Tag Archives: scary stories

The University Of Vermont Hallway Ghost

Age: 19

The story takes place at the University of Vermont, in an old dorm, on an October night at exactly 3 a.m. LL got up to use the communal bathroom. When she stepped into the hallway, she immediately noticed a mysterious girl standing just past the bathroom. The girl had long blond hair hanging in front of her face, was facing away from LL, and was wrapped in a towel as if she had just stepped out of the shower. LL thought it was an odd time for anyone to be showering, and the sight gave her an immediate gut feeling that something was off. It was “creepy,” she said.

After finishing in the bathroom, LL stepped back into the hallway, and the same girl was still there, standing in the exact same spot, still facing away from her. The girl hadn’t moved at all. Feeling increasingly unsettled, LL began walking quickly back toward her room. Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind her, growing faster as if the girl were following her. LL sped up, practically running, until she reached her door. She said she was relieved her roommate was inside so she didn’t have to return to an empty room.

LL emphasized that she had “never seen her before” that night and never saw her anywhere on campus afterward. When asked what the figure might have been if not a ghost, she said, “Maybe she was hooking up and then she went to take a shower… or really drunk and trying to scare me.” She also mentioned that she never saw the girl’s face…only the long blond hair and the towel.

When asked about the dorm’s history, LL explained that she lived in the worst dorm on campus and that the university itself was pretty old, so she’s “sure somebody has died in it before.” The combination of the hour, the setting, and the strange stillness of the girl left LL genuinely shaken by the experience.

I agree with LL. On a college campus…where people are experimenting with drugs and alcohol, keeping unusual hours, and living with strangers for the first time…it’s plausible that this was just a bizarre coincidence. The girl may have been standing there in a daze, unaware that her presence could be interpreted as unsettling.

There’s also the liminality of college dorms to consider. They’re your home, but not quite. They’re spaces layered with the histories of countless past students, full of stories you’ll never know. New experiences happen constantly, often before you have the framework to understand them. In an environment like that, the mind is primed to fill in the unexplained with occult or supernatural interpretations, especially when something feels off.

The timing only heightens this effect. It was October, when people are already steeped in horror imagery and Halloween atmosphere. It was 3 a.m., a disorienting hour when you’re groggy, alone, and hyper-aware of everything. In that context, encountering a silent, unfamiliar girl in a towel becomes more frightening than it might be in daylight. LL’s reaction makes sense: the setting, the hour, and the ambiguity of the moment all worked together to make an ordinary situation feel paranormal.

Legend of Skinwalkers in Joshua Tree

Text: Skinwalkers are these figures from Native American folklore, especially in Navajo culture. Basically, they’re witches or shamans who can change into animals—wolves, coyotes, even bears—and they use that power to mess with people. It’s not just about shape-shifting, though. They’re supposed to be able to control animals, and sometimes they trick people into dangerous situations. Definitely the kind of thing that makes you think twice when you’re out in the woods or desert and you hear something weird.

And yeah, as someone from California, the whole skinwalker thing is really big in places like Joshua Tree. The desert out there is super quiet and pretty isolated, so I get why people start linking weird stuff to the legend. The vibe of Joshua Tree with its emptiness and quiet makes it easy to believe something might be out there. People tell stories about hearing things or getting that feeling like they’re being watched. And a lot of the time, they chalk it up to skinwalkers.”

Context: The informant grew up in California and has always heard about skinwalkers from friends who’ve spent time out in Joshua Tree. These stories came up a lot when people would talk about their trips to the desert, especially if something strange or unexplainable happened. The informant never had a direct encounter with one, but growing up in California, the idea of skinwalkers became a part of the stories shared by people who had visited places like Joshua Tree. When the desert feels empty and still, it’s easy to understand why these kinds of spooky legends get passed around.

Analysis: The skinwalker legend is a great example of how people create and spread scary stories, especially when they’re in places that feel eerie and empty, like Joshua Tree. These kinds of legends often come from the need to explain the unexplainable—strange sounds in the night, weird shadows, or that feeling of being watched when you’re completely alone. In isolated places like the desert, where things can feel unnervingly quiet, our minds naturally start looking for explanations, and sometimes those explanations become legends.

Legends like the skinwalker are also a way for people to share their fear. The more someone tells a story about seeing something strange, the more likely others will start feeling like they’re seeing the same thing too. It’s almost like a shared experience that grows with each telling. The more these stories are passed down, the more they shape the way people experience those places. In a way, the desert doesn’t even need real skinwalkers—just the belief in them is enough to make the experience feel more intense and real. It’s this mix of fear, imagination, and the desire for stories to explain the unknown that keeps these legends alive.

Informant Info

Race/Ethnicity: White

Age: 21

Occupation: Student

Residence: Oak Park, CA

Date of Performance: April 1, 2025

Primary Language: English

Other Language(s): N/A

Relationship: Friend

Aswang – Legend

Nationality: Filipino
Age: 51
Occupation: Software Engineer Directing Manager
Residence: Naperville, Illinois
Language: English

Text:

The Legend of the Aswang is a legend about a female-presenting vampire-like creature which feeds on young children and unborn children. In the daytime, it looks like a normal person (often ones neighbor), but in the night, it turns into a deceptive creature which is characterized by the approach and intensifying “tik tik tik” sound.

Context:

The performer heard about this tale as a young boy. Growing up in a poorer region of the Philippines he often heard the creaking and groaning of his floorboards. To scare him, his dad would tell him the story of the Aswang. Because of this, he learned to be scared of any “tik tik tik” sound as a young boy until he realized it was just a urban legend.

After moving to America, he passed this tradition of scaring young children with the simple “tik tik tik” sound by telling the story to his children and enjoying the terrifying/amusing experience of watching them scared of even the faucet dripping at night. Sometimes they would even cut up garlic to play into the tale as the children believed it would keep the vampiric creature away until they were old enough to know it wasn’t real.

Analysis:

The Aswang was a way to collectively scare younger generations as retelling of the story/generational fear was a tradition passed down. It brings Filipinos together through the collective fear of the scary stories adults would tell them growing up. If you belong to the Filipino “folk group”, you’d easily react to the “tik tik tik” sound because of how you were “trained” to be scared as a child. However, in the same way these tales scarred Filipino children, the fear is also proof that one is “truly” Filipino.
It’s also important to note that Aswang were known as looking like unassuming women which is reflective of Filipino values of being extremely vigilant as Aswang tales immediately painted the unassuming and seemingly innocent as potentially evil. The Philippines is a third world country where one could easily be taken advantage of, so the Aswang would serve as an early lesson for children to be careful and not trust strangers on the street in addition to being a fun story to scare the kids with.

El Cucuy

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: University Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California

Age: 18
Date of Performance: 3/30/2025
Language: English
Nationality: American
Occupation: University Student
Primary Language: English
Residence: Los Angeles, California

Legend Text:
“Today, I’m going to tell you about El Cucuy—also known as the Boogeyman. It’s a Spanish legend about a tall, shadowy figure who scares misbehaving children. In Spanish culture, they say El Cucuy watches you from outside your window, or even hides in your room under the bed. If you weren’t behaving, you had to run and hide in your room or he’d get you.”

Context:
The informant heard this story from older family members during gatherings, particularly when the kids were restless and waiting for food. It served both as a form of entertainment and discipline, using fear to encourage good behavior.

Analysis:
El Cucuy is a classic example of child-disciplining legends across cultures, akin to the American “Boogeyman.” In Latino households, it is commonly used to instill fear-based obedience. The figure of El Cucuy embodies abstract fear and serves as a warning against moral or behavioral failure. This version shares traits with global “dark watcher” figures like Slenderman, showing how traditional folklore adapts to modern imagery. The use of “under the bed” or “outside the window” roots the fear in a child’s intimate spaces.

Reach Out and Grab ‘ya!

Nationality: American

Age: 19

Occupation: Retail

Residence: Raymore, MO

Performance Date: November 30, 2024

Primary Language: English

Language: English

MAIN DESCRIPTION

Q: “When’s a time you felt different? Outside of the ordinary? A strange occurrence?”

A: “When I was a kid, you know this already, that area right in front of the stairs. I’d get that feeling, almost like sleep paralysis, y’know? Like, um, where you can feel you’re awake but can’t move. I used to run by the stairs and something would reach out and grab me. I was a kid, I think it was nothing. But, y’know when you look up at a popcorn ceiling and can see pictures? When I looked at the carpet, in the shadows and all, I felt like I could see things. Figures and hands. And I could feel the hallway getting longer and pulling me in.”

INFORMANT’S OPINION

Q: “So, as you said, you don’t believe this was anything more than a dream?”

A: “I doubt it. I mean, it’s unsettling now but like, I was also a kid.”

PERSONAL INTERPRETATION

When analyzing his story, sleep paralysis seems most likely. Especially since he named it. Seeing things when he was awake could have just been the fear following the dreams. I suppose they could also have been some sort of sign the dreams were valid and there was danger near. An angry spirit would make sense, but isn’t a home-run conclusion because he grew out of these occurrences. The spirit could be unique to a child’s eyes. Regardless, he can’t say for sure whether it was a dream. The undecided nature of his response reveals the mystery and the possibility that this could be an angry spirit. However, spirits like this don’t just disappear unless something is done to them. So it feels unlikely he’d randomly stop experiencing paranormal activity and strange dreams forever while living in the same house to this day.