Tag Archives: #ghoststories #ghosts #horror #childhoodtrauma #scary

Grandpa’s Voice

I was up late with my roommate and his friends and we were chatting about all sorts of things when I finally asked them if anything unusual had ever happened to him. My roommate said nothing while one of them, a 19 year old from Shanghai named K.H., told this chilling story. 

“So I was at my grandma’s house. I used to go over a lot just to keep her company because my grandpa had died so she was lonely and sad. Anyways so I was just sitting in the living room, scrolling through my phone, and out of nowhere I hear my name. Like, really clear. I froze, looked around, but there was no one there. I just kinda sat there, like, okay, whatever, maybe I’m just hearing things. So, I get up to grab my charger, and as I walk past the hallway, I swear, I see something move out of the corner of my eye. It was like a shadow, or maybe the way the light hit, but it was just… wrong. I don’t know. I honestly was too nervous to check so I ignored it, but the whole time I felt like someone was watching me. Then, right as I’m about to leave the kitchen, I hear my name again. This time, from the back of the house. Now this voice sounded exactly like my grandpa who had died. It was scary as hell so of course I quickly went into the living room where I found my grandma still sitting there, reading her book, completely calm. I didn’t say anything to her, but I swear it happened. I’m pretty sure it was the ghost of my grandpa. Or I’m just schizophrenic haha.” 

When K.H. finished, I didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t some crazy ghost story, just quiet, personal, and kinda eerie. My roommate shrugged like it was nothing, but it stuck with me. The part that got me was his grandma, just sitting there like nothing happened. Maybe she didn’t hear it. Or maybe she did.

El CuCuy

Informant: TH; Interviewer’s Sister

“So our parents, uncles, aunts- the elders in our family I should say- they would often tell the younger kids: ‘El Cucuy te va llevar si no te portas bien’. I thought it was really funny to like see these kids freak the fuck out over an imaginary character.”

Interviewer asks: “Can you, in your own words, explain who the Cucuy is?”

“Yeah so in a nutshell, he’s like the LatinAmerican version of the boogie man. Legend has it that he waits in the closet of naughty children. Or even, like, under their beds, and he waits for children to misbehave so he can take them.”

Interviewer asks: “Where does he take them?”

“How should I know? He scared the shit outa me.” *interviewee lets out a chuckle*

Transliteration: “The Cucuy you is take is no you behave good”

Translation: “The Cucuy will take you is you misbehave”

My Interpretation: This was just a way to scare kids into behaving and staying away from trouble. My family used to tell my sisters and I all the time, and we sometimes still do to the younger ones. It’s funny, but it’s also a way to scare kids into behaving. The most productive manner? No. But it did the trick!