Tag Archives: work ghost

Dunkin Ghost

Folklore:
At a Dunkin’ Donuts near USC, there is a Dunkin Ghost that haunts which causes random acts of high jinx during odd hours of service.

Context:
The informant works at the Dunkin Donuts near USC and told a story about their experiences with the Dunkin Ghost. “My story is about my job at Dunkin… I have been working at Dunkin for 2 years now… I don’t know how long the Dunkin Ghost has been a thing… a beeper would go off with no one entering…moved the trash can to the middle lobby… very heavy and knew that they didn’t move it… the alarm didn’t go off and it showed no one on camera.” The ghost was used to explain weird happenings around the store.

Analysis:
The folklore tends to be used as an explanation for things without explanation or for things that are done outside of expectation. It is a folklore shared within a service and work community which are held to certain expectations and rules. The explanation of the Dunkin Ghost is able to explain away the weird happenings or happenings that don’t meet those rules. Though in some cases, the ghost is used to explain happenings that don’t have a reasonable explanation.

Haunted Quarry

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Chicago, IL
Performance Date: May 2nd, 2021
Primary Language: English

Background

The informant, Chase, is the brother of the interviewer. He grew up in Chicago, Illinois where he currently resides. 

Context

Chase tells the interviewer about a haunted quarry where he used to work.

Transcript 

“Every summer in high school I have worked at a kayaking company. In the center of town is this ancient quarry that they have filled with water so it looks like a small lake. I taught kayaking and paddle boarding lessons on the quarry. The company rented out these kayaks and paddle boards to anyone in town. So over the quarry is this big bridge that a lot of cars drive over. It is pretty busy. People at work always claimed that like sixty years ago this family was driving across the bridge, but the dad was drunk and speeding and accidentally drove their car off the bridge into the quarry. They say it was too deep to retrieve the car or people and if you were able to dive down deep enough you would still be able to see the car and their bodies. Sometimes, at night, you can see the ghosts of the family crying in the middle of the quarry. I personally have never seen any shit like that before, despite all my years working there. I do believe that someone could easily drive off the bridge, it kinda looks like an accident waiting to happen. But I don’t really believe that they didn’t retrieve the car or people’s bodies. It’s definitely a fun story to tell though.”

Thoughts

I too worked at the quarry throughout high school. I never had an encounter with the spirits like other people at worked described and I don’t really believe it either. I do agree that the story of someone driving off the bridge accidentally is probably true, but I can’t imagine the quarry is so deep they cannot retrieve the bodies. It is very interesting town lore though.