Tag Archives: tombstone

Tombstone Ghost Story

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Waitress
Residence: Glendale, AZ
Language: English

“So me and my friend right. We took this trip to Tombstone and we did one of those ghost tours in I think it was a funeral home I’m pretty sure. It used to be an old funeral home in Tombstone. And she busted out this um what do they call it? A spirit box where they are just really loud. She had me and my friend stand up facing away from the audience, and there were these purple lights on us too, so you could kind of see if there was any shadows or movement or whatever from the ghost. And um apparently like people had told me afterwards that they had seen the ghost moving my hair cuz it was down and really long at the time. Anyways, with the spirit box, it just saying a lot of random stuff and all of a sudden all you could hear was it really clearly say BITCH! And then my friend just falls to the ground and grabs me and everybody fell.”

Context: The informant was about 14/15 and went on a birthday trip with her friend to Tombstone on Labor Day weekend. Tombstone is a well-known western town in Arizona, known for their ghost tours and mock shootouts. The ghost tour was in the basement of one of the stores which had been somewhat preserved from the time it was a funeral home. The host used a spirit box on her laptop, grid lights, and a barrel of offering which she had audience members stand in front of to invite spirits to touch them. The friend who collapsed claimed that she didn’t know what happened, similar to a short blackout, and she avoided any supernatural experiences for a long time afterward. The host ended the ghost tour after this incident.

Analysis: Although this ghost experience was somewhat institutionalized, the suggestibility of the experience and the host lead the informant into having a true ghost experience. Ghost boxes are devices that skip through radio channels, and the ghosts are supposed to highlight words in response to questions people asked. Initially, the experience had been fun for the informant, being told her hair was being moved by the ghost. This validated and strengthened the belief in the phenomenon in the moment. However, the experience took a turn when the ghost insulted them and her friend collapsed, suggesting that the ghost had pulled her down. With the ghost tour occurring in a wild west funeral home with many violent deaths, the host herself acknowledged the danger by concluding the tour after this hostile incident. Ghosts have been suggested to be especially tied to property and being hostile towards unwanted visitors, which could be a factor for the incident. 

Ritual – Mexico

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 3, 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Do not step on anyone’s tombstones/grave. (Referring to the ones that are flush with the ground)

Notes:

When I asked about any sort of rituals her family upholds, the subject told me that in Mexican culture, you do not step on anyone’s tombstone or gravesite, specifically the ones that are flush with the ground. I asked her why they regard this as a ritual, and she said that it was extremely disrespectful to step on a gravesite, especially because Mexican cultures put a high regard on ancestors and relatives. She said that death is a big part of the Mexican culture, as seen in the Day of the Dead celebration.

I think that this ritual can be applied to most culture, I do not know of anyone who would step on someone’s gravesite due to the fact that it is extremely disrespectful and a little bit eerie. I do not think that the piece of folklore is as interesting as why she regards it as something very important. She made a point that if someone were to step on the tombstone it would be a very bad thing, not something someone could accidentally do and just step off of. I think that this is because of the extreme reverence of the dead in Mexican culture. The Day of the Dead celebration is entirely about this, with a two-day festival dedicated to celebrating the dead by making altars and adorning their gravesites with flowers and food. I think that this ritual is most about the respect you pay to ancestors, which is a popular belief across many different cultures.