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The dilemma of a ghost
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The Return of the Ruined Banker The setting for this ghost story was at Sturdivant Hall, in Selma, Alabama in the 1860’s. Sturdivant Hall had been constructed in 1852. This stately mansion had six tall white pillars in the front. There were many parlors downstairs and an abundance of spacious bedrooms upstairs. There were large fig trees, shrubs, and scuppernong vines on either side of the home. A group of visitors had gathered to take a to tour of this beautiful mansion; then, the guide revealed something quite remarkable. (Windham and Figh, 79) The guests were admiring the graceful proportions of the downstairs parlors and had made their way to an upstairs bedroom. The guide was describing the rope-laced trundle bed and other old furnishings to the tourists when she suddenly stopped in mid-sentence and became very pale. One of the men in the group tried to help her to a chair, but before he reached her, she took a deep breath and continued her interrupted story. (Windham and Figh, 79) After the tour was over and the visitors had gone, the guide hurried to her friend who was keeping the guest register. (Windham and Figh, 79) “He’s here again!” she exclaimed. “He brushed against me in the upstairs bedroom. I never felt anything quite like it – his touch was clamming and frightening.” (Windham and Figh, 79,80) She continued to explain to her friend about the ghost of John Parkman. She told her friend that his ghost usually appeared when there were tourists in the building. She wasn’t sure if his ghost disliked strangers in his home, or if his ghost was just a reminder for her to tell the people about his remarkable success story and what a fine person he was. John Parkman lived in the white-columned... ... middle of paper ... ...d of seeing him believed he was buried near the scuppernong harbor and that his restless spirit roamed from that grave. Even when they were told that Parkman was properly interred in the family lot in Live Oak Cemetery, they kept insisting, “Mr. Parkman is right there. He’s buried under the fig tree by the arbor. And he’s troubled and restless. Mighty restless.” (Windham and Figh, 85) It must indeed be the restless, troubled ghost of John Parkman that wanders through the spacious rooms and around the grounds of the home he loved, appearing only when crowds of people are present. Is he objecting to the intrusion of these strangers into his home? Is he trying to play again the role of gracious host to a gay gathering of guests? Or, is he seeking a defender, someone who will clear him of the stigma that has marred his good name? (Windham and Figh, 85)
Come with me as I take you inside one of the most unsung haunted locations in the United States today. It is a journey down dark hallways and into rooms painted by both shadow and light where spirits talk and phantoms walk.
Since I come from the Eastern Shore of this state, I was surprised to hear a ghost story I was previously unaware of. The story takes place in a park in Salisbury. The person who told me the story is a 19-year-old sophomore at the University, and we spoke about it one evening after dinner. He believes it to be true, because one of his friend’s siblings has apparently experienced the ghost firsthand. I tape-recorded his narrative:
I was told a story about one of Cloudcroft's more famous ghosts when casually lounging in the undergraduate student physics lounge at the University of Maryland, College Park, with a group of students during a lunch break before class. This occurred during early April, 2005. I inquired whether anyone knew any ghost stories or folklore. A friend of mine volunteered that she knew several ghost stories from her travels. The storyteller was a 23-year-old Caucasian female from an upper-middle class family in Baltimore. She currently lives in Crofton, MD, and is a physics and astronomy major.
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...
She knows of the story after hearing it from fellow students at the University of Washington, where she went for her undergraduate studies. The story was told during a regular hangout, by a girl from a town near Port Townsend. The person I heard the story from doesn't really pay the myth and "ghost story" idea any attention because of its common presence in that area. Washington state is a region known as the "Haunted North West." Capitol Hill has so many "ghosts" that companies offer ghost tours year round.
This story was recounted to me by a 20 year old female student at my University. She is a Communications major, coming from an upper middle class family in the rural suburbs of New Jersey. I interviewed her in her apartment sometime in the late afternoon in an informal setting. Although she is skeptical about things such as urban legends and ghost tales, she explained to me that this story always unsettled her in an inexplicable way.
if he is to see a ghost then he will become wiser for he would know
I searched until I heard a story that gave me the chills. It comes from right around the block from where I live on campus, at one of the sorority houses at the University of Maryland. I collected this story the weekend of April 2nd, at my fraternity house. I asked my friend, a junior from Pikesville, if she knows any ghost stories. Her face lit up as if she was dying to tell me this story since the first time we ever met. She asked “you never heard the story of the ghost in the sorority house?” I replied no. The normally quiet woman demanded my attention away from the TV and went into her story.
There’s this really small highway town in New Mexico called Cimarron, and it’s small now but in the late 19th century it was a bustling crossroads for all sorts of people – gold speculators, ranchers, oilmen, and especially those vagrant characters, like Billy the Kid, seeking refuge from whatever lawman was on his tail. In Cimarron is this hotel, the Santa Fe Hotel, and they say that this place is the most haunted hotel still in operation, in the west. The lights flicker on and off, and people, visitors just say they encounter really weird things – like if you go in this one room, you might see a woman out of the corner of your eye, sitting on the windowsill and looking out for someone. And when you turn to face her, she disappears, but all of a sudden you smell a subtle waft of strawberry-scented perfume. Weird – yet you still not sure if this is true? Sounds sketchy, I know. Oh – I should say this hotel is haunted because 23 people have been shot to death in the hotel, either from a bar-fight or card-game or something. Well I went to stay at the hotel for a night, before I headed on to a nearby Boy Scout camp. I went with my troop, and we all got our own rooms. Guess what room I got – the strawbe...
2. How many times have they seen the ghost appear before they see it this time?
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.
room which is seen to have ghosts in it and, therefore, no one goes in
'What the heck was that?!?' is a very familiar phrase to many. Was it just the house settling? Maybe it was a friend playing a prank. Or could it possibly have been a ghost? The latter choice is normally ruled out fairly quickly. But for some, it is very plausible. To prove or disprove the possibility of an apparition, a surprisingly scientific and frequently detailed investigation is carried out.
In a ghost story, as the genre itself suggests, readers would expect the presence of a ghost especially since the author includes tropes of a conventional ghost story. In “The Open Window”, Saki uses the isolation element when he mentions that one of the main characters Framton migrated to a rural retreat (595), which can be assumed to be a secluded area. This is a common cliché that one would suppose in a ghost story. Also, the “ghost” incident that scared Framton occurred at twilight, which is a trope as well because ghosts normally appear when it gets dark. This increases the believability of the story as a ghost story.
After the woman finished signing their names and address in the book the door man picked up the podium and moved it towards the far end of the room. He took the black book from the podium and placed it into his black jacket pocket. The door attendant then began to walk towards the other end of the line and disappeared into the other room.