Tag Archives: Superstition

Khmer Rouge Ghost Story

Date of Performance: 04/03/2025

Nationality: Filipino

Primary Language: English

Residence: Brisbane, Australia

My informant tells me of the supernatural experience of his father, who, according to their family, has always had “a third eye”. While my informant is somewhat skeptical, apparently his father would see and be able to communicate with spirits, and stories like this were commonplace in his family growing up. This particular one centers around a business trip to Cambodia, during which his father returned to his hotel after a meeting only to be unable to sleep – he was disturbed by a “large, uncomfortable presence from the top floor”. After a few failed attempts to go to bed, he decided to investigate, and went to the top floor, which was a bar and restaurant. When he got there, he was overwhelmed by the number of spirits he saw – all of which gave off an “extremely negative aura”. He could apparently tell based on this gut feeling that a horrific violent act had been committed on the floor, and asked the bartender if any such occurrence had taken place at the hotel. As he had expected, my informant’s father was told that during the Cambodian genocide, the Khmer Rouge had gathered up and executed a huge amount of dissenters in that very floor of that very building. Unsettled, he returned to his room and tried to sleep again, but was left awake all night. 

It’s clear my informant doesn’t fully buy into the story, but treats his dad’s third eye with a sort of reverence that makes even me inclined to believe it. His performance of the story was very compelling – it’s apparent that he has told this one a lot – and he seemed to relish in its telling. His father’s visions must have been a big part of his childhood, and so naturally, he holds their stories close to his heart.

As for me, I found this memorate really interesting, especially its link to a historical event/time period, an element of the story that gives it, to me, more credibility. From a more realistic point of view, I can imagine the functionality of his father’s “third eye” in my informant’s upbringing as a tool of discipline, serving as an authoritative way to impart moral and social lessons from a figure bigger than just his parents. My informant, like a lot of my others, grew up internationally., and so stories like these were likely a bigger part of his life, and met less resistance from his peers, than they would have here.

Commercial Ghost Story

Date of Performance: 04/05/2025

Nationality: American

Primary Language: English

Residence: Los Angeles, California

My informant describes a ghost story from their youth in Texas at their cousin’s house, which apparently was haunted, and was the site for many encounters with supernatural creatures. Apparently, it was built near a Native American burial site, and as my informant and his family were deeply superstitious, they treated such incidents with caution and respect. On this one occasion, my informant was sleeping over at his cousin’s house, and was the only one awake, when the TV played an unsettling advertisement about the devil (whether this was supernatural, or an ad for a TV show or movie about the devil is unclear). Scared, my informant went out in the hallway, where they were met by a large, 7-foot tall figure. My informant then ran into his cousin’s room, woke him up, and waited outside the house until his cousin’s parents got home. Following this incident, his aunt had the house blessed by an exorcist, and apparently there wasn’t another ghost sighting for a few years after the fact.

My informant fully believes in ghosts, and was clearly affected by the story – he told it with dramatic flair, but was fully serious, fully believing his telling of events. His family is Christian, and apparently all of them acknowledge the supernatural, which definitely affected his perception of the world growing up.

To me, the tale sounds like it can be attributed to the paranoid imaginings of an elementary schooler – but you never really know. The less urbanized, relatively remote area of Texas he grew up in likely contributed to his deep belief in the supernatural, and as my informant is highly creative as well — he’s a writer – it’s easy to see how, through the years, a simple commercial could have spiraled into a full on ghost story.

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.

A Ghostly Encounter (Ghost Story)

Informant’s Story:
My informant shared a ghost story their dad has told since they were in kindergarten. “My dad was hired for a freelance construction job at a hotel, with compensation offered as an unlimited bar tab instead of cash. As he worked late into the night, a man who appeared to be part of the hotel staff served him drinks. Upon finishing the job, the worker thanked him, saying, ‘Thanks for helping my hotel.’ Later, when speaking with the hotel manager, my dad mentioned the drinks he’d received, only to learn that the hotel had no alcohol available that night. Confused, my dad pointed to a painting on the hotel wall, identifying the server. The manager, astonished, explained the painting depicted the hotel’s original owner, who had been deceased for over 40 years.”

Context:
This story was first introduced to my informant in kindergarten by their father, who regularly recounted it throughout their childhood. My informant vividly recalls the fascination and mystery surrounding this tale, noting the profound impact of hearing it from a trusted source like their father. This familial narrative holds special significance because it merges supernatural elements with personal and familial experience, creating a deep connection to the story that transcends mere entertainment.

Analysis:
At its core, this ghost story conveys powerful themes of reciprocity, karma, and moral responsibility. The informant strongly resonates with the lesson their father emphasized through the narrative: “If you take care of something, someone or something will take care of you.” The ghost’s gratitude and mysterious provision of drinks symbolizes the reciprocal nature of kindness, suggesting a deeper cosmic or moral balance at play. The informant interprets this as a powerful statement on karma: good intentions and actions inevitably result in positive outcomes.

Additionally, the informant highlighted a nuanced understanding of life’s interconnectivity, noting, “For every twenty dollars you find, someone has lost twenty dollars.” This insight demonstrates the story’s deeper exploration of life’s ethical and existential complexities. They also linked this lesson metaphorically to contemporary global issues such as climate change, further illustrating the story’s enduring relevance. Ultimately, the tale serves as a reflective medium, prompting listeners to consider deeper ethical responsibilities and interconnectedness in their everyday actions.

The Legend of Elias White (Ghost Story)

Informant’s Retelling:
“It all began in the dense, foggy woods of Bass Lake, a place so quiet you could hear your own heartbeat echoing through the trees. Legend has it that many years ago, a slave named Elias White escaped into these woods, never to return. Elias was a big man, known for his piercing white eyes that seemed to glow in the dark. Some said he had a gift for seeing things others couldn’t—things that weren’t meant to be seen.

One cold October night, Elias vanished. The slave owner searched for days. When they caught him, he was hung. A group of young campers watched from the brush. Elias, hanging from a tree branch, staring at the hikers, screeched in a strangled voice: ‘The forest keeps what it takes.’

The woods became a forbidden place after that. People whispered about strange lights flickering between the trees and an eerie voice that called out to anyone who dared enter. But the most terrifying part? Those who ventured too far into Bass Lake claimed they saw two glowing white eyes watching them from the shadows.

Fast forward to a summer night not too long ago. A group of teenagers, much like you guys, decided to test the legend. They laughed off the warnings, armed with flashlights and bravado, and headed into the forest. As they ventured deeper, the air grew colder, the trees seemed to close in, and a strange silence fell over the group.

Then, they heard it—a low, raspy whisper. At first, it sounded like the wind, but the words became clear: ‘The forest keeps what it takes.’

Panic set in, but when they turned to leave, they realized the path they came from had vanished. The forest had shifted, trapping them in its maze. One by one, their flashlights began to flicker and die. And then, they saw him.

Standing between the trees was a figure cloaked in shadows, his glowing white eyes piercing through the darkness. He didn’t move, but the teens could feel his presence, heavy and suffocating, as if the forest itself was breathing down their necks.

One of the teens, desperate to escape, shouted, ‘What do you want from us?!’

The figure tilted its head, and in a voice that sounded like leaves crunching underfoot, it replied: ‘To see what you’ve seen.’

The next morning, the search party found the teens huddled together at the forest’s edge, pale and trembling. They were alive, but something had changed. Their eyes—every single one of them—had turned a ghostly white, glowing faintly in the sunlight. To this day, they refuse to speak of what they saw, but they all agree on one thing: ‘Elias White is still out there, watching, waiting… and the forest keeps what it takes.'”

Context:
My information first encountered this chilling legend at a summer camp, narrated by an older counselor around a nighttime campfire. The setting enhanced the story’s eerie effect, amplifying its emotional impact and embedding it deeply in their memory. According to them, counselors would often use the tale of Elias White as both entertainment and a subtle warning to campers not to stray into restricted or dangerous areas of the forest. My informant recounted that the legend served as a rite of passage among campers, marking their initiation into the collective camp culture and identity.

Analysis:
The legend of Elias White embodies classic motifs found in ghost stories—escape, pursuit, punishment, and enduring hauntings—and taps into broader themes of historical injustice, lingering guilt, and retribution. Elias’s ghost symbolizes unresolved historical traumas and the oppressive past of slavery, turning a personal tragedy into a supernatural warning.

This narrative structure effectively uses fear to reinforce community boundaries, functioning as both a cautionary tale and a mechanism for social control within the camp environment. The transformation of the teenagers’ eyes symbolically conveys a loss of innocence or an irreversible awareness of darker truths.

Additionally, the phrase “the forest keeps what it takes” alludes to nature’s dominion over humanity, reflecting anxieties around human vulnerability and the unknowable mysteries lurking just beyond civilization’s edge. Thus, the legend of Elias White persists not only as entertainment but as a potent reminder of historical injustices and the enduring power of folklore to express cultural anxieties and collective memories.