19th century mansions that were owned by immensely wealthy individuals.  The school itself houses an immense amount of ghost stories, with this one being only one of hundreds.  Andrew grew up in Connecticut and then chose to go to school in Newport, RI two years ago.  He said that he heard this story from his teacher his first semester he was at school which was the fall of 2006.  According to Andrew, it is a part of the culture at Salve Regina to ask about the history of the school and to ask older students and teachers about the ghost stories that they have either experienced or heard.

Andrew told me that his teacher strongly believed that he saw the chef’s ghost and that there have been a number of other sightings of the chef although Andrew has yet to see a ghost.  I don’t think that this takes away from the credibility of the story however.  Ghost stories have long been part of a rich tradition in New England, and there are some schools more than others that often have such lore associated with them.  The appearances of ghosts and the general notion of ghosts allude to the fact that a person must believe in some form of life after death.  Therefore, this questions a person’s beliefs.  Also because this story takes place in the real world and could be true, I would classify this ghost story as a legend.

Ghosts have been popularized in cultures for hundreds of years.  Examples can be taken from Mexico with the day of the dead festival and from Shakespeare’s plays that date back to the late 1500s.  In modern times, movies such as “Casper” have portrayed ghosts as friendly creatures while other movies such as “Ghostbusters” where the main characters are fighting off evil ghosts.  I do not believe that what this teacher saw was influenced at all by these modern concepts of ghosts, however I do believe that the culture of the school makes people keener to be on the lookout for such appearances.

Ghost Story/Joke – Maryland

Nationality: Jewish-American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Potomac, MD
Performance Date: March 30, 2008
Primary Language: English

“Ok, so this really happened to me one night when I was babysitting for these children.  It was the middle of winter and I was sitting in the family’s house, and in Maryland in winter it’s pretty cold, and it had snowed heavily the night before.  I was sitting on the couch and I was watching TV with the kids but their parents had told me that they should be put to bed by ten o’clock so I helped them into their beds and continued watching TV.  The TV room was positioned as such so that the couch I was sitting on was facing the TV and there was this glass sliding door to my left.  So I was in the middle of watching a movie and I look outside and I see this really old looking man standing in the snow outside and he appeared to be holding what looked like a sickle, like for cutting grain.  So immediately I start freaking out, I’m thinking where are the kids and I hide under my blanket and call 911.  The police answer and I tell them that there is this old man standing outside my door with a sickle and they say that they’ll be right over.  About 5 minutes or so later they arrive but there are no footprints outside or any whereabouts to the location of the man.  Then the police show me a trail of muddy footprints leading through the house and right behind the couch and they told me, ‘Sir you are very lucky.  The man you saw standing outside was a reflection in the door.  He was actually standing right behind you’.”

After Zach tells this story he then says that he actually made it all up and that it isn’t true.  That is how he said it is supposed to be told.  Zach says that he does not remember where he learned the tale but that he has been telling it for probably a little under five years now.  He said that the best time to tell the story is typically late at night when there is a group gathering of less than ten people and he said he likes to tell it with the lights off.  This all adds to the spooky suspense of the story.  He said to tell the story, one can add specifics to make it sound even more believable, and perhaps change the hometown depending on where the person is from.  He also said it is good to tell it in a living room, especially if there is a glass door and it is night time.

The whole point of telling the story is to lead the audience on long enough to make them think that you are actually telling a scary story, when the whole time you are just leading up to a trick ending.  I am not sure where or what category this fits into folklore, however, it seems to be a mix between a joke, ghost story, and legend.  The reason that it is so believable is the amount of detail that the teller puts into the story itself.  I also believe that popular culture has had an effect on the degree of how frightening the story is.  Movies such as “I Know What You Did Last Summer” and “Scream” depict characters with hooks killing people in their own homes.  Although I don’t know the origin of the story I would venture to say that it was inspired by ideas from movies such as these.

Ghost Story

Nationality: Panamanian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Denver, CO
Performance Date: April 25, 2008
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

Folk Belief- Ghosts: Penelope

Penelope is the resident ghost at the University Apartments in apartments 3a and 4a. Warnings of encountering this ghost are passed down from apartment to apartment every year. Murphy’s story goes as stated:

“On the first week of school, I went into the bathroom and I proceeded to put my boxers and clothes on top of the toilet. I got out of the shower and found my clothes on the floor with the bathroom toilet seat up. Take in mind that none of my roommates were here and the bathroom door is locked. So then I went to wash my clothes and I put my clothes into the washer. When my clothes were done I started to put them in the dryer and I noticed there was a lacey blue pair of panties in my laundry. Disturbed, I put them in the trash can. When I got my clothes out the dryer, I folded them and noticed another pair of lacey blue panties in my laundry. So I shut the dryer and left my clothes and ran upstairs. That was Penelope.”

I found Murphy’s interpretation of Penelope to be full of comedic relief from a type of folk belief that is usually deemed as scary. I believe this ghost story can be used as a marker of identification. Students on Xavier’s campus may start to know Murphy as “the person who has encountered a ghost or the person who can tell good ghost stories.”  This ghost story can also be used as a right of passage for new roommates who will move into apartments 3a and 4a. Former residents will determine whether the new residence of 3a and 4a can become a part of the Penelope group, by testing to see if they have come in contact with Penelope.

Ghost Story – Singapore

Nationality: Singaporean
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 12, 2008
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English

“I feel that there are a lot more ghosts and scary stuff in Asia, then there is in the states. It’s because most of the buildings here in LA are newer, and don’t have so much history. Whereas in South East Asia, just walking around the streets at night I really can really fear it. You just sense that fear a lot more, whereas here I simply just don’t get the chills. Like in my boarding school in Singapore. I woke up once in the middle of the night and our room for some reason it looked like a lab, like a science lab. And then this fat guy walked in, he was a soldier. And he was walking around our room. When I saw him I thought SHIT don’t come to me. Next thing I knew I felt very cold and I saw that he was standing at my bed. I pretended to sleep and was lying on my stomach. He kept leaning over trying to see my face and called “Alex!” and wave. I just ignored him. Suddenly I could feel his hands pressing down on my shoulders, it was SO COLD. I was trying to call out to my friend “Sam! Sam!” but I couldn’t scream loud I felt paralysed, it was a strange feeling. Suddenly I was able to break free and I said “SAM!” and I woke her up. She said she heard me the first time I called her but said she thought I was dreaming. That proves exactly that I was not asleep. To make matters worse, all along I knew that my school was and old Hospital during World War 2”.

As far as my informant is concerned, this story is 100% true. Having grown up in Singapore myself, I know that the idea of ghosts, especially wandering Spirits is a belief that is not questioned at all. This informant is an example of a Singaporean that despite being very exposed to contemporary western culture, where most of the people are sceptical, this story to her greatly affects her belief system on what she believes regarding human life, the afterlife, and whatever comes in between. I would further like to include in this analysis the following quotes from my informant:

“When I’m in LA I don’t sense the wandering spirits, but in places like London where all the buildings are old, I already sense that chill. It gives me a feeling of fear and I am automatically reminded that there are spirits here”

“There is definitely a war going on between angels and demons going on here on earth. Only those who have a third eye can see it”.

I would also like to add that in Singapore, although many people have adopted Christianity, they still do not denounce the idea of wandering spirits but instead incorporate this into their Christian beliefs, that is they would say that sin is all around us and that they often come in the form of spirits. This story and stories like these are not told on any particular occasion, but instead count as normal life experience, not necessarily everyday, as paranormal encounters are not frequent. Another quote I would like to add from my informant:

“My friend sees them all the time and is completely used to it. Sometimes we are sitting in the living room and she looks and my grandfather clock and says she sees an old man in there dressed in an old-fashioned suit. We told my mother, she thinks its just the clock maker”.

Although I grew up in Singapore, it is only my mother that is Singaporean whilst my father is actually German and thus I integrated a lot with the western community when I was growing up. However when I entered the Singapore military, the basic military training camp was said to be extremely haunted. There were countless stories of spirits walking around the soldiers’ bunks at night. What I found interesting was that our superiors never denied any of the stories. For an example, many instances where someone brought in a snack that was barbecued pork, a popular dish in Singapore, a ghost would always appear at night to the person who possessed it. Our superiors simply said “Do not bring pork in, just don’t do it”. I explain to you this story because I found it very peculiar that military superiors, who need to ensure that you get your 7 hours sleep between full days of rigorous training, would want to put thoughts like that in your head. What I did not understand was that denying something like that is an abstract idea to them. Therefore they simply insisted that you follow certain abstract practices or rules to ensure that you get your 7 hours sleep and pass through your basic military training time as soon as possible.

To refer back to my informant’s story, I have heard many similar stories to this, and particularly in Singapore they often involve themes of the Second World War, the Japanese Occupation, and the torturing of the prisoners of war.

Ghost Story – Santa Maria, California

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Santa Maria
Performance Date: April 28, 2008
Primary Language: English

Ghost Story

The Haunted Auditorium – Santa Maria, CA

“My school is over 100 years-old and one of the original buildings is still standing: Ethel Pope Auditorium. I don’t know the exact year, ballpark—probably 50-60 years ago. There was play going on in the auditorium on a rainy night and on the way there, a high school girl performer got in a car crash and died on the way.

Somehow that night, she was still in the play, performing even though she was dead. Now sometimes during plays at night you can see her up on the catwalk above the stage, sometimes when you look up. You can see blood dripping off her head from the car crash.

I haven’t seen this, but here is definitely creepy shit going on in that building. Just weird things. There’s major temperature changes, hot some places cold in others. Then the lights will turn on and off sometimes and the doors would mysteriously open and close.  I think some of the people who run lights have seen stuff. Some people hear whispers or feel touches.

She’s not necessarily haunting; she’s just there. I’ll admit, it’s scary being in there by yourself. It’s just a huge empty building—there’s always weird stuff. It’s an eerie feeling. Girls for sure don’t go in there by themselves. Its fun to take other people to creep them out, though.”

Haunted house stories are always best when they’re local. I live near Santa Maria, and after telling me this story, Antonio has promised to take me to Ethel Pope.  Because of the details about the temperature changes and whispers, I’ll probably be on the lookout for them, and since all old buildings are drafty and make noises, I will surely be rewarded—and terrified.

The key to a story like this is the victim—given her age and gender, this story is all the more scary to me because I can relate to her. Also, because the speaker admitted his fear, the whole story becomes more real and scary. By saying girls “for sure don’t go in there by themselves” also hints at more danger that I could run into.

The only thing missing in this tale is a motive for the ghost to be hanging around the auditorium .