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- Archive-name: folklore/ghost-stories
- Last-modified: 1995/01/20
- Posting-frequency: Monthly
-
- Welcome to alt.folklore.ghost-stories!
-
- Alt.folklore.ghost-stories is for the discussion of, well... ghost stories!
- If you've been visited by ghosties, ghoulies, long-legged beasties, or
- things that go bump in the night, a.f.g-s is the perfect place to tell the
- world about your experiences. In fact, if you've heard any ghost stories at
- all lately, feel welcome to post them here.
- Of course, like all newsgroups, a.f.g-s has its share of frequently
- discussed topics. Thus, the alt.folklore.ghost-stories FAQ. I've tried to
- make the FAQ as comprehensive as possible, without getting too bogged down
- in useless rhetoric. It will probably be most useful to those new to the
- group, but hopefully there's something in it for even long-time readers.
- If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please don't hesitate
- to send them to obiwan@netcom.com (that's me!) or post them to the group.
- There's always room for improvement! And speaking of improvement, this FAQ
- would not have been the same without the advice, suggestions, and
- contributions of the following people:
-
- Nikki Taylor taylorn@kenyon.edu
- Leesa Kern lkern@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
- Lisa Korneluk korneluk@eagle.navsses.navy.mil
- Matt Hucke hucke@sumter.cso.uiuc.edu
- Jay Gitomer jgitomer@metamosh.clubfed.sgi.com
- Prabal Nandy probe@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu
- Mike Czaplinski mcc@nsscmail.att.com
- Susan Lynds sel@noaacdc.colorado.edu
- Proserpina proserp@duckmail.uoregon.edu
- David Fluker davidfluker@delphi.com
- Mark Korven Mark_Korven@goodmedia.com
- Arturo Sanchez txmrtur@txm.ericsson.se
- Thomas Grotenhuis thmsgrtn@dordt.edu
- cjs cjs@netcom.com
-
- A very special thank you goes out to Susan Lynds. She wrote the section
- on the Wendigo and sent me oodles of info on will o' the wisps. She was
- also invaluable as a proofreader and constructive criticizer. In fact, a
- few of the sentences you'll read come directly from her. Many of the books
- you see in the Interesting Reference Material section were also sent to me
- by Susan. To sum it up, we should all bow down in deference to Susan for
- making this FAQ a better document to read.
- A note on quotes: I have enclosed quotes from authors or people on the net
- in quotation marks ("). [These parts might be edited a bit for clarity or
- grammar.] The exception is the section which Susan Lynds wrote, which I
- have preserved intact, and not enclosed in quotation marks (any quotation
- marks in this section mark the work of a published author).
- This FAQ is posted on the 20th of every month to alt.folklore.ghost-stories,
- alt.paranormal, alt.paranet.paranormal, alt.answers, and news.answers. This
- FAQ is also available via anon FTP at the following addresses:
- ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/alt.folklore.ghost-stories/
- ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/ob/obiwan/GhostStories/FAQs/
-
- Here's the outline of the FAQ. To try to make the FAQ easier to search,
- I've used the following key:
- A = Answer
- Q = Question
- S = Subject
-
- I. Some Posting Guidelines
- Q1.1 Are all the stories posted to alt.folklore.ghost-stories true?
- Should they be true?
- Q1.2 Do I have to be some kind of paranormal nut in order to post here?
- Q1.3 Which topics are appropriate to post about?
- Q1.4 I have this great ghost story! Should I post it?
- Q1.5 I'm writing a book/article, and I'm reaping the net for stories and
- ideas. You don't mind if I steal yours, do you?
-
- II. The Ouija Board
- Q2.0 What is a ouija board?
- Q2.1 A lot of people on this group say the ouija board is evil, and
- to stay away from it. Is this true, and should I stay away?
- Q2.2 Where can I buy a ouija board? Failing that, how can I make one?
- Q2.3 Are there any 'rules' I should follow when using the Ouija board?
- Q2.4 What does "ouija" mean?
- Q2.5 A Brief History of the Ouija Board
-
- III. Famous Hauntings and Spooky Spots
- S3.1 The Amityville Horror
- S3.2 Battlefield Hauntings
- S3.3 The Bell Witch
- S3.4 Borley Rectory
- S3.5 Haunted Universities
- S3.6 Haunted Theatres
- S3.7 The Tower of London
- S3.8 Winchester Mansion
- S3.9 The Chase Vault
-
- IV. Urban Legends
- S4.1 La Llorona
- S4.2 Three Men and a Baby
- S4.3 Mary Worth/Bloody Mary
- S4.4 The Vanishing Hitchhiker
- S4.5 Haunted Traintracks
-
- V. Miscellaneous FAQs
- Q5.1 What is the Wendigo?
- Q5.2 What are will o' the wisps?
- Q5.3 How did that girl in -Poltergeist- die?
- Q5.4 What are some different categories of manifestations?
- Q5.5 Who are Ed and Lorraine Warren?
- Q5.6 What is "Old Hag"?
- Q5.7 Are cars really rolling uphill in that graveyard near my town?
- Q5.8 What is the best way to photograph a ghost?
- Q5.9 Can't you sue if your new house is haunted, and no one told you about
- it?
- Q5.10 What are some theories of what ghosts are/why they exist?
- Q5.11 What is a caul?
- Q5.12 What is an incubus?
-
- VI. Non-alt.folklore.ghost-stories Resources
- S6.1 Other USENET groups that a.f.g-s reader may enjoy
- S6.2 Some interesting reference material
- S6.3 Good Supernatural Fiction
- S6.4 Other Net Resources
-
- And now, away we go... it's the official
-
- ALT.FOLKLORE.GHOST-STORIES FAQ
- ------------------------------
-
- I. Some Posting Guidelines
- Q1.1 Are all the stories posted to alt.folklore.ghost-stories true? Should
- they be true?
- A1.1 It is highly doubtful that everything posted to a.f.g-s is true, or
- even meant to be true. However, unless you mark your story as
- fiction, readers tend to assume you are telling a tale you believe to
- be true. Hence, it is considered polite in these parts to MARK
- FICTION AS FICTION. People may otherwise assume that you're trying to
- pull the wool over their eyes, or else take the story at face value
- and start giving you advice. It's also common to start out "true"
- tales with "This really happened to me," or "This is a true story,"
- although technically it's not really necessary, as any unmarked story
- is considered to be true.
- CASE IN POINT: In the fall of 1994, someone posted a rather fantastic
- concoction about a spirit which he said had been attacking him for a
- good part of his life. He pleaded with the readers of a.f.g-s for
- help with his dilemma. Many kind readers responded with sympathy and
- advice, while one or two others posted their doubts about the story.
- The original poster acted hurt that someone didn't believe his story,
- insisting that it was true. A flame war ensued. Eventually the pos-
- ter admitted the story was made up, and the people who had believed
- and defended him felt hurt, betrayed, and/or embarrassed. This all
- could have been avoided if the poster had marked his story as fiction
- in the first place.
- Q1.2 Do I have to be some kind of paranormal nut in order to post here?
- A1.2 No. Although there are lots of people here who believe in paranormal
- activities, certainly not everyone does. Many people like reading the
- stories, but generally take them with a grain of salt. Everyone is
- welcome here, but remember: Flaming someone because they believe or
- don't believe in something is *not* welcome.
- Q1.3 Which topics are appropriate to post about?
- A1.3 Obviously, ghost stories (preferably true ones) make up the most
- appropriate posting material. However, I've also seen great threads
- about guardian angels, mysterious monsters, psychic phenomena, and of
- course ouija boards. I don't see any reason why we can't discuss
- these things here in a.f.g-s, as long as it doesn't degenerate into a
- flame war or something. This is a friendly and relatively flame-free
- newsgroup, and I'm sure everyone would like to keep it that way.
- General discussion of ghosts (e.g. "What are ghosts?") is also welcome.
- Basically, if it's paranormal and scary, you're on pretty sturdy
- ground (I would, however, discourage UFO posts, as there are already
- plenty of groups for those).
- Q1.4 I have this great ghost story! Should I post it?
- A1.4 YES! If you have a good story to tell, please don't hesitate to
- post it. There's nothing more frustrating to a.f.g-s readers than a
- post containing nothing but the words "Something scary happened to me.
- If there is enough interest, I'll post the story." We *want* to hear
- your story... honest!
- Q1.5 I'm writing a book/article, and I'm reaping the net for stories and
- ideas. You don't mind if I steal yours, do you?
- A1.5 Ha. Ha. Ha. Yes, as a matter of fact, we do mind. I'd suggest
- that if you're going to take other people's stories and give nothing
- back, you should find another newsgroup. It's OK to use someone's
- stories if you have written permission from the person and/or are
- paying them in some way. It might also be a nice idea to *give* a
- story for each one you take. Just a few things to think about.
-
- II. The Ouija Board
- The ouija board is a hot topic around here, and everyone seems to have a
- strong opinion about it one way or the other. I've tried to summarize
- those opinions, and also some questions about the board that get asked
- a lot.
- Q2.0 What is a ouija board?
- A2.0 A ouija board is a game in which messages are supposedly communicated
- by the dead to or through the players of the game. [Note: some people
- consider the ouija to be "more than just a game," but it is marketed
- as a game, and for purposes of convenience it will be referred to here
- as a game.] The playing pieces consist of a game board (like a
- Monopoly board) and a pointer, called a planchette. The game board
- has all the letters of the alphabet written on it. The numbers 0-9
- are also usually included, along with yes/no and hello/goodbye spaces.
- The layout of a typical board looks something like this:
- _________________________
- | |
- |A B C D E F G H I J K L M|
- |N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z|
- | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 |
- |YES/NO HI/BYE|
- |_________________________|
- The pointer is made of plastic or glass, and either points to the
- letters with one end or has a clear window embedded in it through
- which one can view the letters.
- To play, two or more people lightly touch the pointer and concentrate
- on a question. The pointer will (hopefully) move and point to letters
- and numbers which will provide answers to your questions.
- Ouija boards are also known as "witch boards" and "talking boards."
- The nickname "ouiji" or "weejie" is also used quite a bit.
- Q2.1 A lot of people on this group say the ouija board is evil, and to
- stay away from it. Is this true, and should I stay away?
- A2.1 Since it's nearly impossible to merge the two views on this
- topic, I've tried to accurately sum them up here:
- * The ouija board is not any more evil than your Monopoly board.
- It's just a toy, a piece of cardboard, and any "evil" force you
- feel emanating off it is purely a result of your imagination.
- Yes, the pointer does work, but that's the result of tiny
- involuntary physical movements, and the messages you see are coming
- from your subconscious or psychic mind.
- * The ouija is in fact a powerful tool, and its powers cannot, and
- should not, be written off entirely as your subconscious.
- Inexperienced ouija users are especially prone to being affected by
- malevolent forces which communicate through the board, often
- masquerading as a departed loved one. The best way to avoid this
- sort of thing is not to use the board at all.
- Q2.2 Where can I buy a ouija board? Failing that, how can I make one?
- A2.2 You can, in the U.S. anyway, find a ouija board in a toy store or a
- game store. You might also be able to find one in a large bookstore.
- Parker Brothers make a nice, relatively cheap, model.
- To make a board, arrange all the letters of the alphabet on a smooth
- surface. You might also want the words "yes", "no", and "goodbye",
- as well as the numbers. Use something that glides easily over the
- surface (like a glass) to use as a pointer. Now, place your fingers
- (this works best with a friend, by the way) gently on the glass and
- concentrate. Hopefully the glass will start to move and point to
- various letters, which will form words and sentences. Oh yeah, it
- helps if you ask a question first.
- Q2.3 Are there any 'rules' I should follow when using the Ouija board?
- A2.3 If you consider the Ouija board as just another toy, then there are
- no hard and fast rules to follow. Holding on to the pointer helps,
- though. :)
- If you believe that you are really contacting spirits through the
- board, you might want to follow a few basic guidelines. Here are
- some that I've gleaned off the net and from other sources:
- * Use a silver coin as the planchette (pointer), or wear an article
- made of silver. The silver is supposed to protect you from harmful
- spirits.
- * To improve "reception", use a solid wood board, and work in male-
- female pairs.
- * Draw a circle around you and the board, or make a circle of candles.
- Concentrate on creating a safe, protected place as you do this.
- Some people believe that spirits must stay outside this circle.
- Also, a well-lit area is said to drive away evil spirits.
- * Always say goodbye to the entity you are talking with when you want
- to end a session. If you don't say goodbye, and the spirit doesn't
- reply in kind, he may be trying to stick around, maybe to make your
- life miserable. Additionally, do not explicitly invite the spirit
- to enter someplace, since this will make it hard to get rid of him
- later.
- * It helps to have one additional person (not touching the planchette)
- present to transcribe the session. Sometimes the pointer starts
- moving too fast for you to read and process the words it's spelling
- out. The transcription might also be helpful later on so you can
- look back on what happened. Another way to transcribe is to have
- someone call out the letters to a tape recorder.
- * Don't take anything the spirit says literally. Ouija boards are
- famous for lying or otherwise giving false information.
- Q2.4 What does "ouija" mean?
- A2.4 The word "ouija" is actually a combination of two words, the french
- word "oui" and the German word "ja." Both words mean "yes" in english.
- Q2.5 A Brief History of the Ouija Board
- A2.5 From thmsgrtn@dordt.edu (Thomas Grotenhuis):
- The ancient Egyptians used a device LIKE a ouija board. They used a
- ring attached to a strand of thread, held over a circular table with
- symbols on it, and the ring would strike the table to spell out answers.
- The Ouija board, the kind we see in toy stores today, came about in
- 1889 when William Fuld of Baltimore, Maryland, and his brother Isaac,
- marketed Ouija boards to the American public. They had a small
- operation and the board was the hottest item they would ever produce.
- People bought the board not as a game, but as a device with which they
- would talk to their loved ones killed in battle (note the two World
- Wars happening; this was where the board's popularity really soared).
- During this time, the fad spread, and so did Ouija's notorious
- reputation as being more than just a "game."
- Finally in about 1960 or thereabouts, Parker Brothers approached the
- two Fuld brothers since they were having trouble making enough boards
- to satisfy the demand for them. PB then took over the rights to the
- ouija board and the rest, as they say, is history.
- Ouija came about as kind of a by-product of the whole spiritualist
- craze that was all the rage in the early 1900's, and during Houdini's
- time as he debunked many 'mediums'. Table-tipping was being done back
- then, and a Frenchman, who's last name was "planchette", produced a
- device that looked like a small table like a ouija pointer, that stood
- on two small stilts and a pen or pencil at the third point. The
- operator would sit with his hands as lightly as he could resting on the
- planchette, this device named after it's inventor, and the thing would
- move, producing writing.
- Ouija replaced the messy planchette (the writing was messy cursive
- scrawls) when a board was used in place of the sheet of paper, and all
- three stilts on the planchette were covered with felt enabling it to
- slide in any direction. This made the communications fast, clear, and
- easy. And specifically meant to be done with a partner, "gentleman
- and lady preferred."
-
- III. Famous Hauntings and Spooky Spots
- Following is a brief rundown of the most popular hauntings discussed
- on alt.folklore.ghost-stories. Note that these are all relatively
- famous hauntings, and not urban legendish or my-aunt-Edna's-house type
- tales.
- S3.1 The Amityville Horror
- The Amityville Horror, although now considered a hoax, is one
- of the most famous "hauntings" of all time. The small house in
- Amityville, New York was made famous in the mid-70s when George
- and Kathy Lutz told the media of bizarre happenings which were
- alleged to have taken place at the house during the month they
- lived there. These happenings included such things as flying
- demented pigs with glowing red eyes (my personal favorite), walls
- that oozed blood, an infestation of flies in the attic, and a
- pit to hell in the basement.
- Supposedly, whatever had tormented the Lutzes was also the thing
- that had driven Ronald DeFeo to shoot and kill his entire family
- in that house in 1974.
- S3.2 Battlefield Hauntings
- What better place to find ghosts than a former battlefield?
- Certainly there are many accounts of ghostly soldiers and regimens,
- forever fighting long-since resolved wars. Many Civil War and
- World War battlefields are said to be haunted. In addition, many
- sites of confrontations between whites and Native Americans echo
- with the sites and sounds of conflict.
- [More info to follow here; please be patient. :)]
- S3.3 The Bell Witch
- "The Bell Witch" haunted the Bell home in Tennessee in the early
- 1800s. The "witch" was actually a poltergeist, which did lots of
- annoying things like throw things around and scream/knock loudly
- at all hours. John Bell, the father, died during the Bell Witch's
- tenure. Some claim he was poisoned by the Witch. Betsy Bell,
- John's daughter, is suspected of having faked the whole thing.
- Reliable records are lacking, so we'll probably never know whether
- the Bell Farm was truly haunted.
- S3.4 Borley Rectory
- Borley Rectory is often called "The most haunted house in England."
- The site of the rectory originally held a monastery, which was
- inhabited by Benedictine monks. Subsequent to this, the monastery came
- under the ownership of the Waldergrave family, who occupied it for
- three centuries. In the late 1800's a descendant of the Waldegraves,
- the reverend H.D.E. Bull, built a new rectory on the site of the old
- monastery. It was not until after the new rectory was built that
- strange things started to happen.
- One of the spectres that was said to roam the grounds was a nun who
- in the 13th century fell in love with and tried to elope with a monk.
- According to legend, the nun and monk were caught in their get-away
- horse and carriage. As punishment, the monk was hung and the nun was
- walled up alive in the rectory. Some people reported seeing the
- ghostly form of the horse and carriage in addition to the nun.
- The reverend Harry Bull, who died at Borley, also was reputed to have
- haunted the rectory. He would appear dressed in the grey jacket in
- which he passed away.
- In the late 1920s, the house was owned by a reverend (Lionel A.
- Foyster) and his wife who reported poltergeist-like phenomena.
- Supposedly the prankish spirit locked the wife in the bedroom, and
- other times threw her out of the bed. There were also pebbles thrown
- at the windows, and mysterious writing which would appear on walls.
- Harry Price, a famous ghost hunter, investigated Borley Rectory in
- 1929, and again in 1937. He supposedly witnessed some of the
- activity, including the ghostly nun. Although Price spent a great
- deal of time in the Rectory, his research is generally considered to
- be biased and therefore flawed.
- Unfortunately, Borley Rectory burned down in 1939, taking its secrets
- with it. In 1945, human remains rumored to be those of the nun were
- found on the site, and were given a proper burial. But the legend of
- Borley has not died yet; people still visit the site today to see if
- they can spot the ghostly nun.
- S3.5 Haunted Universities
- There are many stories of college hauntings. If you wish to read of
- them, you can ftp to my alt.folklore.ghost-stories archives (see
- address at the bottom of this FAQ). Relevant files include:
- cmu.children mary.reed
- cmu.haunting phantom.typist
- ghost.elevator und.haunting
- haunted.dorm upei.haunting
- I haven't run across any university hauntings that are well known
- outside of one particular school but if anyone knows of any, let
- me know and I will include it in this section.
- S3.6 Haunted Theatres
- Mike Czaplinski (mcc@nsscmail.att.com) writes the following about
- the ghost of Drury Lane Theatre:
- "Drury Lane Theatre. From my fuzzy recollection, the ghost is
- described at various times as a soft green glow, or a handsome young
- man. I seem to recall there being an entry on this particular
- haunting in THE BOOK OF LISTS (circa 1980). According to the entry
- (again, subject to my faulty memory), during renovation in the late
- 1970's, they stumbled on a skeleton with the remnants of a grey riding
- coat with a knife sticking out of its ribs.
- The folklore is that whoever sees the ghost is destined for
- theatrical greatness."
- Further details (provided directly from -The Book of Lists-, Bantam,
- 1977): The ghost is that of a young man who was murdered in 1780.
- J. Wentworth Day, a ghost hunter, reported seeing a moving blue light
- in the theatre in 1939.
- If anyone knows of any other famous haunted theatres, I would be happy
- to hear about them. There are a few files in my archives that are
- about haunted theatres: lyric.theatre, playhouse.ghost, and theatre.
- ghost.
- S3.7 The Tower of London
- The Tower of London has a long and bloody history, and of course
- many ghostly legends are associated with the Tower. In 1483, two
- young princes were murdered in the Tower, and their ghosts were
- reported to have haunted the tower until the year 1674, when their
- bones were found and buried in a proper ceremony.
- The most famous and most often reported ghost in the Tower is
- Anne Boleyn. She was beheaded by her husband, Henry VIII, in
- 1536. Other Tower ghosts include Sir Walter Raleigh, Guy Fawkes,
- and even the apparition of a bear. In 1816, a palace guard who was
- on duty spied the bear. Not realizing he was facing an apparition,
- the guard attempted to lunge at the creature with his bayonet. The
- guard reportedly later died of shock.
- In 1864, a soldier saw a ghost and again attempted to use his
- bayonet. The soldier fainted when he realized his antagonist was a
- ghost, and was later court-martialed for neglecting his duties (hard
- to guard the castle when you're fainted dead away). However, the
- charges against the soldier were dropped when two witnesses came
- forward to support the soldier's ghost story.
- S3.8 Winchester Mansion
- The Winchester Mansion, in San Jose, California, was built by Sara
- Winchester, the widow of William Winchester. Sara visited a psychic
- who told her that she must build a house large enough to house
- the souls of all those who'd been killed by Winchester guns, and
- Sara spent the remaining 36 years of her life (until she died in
- 1922) doing just that.
- The mansion's construction is just as odd as Sara's personality.
- There are stairways and doors that go nowhere, secret rooms and
- passages, and elevators that only go up one floor. The number 13
- is prevalent throughout: 13 bathrooms, stairways with 13 steps,
- and so on.
- There is a rumor that Sara would never give her workmen the day
- off, because she was afraid that the day she stopped building she
- would die. One day, however, after many complaints, she finally
- gave her staff a day off, and that is the day she died.
- S3.9 The Chase Vault (AKA The Moving coffins of Barbados)
- Contributed by Matthew Hucke (hucke@mcs.com):
- In Christ Church cemetery on the island of Barbados there is a burial
- vault of unknown origin. The earliest records call it the "Chase
- vault". It was first used for the burial of a Mrs. Goddard in 1807,
- followed by two-year-old Mary Ann Chase in 1808 and her sister Dorcas
- in 1812, a probable suicide. A few weeks later, Dorcas' father Thomas
- Chase died. When the vault was opened, all the coffins had been moved
- from their original places. It was thought that thieves had been in
- the vault, but the concrete seal of the tomb was still in place.
- Two more burials were made in 1816. In both cases, when the vault
- was opened, the coffins already present had been moved about. The
- casket of Thomas Chase was of lead, weighing 240 pounds, far too large
- to be moved by a single vandal. In each of these burials, the workers
- returned the coffins to their proper places and sealed the mausoleum
- with cement.
- It happened again in 1819. This time, the Governor sprinkled sand
- on the floor (to show footprints), and pressed his personal seal into
- the fresh cement. In 1820 the tomb was opened again, and the coffins
- were again out of place, even though no footprints showed and the
- concrete seal was undisturbed. The governor ordered the coffins
- removed and the vault left open; the mystery has never been solved.
- [ information taken from Daniel Cohen's _The Encyclopedia of Ghosts_,
- Avon Books 1984.]
-
- IV. Urban Folklore and Legends
- S4.1 La Llorona
- La Llorona is the legend of a woman who has lost her children, and
- who can be heard, and sometimes seen, weeping in the night. La
- Llorona (the name means "She who weeps" in Spanish) is in most stories
- said to be Mexican, although sometimes she is a woman who lived in
- the American Southwest. As with most urban legends, there are many
- variations of La Llorona, but the central plot remains intact: The
- woman has lost her children, usually because she herself has killed
- them because she wants to marry a man who doesn't want any children.
- She is so anguished over the depressing circumstances that she kills
- herself as well, and is thus doomed forever to roam her native land,
- weeping and wringing her hands. Sometimes she is said to be searching
- for her children, and sometimes she is said to appear only as a
- warning to those who see her.
- Here is a typical version of the La Llorona legend by Proserpina
- (proserp@duckmail.uoregon.edu):
- "Sightings abound throughout the Southwest. Supposedly she drowned
- her children in the acequia (irrigation ditch,) and now she roams the
- ditches looking for her, or any, children. Usually the story is told
- with the intentions of keeping kiddies away from the ditches, so they
- won't drown."
- -The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits- by Rosemary Guiley tells a
- more traditional Mexican version, which occurs in Mexico City around
- 1550. According to legend, an indian princess fell in love with a
- Mexican nobleman. The nobleman promised to marry her, but betrayed
- her and married someone else instead. The ultimate result of this
- bit o' treachery is that the princess murdered her children in a fit
- of rage, with a knife given to her by the nobleman. Afterwards, she
- wandered the streets crying for her children, and was eventually
- hanged for her sins. Since then her ghost has been searching for
- children.
- Another interesting feature of the La Llorona legend is that it
- appears to have merged with the Vanishing Hitchhiker legend (see
- below). La Llorona is reported by some to hitch a ride on a road
- near to the place where she drowned her children.
- S4.2 Three Men and a Baby
- If I had to pick just one topic from this FAQ to post, this would
- be the one. There is a scene in the movie -Three Men and a Baby-
- in which some people claim to have seen the ghostly figure of a
- small boy who was killed in the house in which the scene was filmed.
- In some variations, the boy's parents are said to have sued the
- movie studio, or the owners of the "house", for letting their boy's
- name be released to the press. There are also tales of other ghostly
- objects being seen throughout the movie, most notably a rifle pointing
- at the head of the "ghost boy".
- That is the legend. Here are the facts. The scene in question
- was not shot in a house, but on a soundstage in a Hollywood studio.
- The "ghost boy" is in fact a life-sized cardboard cutout of Ted
- Danson (who stars in the film), which had been left in the background,
- presumably accidentally, by a crew member. This cutout is seen in
- full view in another scene in the movie.
- There is no ghost boy. No boy ever died on the set, and no one
- involved with the movie was ever sued by the mythical parents of
- said ghost boy. No one appears to know how the legend started.
- Some have suggested it was a promotional scheme perpetrated by the
- producers of the film to get people to buy/rent/go see it. Most
- likely the flub was simply noticed by one or more innocent movie
- goers, who told a friend, or perhaps a newspaper...
- S4.3 Mary Worth/Bloody Mary
- Here is a popular legend which many remember from their childhood.
- The Mary Worth (also known as Bloody Mary, Mary Margaret, etc) story
- is popular at sleepovers. As the story goes, a beautiful young girl
- named Mary Worth was in some sort of terrible accident (or
- occasionally the wounds are inflicted purposely by a jealous party),
- and her face was hideously deformed. From then on, she is shunned by
- other people, and she sometimes becomes a witch.
- Now for the scary part. Supposedly if you say Mary Worth's name
- three (or five, or ten... it varies) times while looking into the
- mirror, Mary Worth will appear and scratch your face off or kill
- you. She is exacting a hideous revenge on the undeformed people
- who made fun of her in life.
- There is a great Clive Barker movie, -Candyman-, based on this
- sort of legend.
- S4.4 The Vanishing Hitchhiker
- This legend is probably familiar to most readers. It is a dark
- and stormy night. A person driving sees a forlorn figure at the
- side of the road and decides to give him or her a lift. Usually
- the hitchhiker is a young woman in some sort of trouble... her
- prom date dumped her, or her car broke down. The driver gets to
- her house only to discover that his passenger has disappeared without
- a trace from the back seat of his car. He knocks on the door
- to the house, maybe to make sure the girl is ok, and the door is
- answered by the girl's parent. Eventually it comes out that the
- girl died some years ago, and every year on the anniversary of her
- death (or her birthday), the girl hitches a ride back home with a
- stranger.
- There are *many* variations of this legend. Sometimes the girl
- appears to make it home safely, but the driver finds something the
- girl left behind in his car, and goes back to return it, thus lear-
- ning the truth about the girl. Sometimes the driver lends the girl
- his jacket or sweater, and goes back the next day to retrieve it.
- Often, he finds his jacket hung over the grave of the dead girl.
- It is interesting to note that this legend has made it into many
- regional folklores. In Hawaii, for example, the hitchhiker is often
- said to be the goddess Pele. It has already been mentioned that
- La Llorona has also been connected with the story. In the Chicago
- area, the vanishing hitchhiker takes the form of Resurrection Mary.
- S4.5 Haunted Traintracks
- Occasionally a reader will post the following story, usually
- attributing it to a local site. Once, there was a tragic accident
- on a set of traintracks:
- A busload of children was crossing the tracks, and could not get
- out of the way in time to avoid the approaching train. Now, if
- your car stalls out on the tracks, it will be pushed over the tracks
- to safety before the train hits you. The ghosts of the children
- have saved you, and sometimes you can see their small handprints
- in the dust on your car.
-
- V. Miscellaneous FAQs
- Q5.1 What is the Wendigo?
- A5.1 [This section brought to you by Susan Lynds (sel@noaacdc.colorado.
- edu). Thanks, Susan!]
- "The wendigo is a Canadian entity, half phantom, half beast, who
- lives in the forests and preys on human beings, particularly chil-
- dren. The belief in this horror dates back to the earliest Indian
- legends and it is said that the wendigo will eat the flesh of its
- victims. According to R.S. Lambert in "Exploring the Supernatural"
- (1955), 'Wendigos (who might be women as well as men) were believed
- to have entered into a pact with evil spirits, lurking in the for-
- est, who helped them kill their victims.' The legend of this crea-
- ture has been immortalized in Algernon Blackwood's short story "The
- Wendigo" (1907). In W.T. Cox's "Fearsome Creatures of the Lumber
- Woods" (1951) a number of other Canadian "wood horrors" are listed,
- including the hodag, the whimpus, the hoop-snake, the celofay, and
- the filamaloo."
- --A Dictionary of Ghost Lore, by Peter Haining
- Q5.2 What are will o' the wisps?
- A5.2 Will o' the wisps are a natural phenomenon that never the less
- appear ghostly in nature. The wisps, which are actually ignited
- pockets of swamp gas, hover over swamps and swampy areas and glow
- blue. They can move (carried by breezes and air currents), and
- many observers have noted that the wisps seem to mimic a person's
- movements... when the observer moves forward, so does the wisp.
- Will o' the wisps can appear as one glowing ball or as many tiny
- flickers.
- Will o' the wisps have also been called such fanciful names as
- "corpse candles", "fox fire", and "elf light". The phenomenon is
- also knows as "ignis fatuus", which means "foolish fire". Some
- believe the mysterious floating lights to be portents of bad luck
- or even death. Researchers believe that many people have mistaken
- will o' the wisps for the ghostly lanterns of trains and/or their
- long-dead conductors.
- Q5.3 How did that girl in -Poltergeist- die?
- A5.3 Contributed by Christine White (christin@meaddata.com):
- According to People magazine February 15, 1988:
- "It happened so fast. At 9:25 am, Monday Feb. 1, only hours after
- developing what appeared to be flu symptoms, Heather O'Rourke, child
- star of the Poltergeist horror films, was rushed from her home in
- Lakeside, Calif., to the hospital; she was in septic shock and cardiac
- arrest. An hour later she arrived by airlift, alive but in critical
- condition, at Children's Hospital and Health Center in San Diego.
- There she was operated on for intestinal stenosis, an acute bowel
- obstruction, a congenital condition neither her mother nor stepfather
- had suspected. At 2:43 pm, Heather died on the operating table. She
- was 12 years old."
- Subsequent issues of People tell how doctors first diagnosed and
- treated her for Chrone's disease. The parents sued the doctors for
- wrongful treatment, but I don't know what happened to the suit.
- Q5.4 What are some different categories of manifestations?
- Ghostly visitations fall into several distinct categories. Here
- are a few of the most common.
- * Crisis Apparitions -- These ghosts appear most often to their
- loved ones at a moment of great crisis or death. Typically, the
- ghosts appear only once to a special loved one who may be many
- miles away at the time of the accident.
- * Doppelgangers -- Doppelgangers are ghostly doubles of living peo-
- people. Often the doppelganger is not visible to the person him-
- self, and will simply follow the person around. In some cases a
- person will come upon his own doppelganger who is typically engaged
- in some future activity. Doppelgangers are traditionally consid-
- ered omens of bad luck or even death.
- * Repeated Actions -- Many apparitions are always viewed repeating
- the same motions or scenes. Many classic hauntings fall into this
- category. An example of this type of haunting is The Brown Lady of
- Raynham Hall, who was always seen moving down a hallway with a lan-
- tern in her hand. Usually these ghosts pay little or no attention
- to the observer.
- * Poltergeists -- Poltergeists are the only spirits who leave immed-
- iate physical traces. Poltergeists are best known for throwing
- things about and producing rapping sounds and other noises. In
- fact, the word "poltergeist" means "noisy ghost" in German. Pol-
- tergeists often occur where there are children on the brink of
- puberty, and often interact with people.
- * Ghostly Sounds and Lights -- Sometimes a haunting will consist en-
- tirely of the sound of footsteps or ghostly music. There are also
- many legends of ghost lights, which are often said to be caused by
- someone's ghostly lantern or by a spectral motorcycle or train.
- * Possessed Ojects -- Sometimes inanimate objects are said to be
- cursed or possessed. A very famous example of a supposed cursed
- object is the Hope Diamond. Sometimes a particular piece of furn-
- iture will refuse to stay in place, even moving in front of the
- owner's eyes.
- Q5.5 Who are Ed and Lorraine Warren?
- Ed and Lorraine Warren are a husband and wife team who investigate
- paranormal activity. Their most famous case is probably the Amity-
- ville horror. The reliability of their research is considered ques-
- tionable by many. The Warrens currently make a living by travelling
- the lecture circuit and releasing the occasional book.
- Q5.6 What is "Old Hag"?
- A5.6 From the alt.dreams FAQ, maintained by Olaf Titz (olaf@bigred.ka.
- sub.org):
- "3.1. What causes sleep paralysis?
- "A. Conventional wisdom: REM atonia is a normal function of the
- body. The muscles that move the body are "turned off" during REM
- sleep, which prevents you from acting out dreamed actions in rea-
- lity. Non-REM sleep paralysis after waking up ("old hag") is
- caused by a failure to re-activate the muscles immediately. Nor-
- mally this condition lasts only a few seconds, but sometimes it
- can go for a minute, which causes a very scary feeling. You are
- damn sure you're awake now but you can't move. This is extremely
- unpleasant but at least not dangerous."
- Symptoms of old hag include hearing footsteps, seeing a presence
- (often an old woman, from which the name derives), and a feeling of
- not being able to breathe or move.
- Q5.7 Are cars really rolling uphill in that graveyard near my town?
- A5.7 There are some places where the land is shaped in such a way that it
- can sometimes appear that things are going uphill when they are really
- going down. [I'm not sure of the physics of this, but if anyone knows
- what causes this phenomenon, please let me know.] Some people attrib-
- ute this type of activity to paranormal causes.
- Q5.8 What is the best way to photograph a ghost?
- A5.8 The following information was provided by David Fluker (davidfluker@
- delphi.com).
- "If anyone out there is interested in attempting to photograph para-
- normal activities or spirits, here is how to do it right!!
- 1. You need to purchase 35mm Kodak HIE-135/36 film. This is B&W
- Infrared film used for this and other more scientific purposes. You
- can either purchase the film at a local professional photo shop or
- order it direct from Kodak at 1-800-242-2424 in Rochester, NY. The
- roll costs around $10.00 each including shipping.
- 2. Once you have the film in your hot little hand, you need to ask
- your friendly photo-pro at the shop for an 87 filter to use with it.
- (if he/she doesn't know what this is, have them call the 800# above
- and get Kodak to tell him/her.
- ** the reason for the 87 filter is to eliminate all existing light du-
- ring photography and only to have the IR on the film. (Even though it
- may be dark in a room, there is still existing light that will effect
- your exposure so use the 87 filter!!)
- 3. Once you have captured you entity on film, either send the film
- back to Kodak or get it processed at the best quality lab in your area.
- It needs to be processed under three types...hc110, d19, or d76. The
- best for supernatural purposes is d76 as this gives the most normal
- overall exposure. You can also have it processed HC110 but this is a
- much higher contrast index and used mainly for special scientific pro-
- jects."
- Q5.9 Can't you sue if your new house is haunted, and no one told you about
- it?
- A5.9 Mark Korven (Mark_Korven@goodmedia.com) gleaned the following quote
- from the book -The Scandal Annual 1991-.
- "A Wall Street bond trader sued for return of a $32,000 down payment
- he made on a $650,000 Victorian mansion on the Hudson River in Nyack,
- New York. The Reason: he said nobody told him that three Revolutionary
- War ghosts haunted the dwelling. The owner of the house had refused to
- return the money, saying that the ghosts were very friendly. The judge
- ruled in her favor, stating that the law can't take supernatural enti-
- ties into consideration.
- "That ruling panicked lawmakers in neighboring Connecticut, which evi-
- dently has more than its share of spooks. Legislators pushed though a
- "Ghostbuster" bill, making it mandatory for all home seller to disclose
- any spiritual phenomena related to the property."
- Q5.10 What are some theories of what ghosts are/why they exist?
- A5.10 There are many theories of what ghosts (if they indeed exist) are.
- Some people believe that ghosts are the residual energy left behind
- by an emotionally strong person or event. This theory holds that
- more energy/electrical impulses are expended during periods of high
- stress or excitement, and that the energy lingers for a long time.
- Freud thought that ghosts are actually the visions of people who
- are afraid of death. In this sense, ghosts would not be real at all
- but rather a projection of our subconcious mind.
- A somewhat plausible theory is that ghosts are telepathic images.
- That is, a sensitive person would pick up past vibrations from the
- area they were in and witness an event or person as it appeared many
- years ago. This would also explain instances where a person sees a
- loved one at or near the moment of the the loved one's death, since
- the loved one could be unconciously projecting their thoughts to the
- receptive person.
- Ghosts might also be the result of time slips, if time is nonlinear.
- An event that happened in the past might be seen briefly in our time
- because of a fluctuation in time/space.
- Q5.11 What is a caul?
- A5.11 A caul is a piece of the fetal membrane that covers the heads of some
- babies when they are born. This occurrence is relatively rare, and
- because of this folklore says that a baby born with a caul possesses
- psychic powers. In the past, people would keep cauls and placed great
- value upon them as good luck charms.
- Q5.12 What is an incubus?
- A5.12 An incubus is a demon which assumes male form and lies on people
- (usually women) and has sexual intercourse with them in their sleep.
- The female version of an incubus is called a succubus.
-
- VI. Non-alt.folklore.ghost-stories Resources
- S6.1 Other USENET groups that a.f.g-s reader may enjoy:
- alt.folklore.urban discussion of urban legends and their varia-
- tions and meanings
- alt.folklore.suburban moderated discussion of urban legends
- alt.horror discussion of horror films and literature
- alt.magick magick stuff
- alt.pagan wicca and other non-christian religions
- alt.paranet.paranormal discussion of paranormal phenomena
- alt.paranet.metaphysics discussion of metaphysics
- alt.paranormal discussion of paranormal phenomena
- sci.skeptic debate on the validity of strange phenomena
- S6.2 Some interesting reference material:
- *BOOKS
- Auerbach, Loyd -ESP, Hauntings, and Poltergeists: A
- Parapsychologist's Handbook- 1986, Warner Books
- Bardens, Dennis -Ghosts and Hauntings- 1968, Taplinger Pub.
- Bord, Janet and Colin -Unexplained Mysteries of the 20th Century-
- 1989, Contemporary Books
- Brown, Theo -Devon Ghosts- 1982, Jarrold & Sons
- BRUNVAND, Jan H. -The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends
- and Their Meanings- 1981, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
- Bullock, Alice -Monumental Ghosts- 1987, Sunstone Press
- Canning, John (ed.) -Fifty True Mysteries of the Sea- 1979, Dorset
- Press
- Colby, C.B. -Strangely Enough!- 1959, Sterling Pub. Co.
- COHEN, Daniel -The Encyclopedia of Ghosts- 1985, Dorset Press
- Coleman, Michael H. (ed.) -The Ghosts of the Trianon,
- the complete 'An Adventure' by C.A.E. Moberly and E.F. Jourdain-
- 1988, Aquarian Press
- Corliss, William R. -Handbook of Unusual Natural Phenomena;
- Eyewitness Accounts of Nature's Greatest Mysteries- 1977, Anchor Books Forman, Joan -Royal Hauntings- 1987, FONTANA/Collins Pub.
- Antonio R. Garcez, -Adobe Angels: The Ghosts of Santa Fe-
- 1992, Red Rabbit Press
- GUILEY, Rosemary -The Encyclopedia of Ghost and Spirits- 1992,
- Facts on File, New York
- Haining, Peter -A Dictionary of Ghost Lore- 1984, Prentice-Hall
- Holzer, Hans -Yankee Ghosts- 1966, Ace Books
- Holzer, Hans -Where the Ghosts are: Favorite Haunted
- Houses in America and the British Isles- 1984, Parker Pub. Co.
- HUNT, Stoker -Ouija: The Most Dangerous Game- Harper & Row
- Hurwood, Bernhardt J. -Haunted Houses- 1972, Scholastic Books
- MacKenzie, Andrew -Hauntings and Apparitions- 1982, Granada Pub.
- Marsden, Simon -The Haunted Realm- 1986, E.P. Dutton
- Marsden, Simon -Phantoms of the Isles- 1990, Webb & Bower
- Martin, MaryJoy -Ghosts, Ghouls and Goblins: Twilight
- Dwellers of Colorado- 1985, Pruett Pub. Co.
- May, Alan M. -The Legend of Kate Morgan- 1990, Elk Pub.
- Munn, Debra D. -Big Sky Ghosts: Eerie True Tales of Montana Vol.
- 1- 1993, Pruett Publishing
- Munn, Debra D. -Big Sky Ghosts: Eerie True Tales of Montana Vol.
- 2- 1994, Pruett Publishing
- Munn, Debra D. -Ghosts on the Range: Eerie True Tales of Wyoming-
- 1989, Pruett Publishing
- Murray, Earl -Ghosts of the Old West- 1988, Dorset Press
- Myers, Arthur -The Ghostly Register, Haunted Dwellings--
- Active Spirits, A Journey to America's Strangest Landmarks- 1986,
- Contemporary Books
- Myers, Arthur -Ghosts of the Rich and Famous- 1988, Contemporary
- Books
- MYERS, Arthur -A Ghosthunter's Guide to Haunted Landmarks, Parks,
- Churches, and other Haunted Places- 1993, Contemporary Books
- MYERS, Arthur -The Ghostly Gazetteer, America's most fascinating
- Haunted Landmarks- 1990, Contemporary Books, Chicago
- PRICE, Harry -The Most Haunted House in England- 1940, Long-
- mans, Green, & Co., London
- PRICE, Harry -The End of Borley Rectory- 1946, George G. Har-
- rapp & Co., Ltd., London
- Roberts, Nancy -Haunted Houses: Tales from 30 American Homes-
- 1988, Globe Pequot Press
- Scott, Beth, and Michael Norman -Haunted Heartland- 1985, Warner
- Books
- -Strange Stories, Amazing Facts- Reader's Digest, 1976
- Underwood, Peter -The Ghost Hunter's Guide- 1986, Javelin Books
- Underwood, Peter -Gazetteer of British, Scottish, and Irish Ghosts-
- 1985, Bell Pub.
- Whitaker, Terence -Haunted England- 1987, Contemporary Books
- Wilson, Colin -The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Mysteries- 1988,
- Contemporary Books
- *TELEVISION
- -Unsolved Mysteries- Reruns are shown on Lifetime at 8:00 PM and
- 11:00 PM weekdays E/P time.
- -Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World- Shown on the Discovery chan-
- nel; check your local listings.
- -In Search Of...- A&E; check your local listings.
- -Sightings- FOX (or might be syndicated?), Sundays, 6:00 PM
- -Encounters- FOX Sundays at 7:00 PM (Pacific Time)
- -The Extraordinary- Syndicated; check your local listings
- *Movies
- -The Legend of Boggy Creek- A quasi-documentary about a bigfoot-
- like creature roaming the Louisiana bayou. (1972)
- S6.3 Good Supernatural Fiction
- *BOOKS
- Anson, Jay -The Amityville Horror- Flies in the attic!
- Walls that drip blood! Pigs that fly! (And you thought your
- faulty plumbing was a problem.)
- Dickens, Charles -A Christmas Carol- A good ghost story any time
- of the year.
- King, Stephen -Pet Semetary- You'll never look at your cat the
- same way again.
- *TELEVISION
- -The Twilight Zone- Umm, do I really need to explain this?
- -The X-Files- Two FBI agents investigate paranormal stuff.
- A great show! (FOX, Fridays 9PM E/P)
- *MOVIES
- -Candyman- Clive Barker movie inspired by Mary Worth-type
- urban legends. Tres scary! (1992)
- -The Changeling- George C. Scott stars in a chilling yarn about
- a house haunted by the spirit of a murdered
- child. (1980)
- -The Entity- Barbara Hershey plays a single mom who is being
- tormented by a rowdy spirit. (1983)
- -The Exorcist- A modern story of demonic possession. Linda
- Blair vomits pea soup. (1973)
- -Ghostbusters- Comedy about ghost-catchers in New York City.
- (1984)
- -The Haunting- A classic tale of a haunted house. Based on
- -The Haunting of Hill House- by Shirley Jack-
- son. (1963)
- -Poltergeist- A family experiences otherwordly activity cen-
- tered around their young daughter (Heather
- O'Rourke). (1982)
- -The Shining- Based on the Stephen King novel about an old
- hotel haunted by lots of mean ghosts. (1980)
- -Witchboard- Tawny Kitaen is tormented by an evil spirit
- conjured up with a ouija board. Actually a
- really good movie despite a somewhat low
- budget. (1985)
- S6.4 Other Net Resources
- *FTP
- ftp.netcom.com pub/obiwan/GhostStories This FAQ, some stories
- taken from alt.folklore.ghost-stories, some GIFs
- *BBSs
- isdn37.eng.uc.edu [telnet] forums on paranormal topics
- (416) 631-9996 THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE BBS
- (205)830-4485 The Highland Citadel; Ghost GIFs
- *Gopher
- The Skeptical Inquirer gopher://gopher.enews.com:2100/11/magazines/
- category/science/General/skep_inq
- *WWW
- Fortean Times Online http://forteana.mic.dundee.ac.uk/ft/
- Archive X http://www.declab.usu.edu:8080/X File archives featuring
- horror and paranormal topics
- Spirit WWW http://zeta.cs.adfa.oz.au/Spirit.html
- Yahoo
- http://akebono.stanford.edu/yahoo/Entertainment/Paranormal_Phenomena
-
- --
- * obiwan@netcom.com * THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE * 1313 Harbor Blvd *
- * "Rambo's Great. I love Rambo." -Steven Spielberg *
- * Soylent Green is PEOPLE! * 4 cats, 2 bunnies, 8 rats, 10 mice *
- * ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/ob/obiwan ghost-stories archive *
-