Tag Archives: suicide ghost

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!

The Boarding School Hanging

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: USC
Performance Date: 4/2/23
Primary Language: English

Text: “When I was in boarding school, all of the male students lived in one dorm while all the female students lived in another. I remember there were multiple nights during my 3 years of living there, where someone was walking around the hallways in the middle of the night. This was not allowed of course, because we had “lights out” at 10 pm and there was no reason to be walking around at 3am. Even the teachers lived with us, and they would do a walk through every night, 5 minutes before “lights out” to make sure we were all in bed. We also had bathrooms attached to our dorms, so nobody was ever in the hallways that late. The building was extremely old so the wooden floors creaked like no other. But one of the nights, I heard a knocking. I couldn’t tell if it was a knock on our door or someone else’s down the hall, but I got up to check. When I opened the door, nobody was there. Even though it sounded like someone was n the hallway, walking back and forth, sometimes knocking on a door. Anyways, when I woke up the next morning, I asked Mr. Q if he had knocked on our door around 3am. He said he was fast asleep and that nobody should be up and about at that hour. So I asked some of my floor-mates to see if someone was pranking us. A few of the other guys also told me about how they hear knocking sometimes and that it sounds like there is always someone walking down the hallway. And when they opened their doors, nobody was there. A little scared, I called my mom and told her about the situation. She thought it was creepy but made me feel worse about it by saying the dorm was probably haunted. I ended up doing some research, and to my surprise, one of the kids who lived in this dorm, on this floor, hung himself from the chandelier in the hallway. It happened about 15 years before, but none of the students knew about it. I’m not sure if this was the ghost of him haunting this hallway or if the building is just falling apart, but I knew from the start that something was up.” -Informant

Context: This is one of the most prestigious boarding schools in the country and has had multiple student-suicides. The informant learned that there may be a ghost haunting them when his other floor-mates had been experiencing the same thing. The school covered it up so much that he could barely find the article where the suicide was explained. This situation really scared him and he still thinks about it occasionally. He thinks it was for sure a ghost.

Analysis: This ghost legend features many common elements found in ghost stories. It takes place in an old, isolated building, where strange and unexplainable occurrences take place. The setting of the boarding school also adds to the belief in this legend, as it is a place where the students are already away from their homes and families, making them more susceptible to feeling scared and vulnerable.

The knocking sound that the informant hears is a common motif in ghost stories, as it adds to the suspense and mystery of the story. The fact that the knocking is heard at 3 am, which is often considered the “witching hour” in folklore, adds to the sense of foreboding and suggests that something supernatural is at play. The revelation that one of the students hung himself from the chandelier in the hallway is a classic element of ghost lore. Tragic deaths, particularly suicides, are often believed to leave a lingering presence behind, which can manifest as ghostly apparitions.

Haunted Apartment in Worchester, Massachusetts

Performance Date: October 24, 2020
Primary Language: English
Language: Burmese, Mandarin, Cantonese

Background: My informant is my aunt, a woman in her late 50s who lives in Henderson, Nevada (L). L is Buddhist and of Chinese and Burmese descent.

Context: This conversation took place one night over Zoom. L’s experience took place in 2003, her second year in pharmacy school, in the apartment that she rented with her roommate in Worchester, Massachusetts. She occupied the master bedroom, where most of the haunting took place. I reached out to L because I knew she had been haunted by a ghost while in pharmacy school, but I had never heard the full story.

Main Piece

Me: Can you describe what happened to you?

L: That happened in 2003 in Worcester. I was in pharmacy school, my second year. Me and my friend, we rented a room, two bedrooms for $1200. The week before we moved out, the apartment manager called us. They had a furnace room at the 26th floor. Really big rooms, really good everything. They offered us $900. I did not have suspicions. We are students, we are cheap, we didn’t have beds. I looked at it: we’re lucky!

Me: How was your life there?

L: I lived in the master bedroom. The first couple of months were good. In the sixth month, whenever I opened the closet, I just felt like there is a kind of force. Something pushed me! It looked like a wind… I just said I am superstitious because it is snowing, and all windows are closed. Right around 9 months, I knew. My friend slept in a sleeping bag. She said, “L, last night someone pulled my sleeping bag.” I said, “No you studied so hard that you don’t sleep well.” She said “No, it pulled my sleeping bag down six inches.” I said, “put the night light on and sleep.” The second night she told me again. “I saw the guy! He is white, not too tall, 5”2, 5”3. He pulled my sleeping bag to the waist.” I said, “You need a good sleep.”

Me: Did anything happen to you then?

L: After two days to her, the third day happened to me. I finished studying. I did not sleep yet. I put my books on my bed at around 4:30. I pull my blanket to my chest. My blanket is a king size blanket, 7 or 8 pounds. I did not close my eyes. Then the blanket got pulled up.

Me: Like floating?

L: (Eyes wide) Yeah.

Me: What the—

L: The blanket get pulled up four feet high, and you know your aunty is not out of mind, him and me we were pulling and then the blanket was pulled towards the corner of the room. I pulled it back three or four times, and my feet kicked to that corner. And I said “Come! Show me who you are!” and when I kicked, the blanket fell down. I did not see any person walk out, but I was so angry. I just went all over the house. My mouth is yelling. I said, “Show me, show me! Come out!” After that, I came back to the bed. This guy is so crazy! My hands just pulled from me forcefully! I said, “Come out! You come out!” It looked like I saw somebody walk out into the closet. I cannot sleep anymore. From that day, whenever we got home, it looked like panic, you know? I cannot sleep. I’m too tired, but my eyes were wide open.

Me: Wow.

L: I went down to the apartment manager the next day and I said, give me the room story. She pretends to be innocent; you know because we’re Asian. I said, “me and my roommate, we got haunted. You need to disclose the history to me.” And that girl said, “A guy hanged and died inside the room.”

Me: Oh my god.

L: I straight said to her, “Is he hanged inside the master bedroom closet?” She said yes. That’s why I said, my bedroom, in the closet, I feel it. And I said, “is that the white guy approximately 5”2 or 5”3?” She said it’s that guy. Hanged in the closet and die.” I said, “I need the return. I can’t stay in that room.” And she said, “You signed the whole year contract. You cannot.” Our school is sponsor, so the case go back to the school. I insisted to get a refund. The dean called me. He told me I cannot break the contract. We just have to stay there for three more months.

Me: How’d you even survive for three more months?

L: That professor at my school helped us. He is Catholic. He said, “L, you just invite that guy to the church on Sunday. At church tell him to get peace. He is in limbo.” I called my cousin and he called the Burmese monk and sent me a cassette and the holy water. And the Buddhist monk just teach me “don’t fight with him. He is already in the bad stage.” We went to the Walmart and bought the recorder and we played the monks chanting the Dhama. When it stopped we had to flip the tape (laughs). Then we sprayed the room with holy water.

Me: Wow. You tried everything huh.

L: (laughs) Yeah. After that the ghost did not bother us anymore.

Me: What do you think about it now that you’re older?

L: I feel sorry for the ghost. It was in limbo. You know now I am praying more and more religious than back then. Now I pray for those type of people that are stuck in the limbo.

Interpretation:

I was surprised at how extensive and scary the haunting was. I have always known L to be a very confident and logical woman, so the fact that she was so terrified of this ghost scares me. While I do not doubt the authenticity of her experience, I wonder if stress played any role in heightening her fear. She was attending pharmacy school while working at a restaurant, only getting around 5 hours of sleep every night. I also wonder why she did not sue to get out of her contract. As we learned in class, failing to disclose a death on a property can get a realtor in legal trouble. Nevertheless, it was an interesting story from someone that I would have least expected this kind of story from.