Tag Archives: Haunted House

Friendly Ghost

Age: late 70s/early80s

Text:

In the mid 1950s my mom and dad were looking for a house. They get a tour of this house from Mr. P who is looking to sell because his wife recently died. During the showing, my mom wants to ask to look in the closet but she gets a weird feeling like she shouldn’t, a mental message that said “Don’t open the closet door”. Mr. P is also reluctant and not wanting to show them the closet. So she sends out a mental “Please let us see it, I just want to know how big it is.” and the feeling goes away and Mr. P says he guesses it’s all right. She looks in the closet to find suits and old dresses belonging to the dead wife. They buy the house and move in. One day, my mom is boiling water and she goes upstairs, forgetting about the water and some time later she hears three big bangs and runs back downstairs to find the water nearly boiled dry. Those sounds were, of course, Mrs. P warning her about her water so she wouldn’t destroy her house. Eventually the kids grow up and move into a new house. The new occupants of the house also hear strange things so they call my mom to ask if it’s haunted, she says yes it is but its only Mrs. P and she is very nice don’t worry.

Context:

My grandma told me this story that her mother sent her in a letter in the 1980s. It takes place in Washington state.

Analysis:

In the letter, my great grandma (grandma’s mom), says she recalls a couple other times where she did things like leave the water running and got the three big bangs again, because of this she believes Mrs. P didn’t think she was a very good housewife. In the letter she says that she believes the Bible is not clear about where spirits are until the second coming so it doesn’t surprise her that Mrs. P would be back in the house she loved. She also expressed surprise that the young lady who bought the house called their realtor to ask if it was haunted, she of course told them about Mrs. P being nice and helpful and guessed that the reason they felt Mrs. P might be because they were remodeling the house.

My grandma’s thoughts on this are that she completely believes her mother felt something as she herself, along with other family members, have also felt similar strange things in the past. 

It was very fun to learn that we have a “haunted house” story in our family, though it’s not a traditional haunting because Mrs. P seems like a very nice ghost. The reaction of my great grandma to having a ghost in her house is very fitting for the type of people my family are, she just accepted it, unafraid, and lived alongside the ghost. Even though she was religious, having mentioned the bible in her letter, my great grandma seemed completely open to the idea of having a “spirit” living in her house, not attempting to use the bible to explain it in any way. I found it interesting that the actions of the ghost and the explanation my great grandma gave line up almost exactly with what we learned in class (GESM 120, Ghost Stories – Throughout Time and Around the World). Mrs. P’s love for her house driving her ghost to remain to protect it makes a lot of sense and I believe this story has to have at least some aspect of truth to it because of that. Mrs. P can be seen as a representation of a true early 1900s housewife who devoted not only her life but also her afterlife to caring for her house. This story could serve as a lesson for young girls on how to properly run and care for a household, especially considering the time it happened.

Haunted House on Euclid and Hazard

Age: 19

Text: In her hometown within Orange County, this subject claims that there is a haunted house on a specific street corner (Euclid and Hazard) that has been vacant for years. According to the stories she’s been told about it, one fateful night a pregnant woman was fatally injured in some sort of car accident or physical assault (depends on who tells the story – the subject has heard both of these included in tellings of this tale) and went to the house seeking help. She banged on the door crying out for help, but no one answered and she and her unborn child ended up dying on the doorstep of the house. Ever since then, her spirit has haunted the house – scaring anyone who lives in the building (which consequently has led to the house becoming vacant for years, if not decades). Some people even believe that her spirit occasionally goes across the street to the liquor store, haunting that establishment as well. People believe that her spirit seeks vengeance for her death and that of her child’s. 

Context: This subject heard this urban legend throughout middle and high school in Orange County, from classmates and upperclassmen alike. Growing up in a city adjacent to the one in which the alleged events of this story took place, she claimed to have only come across the alleged haunted house in passing, never really feeling a great desire to go near it. She believes that this ghost story is just a means of scaring kids in the area, almost a means of ‘initiating’ kids within the city. She believes this because she very distinctly remembers her friends in high school teasing their younger siblings or kids from neighboring middle schools by scaring them with the gory details of the haunting, even if they themselves claimed to not believe it. 

Interpretation: I believe that this story could possibly be rooted in some form of truth – maybe the car accident or death of the pregnant woman did truly happen way back when. It could be possible that the community was so shocked by her death and the circumstances that they began to feel guilt which would then have made them susceptible to attributing any bad energy or ‘haunting’ occurrences to the woman’s search for vengeance. Regardless, it seems as though the story serves as a means of scaring or teasing kids, as according to my subject, people quickly grow out of believing in it as they grow up.

The Ghost of Bob

Recently, my good friend M.M. was hospitalized with severe pneumonia. When I traveled home for Fall Break, I visited him in the hospital, where his mom, J.M., was also keeping him company. With not much else to do, we spent a lot of time talking, and at one point, I asked if they had any ghost stories. It turned out that J.M. had quite a few, and one of them stood out in particular.

“Well I’m not sure if M.M. told you this, but our old house, back in Illinois, was haunted! The previous owners wife had died of cancer and the husband ended up committing suicide because of that. He actually hung himself in one of the doorways. Creepy right? But we didn’t think too much of it. It was a good house for the price. Anyways, soon after we moved in we’d begin to see a man through the windows. He always wore a blue polo shirt, a Titleist hat, a big gold watch, and he had golden arm hair. At first, I thought he was a neighbor just wandering too close to the property or something, but by the time I got outside to see what was going on, he’d be gone. It was really weird so one day I asked one of our neighbors, “Hey, have you seen a guy in a blue polo and a Titleist hat around here?” And she got this weird look on her face and said, “Oh, that’s Bob!” Turns out Bob was the husband that had killed himself! Evidently he always wore polos, a Titleist hat, and a gold watch. It gave me chills, honestly. I mean, how do you explain that? And it wasn’t just the sightings, things around the house would always move. Stuff I knew l’d left in one spot would end up across the room. Papers from the desk would be scattered all over the floor, or things would show up on a high shelf that I could barely reach. It was like Bob was always playing pranks on us. It wasn’t scary, just… annoying. We thought it might have been the cat at first, but it just kept happening and it was so strange. But we got used to it l guess. It just became a part of living there. Every now and then, I’d see Bob through the window or feel his eerie presence in the room with me. I still don’t know what to make of it. I don’t even know if I believe in ghosts, but how do you explain that, you know? But once we moved to Michigan, no more Bob, no more annoying pranks. Sometimes I wonder if the new owners have seen Bob, or if he finally found some peace.” 

I find this story fascinating and was not expecting such a chilling response from my friend’s mom. It is both eerie and intriguing, filled with classic ghost story motifs like a haunted house, mysterious sightings, and a restless spirit tied to tragedy and loss. The fact that Bob’s presence was more mischievous than malevolent makes it even more interesting. It makes me wonder how many other untold memorates like this are hidden in everyday conversations, waiting to be discovered.

A Ghost Friend in the New House

Nationality: American
Age: 51
Occupation: Investment Company Employee
Residence: Blue Bell, Pennsylvania
Performance Date: November 28, 2024
Primary Language: English

CONTEXT:

The informant, my aunt, has one daughter and she and my uncle raised her in the same house for years. Their daughter became close with the neighbors and their daughter who was about five years younger than her. The couple next door also had a little boy a few years later. Eventually, the neighbors and their two kids decided to move, and the various ghost encounters occurred at their new house. The parents stayed in touch and told the informant all about the creepy events that were occurring. The informant provided me with the details of the story and I recorded it.

STORY:

“When the two of them moved out with both of the kids, some of the first things we heard from them afterward were about how they think the new house is haunted. Creepy things started to happen in the backyard, and the kids both started mentioning stuff about a woman. After looking into it more, they discovered that a previous owner had committed suicide in the house. The pieces started to make sense and creep them out even more.”

“…There were so many different instances where the mom noticed the ghost or something about it. First, the kids would act strange when they were outside playing in the yard. The two of them would tell her that they were talking to ‘the woman’ and it confused her. She was concerned, but it wasn’t anything conclusive yet. Then, she would notice the swings or other things in the yard moving with nobody there, and their dog would just sit and stare or bark occasionally. She started to conclude that the house must be haunted.”

“After she kept noticing little things, the kids would again tell her that they were talking to ‘the woman.” Their mom remained freaked out about the ghost of the woman who was most likely roaming around outside. I’m not exactly sure what else happened after that, if they ever saw the ghost directly, or if anything else came of it. It must have been a harmless ghost who was finding ways to stay in the house.”

INFORMANT’S OPINION:

“The new house was definitely haunted. The previous owner committed suicide and was most likely haunting the house. Since the kids were still pretty young at the time, it’s also possible that the ghost was making herself known to them and even communicating with them. It was so interesting to hear about from the mom after they moved. She always joked about us coming over and seeing the ghost.”

PERSONAL TAKEAWAY:

This is a very straightforward ghost story that was very interesting to hear about since it was so connected to me personally. It embodies so many traditional motifs of ghosts. The haunted house is a classic and is one of the most common instances of ghost sightings or supernatural experiences. The ghost connecting with the children and alarming the dog is also common and makes the story a lot more eerie. It may just be a case of overthinking or disorientation due to them having just moved, but I think all of this coming together and knowing the previous owner died tragically, there has to be some supernatural elements present. I wonder if anything else happened or if the ghost is still there today!

Memorate: A Coworker’s Ghostly Encounter

Context:

Informant N is the collector’s supervisor in the technology department of USC SCA. He is 27 years old and grew up in Denver, Colorado until age 7, when he moved to Sandpoint, Idaho. His father’s family is from the “deep south,” and his mother was “an army brat” who lived mostly near the east coast. N’s family has been in the US “since the mayflower,” and his ancestry is mostly German, Northern English, and Welsh. He now lives in Los Angeles, CA and is a singer/songwriter, as well as an employee of the film school’s technology services.

Text:

Informant: “Okay so when I was a kid, my mom – in the first floor, this was like a three story house, the house was like a hundred years old if not more. Um, classic brick style home, it was in Denver. And there was a doctor who lived in the house with his um… I think she was a distraught person, probably back then. Like she probably had some mental illness that was untreated and you know, back then they kind of skewed those people into obscure…”

Collector: “What year was this?”

Informant: “Oh this was like 30s (…). So she was a well-known pianist at the time and she eventually committed suicide in the house and the house was also a historical site. So the house is old, there have been people who lived there who had some musical connection and there was the suicide and you know… There was a couple times growing up where I would hear the piano play and my sister would hear the piano play while we were upstairs and my mom wasn’t home playing the piano nor was my dad or whatever, or we had a babysitter at the time. So there was just a couple weird moments in that house where the piano would be playing and we’d go downstairs and it would stop playing so whether that’s true or not I don’t know but I remember it and my sister clearly remembers it and to this day it’s very bizarre to me and it makes me feel a little… (*informant trails off*)”

Collector: “How did you find out about the woman who died?”

Informant: “My parents – my mom found out about it after they bought the house. The history of the house.”

Collector: “From who?”

Informant: “I think from a neighbor’s family or something. (…) It was like a local thing so it was kind of weird. (…) The piano that was in the house was over a hundred years old at the time.”

The informant also mentioned that his sister, who was 8 or 9 at the time of the piano incidents, is “still perturbed” by them to this day. He also mentioned that he experienced what he called “typical ghost stuff” – that he would hear dogs barking at nothing, and that one of the room’s in the house (his sister’s room) was specifically colder than others. His family checked and made sure that “the piano wasn’t a player” piano (a self-playing piano), and noted that the music he heard was notably classical, and that the woman who had died was a classical pianist.

Interpretation:

N’s ghost story seems pretty typical upon first glance, but I find it interesting because of both his personal context and folkloric trends in memorates. For one thing, the informant seems to truly believe that all of this happened and that something supernatural was going on because his sister also experienced it. He mentioned her multiple times throughout the story and when he was providing more context, and we’ve talked a number of times about how people tend to believe what their peers, family, friends, etc do. What’s more, his family heard about the woman who supposedly died in the house from a neighbor, making this particular figure almost a local legend. While I wouldn’t label her a full-on urban legend for lack of popularity or name, the story about her being mentally unstable and her death in the house is legend-like. She has the traits of one as a woman believed to be mentally unwell and responsible for a haunted area. The apparent ghost is not necessarily true, but there is a negotiation of sorts about whether to believe it for the informant, his family, and his neighbors. This woman’s story lines up with a lot of what we know about ghosts – having unfinished business of some sort (to play music for others), hauntings that happen when things don’t go as they should (her suicide), and the idea that ghosts’ have property even after death (the piano). This story is definitely a memorate for the informant, who seems unsure whether he believes in ghosts entirely, but is fairly convinced that something happened in this house, and still finds it inexplicable and bizarre 20 years later.