Context: The following story was told on April 28th, 2026, in my dorm room to me by the informant, who is my friend and freshman year roommate. The informant and I were discussing a completely different story when she brought up that her high school was haunted by a very sad nun…I immediately pressed record.

LC: “There’s a book called California’s Most Haunted Places.”

Me: “Oh, and your high schools in it?”

LC: “And my high school’s in it.”

Me: “Oh, great.”

LC: “So, yeah. Like, sometimes you’ll hear, like, creaking from where, like, she, hung herself.”

Me: “This is so crazy…Ok what high school did you go to?”

LC: “Notre Dame.”

Me: “Notre Dame. In San Jose.”

LC: “Like, dead serious. Someone look it up. There’s a story. This nun like hung herself.”

Me: “So, did you have any, like..this is something that happened to your friend or, like, did you have any personal experiences?”

LC: “Okay, so for me, in that building, there’s a basement that I had to go into, and I hated that basement. It’s a…it’s straight up a vintage old basement. It’s an old cobblestone basement that has one little light that hangs from the top. Like, have you seen, um, A Quiet Place?”

Me: “Yeah.”

LC: “It looks like that. And the stairs are like wooden and creaky. So, I went in there and I had to pull the light, and there was, like, someone that looked like they were wearing a full nun outfit. just in the corner.”

Me: ” And at this point, there’s no more nuns at your school?”

LC: “Most of the women, like the women that worked at my school were nuns, but they didn’t wear the whole thing… they’re like the modern nuns. like they’re hip or whatever.”

Me: *laughs* “Okay.”

LC: “Um, but yeah, it was like a nun wearing like the full outfit and everything. And, um, I don’t remember what her name is. Like, it was like sister…her name began with an M. And I remember like the faculty and staff saying, oh, like, oh, sister, whatever her name is, is visiting again.

Me: “Oh. Was she, like, a nice, or sad spirit, or like?”

LC: “I think she’s just sad. Yeah. Um, because, yeah, like, apparently, like, a priest seduced her and, like, she got pregnant and, yeah, she hung herself because, like, she was sent there. Um, I can’t even remember what for. Like, I think because her family, like, couldn’t afford to send her to, like to school, so she went to the convent. Um, and she knew that she couldn’t go back to her family because it would be dishonorable. So, she thought that the only way to go was to, like, commit suicide. So, yeah, there’s that one, and then, my elementary and high school are connected, because it was, like, this one big giant convent. And like a lot of the stories that happened at the high school happened at the elementary because it was like just one big thing. And what happened to my friend in 5th grade is that she went to the bathroom, and it was a sunny day in February or March, and when she went to the bathroom, she, like, came out, went to go wash her hands. The door slammed shut because the bathroom door was, like, propped open with, like, this little, like, wooden block. The door slammed shut. It wouldn’t open. And because it was, like, someone was pressed against it. So she pushed it open, and when she looked outside, it was pouring rain, and the woman that looked like the nun was like outside, like crying, and her eyes were like jet black and like, and then she freaked out, closed the door, was sobbing, opened the door again, and it was like normal, sunny, like 78 degrees outside. Like, she came to class crying because she’s like, I saw her, I saw her, this creepy lady, and we’re like…”

Me: “So a lot of these stories…so the time that you maybe saw the nun, how old were you?”

LC: “14.”

Me: “Okay, so a little bit older, but mostly your stories, you know, involve a child. So what do you think about that? Do you think children are like more vulnerable to spirits or you think like they can see things that, you know, maybe…”

LC: “Yeah, I think the children, like, that’s like in every single horror story, though. Like, children are the most vulnerable. Because, like, you know how people say, like, when you’re a child, you have your 6th sense and that it’s, like, the most receptive. And, like, you haven’t been corrupted by the world to have it, like, removed or, like, worn down. Um, Like, I guess to an extent, that makes sense, but if we’re following that logic that children are just more receptive to everything around them, and children are known for being, like, brutally honest, then I would say, yes, it’s like, that aspect, that’s consistent with children being, like, the main receivers in all these stories, would support that idea, but also, I feel like, I don’t know, it’s a little strange because people who experience those, like, paranormal activities usually have some sort of belief in the paranormal. Right. But I don’t know if that’s because of the fact that, since they believe it, it’s confirmation bias. Or if it’s just because they’re more open to the idea that that’s a possibility and that they would prefer that outlandish, I guess, experience to be true in comparison to that of a more scientifically backed explanation.”

Me: “Right, makes sense. And both can be true.”

LC: “Both can be true.”

Me: “Good stuff.”

Personal thoughts and analysis: This story was super interesting, and I think it goes into religious guilt and trauma, which intrigued me, so I decided to look more into it. I was able to corroborate that there is a legend of a pregnant nun who hung herself at Notre Dame High School in San Jose, but I couldn’t find any confirmed reports of the occurrence. I think because it’s been local lore for so long that it’s likely a lot of the accounts are just scared kids whose eyes were playing tricks on them, but it is very interesting nonetheless. I also thought the weather aspect of the spirit, somehow being able to change the weather, was very unique and not a typical element in ghost stories, which almost made me believe the informant a bit more.