Tag Archives: Haunted House

Instances in a Haunted House

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 2015
Primary Language: English

Background 

The interviewer and informant, EM, met in college. EM’s mother’s best friend is sure she lives in a haunted house. 

Context

EM tells the interviewer about two ghostly experiences that the lady has told her. Both instances happened in the supposedly haunted house.   

Transcript 

“Basically, she has had so many instances of a ghost in her house. I remember two specific times where very scary things occurred to her. She told me this five years ago, like 2015. In her bathroom, there is a small circular stained glass window that is tinted red and yellow. There is no image in the stained glass, only patterns made with the colors. At night, she woke up to go to the restroom. As she was sitting on the toilet, her attention was drawn to the little window. The outline of a head and neck- like a headshot- the figure of something, or someone, was outlined in the window. She looked away and immediately looked back to find that it was still there. She got off the toilet and looked again. It was gone for two seconds, then reappeared. Of course, I questioned whether or not she was just kinda loopy from being half asleep. She said she went to check the window and the morning and it was normal- no figure. 

The next instance was a little more scary. I am afraid of her house because of this. She woke up in the middle of the night to a strong presence pushing against her. She is convinced she saw the figure of a man above her. She could not get out of bed due to the weight of this body pressing her shoulders to the mattress. She says she ticked and screamed- tried to escape- but was unable to breath. She said the only way for it to stop was for her to give into it. When she stopped resisting this presence, the terror eventually ended. She did not go to sleep in that room after that.”

Thoughts

According to EM, this woman is a very “animated and dramatic lady”. EM explains that she remembers these stories because the way the lady told them was incredibly captivating and spooky. EM has been scared to go into her house since then, because of the ghost the lady is convinced lives with her. EM definitely believes in her, however, because this lady is “so dramatic and loves telling stories”, it makes it hard to believe everything she says”, EM explains. “Everything has happened whenever she has been kind of asleep. With that being said, because she is so passionate about the supernatural and considering she has not been entirely awake, you may question whether or not she has been dreaming.” 

I agree with EM’s interpretation of this lady’s experience. I am sure something must have happened in that house to make these presences felt. Whether or not that it is related to the supernatural and ghosts, can only be interpreted by the people living there. EM also explained that all three people living in that house have felt similar things relating to their house being haunted. However, because this lady in particular is so passionate about these things, I believe she has a tendency to generalize any presence to that of a ghost. Moreover, just like EM said, these instances have happened when the lady was somewhat asleep which may have had an impact on her perception of her surroundings. On the other hand, being half asleep is a very liminal state and I do believe that contributed significantly to the appearance of these ghosts. 

Haunted House on Clinton Street in Brooklyn

Nationality: Canadian/American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: New York City
Performance Date: 02/14/20
Primary Language: English

Piece:

Informant: “See that house right there?”

Collector: “Yeah.”

Informant: “Some guy killed his wife there and now it’s haunted. There have been like six people who have lived there since and they all sold the house within like three months of living there.” 

Collector: “Do you know for sure that the guy killed his wife?”

Informant: “No but that’s what they told me.” 

Context: Me and the informant were leaving a party at the informant’s friend’s apartment on Clinton Street in Brooklyn, NY. We passed a house with a For Sale sign a few doors down when the informant turned to me and told me the piece. 

Background: The informant is a student in New York City. The legend was originally told to him the first time he passed the house while visiting a friend who lives a few doors down from the house. He views the story as making a street that would otherwise be forgotten or insignificant into one that is memorable and interesting. 

Analysis: I enjoyed hearing the piece because it made the walk home much more interesting. It is common for people to invent stories when they notice police cars/commotion but are given no information as a way to trick themselves into feeling informed. I find this story to be an example of this. It is not conventional for many people to move in and out of a house in such an abbreviated period of time, leaving people searching for answers even more. This endows the house as a liminal space, one in which people are never fully settled, making it the perfect breeding ground for ghost stories and folklore more generally. It seems to function as a point of conversation and excitement for the informant and his friend group, coloring their everyday life without necessarily being considered dangerous or fear-inspiring.

The Haunted Epperson House in UMKC

Nationality: United States of America
Age: 49
Occupation: N/A
Residence: Kansas City, MO
Performance Date: 4/25/20
Primary Language: English

Main piece:

“So this house used to be owned by a rich family that, I think, made their money in organs like the instrument and it was the Epperson family. They had a bit of tragic life, there’s a million tales of their trials and tribulations and I honestly don’t remember all of them but I know there are a couple of legends that- one that there did actually use to be a swimming pool in the basement of this big mansion and at some point it got cemented over unexpectedly around the time someone went missing and there was a theory that one of the Epperson lovers is buried in concrete in the pool. There also was a daughter of the family who, I don’t remember if it was from a broken love affair or what it was, they had a big beautiful ballroom with an organ loft and she hanged herself from the organ loft which is a bit of a statement because since they made their money in organs. So anyway, this house has a long, long history in Kansas City of being associated with hauntings and ghost stories, people see lights and movements inside the house even though its been locked up and not used for years and years and years”

Background:

My informant is a 49 year old woman living in Kansas City, Missouri. While originally from Joplin, Missouri, she moved to Kansas City about 18 years ago. The Epperson House is located on the campus grounds of the University of Kansas City, Missouri which is near her home. The house has a series of legends tied to it, with one of the most common practices involving teens interacting with the house for seances and the sort. The informant has friends who grew up in Kansas City and have participated in this tradition. While the house is generally closed to the public, a security guard offered her a tour which led to her fascination with the house and it’s legends. 

Context:

This piece was brought to my attention through research into legends from Missouri which I used to approach my informant. She has told me about this phenomenon several times but this specific conversation occurred in the living room of her house in Kansas City when I asked her about using the story for the archives.

Thoughts:

The Epperson House is a classic haunted house legend. Much like previous iterations, the house represents several different things for the surrounding community. First, the house serves the function of uniting the community with a common legend. Kansas City is a relatively big city, so while the whole city might not have nearly as much folklore about this structure, knowledge of the legend places one within the know of a community. This is also present for the teen culture of Kansas City, who use the structure as a right of passage in order to be considered part of the group. Another interesting aspect of the legend is the indirect tie between wealth and tragedy. Despite having near endless wealth, the Epperson family could not avoid their tragic fate, almost making the legend a cautionary tale of sorts against the massive accumulation of wealth. This is especially interesting because the house is adjacent to a relatively wealthy neighborhood, making the moral of the story also a reminder for the nearby families. Another way of interpreting this legend is that the Epperson House represents old money. The house is ancient, and by making it seem scary and tragic, the overall perspective of the community is placed on the future. In this interpretation, money is not bad per say, but one should not worry about the past but look to the future, because all that remains of the past are ghosts and abandoned structures. 

The Haunted House in Calabasas

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Environmental Scientist
Residence: California
Performance Date: 4-5-2020
Primary Language: English

Main Piece: 

The following is transcribed from a conversation between the informant and the interviewer.

Interviewer: Tell me about the haunted house that’s in your neighborhood.

Informant: well, it’s actually not in my neighborhood but just a couple streets down. I’ve only been a couple times because you have to take a pretty long uphill hike to get past the gate without getting caught. 

Interviewer: So it’s a private neighborhood with people still living there?

Informant: Yeah it’s just your average suburban calabasas neighborhood, this one house has been abandoned for a solid fifteen years though. 

Interviewer: Well why do people think it’s haunted then?

Informant: I guess most people don’t hahaha but one time I went up there with a group of friends and we had a crazy supernatural experience and never went back. Basically we had our faces up against the window and all saw a face in the distance that wasn’t there before, and we just turned and booked it outta there. 

Interviewer: Oh so you guys actually started the rumor about this place being haunted?

Informant: I guess so! We’ve heard a couple other groups have similar things happen to them at the house though so we all think it’s legit. And I’ve seen enough horror movies in my life to know to never go back there again haha

Background:

My informant was born and raised in California, both of his parents also born Americans. He grew up in the Calabasas area and never believe in the paranormal until his experience at this “Haunted House”

Context: 

I spoke to my informant over the phone amidst the 2020 coronavirus epidemic. 

Thoughts:

While the story of this haunted house is interesting, I was more interested by the fact that my informant didn’t think the house was haunted, but just abandoned, before they went there. Even though other groups have said they’ve seen similar things, those accounts reportedly only started after my informant’s initial scare. This leads me to believe they are actually responsible for the folklore of this house, and it is interesting to see just how far those stories spread even though they don’t talk to the other groups directly.