The James T. Callow Folklore Archive

PHANTOM STORY

ONE NIGHT GUIDO'S FATHER AND GRANDFATHER WERE RIDING
HOME IN A HORSE-DRAWN WAGON WHEN THEY SAW SOMETHING
STRANGE IN THE ROAD UP AHEAD (GUIDO'S FATHER WAS A
YOUNG BOY IN ITALY AT THE TIME). IT LOOKED LIKE A
BALL OF LIGHT AND IT WAS MOVING CLOSER. AS IT MOVED
CLOSER, THE HORSES STARTED TO SPOOK. GUIDO'S
GRANDFATHER REACHED FOR A RIFLE HE HAD IN THE WAGON AND
STARTED TO FIRE AT THE THING. HIS GRANDFATHER WAS SAID
TO BE A GOOD SHOT WITH A RIFLE, BUT THE BULLETS DID
NOTHING. THE HORSES WENT WILD, TIPPED OVER THE WAGON,
BROKE THE HARNESS AND RAN OFF. BOTH WERE THROWN FROM THE
WAGON. GUIDO'S GRANDFATHER GASHED HIS HAND AS HE FELL
ON THE ROAD.
EVENTUALLY, THE BALL OF LIGHT MOVED PAST AND DISAPPEARED,
NEVER TO BE SEEN BY EITHER OF THEM AGAIN. THE HORSES
WERE LATER FOUND IN A DITCH WITH THEIR NECKS BROKEN.
WHEN GUIDO WENT BACK TO ITALY SOME YEARS AGO, HE
SAW THE SCAR THAT MARKS THE GASH HIS GRANDFATHER GOT
ON HIS HAND ON THE STRANGE NIGHT.

Submitter comment: STRANGE BALL OF LIGHT SPOOKS HORSES.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT

Date learned: 10-15-1971

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THUMP-DRAG

ONCE THERE WAS A COUNSELOR WHO WENT TO REACH FOR SOMETHING
IN THE NATURE HUT AND SPILLED ACID ON HIS FACE. HE TRIED
TO GET TO THE LAKE TO WASH HIS FACE, ON THE WAY DOWN HE
BROKE HIS LEG. HE IS SAID TO WALK THROUGH THE CAMP NOW.
AT NIGHT YOU CAN HEAR THE THUMP-DRAG OF HIS LEG AND CAN
SEE HIS FACE IN THE WINDOW OF THE NATURE HUT.

Submitter comment: FACE OF CAMP COUNSELOR IS SCARRED BY ACID. CALLED THUMP-DRAG BECAUSE
OF HIS BROKEN LEG. CAN STILL BE SEEN AND HEARD.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT

Date learned: 03-10-1972

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SPIRIT LEGEND

A WOMAN WAS DYING IN THE HOSPITAL WITH CANCER, AND HER
HUSBAND SPENT LONG VIGILS BY HER BEDSIDE NIGHT AFTER
NIGHT, KNOWING SHE WAS SOON TO LEAVE THIS WORLD.
MANY OF THE WOMAN'S FRIENDS ALSO SPENT SLEEPLESS
NIGHTS WORRYING AND PRAYING FOR HER. ONE NIGHT, THE
HUSBAND AND MANY OF THE FRIENDS LEFT THE HOSPITAL AND WENT
BACK TO THE WOMAN'S HOUSE TO PRAY FOR HER. THEY WENT
OUT TO A SMALL, WELL LIT GROTTO IN THE COUPLE'S BACKYARD
AND KNELT AROUND THE GROTTO, PRAYING ALOUD FOR THE WOMAN.
IN THE MIDDLE OF THEIR PRAYERS, SUDDENLY THE LIGHTS WENT
OUT IN THE GROTTO AND THEY WERE LEFT IN TOTAL DARKNESS.
THE HUSBAND RUSHED INTO THE HOUSE AND CALLED THE HOSPITAL,
ONLY TO FIND THAT HIS WIFE HAD JUST DIED, AT EXACTLY THE
SAME SECOND THE LIGHTS HAD GONE OUT IN THE GROTTO. THE
NEXT DAY, THE HUSBAND HAD A GROUP OF ELECTRICIANS COME
OUT TO THE HOUSE TO CHECK THE GROTTO AND FIND OUT WHY
THE LIGHTS HAD GONE OUT. OVER AND OVER THE MEN EXAMINED
THE WIRING BUT FAILED EVERY TIME TO FIND ANYTHING WRONG
WITH THE ELECTRICITY IN THE GROTTO. THE GRIEVING
HUSBAND HAD TECHNICIANS AND ELECTRICIANS FROM ALL OVER
THE CITY EXAMINE HIS BACKYARD BUT NONE COULD FIND
ANYTHING WRONG NOR COULD THEY MAKE THE LIGHTS COME
BACK ON. AFTER ONE YEAR, TO THE EXACT MINUTE THAT THE
WOMAN HAD DIED IN THE HOSPITAL, THE LIGHTS CAME BACK ON
OF THEIR OWN ACCORD, AND SINCE THEN HAVE BEEN WORKING
PERFECTLY.

Submitter comment: LIGHTS GO OUT AT EXACT MOMENT OF LADY'S DEATH.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT

Date learned: 03-27-1971

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Ghost Tale

In Chapel Hill, TN, There is a ghost that roams next to the railroad. All you can see is his light as he flashes it up and down the tracks. It is supposedly a lineman who had fallen off the train many years before. When he fell he lost his head. Now he roams the track swinging the light looking for his head.

Data entry tech comment:

Motifs added by TRD

Where learned: TENNESSEE ; NASHVILLE

Keyword(s): Beheaded ; DECAPITATION ; GHOST ; HEAD ; Lineman ; RAILROAD ; Story ; SUPERNATURAL ; Tale ; Urban Legend

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