Ghost stories have been told and handed down for thousands of years. Its been believed that once an individual dies their spirit lives on and haunts the living. An interview was conducted with two coworkers Karen Roe and her husband Tony Roe. Karen Roe has lived in Texas all her life with her husband Tony until five years ago when they moved to Gadsden Alabama. The first interview starts separately with Karen. Karen believes in the folklore about a haunted bridge in north Texas where a school bus ran off the bridge and killed all the children on it. While Karen was in college a group of her friends packed into her car and went to the bridge on Halloween. The story is told that if you park your car on the bridge and put baby powder on the
April Henry doesn’t really give a whole lot of information, at the beginning of the book. Throughout the book, you learn about the characters, where the setting is, learn about the plot, and about the moral of the story.
The camp was really, really old and many of the buildings had once burned down because of a big fire. Supposedly the camp was haunted by this woman named Mary, who was a witch. But, no one ever saw her, just weird things would happen. Little girls would disappear at night if they were out wandering around by themselves. It scared everyone because parents want their daughters to come home. So every time someone would disappear, people would go out looking for her but would never find her. But after a girl would disappear, it would get especially strange for a while. People thought Mary haunted other buildings, like the barn. Well, [lowers voice] one night one of the camp directors heard strange sounds coming from a little cabin in the woods where Mary supposedly lives and went to investigate. He found Mary with one of the campers, giving her an herbal potion. But the girl was already in a trance and hypnotized and they couldn’t bring her back. They took Mary and they tied her up and put her on trial. As she was standing there, she put a spell on everyone and killed herself with the spell. It was said that anyone else who said her name three times in the mirror would die.
Ghosts, both figurative and literal, are very common in the Joy Luck Club and are a recurring theme in the book. The mothers of The Joy Luck Club were all raised in traditional Chinese households, which has influenced them to have deeper feelings about ghosts. Mentally, the term ghost is used to describe people who have become a shell of their former selves and rarely speak or do anything. Physically, ghost is used to describe the spirit of the dead. This is the basis of the mothers and others to be scared of the thought of becoming a ghost figuratively and literally. Christianity is the basis of physical fear of ghosts and traditional Chinese beliefs cause the mental fear of ghosts, this stimulates the thought of the afterlife to be
The particular story I collected takes place in Philadelphia, where ghost stories are plentiful. Philadelphia is an old city with a rich cultural heritage, and our founding fathers made history in the place that was once our nation’s capital (Eidmann). Many believe that their spirits and spirits of those from colonial times still lurk around. It is easy to feel like spirits are around when in a place where many people have lived and died before, and in a place that is filled with old buildings and landmarks. All of these factors make this city a perfect place for a ghost story.
There is this small bridge in a small city nearby. There was a car accident and a small child or baby died. And, um, it was in the local papers. It is said that at night, when your drive over it, you can hear the sound of a baby crying. And you know how signs on the side of the road reflect light and stuff? Well, you can’t see it with normal lighting, but when a car’s lights hit the sign at the right angle, you can see a baby’s footprints.
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:
The book Christina's Ghost is a fantastic book by Betty Ren Wright. This book is a mystery about famous stamps that were stolen and haven't been seen for thirty years. The book takes place near a lake in an old mansion in the woods outside of New York in 1985. The old mansion has two ghosts that have been haunting the house for more the thirty years.
There is a road in Totowa, NJ, that is called Anna’s Road because it is haunted by the ghost of a teenage girl that was killed there. Apparently, the girl was somewhat of an outcast and nobody really liked her. She was never asked to the prom, so the night of the prom she was the only one not there. Anna decided to take a walk on this road, since she was bored and depressed because nobody had asked her to the prom. It was just about the time the prom ended and a car full of her ...
Gordon, A (1997). Ghostly Matters: Haunting and the Sociological Imagination. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997
Mary Robinson’s “The Haunted Beach” tells a tale of a murder surrounded by mysterious supernatural activity, which ultimately culminates in a decisive, though equally intangible, moral judgment sentenced from above. The poem, characterized by juxtaposed contrasting images, unfolds neatly and rhythmically, as if determined by the hand of Fate herself. Like the “sea-birds hover’d craving” the reader fervently reads on, seeking some illumination on the “strong and mystic chain” which binds both men and nature’s actions which is never fully revealed. For all its semblance of order, the poem is marked by ambiguity and vagueness; pronouns have no clear antecedents, shadowy light covers the scene, and the events themselves are told in reverse order. Yet still Robinson strives to conclude with order and meaning, bringing together the strange mesh of seemingly opposed forces. Ultimately order does surface as unseen, intangible forces pass down a ruling, binding the fishermen to a slavish punishment.
In Chimera, Gerald Callahan attempts to explain the paranormal sightings of his dead wife. For readers who cannot rely on faith alone, Callahan presents a scientific theory that might help us understand how we could be sensing the presence of those we love even after they have passed on. He proposes that once we become intertwined with someone here on earth they can never leave us, even when their humanly bodies have been buried long ago. He calls this phenomenon “phantom memory,” from which we can see or feel the ghosts of lost loves. As if love were a disease, others seep in and find root in our own biological systems where they shall live within and then reappear in front of us whenever they please. He explains, “Each time we are infected
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.
Molly Harding is an eighteen year old girl currently living in Memphis, Tennessee. She lives in a two story house in Germantown with her parents and her younger brother, Cooper. Molly is going to college overseas in the summer and has yet to apply for a passport and visa. On top of that, her class is going to Florida for their senior trip next week and she has to read some maps and brochures of local attractions before leaving on Monday.
This story, although somewhat unique in its exact plot, contains many elements that make it a typical and traditional ghost story. These elements suggest common fears in today’s society of people in general, and children specifically.
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.