Movies like “Haunting in Connecticut” or “The Grudge” are fairly well-known and it is understood that they revolve around the concept of hauntings. Hollywood makes hauntings out to be nothing more than a vengeful spirit out for blood, however hauntings are so much more than that. In order to better understand the concept of a haunting and in turn to better understand the local legend of Gibbs Bridge, a firm grasp of exactly what traits a haunting encompasses is essential. The book Visions Apparitions Alien Visitors by Hilary Evans clearly states what the characteristics of haunting consists of in chapter 1.7. She says, “Hauntings are characterized by the place where they are seen which they appear to frequent.” (Evans, 98). Evans points out …show more content…
After all, there would not be haunting cases, unless there was a spirit present. Although people agree upon the fact there must be a spirit present, it is not quite clear how often this entity must be seen in order for a location to be considered truly haunted. Gibbs Bridge is able to fit within Evan’s definition of a haunting due to the fact that various entities have been reported on the bridge. Although there are numerous stories about the bridge there are always entities that are said to be spotted on the bridge …show more content…
In Evan’s definition, she explains that “People often carry out some sort of action to satisfy the haunting spirit or in some way to persuade it to relinquish its activities.” (Evans, 100). In the Gibbs Bridge legend, there are many different actions that one must carry out in order for a haunting to occur and the actions are usually specific to the story being told. In one story, the participant must first turn off their car, flash their headlights three times, and honk three times and an apparition will appear. Another story states that the participant must again turn off their car and drop their keys out of their right window and red eyes will appear in their review window. Yet another actually involves the participant to get out of the car and walk across the bridge. Although all of these actions have differences, there is one common element and that is the participant must park their car along or near the bridge
Chinese culture has many interpretations ghosts. One way they are seen as is people who have disgraced their family or country. An example of this in the novel is Maxine's aunt. She is considered a ghost because she disgraced her family by having a baby outside of marriage. They call her "Ghost! Dead ghost! Ghost! You have never been born." (Kinston 14) She drowns herself in the well to become one of the most feared ghost, the Shui Gui or watery ghost. These ghosts are said to be waiting for their victims, to pull them into the water to take the drowned ones place. In the novel another example of what the Chinese consider ghosts are American people. Sometimes they feel haunted by this unfamiliar culture, just as a ghost would haunt. "But America has been full of machines and ghosts- Taxi Ghosts, Bus Ghosts, Police Ghosts, Fire Ghosts, Meter Reader Ghosts, Tree Trimming Ghosts, Five-and-Dime Ghosts." (Kong 96) These examples are American people of any ethnicity. They are called ghosts because the Chinese are not familiar with the culture. Another example of the unfamiliarity is when, "Her husband looked like one of the ghosts passing the car wind...
Ghosts and goblins are lurking around every corner. Mysterious creatures are waiting to jump out of every shadow. The boogieman and his accomplices are posted under the bed and in the closet, counting the minutes until children go to sleep so that that can attack and scare the life out of them. We all grew up with these fears in the back of out heads. There is always at least one person and one building in every town, whether it be small or large, with a story... a history of mysterious, paranormal behavior. The little town of Canton, Missouri is no different.
Despite the obvious scientific inaccuracy, the idea of ghosts is very important for a person going through tough times, especially when ones family members have died. This is because it establishes permanence in that person; they are no longer merely a body that lies six feet underground but rather a spirit watching down from the sky. In Isabel’s case, it establishes comfort in the sense that her mother is protecting her, because her mother would never let anything bad happen to her. However, it is slightly symbolic that “ghosts couldn’t move
The Haunting of Hill House is a gothic horror novel written by Shirley Jackson. Supernatural occurrences take place within the house revolving around Eleanor. Eleanor is a thirty-two-year-old woman who never once has felt the sense of inclusion. Eleanor seems to never recall the feeling of delight in her adult years due to the fact that she was a caretaker for her now deceased Mother; who took away most of her freedom by being incredibly restrictive. Dr. Montague, a doctor that specializes in analysis of the supernatural rents Hill House, a supposedly haunted house. During the renting period, Dr. Montague begins an experiment inviting individuals who have had involvement in abnormal events
In April I sat down with a friend at my house and asked about any urban legends or ghost stories he had encountered. After a couple legends he had seen in movies, he mentioned a haunted bridge about ten minutes away from downtown. He is a twenty-one year-old White male; his father owns an appliance store and his mother helps out with the books. He first heard this story in the ninth grade from a couple of friends. Supposedly, they had heard from kids who had actually been to the bridge and heard strange things at night. The bridge is located off of Uniontown road, between a couple old farms. He has not encountered the bridge first hand but still remembers the story surrounding it:
All houses are haunted; all persons are haunted; throngs of spirits follow us everywhere, we are never alone. Every county has they own haunted places some more known than others. I know this very personally because I live less than 100 yards from one of those haunted places, Marsh Road. I will take you on an adventure though Wisconsin’s past and present gulls and goblins that will sure give you a new look on Wisconsin. The haunted places in Wisconsin are worth learning about.
One issue which, like the rest, can be answered in more than one way is why Mrs. Grose believes in the Governess when she tells her about her ghost encounters. Usually one would second-guess such outlandish stories as the ones that the governess shares throughout the story, yet Mrs. Grose is very quick to believe our borderline-insane narrator. One of the explanations for such behavior could be the underlying fact that Mrs. Grose and the governess have a similar socio-economic background, therefore making them somewhat equal even if the governess does not always seem to think that way. This fact makes them susceptible to trusting and believing each other, and to believing that the ghosts are there, for the people that the ghosts are presenting used to be servants and therefore from a similar socio-economic background. To add on to that, Bruce Robbins proposes in his Marxist criticism of The Turn of the Screw that the idea of a ghost is synonymous to that of a servant, subconsciously making the two lower-class workers of Bly more vulnerable to believe that the ghosts were real; in other words, servants were ghosts....
This also ties in with the theme of supernatural. Irving also describes, “ There was a contagion in the very air that blew from that haunted region; it breathed forth an atmosphere of dreams and fancies infecting all the land” (Irving 1). This helps us readers imagine the atmosphere and the theme of supernatural within the town. The mentioning of the hauntings brings up the past once
People will learn much more about why the Indians ended up there on the island, and the most haunted parts of the prison, stories, and many more about the haunted side of Alcatraz. The description of Alcatraz is sinister and quite mysterious. Many people describe it as a haunted attraction, but it is still extremely popular. Alcatraz is described as a “portal to another dimension, said to be “Filled with the energy of those who came to the “Rock” and never left” (The Ghosts Of Alcatraz). “Native Americans believed the island was to be inhabited by evil spirits.
Through out the short novella, 'The Turn of the Screw,' by Henry James, the governess continually has encounters with apparitions that seem to only appear to her. As Miles' behavior in school worsens so that he is prevented from returning, and as Flora becomes ill with a fever, the governess blames these ghosts for corrupting the children, Miles and Flora, and labels them as evil and manipulative forces in their lives. But why is it that these ghosts only seem to appear to the governess even when the children are present at the time of the sightings by the governess? Evidence from the short story leads the reader to believe that the ghosts are not real but are merely the evidence of the fragmenting sanity of the governess.
... It has almost become a friend. The paranormal encounters and psychological effects of the house made her almost, insane. Dr. Montague and the others all agreed that she needed to be home. It was for her own safety. The morning that Eleanor was scheduled to leave was like any other. Mrs. Dudley set out their breakfast, and all in all, it seemed like a normal day. Everyone gave their good-byes, and Theo was especially sad to see Eleanor go. Eleanor got into her car, but something wasn't right. Her mind was telling her that Hill House belonged to her. How dare they tell me to leave, and what gives them the right to make the rules? Hill House was HER house. In an act to save her dignity, Eleanor presses the gas. She turns the wheel and crashes straight into a tree. Her life had ended. After an ending like this, you begin to think. Was Hill House really haunted? Or was it the psyche of Eleanor Vance that caused these encounters? All in all, Eleanor was never accepted, and she finally found someone that accepted her for what she was. That someone was Hill House. This story became one of my favorites after reading it. I would recommend this book to any person who has been the outcast.
The Nelly Butler hauntings is referred to as the first recorded ghost story in American history (LiBrizzi 5), and possibly the most exciting hauntings to date as there are still many unsolved mysteries. The apparition appeared on more than 30 separate occasions to over 100 witnesses in Sullivan, Maine, just over fifteen years after the American Revolution (5-6). Although the Nelly Butler apparition is one of the most convincing ghosts of all time, it was subject to suspicions of fraud. These claims turn out to be groundless as the evidence reveals the ghost to be genuine.
a walking ghost is a bad omen in itself, a sign that something rotten will or has taken
For many years, people have debated whether or not spirits are real. Some people get scared at the fact that there might be something unknown lurking in their house in the middle of the night making their footsteps known to everyone in it. Maybe that person feels watched upon or feel some kind of presence in their home, or even sees shadows moving their way through rooms. Different people around the world have their own opinions based on religion and experiences when talking about angels, demons, and the spirits that have life after death. New technology is getting closer to detecting these energies happening in the world today. The history of haunting dates back many years, and more people want to get involved because of the new technology.
Purpose. The purpose of the research is to extricate the differences between the content of nightmares and that of bad dreams. Researchers hypothesized that in comparison to bad dreams, nightmares would exhibit higher levels of emotionality, negative affect, death references, and aggression. Additionally, it was posited that higher levels of aggression would include greater degrees of aggressive intensity, number of aggressive acts, and victimization.