Urban legends: Ghost stories

I’m being dead serious here😉😁

Look, I'm not even asking if you guys believe in ghosts or not—that’s almost secondary. What I really want to hear about are the actual stories from back home (in the States) involving hauntings, apparitions, or any other weird, otherworldly stuff. Like, where do they show up? Why there? What’s the backstory? Just dump whatever creepy legends or experiences you can remember.

🙂

Noah Myers8 said:I have a serious question.😉😁

I am not asking whether you believe in ghosts; that part isn't actually the point. I want to hear American folklore regarding ghosts, apparitions, or any other otherworldly entities. Where do they show up? Why? What is the specific story behind them? Please share anything you can remember.

🙂

Ghosts function just like people; every single one is its own universe.

Because of that, making broad generalizations is pretty pointless.

V.

You guys totally missed my point.
I’m not even questioning if any of this actually happened.
I'm just obsessed with urban legends.
The myths.
The tall tales.

What I'm really after is the folklore.

I remember back when I was just a kid, helping my granddad out by (willingly😁) scrubbing his feet in a basin—he used to tell me all these stories about old Anthony and the fairies. One story that always stuck with me was how Anthony’s fairies could twist their heads, or more specifically their necks, 😲

Since I can't quite recall the full version of the tale, and since granddad has been gone for a long while now, I recently checked in with grandma to see if she remembered anything. She didn't know much about the fairies specifically, but she did recall some folks, including our old Anthony, tossing rocks into a "bottomless pit" out in the countryside.

Suddenly, a fairy emerged from the depths and told them: "It’ll be longer before you get home than it will take for me to burn, if you don't settle (~hit) this child down."

The plot gets a little fuzzy after that, but apparently, during those long, freezing winter nights, Anthony would pull out his fiddle and play:

"Oh, fairy, you were nowhere to be found. You promised to help me, yet I haven't heard a sound or seen a glimpse of you anywhere."

:gaensehaut:

When I asked her if she actually believed in fairies, grandma didn't hesitate. "They were here before everything else, honey. Now they've brought in 😁 all these saints and religious icons..."

🙏

Anyway, next time I find myself back in my "hometown," I think I'll pay a visit to one "lady from the psych ward" who supposedly saw a fairy combing its hair when she was a little girl. I'll file a report once I have the details...

👋

I remember my grandfather telling me these things back when I was a kid—back when I’d practically be scrubbing his feet in a washbasin just to stay in his good graces.

😲 😲
🙂

One story involved those damn little sprites twisting their heads around—specifically, snapping their necks.

Maybe those sprites were carrying brooms after all.🙂 🙂 😂😂

Karen Sanchez19 said:Maybe those fairies actually had a broom or something🙂 🙂 😂😂

Look, whether they were packing brooms or not, I don't know. But they definitely held their ground.🙂 🙂

Man, I still remember my grandad telling me those stories about fairies. 😁

The story was about this neighbor of his who ran into them on some forest trail—they were all circling around him... but the guy didn't even flinch. Instead, he just grabbed a stick—maybe a hoe or something—and started swinging. He used to brag about how he took one out by the head, another lost an arm... basically kept going until they were all shredded. 😁

My grandad, who worked as a forest ranger, actually stumbled upon that exact spot one day. He found this bush in full bloom, all mangled and torn up, and was just standing there wondering what kind of freak did that... until his neighbor finally filled him in. 😛

Regarding local folklore, I heard about these things called "measurers" back in the Midwest—some kind of lights or glows that supposedly patrol field boundaries at night. 😁 😁

I didn't catch all the specifics, though—the people telling me about it aren't exactly great with words. 😉

It doesn't quite click for me, either. If we're just talking about little flames flickering in the dark (not like campfires, I assume), why would that woman be so terrified she just froze up and bolted when she saw them? 🤔 😁

Anyway, I'm guessing those measurers are pretty common knowledge out there—I mean, who hasn't heard of them? 😁

frozenangler9 said:Regarding local folklore, I actually heard about something called "boundary markers" back in the Midwest—supposedly these strange lights that drift over the fields at night to measure property lines. 😁 😁

I couldn't quite grasp the specifics, mostly because the folks who told me about it aren't exactly known for being articulate or descriptive. 😉

It just doesn't make sense to me; if we are talking about tiny little flames flickering in the dark (certainly not campfires, I assume), why on earth would that woman be paralyzed with terror and bolt the second she laid eyes on them? 🤔 😁

Besides, I have a feeling those boundary markers are common knowledge out there; I mean, who hasn't heard stories about them? 😁

I’ve heard about the "will-o'-the-wisps" from the Appalachian region—they are similar lights, except they don't serve any purpose like measuring anything. People used to see them all the time, and the old superstition was that they were actually the souls of unbaptized children.

frozenangler9 said:Speaking of local folklore, I actually heard about these things called "boundary lights" back in the Midwest—sort of eerie glowing lights that wander through the fields at night to mark the property lines. 😁 😁

Man, what a great topic for a story... you've really given me some serious fuel to work with here!😁

A wave of nostalgia is hitting me regarding that old thread about the "online witches."🙂

Witches online, shamans online, sages online... if you’re looking for a better example of modern urban legends, this is it. 😁

What’s the best example?

MASTERS online 😁 🙂 👋

*

wearyowl29, don't just make promises—actually put pen to paper! 🙂

Jason Johnson4 said:And what's the best example?

The pros are all online now 😁 🙂 👋

*

wearyowl29, don't just make promises—put them in writing! 🙂

It's not like you owe me anything anyway...

Man, this is a killer topic 👍

I've been digging through American folklore for years trying to find the good stuff. Keep 'em coming. 🙂

I’ve been thinking about this too—specifically from a folkloric perspective.👍

There’s just something about those old tales by Lewis Carroll and the earlier works of Walt Whitman that hits differently, don't you think?

wearyowl29 said:There’s nothing... zero chance you're getting paid...

And what about if there's no payment? 😉

I remember my grandma hearing her old man pacing the hallway the night he passed. She described it perfectly: "He was strutting around like a damn rooster." And he did it for three days straight. She had no clue what he wanted. Then she realized they hadn't buried some specific item with him. So, she took it to his grave, lit a candle at home, and finally, everything went quiet.

She also told me that if you ever hear a dead person, don't you dare open your eyes. You've gotta scream something out loud—though I can't quite recall the exact thing she said to do.

Another one of my grandmas heard her late boyfriend pounding on the window shutters, yelling, "Can you hear me?!"

It hit her then—she missed the cremation, even though she'd promised she'd show up. Her neighbor told her to just pay for a service at the local church and light a candle in the window, and that should settle things.

frozenangler9 said:When it comes to local folklore, I remember hearing stories from back in the Midwest about "boundary lights"—these strange glows that supposedly drift through the fields at night to mark the edges of the farmland.😁 😁

There are actually texts regarding Cognitive Behavioral Therapy that discuss these so-called luminous beings, known as devayonii. They aren't quite what you'd expect; they're essentially born from just three elements—space, gas, and light—which means they lack the physical density and liquid components that make up a standard biological body.

They aren't ghosts or souls of the departed, but entirely independent entities that simply haven't assembled all five elemental building blocks required for a full physical form. There are nine distinct types described with their own specific names. If you're looking to dive deeper, you can find more details in the book Cognitive Behavioral Therapy by Paramahansa Yogananda, though finding a copy might be a bit of a scavenger hunt.

So, here’s something an older lady once shared with me late one night:

She told me this happened to her back when she was just a kid. There was this guy in her small hometown that everyone knew, who ended up joining the resistance during World War II and just vanished. He was gone for ages until one day he suddenly showed up in town, and she crossed paths with him right there on the street. She said he looked totally off—he gave her a quick greeting, but his breath smelled terrible. Then he just kept walking and vanished into thin air. As it turns out, he had actually been killed in action during the war, which means by the time she saw him, he was already dead...😲

Then, she went on to tell me this:

After her grandmother passed away, she would come to her bedside every single night, just sitting there beside her until she finally faded away forty days later, when her soul finally moved on to wherever it was meant to go.

And wait, she had more stories:

One of her friends was staying at a hotel with her husband. They laid down to sleep, and while her husband drifted off, she saw this tiny little image on the ceiling that started growing larger—it was a man hanging there, and then the image slowly began to shrink again. She woke her husband up, absolutely terrified, but he couldn't see a thing. The exact same thing happened the next evening. When she mentioned what she saw to the front desk clerk the following day, he told her that someone had actually hanged themselves in that very room.

That's basically everything she told me, and since I was just a little kid listening to all this in the middle of the night, there was no way I was getting any sleep.😁.
By the way, my aunt was totally normal, definitely wasn't crazy or anything.🙂.