#ghost-lore — Public Fediverse posts

My childhood brushes with ghost lore

Despite writing about supernatural folklore, I rarely think about my childhood brushes with ghostly stories. I thought I might rectify that here—by reflecting on two examples of ghost lore I was exposed to in my youth.

Before I begin, I should point out that children’s folklore is just as vital and dynamic a phenomenon as its adult equivalent. Children’s Folklore: A Source Book (1999) is one example of a text that documents the folkloric creativity of children (as opposed to their passive receptivity). The book shows that wherever children come together, they form what folklorists call “folk groups.” The only criteria for the existence of such a group is that “two or more people. . . share something in common—language, occupation, religion, residence”; that they “share ‘traditions'”; and that they have the opportunity to meet face to face.

The Grey Lady

I’ll start with my childhood experience of belonging to a large “folk group” at my prep school, Tockington Manor, in South Gloucestershire. Every child in the school belonged to this folk group, because everyone, at some point, learned about the Grey Lady who haunted the manor’s halls. The boarders at the school were terrified of this lady: they said she wandered the manor at night—the spirit of a nurse who’d fallen from a skylight when the building served as a hospital during the First World War. I don’t remember much about this nighttime revenant, but she’s clearly a variant of a folkloric figure found at boarding schools everywhere: the Grey, White, Black, or Brown Lady.

In my school, older students, already initiated into the ghostly mystery, passed on stories about the drab-colored lady to the younger children, who did the same for the incoming class. I can only assume that telling stories about the Grey Lady allowed us to share anxieties in a fixed, personified form, which helped us adapt to unfamiliar surroundings. It also mythologized the building’s space, especially for boarders—those who couldn’t leave. Separated from their family homes, they created bonds and associations through the emotions that ghost stories evoke.

The story of the Grey Lady may have been one of the most memorable aspects of our folk group. But one story doesn’t create a culture. We also played games like marbles and conkers and had a shared language (words like cave—Latin for “beware”—were used to signal that a teacher was coming). Sometimes we sneaked out of school to gather in an old stone quarry, a place now dense with ivy-covered trees. The aura of this place—which we called simply “Quarry”—will forever remind me of the childhood capacity to create mythological worlds in spaces dominated by adults.

The Yellow Lady

The second example of supernatural storytelling from my childhood occurred during a trip to a Catholic boys’ camp in the summer of 1991. There too the sharing of ghostly legends created belonging among the boys. Despite sharing a tent with my brother, a cousin, and members of my cousin’s family, I felt unsettled in my new surroundings, and I remember how powerfully the nighttime telling of ghost stories allowed us to bond through fear. 

The only story I remember clearly (because it terrified me) was inspired by a local landmark. Visible from the camp was a house that glowed an eerie yellow at night. The sight of this building alone would be enough to inspire a haunted house tale. But in our case, the color became detached from the building, and we gave it to a supernatural figure who roamed the grounds at night. Apparently, a mysterious revenant called the Yellow Lady haunted that house, and she visited the meadow where we slept. Pricking up her disturbingly large ears to listen for wakeful boys, the Yellow Lady prowled the rows of tents, determined to steal a child. 

Although I remember thinking at the time that the Yellow Lady must have been a ghost, she differs in one important way from the Grey Lady mentioned earlier. While the latter was merely a scary presence that never interacted with students, the Yellow Lady was relational, embodying the discipline of the adult world (“no talking after lights out”). Her eerie color and super-sensory abilities—a result of her inhumanly large ears—suggest that she was a kind of supernatural bogeywoman, perhaps even close to a fairy.

The extreme effectiveness of this Yellow Lady legend meant that all of us had trouble sleeping that night. The next day we rushed to mass, hoping to find protection in proximity to a sacred ritual. The impulse was in keeping with much ghost lore, where holy symbols ward off supernatural threats.

Interestingly, while researching “Yellow Lady” stories (to see how commonplace they are), I came across a blog post in which the writer talks about a Yellow Lady story he learned at a camp run by monks. He then turns the tale into a literary short story—an embellishment, perhaps, of a fragmentary tale like mine. It seems to me that the writer’s camp may even have been the one I attended. Either that or the Yellow Lady haunts a number of such camps.

Haunted houses and witch houses

Besides my encounters with the Grey and Yellow Ladies, the only other ghost lore I can remember from my childhood are stories about haunted houses. These were always abandoned homes in the neighborhood, their shattered windows revealing darkness inside, the absence of family life. Repeating things we’d heard or inventing stories on the spot, we called these houses “haunted” or the former resort of “witches”—words that described the rupture in our sense of what a home should look like. One of these houses sat at the corner of Charborough Road and Dunkeld Avenue in Filton, Bristol (I can still picture its dilapidated state). Another was on a road branching off from Charborough Road: they said that if you looked into its broken, upstairs window, you might see a witch looking back. (The latter is a vague memory that may even have been my own thought.)

Considering all this lore, it seems to me that ghosts fill the gaps where social meaning decays, whether through separation from home, abandonment of a home, or maladjustment in a place that’s not yet fully home. When I consider these crucial functions, I understand why empirical approaches to ghostly “phenomena” bore me: they arguably fail to understand ghosts at all.

Read about more ghost lore here.

Have a Spooktacular #NationalIceCreamMonth !🍦👻
Charlie Dinnebeck’s ghost haunts 'Walrus Ice Cream,' flipping root beer kegs 🥤🔄 & knocking clocks 🕰️ off walls.

This #SpookySaturday 👻🍦enjoy a scoop at this Fort Collins, CO spot, but beware—Charlie just might Scream 😱 for ice cream 🍨 from the basement! #GhostLore 👻

A #ghost with very alarming trousers from 'A World Of Romance' published in 1892. #Victorian #gothic #apparition #supernatural #paranormal #ghostlore #illustration #oldillustration #ghostsky

As there seems to have been another uptick in participation here, a quick summary #introduction (fuller one is pinned). I'm a UK-based (Londoner now living on #isleofwight) folklorist. Started off interested in #folksong, spread to wider interest in #folk #folklore.

Did an MA, liked it, so did a PhD on Contemporary Belief in #Ghosts - https://uhra.herts.ac.uk/handle/2299/7184.

Currently on the Council of the Folklore Society, Associate Editor of its journal Folklore, & on the editorial board of #FolkMusic Journal. Until end of year I'm Research Fellow on #FolkloreWithoutBorders research network on EDI in British folkloristics.

I've written on #ghostlore, folklore about #rats, #cannibalism at sea, tongue twisters, popular representation of folkloristics. Increasingly working on folklore's history. Shiny research profile here: https://researchprofiles.herts.ac.uk/en/persons/paul-cowdell

#Ghostlore is FUN!!!!

Takes a little while to figure out the various mechanics... but once you do, it's amazing.

Recommended for anyone who likes #Diablo, #Torchlight etc..

#xbox

Just got #ghostlore on sale. Looks really nice on an 90Hz OLED HiDPI display when using "CRT-NewPixie" ReShade shader applied via [vkBasalt](https://github.com/DadSchoorse/vkBasalt). Minor weirdness going on behind the health and mana bars.

Ghostlore Vol. 3 Available October 1

#horror – #horrorcomics – #comicbooks – #Ghostlore – #CullenBunn – @boomstudios – @cullenbunn – Author: Cullen Bunn The final volume of the frightening and mystifying story from The Empty Man writer Cullen Bunn, for fans of The Sixth Sense and The Stand. Two survivors. Two prophets. Two quests. Countless stories. Do the dead tell ghost […] …

#horror #Ghostlore #CullenBunn #Comics #Releases #ad

https://horrornerdonline.com/2024/08/ghostlore-vol-3-available-october-1/

Ghostlore #12 Available July 31

#horror – #horrorcomics – #comicbooks – #Ghostlore – #CullenBunn – @boomstudios – @cullenbunn – Author: Cullen Bunn In the final showdown between Harmony, Lucas, and Shane, victory will come at a great price. In the end comes the hereafter, but will anyone be left to guide lost spirits? …

#horror #ad #Releases #Comics #CullenBunn #Ghostlore

https://horrornerdonline.com/2024/07/ghostlore-12-available-july-31/

Slightly updated #introduction: I'm UK-based (a Londoner, now living on #isleofwight)

I did a first degree in #Classics, then worked/didn't work as an actor for a while, during which time I got really interested in #folk #folksong.

Started to do #fieldwork, realised I needed to think harder about it so did an MA in #folklore. Liked it. A lot.

Did a PhD on Contemporary Belief in #Ghosts - https://uhra.herts.ac.uk/handle/2299/7184.

Currently on the Council of the Folklore Society, Associate Editor of its journal Folklore, & on the editorial board of #FolkMusic Journal.

I've written on #ghostlore, folklore about #rats, #cannibalism at sea, tongue twisters (inter alia), and (increasingly) folklore's history. Was doing this through folkloresque representation in #folkhorror, crime novels & (most recently) #DrWho, then finally just got on with doing it as historical research.

Ghostlore #11 Available June 12

#horror – #horrorcomics – #comicbooks – #Ghostlore – #CullenBunn – BOOM! Studios – @cullenbunn – Author: Cullen Bunn Lucas and Harmony encounter another story, another group of ghosts who need help, and a realization that will change their relationship moving forward. And in another spectral story, shocking details about Shane’s nature materialize…

https://horrornerdonline.com/2024/06/ghostlore-11-available-june-12/

Your First Look at Cullen Bunn & Leomacs’ GHOSTLORE #8
BOOM! Studios today revealed a first look at GHOSTLORE #8, the next issue of a brand new horror series by acclaimed author of The Empty Man and Harrow County, Cullen Bunn, superstar artist Leomacs (Basketful of Heads), colorist Jason Wordie (Abbott, Wasted Space), and letterer Ed Dukeshire (Once & Future), along with guest artist Martín...
https://comiccrusaders.com/your-first-look-at-cullen-bunn-leomacs-ghostlore-8/
#boom #comics #ghostlore

I'm down for almost any Diablo-inspired game, but #Ghostlore brings something unique to the party with its Southeast Asian setting, folklore, and weapons. It has more mechanical depth than you'd expect from a two-person team and its retro aesthetic, and although it lacks a tutorial to settle you in, the Diablo muscle memory kicks in pretty quick.

Another #GamePass winner! 👍🏽👍🏽

#gaming #ARPGs

http://ghostlore.sg/

#Booktober / #Spooktober Day 22: a little Joan Forman. Lovely 1970s cover - another must-have for any #ghostlore collector.
#31DaysOfHalloween

#Booktober / #Spooktober Day 17: another new arrival, and another Sheila St Clair, this time from 1994. Much more restrained cover than the other two; reading her take on Malahide Castle’s ghosts as we’re doing their spooky trail during the school break.

#31DaysOfHalloween #GhostLore #MastoDaoine

#Booktober / #Spooktober Day 7: a stone-cold classic from Jennifer Westwood and Jacqueline Simpson. We’ll get to The Lore of the Land separately, but it’s hard to beat this dust jacket and those endpapers. Such a great book to dip in and out of, all the year round.

#BooksOfMastodon #Ghostlore #SpookyBooks

#Booktober / #Spooktober Day 6: a delightful little pamphlet of the sort you could buy in every regional UK library in the 1990s for about £1. Many of the tales here are of ghostly Cavaliers, and there’s even a ghost train and a haunted library. Excellent collection of local Lancaster #ghostlore.

#BooksOfMastodon #SpookyBooks

I'm trying to play #ghostlore because it's on the #xbox game pass and the idea of Eastern monsters for once is cool, but this console port is godawful... You can't pick up items at all of you try to change the attack button, and there's no way to leave a menu option null, so you HAVE to set the quick set items to a button but there are only so many buttons on a console controller! Good thing it was "free"*
* part of the game pass, which I pay a pretty penny for every year but I get access to a ton of games so it's worth it

It’s that time again!

#SillySpooky #Folklore #Ghostlore

It's National Marine Week with The Wildlife Trusts, so I thought I'd share some marine-related folklore!

This is Inner Farne, in the Farne Islands.

St Cuthbert is said to have driven the evil spirits from the island when he settled there, though they occasionally return. When they do, they scream and ride black goats before disappearing.

#FarneIslands #StCuthbert #NationalMarineWeek #NorthSea #GhostLore #FabulousFolklorePodcast #GhostStories #InnerFarne

It's National Marine Week with The Wildlife Trusts, so I thought I'd share some marine-related folklore!

This is one of the many rocky islands among the Farne Islands - I took this photo back in 2019 on a trip to see the puffins. Some say the islands are haunted by the many shipwrecked sailors who died in the area.

#FarneIslands #Seabirds #NationalMarineWeek #NorthSea #GhostLore #FabulousFolklorePodcast #GhostStories

Just reading back one of those phantom hitchhiker stories from 70s Britain that seem to always begin ‘Roy wasn’t drunk when he left the pub, he’d only had 4-5 pints that night and could hold his liquor.’ They often seem to be driving a huge articulated lorry in that state, too, just prior to picking up the ghost.

#Ghostlore #Folklore #BadIdeas #PhantomHitchhikers

Probably a good time for another #introduction...

I'm a Welsh #folklorist and #author with expertise in #ghostlore and particular #academic interest in the appearance of #spirits in the Welsh tradition.

I've recently co-authored 'The #Folklore of #Wales: #Ghosts' with researcher and podcast host Mark Norman, which is due out Sep 28 with Calon books.

I'm also an #antiquarian book collector, with a #library of some of Wales's rarest folkloric texts.

#Cymraeg iaith gyntaf; expect a bit of both.

Delivery of another rare parish history this morning with an *entire chapter* dedicated to its 𝘣𝘸𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘥.

𝘉𝘸𝘨𝘢𝘯 is just one word for 'ghost' in Wales, the distinction between terms being tenuous, with angels, demons, fairies and ‘ghosts’ proper often lumped together 👻

#folklore #welshfolklore #llengwerin #ghostlore

Hey Folks! We got a pretty packed show this week with our full cast of seven hosts.

Topics Discussed:
-- The #Overwatch2 PVE Debacle
-- The Downfall of Blizzard
-- Amazon and #LOTRO
-- #Asphalt9 is extremely F2P
-- #LastEpoch 0.9.1 pre-patch hype week
-- #Ghostlore
-- #StarCitizen 3.19 Invictus Launch Week and New Player Experience

AggroChat #435 - Seats to the Downfall
https://aggronaut.com/2023/05/21/aggrochat-435-seats-to-the-downfall/

It’s all kicking off…

#Ghosts #HauntedHouses #Folklore #Ghostlore #VerySilly

REVIEW: GHOSTLORE #1 (OF 12)
Every family has their issues. Ghostlore begins with a very normal family, the father who's a reverend who sees his congregation slowly shrinking and his supportive wife who comforts him. They have two children, Harmony a teenager with an attitude, and her younger brother Chris, a boy that seems to be going through something that have his parents worried.

The...
https://www.comiccrusaders.com/ghostlore/
#boom #comics #premier #horror #ghostlore #leomacs #cullen bunn