Dr. James T. Callow publications
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The James T. Callow Folklore Archive
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THE CAVE IN ARECIBO
THERE IS CAVE THAT IS CLOSE TO THE OCEAN WHERE INDIANS
USED TO LIVE. THERE ARE MANY INDIAN DRAWINGS ON THE WALLS.
IT HAS BEEN SAID THAT AT CERTAIN TIMES OF THE YEAR, WHEN
THE CROPS ARE DUE FOR HARVEST, IF YOU GO INTO THE CAVE
YOU CAN HEAR THE HARVEST CHANTS OF THE INDIANS
WHO ONCED LIVED THERE.
Submitter comment: SHE HAS VISITED THIS CAVE, BUT HEARD NO NOISES.
Where learned: PUERTO RICO
Keyword(s): GHOSTLY VOICES
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter BELIEF -- Formation |
Date learned: 00001960S ; 11-00-1987
On Halloween night, put a bucket of sand or a broom
outside your door. If a soul comes by and wants to
harm you, it will have to count every grain of sand
or broom bristle first. By the time that the spirit
has done this, it would be daytime and it would have
to go back where it came from.
Submitter comment:
This story was told to Maryann by her Italian father,
who heard it from his grandfather.
Where learned: ILLINOIS ; SKOKIE
Keyword(s): ghost, precaution, All Souls' Day
| Subject headings: | CUSTOM FESTIVAL -- October 31 Halloween BELIEF -- Witch Shaman BELIEF -- Number Counting beliefs BELIEF -- Good luck Broom Sweeping BELIEF -- Control Prevention Provocation Protection |
Date learned: 00001930S
On the stroke of twelve (on New Year's Eve) every door
in the house has to be opened to allow the spirit of
the old year to leave.
Submitter comment:
Her best friend's family did it when she was a little
girl, and she never forgot it.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SAINT CLAIR
Keyword(s): GHOST
Date learned: 00001930S
If you want the dead to come to you in your sleep and talk to
you, write a letter, fill a glass with water, put it under your
bed, put the letter on top of the glass, and go then go to sleep.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): Ghost of the Dead
| Subject headings: | BELIEF -- Mythology BELIEF -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter |
Date learned: 02-00-1992
MY GRANDMOTHER SAID THAT SHE LIVED IN A HOUSE BETWEEN MIDDLEBROOK
AND GREENVILLE, VIRGINIA. THE MAN WHEN SHE MOVED IN SAID NOT TO
PAY ANY ATTENTION TO WHAT SHE HEARD IN THE HOUSE, BUT SHE DID.
ONE MORNING, THEY WERE SETTING AT THE TABLE EATING WHEN UPSTAIRS
IN THE ROOM WHERE HIS WIFE HAD A SPINNING WHEEL, SHE HEARD THE
WHEEL SPINNING. SHE WENT UP INTO THE ROOM BUT THE WHEEL WAS TIED
UP JUST LIKE IT HAD ALWAYS BEEN. HIS WIFE HAD DIED IN THIS HOUSE
AND THEY COULD HEAR HER CHINA WASH BOWL RATTLE MANY TIMES AND
NOBODY COULD HAVE GOTTEN IN THE ROOM BECAUSE THEY KEPT IT LOCKED.
THEY DID NOT LIVE IN THAT HOUSE VERY LONG.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; PEABODY COLLEGE ; NASHVILLE ; COLLEGE ASSIGNMENT
James Callow Keyword(s): MYSTERIOUS GHOSTLY NOISE
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter PROSE NARRATIVE -- Product or activity of man or animal BELIEF -- Product or activity of man or animal |
Date learned: 03-07-1969
THESE PEOPLE WENT DRIVING NEAR ROANOKE, VIRGINIA. THEY STOPPED
THE CAR AND WERE SITTING THERE, WHEN A HAND REACHED OUT AND
CAUGHT HOLD OF THE HANDLE OF THE CAR DOOR OUTSIDE. A HAND WAS
ALL THEY COULD SEE. IT WAS ALL BLOODY AND TORN UP. THEY TOOK
OFF AS FAST AS THEY COULD, BUT THE HAND FELL OFF AND THEY
COULDN'T FIND IT.
THEY FOUND OUT THE NEXT DAY THAT A MAN HAD BEEN KILLED WHERE THEY
WERE THAT NIGHT.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; PEABODY COLLEGE ; NASHVILLE ; COLLEGE ASSIGNMENT
James Callow Keyword(s): GHOST HAUNTS SCENE OF ACCIDENT
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter PROSE NARRATIVE -- Product or activity of man or animal BELIEF -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter |
Date learned: 03-07-1969
THIS BOY WAS GOING TO HIS COUSIN'S TO GO FISHING WITH THEM.
WHEN HE GOT OFF THE TRAIN, NOBODY WAS THERE TO MEET HIM, SO HE
TOLD THE TRAINMASTER THAT HE WOULD WALK. THE TRAINMASTER THEN
SAID, "BEWARE OF JACOB MARLEY." THE BOY DIDN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT
HE MEANT, BUT HE STARTED WALKING TOWARD HIS COUSIN'S HOUSE. IT
WAS RAINING AND THUNDERING WHEN HE HAD SET OUT. HE HADN'T BEEN
WALKING VERY LONG WHEN HE HEARD A WAGON AND HORSES BEHIND HIM.
HE SAW AN OLD MAN DRIVING AN OLD WAGON. WHEN THE WAGON CAME
NEARER, HE YELLED OUT, "CAN I HAVE A RIDE?" NO ANSWER CAME
FROM THE MAN, SO THE BOY JUMPED ON.
WHEN HE WAS NEARING HIS COUSIN'S HOUSE HE SAID, "I GET OFF HERE,"
BUT THE WAGON KEPT GOING. HE JUMPED OFF, BUT HE HAD LEFT HIS
SUITCASE ON THE WAGON. HE WENT IN AND TOLD HIS COUSINS ALL ABOUT
WHAT HAPPENED. THEY SAID, "YOU MUST OF BEEN RIDING WITH JACOB
MARLEY."
THIS IS THE STORY THEY TOLD HIM:
ONE NIGHT, IT WAS THUNDERING AND LIGHTENING, AND IT WAS RAINING
VERY BAD. JACOB MARLEY WAS DRIVING HIS CARRIAGE ALONG THAT SAME
ROAD THAT NIGHT. THERE WAS A SHARP RIGHT TURN ABOVE THEIR
HOUSE, AND MARLEY HAD GONE OVER THE CLIFF.
THE NEXT MORNING THEY WENT DOWN TO THE CLIFF AND FOUND HIS
SUITCASE.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; PEABODY COLLEGE ; NASHVILLE ; COLLEGE ASSIGNMENT
James Callow Keyword(s): GHOST HAUNTS SCENE OF ACCIDENT.
Date learned: 03-07-1969
PHANTOM TRAIN
AT MIDNIGHT AT THE RAILROAD CROSSING OF CHAPEL HILL,
TENNESSEE, THE INFORMANT AND A FRIEND SAW A LARGE LIGHT
APPROACHING FROM DOWN THE TRACK. THE LIGHT SEEMED
TO HAVE NO CENTER. WHEN IT WAS ONLY A FEW FEET AWAY,
SHE SAW IT WAS A TRAIN AND SHE QUICKLY STEPPED OFF THE
TRACK. AS IT PASSED HER AND DISAPPEARED, IT MADE NO
NOISE AT ALL.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; NASHVILLE
James Callow Keyword(s): GHOST TRAIN ; PHANTOM TRAIN
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter |
Date learned: 11-00-1969
THE GHOST OF CHAPEL HILL, TENNESSEE
DURING THE CIVIL WAR, A BRAKEMAN ON A TRAIN FELL OFF
AND HAD HIS HEAD CUT OFF. HE GOES OUT EVERY NIGHT
WITH HIS LANTERN LOOKING FOR HIS HEAD. A LIGHT CAN
BE SEEN SWINGING ALONG THE TRACKS IN GREEN, WHITE,
AND RED, THE COLORS OF A BRAKEMAN'S LANTERN.
Where learned: TENNESSEE ; NASHVILLE
James Callow Keyword(s): GHOSTLY LIGHT
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter |
Date learned: 11-10-1973
GERMAN GRAVEYARD
IN A GRAVEYARD IN GERMANY, THERE WERE STRANGE
LIGHTS SHINING. THE PEOPLE SAID IT WAS THE
PEOPLE BURIED THERE WALKING AROUND.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; GERMANY ; WARREN
Keyword(s): GHOSTLY LIGHTS
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter |
Date learned: 01-00-1968
VANISHING HITCHHIKER VARIANT
THERE WAS A YOUNG COUPLE WHO LOVED EACH OTHER VERY MUCH.
SUDDENLY THE YOUNG MAN DIED. THE GIRL WAS OVERWROUGHT
WITH GRIEF AND MOURNED FOR HIM FOR A LONG TIME. BUT
ONE SATURDAY NIGHT SHE DECIDED TO GO TO A LOCAL DANCE.
ON THE WAY TO THE DANCE, SHE PASSED THE CEMETERY WHERE
HER LOVER WAS BURIED. SHE CRIED OUT TO HIM, "PLEASE
COME OUT AND GO TO THE DANCE WITH ME." THEN SHE
CONTINUED ON TO THE DANCE.
WHILE SHE WAS DANCING WITH ONE OF THE BOYS IN THE
DANCE HALL, SHE SAW HER DEAD LOVER STANDING IN THE
DOORWAY. SURPRISED AND HAPPY AT THE SAME TIME, SHE
STARTED TO DANCE WITH HIM. THEY DANCED AND DANCED,
AND HE KEPT ON DANCING AS IF IT WAS THE FIRST DANCE.
SHE WAS COMPLETELY EXHAUSTED, BUT HE KEPT ON
DANCING. SUDDENLY THE COCK CROWED, AND HE SPOKE,
"IT IS MY BAD LUCK, AND YOUR GOOD FORTUNE!" THEN
HE VANISHED.
THE GIRL DID NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO AND SHE WAS
AFRAID TO LEAVE HER HOUSE. BUT ONE DAY SHE HAD TO
GO BY THE CEMETERY AGAIN. THIS TIME HER LOVER
CHASED HER AND SHE RAN FOR HER LIFE TO A WITCH'S
HOUSE. THE WITCH TOLD HER TO CLIMB UP ON TOP OF
THE STOVE; THEN SHE PROCEEDED TO CAST A SPELL BY
MAKING SIGNS OF THE CROSS AND SAYING CERTAIN MAGIC
FORMULAS. HER LOVER COULD NOT BREAK THE SPELL TO
REACH HER. SO THE WITCH GAVE HIM A TASK OF TAKING
OUT ALL THE HEMP SEEDS SHE HAD SCATTERED IN A POT OF
ASHES. HE PROCEEDED TO DO THIS, AND WAS DOING IT WHEN
THE COCK CROWED. HE EXCLAIMED AGAIN, "IT IS MY
MISFORTUNE, AND YOUR BAD LUCK, AND NOW YOU MAY HAVE
LEARNED TO LET THE DEAD REST." HE DISAPPEARED AND SHE
NEVER SAW HIM AGAIN.
James Callow comment: THIRD TO LAST LINE: GOOD LUCK?
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT ; LITHUANIA
Keyword(s): DANCING GHOST
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter |
Date learned: 03-25-1968
PONDLILLY LOOKOUT POINT
PONDLILLY LOOKOUT POINT IS LOCATED IN WATERLOO
RECREATION AREA NEAR JACKSON, MICHIGAN. THERE USED TO
BE A FORT LOCATED ON THIS POINT; IT WAS SITUATED ON
A VERY STEEP, ALMOST UNSCALABLE RIDGE. IN THE MIDDLE
OF A HUGE BLIZZARD ONE DAY, INDIANS SCALED THE RIDGE
AND MASSACRED ALL THOSE IN THE FORT.
TO THIS DAY, ONE CAN SUPPOSEDLY HEAR THE SOUND OF
INDIANS RUNNING ALONG THE RIDGE DURING ANY SNOW STORM.
Submitter comment:
MIKE SAYS THAT THERE IS ANOTHER VERSION WHICH SAYS
YOU CAN HEAR A HORSEMAN RIDING ALONG THE RIDGE DURING
A BLIZZARD. HE IS SAID TO BE RACING TO WARN THOSE IN
THE FORT OF THE ATTACK.
MIKE SAYS THAT THERE IS JUST SUCH A SOUND DURING A
SNOWSTORM, BUT BEING MORE LOGICALLY-MINDED,
ATTRIBUTES IT TO THE SNOW FALLING INTO THE THICK
GROWTH OF MAPLE TREES WHICH CHOKE THE SLOPE BELOW
THE RIDGE.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT ; DETROIT ; JACKSON
Keyword(s): GHOSTLY NOISES
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter |
Date learned: 11-10-1968
IN THE SECTION OF THE METROPOLITAN PARK OF CLEVELAND,
OHIO KNOWN AS "CEDAR POINT HILL," A YOUNG ENGAGED
COUPLE WAS PARKED. THEY HEARD A NEWSCAST WARNING
THOSE IN THE AREA TO BEWARE OF THREE VICIOUS MUGGERS
ACTIVE THAT WEEK. THE GIRL BECAME FRIGHTENED AND WISHED
TO LEAVE. HER FIANCE REASSURED HER AND WENT OUT TO CHECK
AROUND THE CAR. HE TOLD HER TO HIDE UNDER THE BLANKET
ON THE BACKSEAT FLOOR UNTIL HE KNOCKED THREE TIMES.
SHE WAITED...AND WAITED...AND WAITED, HEARING NO SOUND
OTHER THAN OCCASIONAL SCRAPE ON THE ROOF, CAUSED BY A
LOW HANGING BRANCH. AFTER ABOUT FORTY-FIVE MINUTES,
SHE SAW SEVERAL LIGHTS AND HEARD MUCH TALKING.
LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW SHE SAW POLICE CARS. THE
POLICE HELPED HER OUT, INSTRUCTING HER NOT TO LOOK
UP. SHE LOOKED ANYWAY AND SAW HER FINACE HANGING FROM
THE BRANCH ABOVE THE CAR, HIS HEELS TAPPING THE ROOF.
HIS TONGUE HAD BEEN CUT OUT, AS ALSO HAD HIS HEART.
THE MURDERERS WERE NEVER FOUND, BUT ON STORMY NIGHTS,
THE YOUNG MAN TAPS ON THE CAR ROOFS IN CEDAR POINT
VALLEY TO WARN LOVERS OF ANY DANGER.
Where learned: OHIO ; CLEVELAND
Keyword(s): GHOSTLY NOISES
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter |
Date learned: 00-00-1961
SCHIFF RESERVATION
THE SCHIFF RESERVATION, NOW A BOY SCOUT CAMP, HAS
A STRANGE LEGEND BEHIND IT. IN 1920, THERE WAS A
DAM BEING BUILT, AND A MAN WHO WAS WORKING ON THE
DAM SUPPOSEDLY FELL INTO THE NEWLY POURED CONCRETE
AND WAS BURIED ALIVE. IT IS RUMORED THAT YOU CAN
HEAR HIM SCREAMING FOR HELP ON WINDY NIGHTS.
Submitter comment:
LEE LEARNED THIS ON A BOY SCOUT TRIP IN THE
RESERVATION.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): GHOSTLY NOISES
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter |
Date learned: 09-25-1967 ; 00001920S
GREEK GHOSTS
BECAUSE OF THE NUMBER OF GRAVES THAT ARE IN GREECE,
ESPECIALY THOSE OF SOLDIERS, THE GREEKS BELIEVE
THAT THEY CAN HEAR THE CRYING OF THE SOLDIERS IN THE
WIND AT NIGHT.
Submitter comment: JAMES LEARNED THIS FROM HIS GRANDFATHER.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): GHOSTLY NOISES
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter BELIEF -- P535 |
Date learned: 10-10-1967
THE PHANTOM PLEDGE
ONCE THERE WAS A PLEDGE WHO WASN'T VERY A GOOD PLEDGE.
SHE DIDN'T DO EVERYTHING A PLEDGE SHOULD DO.
FRIDAY OF HELL-WEED-END, SHE WAS AT HOME WAITING
FOR A MEMBER TO PICK HER UP. BUT NO ONE EVER CAME.
SHE WAITED AND WAITED, BUT NEVER GOT TO GO TO
HELL-WEEK-END. SHE HASN'T BEEN SEEN SINCE. BUT
EVERY SEMESTER AT HELL-WEEK-END, SHE COMES AND
STANDS ON A HILL AND CRIES AND MOANS THAT SHE NEVER
HAD A HELL-WEKK-END. DO YOU THINK YOU WILL GET
PICKED UP? OR WILL THERE BE ANOTHER PHANTOM PLEDGE?
Submitter comment:
THIS IS TOLD TO THE PLEDGES OF KAPPA BETA GAMMA
SORORITY BEFORE THEY GO UP TO HELL-WEEK-END.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): GHOSTLY NOISES
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter |
Date learned: 10-30-1969
WHITE LADY
AT BELLE ISLE {DETROIT, MICHIGAN} AT THE LOVER'S LANE,
THERE IS SAID TO BE A "WHITE LADY." SHE COMES OUT
DRESSED COMPLETELY IN WHITE. SHE TERRORIZES THE
PEOPLE THERE AT NIGHT. SHE IS SAID TO HAVE A HOOK
FOR ONE HAND. ONE NIGHT A COUPLE WAS JUST LEAVING
WHEN SHE CAME OUT. LATER ON THAT NIGHT, THEY FOUND
A HOOK ON THE CAR. IT WAS ON THE DOOR HANDLE.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): GHOST WITH HOOK FOR HAND
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Ghost Spirit Phantom Specter |
Date learned: 11-00-1965
TOMBSTONE IN CEMETERY
THIS IS THE ONLY ONE I CAN REMEMBER CHRIS TELLING ME
BECAUSE I HAD ORIGINALLY COME TO HER HOME TO TALK
WITH HER MOTHER ABOUT FOLKLORE AND EVERY SO OFTEN
CHRIS WOULD THROW SOMETHING INTO THE CONVERSATION.
MANY OF THE THINGS I WAS TOLD THAT EVENING WOULD
SUDDENLY COME OUT OF THIN AIR, WHILE WORKING ON AN
ENTIRELY DIFFERENT SUBJECT.
THIS IS TOLD OF A TOMBSTONE IN MT. OLIVE CEMETERY IN
DETROIT {MICHIGAN}, AT OUTER DRIVE AND SIX MILE.
UP UNTIL A FEW YEARS AGO, ONE PARTICULAR TOMBSTONE
WOULD ALWAYS GLOW AN EERIE RED ALL NIGHT LONG, BUT
DURING THE DAY IT LOOKED LIKE ANY ORDINARY TOMB-
STONE. MOST PEOPLE SEEM TO BE A BIT CAREFUL WHEN TALKING
ABOUT IT, I GUESS IT WAS REAL. THE STONE, FROM WHAT
CHRIS SAID, HASN'T GLOWED SINCE A MAUSELEUM WAS BUILT
VERY CLOSE TO IT. EVERYONE OLD ENOUGH REMEMBERS SEEING
THE GLOWING TOMBSTONE. CHRIS'S HOME IS APPROXIMATELY
200 FEET FROM THE CEMETERY.
Data entry tech comment: THIS IS CONFUSING: PERHAPS MRS. MARSHAL'S DAUGHTER
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT
Keyword(s): GHOSTLY LIGHTS
James Callow Keyword(s): MAUSOLEUM MT. OLIVET CEMETERY
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Product or activity of man or animal |
Date learned: 11-00-1968
GURGLING GHOST
DURING THE PROHIBITION DAY A MAN WAS FOUND IN THE
OUTSIDE JOHN WITH HIS THROAT SLIT. ALL THE OWNERS OF
THE HOME, EXCEPT FOR THE PRESENT OCCUPANTS, CLAIM
THEY HEARD A STRANGE GURGLING SOUND, LIKE A MAN
WHO HAD HIS THROAT CUT TRYING TO TALK.
Submitter comment: HEARD FROM HER MOTHER.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD
Keyword(s): GHOSTLIKE SOUNDS
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Product or activity of man or animal |
Date learned: 00001964 SUMMER
THROAT CUT
IN A PREDOMINENTLY ITALIAN NEIGHBORHOOD THERE IS A
HOUSE WHERE NOONE WILL LIVE. WHEN THE MAFIA WAS VERY
ACTIVE IN THIS PARTICULAR NEIGHBORHOOD, THERE WAS A
MURDER. A MAN WENT OUT TO HIS OUTSIDE TOILET AND
WAS FOUND THERE WITH HIS THROAT CUT.
EVER SINCE THEN, PEOPLE WHO MOVED INTO THE HOUSE
WOULD HEAR A GURGLING SOUND OUT IN THE OUTHOUSE,
JUST AS IF A THROAT HAD BEEN CUT.
NO ONE EVER DID FIND THE MURDERER.
Submitter comment: THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED IN THE INFORMANT'S NEIGHBORHOOD.
Where learned: MICHIGAN ; SOUTHFIELD
Keyword(s): GHOSTLIKE SOUNDS
| Subject headings: | PROSE NARRATIVE -- Product or activity of man or animal |
Date learned: 08-00-1964