The Ghost Story of the Banshee

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The Tale of the Banshee

On a dark and stormy night it happened. Not too far in the recent past, two teenaged girls were out camping in the woods. There, they sat in their tent while exchanging frightening ghost stories by the flickering candle-light. What began as a normal, cool, summer’s night, took an eerie turn for the worse when, in the middle of one particularly terrifying tale, an ominous howl rang out too close for comfort and a thunderous crash was heard.

As they scrambled to be near each other for warmth and security against the tingling feeling arising on the backs of their necks, and the fear of their impending doom, what jumped out at them was a horrifyingly great big... just kidding. This all started with two teenaged girls telling stories one night, but it was spring, not summer, in a dorm room, not at a camp site, and completely calm, not alarming in the least. For this assignment, I chose to ask a friend to tell me a story regarding ghosts, magic, or the supernatural, and what she came up with I considered to be very helpful for this project.

I collected a version of the Tale of the Banshee from my roommate here at the University of Maryland, who is also a college freshman. This young woman is a 19-year-old from Montgomery, New Jersey, with a very diverse and complex background. Her father is from Pakistan, her mother is a European-American Christian, and she herself is Muslim.

What she told me was told to her by older relatives when she was just a child, and accused of “screaming like a Banshee.” The curious little girl that she was, she asked what it meant; based on the explanation she received she never wanted to scream like that again. In her retelling she presented the story with a straigh...

... middle of paper ...

...fter an attack, the yowl could have been considered a warning cry.

All peoples across cultures and time need things to believe in and to trust. The people of ancient Ireland chose to believe in a deceased, friendly relative to warn them of tragedy. That is a much happier belief than the evil, menacing idea of Banshees that I had prior to this assignment, so I am happy for having learned more.

Works Cited

Ireland Now ©1997-2005 http://www.ireland-now.com/banshee.html

Irelandseye.com and contributors © 1999-2004 http://www.irelandseye.com/animation/explorer/banshee.html

Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd Copyright ©2000 - 2005 http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=229025

Morey, Eibhlin: Submitted on Thursday 17th of March 2005 http://www.constant-content.com/article/1788/The-Banshee/

Susan Sheppard http://magick.wirefire.com/newpage5.htm

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