Tag Archives: memorate

Hand Ghost Story

Date of Performance: 04/06/2025

Nationality: Filipino

Primary Language: English

Residence: Melbourne, Australia

My informant recounted the one ghost story he knows, told to him since he was younger by his older brother and his friends, who encountered a supernatural phenomenon in the attic of their house. One night, after drinking and partying, the five of them decided to hang out in my informant’s brother’s attic, which was barely used. Nothing was in there but old things, and as the house was quite old, passed down from generation to generation, my informant’s family had lost track of what exactly was kept up there. The group decided to take a photograph of themselves up there, but when the photo came out, in the very middle was the clear image of a white, slender hand. It did not belong to any of them, and its features appeared eerily similar to those of an aswang, a traditional Filipino vampire. The group immediately left the attic, and didn’t venture back up there unless it was absolutely necessary. They retold this story to my informant, who fully believed them, and from then on avoided his attic completely.

My informant showed me the photograph, and while it was eerie, wasn’t necessarily conclusive proof of the story – it was somewhat blurry, and could have been the reflection or distortion of one of the old objects lying in the attic. My informant reacted to my skepticism indignantly, and restated his belief in the story.

While he was confident in its validity, there are a couple of elements to the story that could have contributed to its exaggeration and gravitas, like the group of them drinking beforehand, as well as the tale being retold over and over in my informant’s youth, when one is susceptible to superstitions of this manner. From a cultural point of view, as has been the case across many of the folk narratives I’ve encountered, the supernatural encounter is reinforced by the superstitious and perhaps religious beliefs of the culture my informant comes from, and remains an important aspect of his worldview.

Spider Nightmare

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Francisco, CA
Language: English

Text:

I was sleeping, not sure if it was a bed or a crib at that age. I don’t know what was happening, but out of the dimly lit room I could’ve sworn I saw these bugs starting to appear. I saw the wall behind me slowly slide out like it was on wheels, unveiling an unrealistically massive tarantula that I was convinced was going to eat me. Later that night, I woke up on the beach with the same spider from before, who was trying to kill me. That night, I truly believed that the tarantula was there, and from that day on I was deathly afraid of spiders.

Context:

The informant, A, experienced this event as a child and believes it was the moment that inspired their lifelong fear of spiders. They originally encountered this memory during a vivid dream, which they clearly felt was real at the moment. A interprets this dream as a symbolic warning—one that shaped their perception of spiders from that moment on.

Analysis:

This is a classic example of a memorate, as this is a personal supernatural story that felt incredibly real. Even though this memorate took place while A was dreaming, the long-term effects felt are central to the story. The wall opening and the oversized spider create an ominous liminal space, evoking classic symbols of hidden dangers. A developing a lifelong fear of spiders solely due to this one dream highlights how folk memories can have long-term personal consequences. Overall, this story shows how childhood experiences can become lasting parts of a person’s own folklore.

Spirit Visit Dream

Age: 32
Occupation: Unemployed
Residence: San Francisco, CA
Language: English

Text:

“The night after my father passed away, I vividly remember seeing him in my dream. I had dreamed that I was climbing the inside of the Statue of Liberty, and halfway through the climb, I saw my father sitting on a bench. I approached him and sat next to him; all he said was two words: ‘keep going,’ and then he disappeared. That night, I believe he was visiting me before his reincarnation, reminding me to be strong after his passing and to not lose sight of my goals.”

Context:

The informant, P, shared this memorate during a heartfelt conversation surrounding grief and the intense emotions felt following the passing of a loved one. P explained that her experience occurred the night after the passing of her father, when she had a vivid dream in which her late father appeared. She believes this was not just a dream, but a real encounter with her father, who wanted to grant her strength before his reincarnation. To P, this dream provided her with emotional comfort during a difficult period of transition.

Analysis:

This is a memorate because it is telling a personal, supernatural experience that P believes to be real. Since the dream happened the night after the passing of P’s father, it occurred during a liminal period of emotional vulnerability and grief. The climbing of the Statue of Liberty reflects a journey of personal growth, and her brief conversation with her father helps provide her with both emotional closure and spiritual guidance. Her belief that her father was visiting her before his reincarnation reveals deeper cultural and spiritual beliefs about the afterlife. This memorate shows how dreams can help people cope and find guidance after the difficult transition of losing a loved one.

The Red Balloon Ghost Story

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: College Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Language: English

My informant told me a story about her deceased Nana sending her red balloons for her birthday. Her Nana, whom she was very close to, passed away ten days after her 12th birthday. The next year, when her 13th birthday was approaching, she, my informant, felt a lot of grief, because the approach of her birthday meant that the anniversary of her Nana’s death was approaching as well. She prayed to God and her Nana to feel some comfort from her grief. The next day, when she came home from school, there were a bunch of red balloons in the tree in front of her house. My informant told me, “Red was my favorite color, and they were birthday balloons; one or two said “Happy Birthday.” She only took one of the plain red balloons: “because I did not want to be greedy.” That night, she prayed that the balloon would float for seven or ten days (she could not remember the exact amount of time) and the balloon stayed afloat for the amount of time she had prayed for.

Context:

My informant shared with me that she grew up with strong Christian roots. She was Catholic and attended the Catholic Church for several years when she was young before her family switched to a Protestant Church. She told me that she had developed the habit of praying to God to give her a sign as proof of His existence or to help her make big decisions when she was going through rough times. The balloons appeared when she prayed to her deceased grandmother My informant has shared this story with her mother and her mother shared other memorates with her about supernatural events regarding her Nana.

Analysis:

My informant presented this story to me as a ghost story, however, I would argue that there are sign superstition elements to it: praying to her grandmother and then finding the red balloons in front of her house. There is a supernatural element to her story, though, too: the balloons being her favorite color and the one balloon lasting the length of time she wanted it too. One can argue that the spirit of her Nana brought her these balloons for her birthday, therefore making it somewhat of a ghost story. In class, we talked about ghosts/spirits are mostly vengeful and to haunt the living, but I wonder if it is a possibility that there are some spirits that present themselves, specifically to their loved ones, to bring support and to show the living that they are not alone (in a positive way).

Flying doll

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: college student
Language: English

Text:

“I was sitting in front of the couch on the floor and behind me I had my Jessie doll sitting with like some lion stuffed animal, I think, just like above– behind my head. And I was watching television, I didn’t move, I was just sitting there, I was content, and my doll flew across the room. To the other side of the couch. Like, as if it was thrown or something”

Context:

 “It would have been like first grade, or second? More like second grade, so around 8. And I was a latchkey kid, so it was one of those times I was left home alone. I had gotten used to being left home alone, but I couldn’t – I couldn’t stand the silence, I couldn’t stand the sounds because it was creepy and we would, like, I would always hear footsteps in the halls and stuff and it was just creepy. My parents said it was the cats underneath the trailer but you never know. Children are imaginative. 

Analysis:

This memorate of what the interviewee defines as a ghost encounter is interesting first because it happened while she was alone. Many encounters derive validity from multiple accounts of the same or similar events, but this person had strong belief in their encounter even without someone else there to witness it and without recollection of the same happening to other family members. They also did not tie this event to a greater expectation of their home being haunted in this way, although she did mention hearing footsteps. This implies that the movement of the doll was an isolated event, although the general haunting may have been consistent. As she describes being left home alone after school and being scared of the various noises, it seems that this space became a center of belief for the individual. Because of the increased eerieness of the trailer, especially as a child, her belief may have been augmented so she was more willing to correlate her memorate immediately with the existence of a ghost. This also speaks to the fear, not just as a child but as an adult, that one may not truly be alone when one expects to be. Mysterious actions only add to the fear that another person or being might be in the room and able to hide their presence, causing further mysteries to be interpreted more frequently as monstrous or magical.