Theme Repitition in Ghost Stories?

[Disney Wrassler]

I don't know about you, but as of late, I have noticed a whole bunch of repetitions of themes and stories in ghost stories. I think this repitition diminishes some authenticity to supposedly "true" ghost stories.

Here examples of what I am talking about. The repition in stories about hand prints surfacing on walls no matter how many times they are painted over. One of the Funeral homes over here is said to be haunted because of a gruesome murder that occured they say that on nights when the moon is whole, the bloody hand print of the victim would appear. I have heard this same type of story be told in other ghost stories relating to different structures.

Then there are the Jesse James stories. They are popular down here. I went to Bardstown a while back and you can't imagine how many stories I heard of the Outlaw Jesse James haunting some buildings. I think all these stories makes me believe less and less that he actually haunts them.

Then there are the ones about ghostly children pushing cars. A story down here is that a woman drowned in a creek one day and now if you are parked by that creek she will push your car to safety. There is also the famous story about the children who were killed in a school bus who now happen to come back from beyond to help push stalled cars. Each story also states that after the occurance these ghosts leave "fingerprints."

There are some stories that I think can be true. But once I hear about the same occurances/stories happening in different locations, I think the authenticity of the phenomena diminishes.

What are your opinions? Do you feel the same way?

[DsnyFvr]

Re: Theme Repitition in Ghost Stories?

No matter what, for every ghost story there is one person (or maybe more) that will believe them..no matter what you tell them.

[alphabassetgrrl]

Re: Theme Repitition in Ghost Stories?

Then there are the ones about ghostly children pushing cars. A story down here is that a woman drowned in a creek one day and now if you are parked by that creek she will push your car to safety. There is also the famous story about the children who were killed in a school bus who now happen to come back from beyond to help push stalled cars. Each story also states that after the occurance these ghosts leave "fingerprints."

Every city has one of those hill areas, Gravity Hill type things, where the ground slopes down though it appears to slope up. They have ghost stories associated with them.

I think most areas have a Ressurection Mary story, too - a ghostly hitchhiker who disappears and the jacket you gave her to wear in the car appears on her gravestone.

I'm not sure if these arise spontaneously, as common themes, or if people just modify the stories to happen in their town. It's more interesting to a listener if the story happened "right here".

I used to read ghost stories obsessively.

[RobotMirror]

Re: Theme Repitition in Ghost Stories?

Couldn't you also argue the opposite - that the fact that there's so much similar in various ghost stories, that they would be "confirmed", and would appear to be true?

[Disney Wrassler]

Re: Theme Repitition in Ghost Stories?

Couldn't you also argue the opposite - that the fact that there's so much similar in various ghost stories, that they would be "confirmed", and would appear to be true?

We could, but I personally think most of them started off as rumors and spread.

I mean of course finger prints will appear on a car. If they think it is ghost children leaving their prints on cars, then they should try to get some of that DNA off the car and have it tested. It would probably just turn out being the DNA of someone still alive.

Then when many people say "Jesse James" haunts many buildings, you have to question if many of these stories are over exaggerated, used for promotional purposes, or authentic.

Plus all the hitchiking ghost stories I have heard are very similar which makes me question their authenticity. Most of the stories state that a broken hearted girl left a ball, wedding, party, etc. lonely and sad. Then someone ran her over and her ghost can be seen trying to get someplace. It's the variations in the stories that always make me question them. .

[FrumiousBoojum]

Re: Theme Repitition in Ghost Stories?

The finger prints on the car is pretty much always connected to a bridge tragedy.

But, it's not always fingerprints.

One of our local haunted bridges says that if you park on the bridge too long (where a mother and baby were killed), she'll appear in your backseat (ghosts seem to enjoy being chauffered) and the baby will run across your car, leaving footprints going across the top.

There's also usually the woman that climbs the stairs every night, the guy that walks along the railroad tracks with a lantern at night, the haunted tunnel, the haunted school (my middle school was supposedly haunted by the kid that had a bookshelf fall on him when the school first opened -- I work with a woman that was a good friend of the boy that got killed), the haunted alleys where a man with a lantern is searching for something, the haunted diaper, the haunted bus, etc. etc. etc.

If you're interested in variations of these tales, check out the book series that you may have loved as a child, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Loved those books when I was a kid. Everybody at my school did.

The index for those books are filled with information about variations of the stories, or sometimes variations will appear in another book.

[Disney Wrassler]

Re: Theme Repitition in Ghost Stories?

One of our local haunted bridges says that if you park on the bridge too long (where a mother and baby were killed), she'll appear in your backseat (ghosts seem to enjoy being chauffered) and the baby will run across your car, leaving footprints going across the top.

OMG!! That's the same story here by my house too! But instead of the mom and baby stuff, you can hear the mother falling into the lake as she tried to save her baby. Then the pushing begins as an invisible force, supposedly the mother, brings you to safety.

the haunted diaper

The Haunted Diaper? Never heard of that one before. Please do tell .

If you're interested in variations of these tales, check out the book series that you may have loved as a child, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Loved those books when I was a kid. Everybody at my school did.

The index for those books are filled with information about variations of the stories, or sometimes variations will appear in another book.

Thanks for the info. I'll put it in my Amazon cart .

[FrumiousBoojum]

Re: Theme Repitition in Ghost Stories?

The Haunted Diaper? Never heard of that one before. Please do tell .

You open up the diaper and there you'll find the most awful sight imagainable! And the stench is like a decaying hell!

Thanks for the info. I'll put it in my Amazon cart .

The books are written for younger readers in mind, but I still find a lot of joy out of them to this day. They aren't sanitized for young readers. All the blood and guts are still in them. And each one is a folk tale of ghostly occurences. Even has reprints of old songs and poems, like The Hearse Song.

But the most memorable things are the illustrations -- definately still ranks as some of the most disturbing images I've ever seen.

[Disney Wrassler]

Re: Theme Repitition in Ghost Stories?

You open up the diaper and there you'll find the most awful sight imagainable! And the stench is like a decaying hell!

Oh, I get it.....I think :lol:.

[frecky]

Re: Theme Repitition in Ghost Stories?

You open up the diaper and there you'll find the most awful sight imagainable! And the stench is like a decaying hell!

Ive experienced this haunted diaper of which you speak.

The books are written for younger readers in mind, but I still find a lot of joy out of them to this day. They aren't sanitized for young readers. All the blood and guts are still in them. And each one is a folk tale of ghostly occurences. Even has reprints of old songs and poems, like The Hearse Song.

But the most memorable things are the illustrations -- definately still ranks as some of the most disturbing images I've ever seen.

OMG, Yes. I loved those books. While the stories were scary, the pictures were waaaaaay worse.

[Disney Wrassler]

Re: Theme Repitition in Ghost Stories?

The books are written for younger readers in mind, but I still find a lot of joy out of them to this day. They aren't sanitized for young readers. All the blood and guts are still in them. And each one is a folk tale of ghostly occurences. Even has reprints of old songs and poems, like The Hearse Song.

But the most memorable things are the illustrations -- definately still ranks as some of the most disturbing images I've ever seen.

I re-read this and perhaps I should refrain from the books since I hate that stuff :lol:.

[FrumiousBoojum]

Re: Theme Repitition in Ghost Stories?

I re-read this and perhaps I should refrain from the books since I hate that stuff :lol:.

No! It's classic American folklore!

And there's some nice funny stories in there, too.

But, yeah... it did give me nightmares as a kid.