Digital Commons Network^™

Haunted Warehouse, Kjeisten Secretan

USU Student Folklore Fieldwork

It’s a long story, it started off, the year was 2009. I was working in a warehouse, and I was what was called the picker for the warehouse, so I would get the food from the warehouse and I would set it on the pallets so the truck drivers could take it in the morning. My aunt was helping me but she had to be back at like 4 in the morning so at like 10 she went home. And like at midnight I was coming out of this room and in the corner of my eye I see my …

Alec The Strongman, Kjeisten Secretan

USU Student Folklore Fieldwork

So his name is Alexander Christofferson, he went by Alec, he was the first Lehi city Marshall the police chief, he came to Lehi when he was 12 years old. He was the first city marshal to have automobile, first to use fingerprints. He worked at Geneva steel and was known as the strongman. He operated a threshing machine for 20 years and one time the little bridge over the ditch broke, and he like I don’t exactly how he did it, if he was on his hands and knees or if he was on his back and had his …

Magical Wheat, Kjeisten Secretan

USU Student Folklore Fieldwork

In a cave up American Fork canyon, my neighbor found some vases full of wheat which had been there for a long time and they sent them to General Mills and they said it can fight diseases naturally, this wheat, and they asked if they could do some more tests on it and stuff, he told them they could, but he grew some every year and his friend grew some every year so they would have some. They would give them out to the scout kids when they would tell this story. They told us to chew it up.

Golden Nugget, Kjeisten Secretan

USU Student Folklore Fieldwork

My neighbor who lived through the block from me. He was always in the scouting and my principal of my elementary school, he says he was with his friends as a teenager, well probably older than that. He said a lot of things. They were up hiking up American fork canyon and they found a golden nugget just sitting there that they couldn’t lift. So they went home to get a truck, and get stuff to lift it and they couldn’t find it again.

Scary Northern Lights, Kjeisten Secretan

USU Student Folklore Fieldwork

I lived on a reservation in Saskatchewan, right? They would tell us at night when the northern lights are out, that you couldn’t whistle, cuz if you whistled they would just come down and get you and carry you off. So I never whistled and I was scared of death of them. I whistled once, then I ran all the way home.

Tickling Toes, Alyssa Burdett

USU Student Folklore Fieldwork

I just read an interesting entry that he [her dad] wrote:

Beth [her dad’s wife] I think of you every day, but some days pretty much all day. I pray that you are happy and busy. I hope that you remember me and are looking forward to our being reunited to be together forever, for always for all eternity. Experience let me know you are watching over me. One night someone was tickling my feet. I raised just as you vanished. Another I was dreaming you came leaned over and gave me a kiss. Once again as I awakened you …

Patty In Kappa Delta, Kelsey Lund

USU Student Folklore Fieldwork

Me: Ok, so, one of the questions I have is about the ghost. That lives in KD? What’s her name? What’s the story?

Lauren: The ghost’s name is Patty. And I lived there for a year and, uh there’s a lot of stories about Patty? And, um I’ve heard a lot of things? And I like, I mean while I lived there was things that happened that were weird um, but they weren’t like so crazy weird that we wanted to invite like ghost adventurers there or anything but like. So um, let’s see. One of my favorite stories that …

"Shooting A Black Bear In My Underwear", Alexis Robb

USU Student Folklore Fieldwork

While hunting in Alaska we were abruptly woken up in the morning, just as the sun was starting to come up, barely light enough to see, by something outside of our tent in our camp getting into our stuff, so upon getting up grabbing my riffle, stepping outside of the tent still with one foot in the tent and one foot out of the tent standing there in my underwear, I shot a black bear who had come into our camp and was ravaging through our camp.

"Grandpa Christensen- Horse Riding In Church", Alexis Robb

USU Student Folklore Fieldwork

So, legend has it, my grandpa Christensen when he was a teenager about 15 or 16 years old, that on a dare from a bunch of his friends while they were out riding horses in the small town of Neola, Utah, [ A little distracted, begins this part again.] that on a dare he rode his horse through the chapel on Sunday during church, and then rode it back out again, and that story has been confirmed by several old people who lived in the town of Neola.

Proctor And Gamble Is Owned By Satanists, Thomas Lee

USU Student Folklore Fieldwork

While I was working at Proctor and Gamble, there was the story that the founder of the company worshipped Satan. They said that the P&G logo with the sun, moon, and stars was satanic. Apparently, he talked about it on Phil Donahue’s talk show, but I think that was just part of the story too. One day I was talking to my mom on the phone and she had heard the story and asked me about it. She was worried, but told me that I should try to make some money then get a better job [laughs]. I though it …

Creepy Kool-Aid Man, Kjeisten Secretan

USU Student Folklore Fieldwork

the Kool-Aid man originally comes from the Kool-Aid commercials, which is a big picture of Kool-Aid and he’s filled with the red Kool-Aid usually and he has a big face, a big smiley face. So on our campout, for some reason we thought it would be so scary, that we were scared that the Kool-Aid Man would pop up out of nowhere. And you’d see his big shadow on the side of our tent and he’d say “oooh yeahhhh” and he’d break through the side of the tent like in the commercials he breaks through like a million different walls. …

“Slenderman: The Middle School Film”, Haden Griggs

USU Student Folklore Fieldwork

Lucy: Okay, well I first heard about him at school, cause all the kids were playing it,

Me: Playing what? Lucy: (on computers) Me: Oh? Lucy: (playing Slenderman.)

Lucy: Yeah, and the school blocked it, but they found out how to, download it anyway, just like they did with minecraft. But, I only played the game like one time. ‘Cause I was too scared. Also--[I chuckle] I was twelve at the time. [She laughs] Umm, I haven’t heard, a ton about folklore. Just, uh, those, girls, stabbing that other girl. And I guess Abbey’s story, but. [I chuckle]

Yeah. Um, …

“Sophie’S Version Of The Halloween Slenderman Scare”, Haden Griggs

USU Student Folklore Fieldwork

Sophie: ...I think I heard about him from Corbyn too, because uh, [she chuckles] his friend dressing up as slenderman [Abbey and I laugh] and, I remember Halloween night, I was--I saw Slenderman multiple times, the same person. It was like, oh there’s Slenderman again, there’s Slenderman, there’s Slenderman, cause, he’s tall, and has a white morph suit on, and so it was [inaudible]

Abbey: yeah, it was, morph suit, Sophie: [(ncomprehensible]

Abbey: white, it was white morph suit, casual suit, and then a bunch of like, black party noodles coming out of his back [we all laugh]

Sophie: [still …

Bobby The Ghost, Nicole Pope

USU Student Folklore Fieldwork

The first I was set to perform in the Kimo Theater, some of the other girls who had been there longer told me the story of Bobby the ghost. They told me back in the 50s they used to use boilers to heat the theater. One day during a show one of the boilers exploded and it killed this little boy named Bobby who was in the theater. So ever since then, Bobby haunts the theater and he rattles the pipes and curses performers. If you didn’t want to have Bobby curse you and make you perform badly or get …

The Kook, Kelsey Lund

USU Student Folklore Fieldwork

Me: Okay. So you know how in California, when we’re at San Elijo there’s that surfer there? That surfer statue?

Michelle: The Kook

Me: The Kook! What, like, how, why’s he there?

M: So you can read about it online, but what I understand is that when, people would come to San Elijo to, surf, they would call you a “kook” if you weren’t local. So, say “no kooks” and so, somebody did the statue of the Kook, ‘cause they call non-local surfers “kooks.” So we would be “kooks.” Because we just visit, we don’t, we’re not from there.

Me: …

“Jason’S Take On The Halloween Slenderman Scare”, Haden Griggs

USU Student Folklore Fieldwork

“Okay, so it was Halloween, and Corbyn was probably in middle school. I was probably in high school, roughly, but, maybe we were a little older. I don’t know, but anyway. So, uh, Corbyn had a couple friends, Eric Dunajski, and Jeffery Burkert, and uh, they came to the door, and, uh Jeffery Burkert was, dressed as slenderman, and I don’t remember what Eric was, but, so, Burkert hid, off to the side of the door, where Corbyn couldn’t see, and then, Eric knocked on the door, Corbyn opened up, [he chuckles] Eric started talking, and then, Slenderman, [I chuckle] …

Babysitting Spirit, Jess Ivie

USU Student Folklore Fieldwork

“One time I was babysitting this kid right? These two kids, they're super cute! But that night just felt really w r o n g? At least- for the half hour that it happened? But um, the little kid, uh… Isaac. He was like, staring at the blank wall like this. Like ‘that’s really scary’ [kids are creepy as hell dude] They are! I’ve seen a few things I think that, anyway, really scary, and I’m like (panting) and so I was like, praying like crazy anyway… we went upstairs again but...”

Bloody Road Ghost Town, Jess Ivie

USU Student Folklore Fieldwork

“Okay so I was going on these really random spontaneous adventures with my cousin, and for some reason it was like the day after halloween, and we’re like- let’s go, to a ghost town- like this abandoned town in the middle of nowhere, and we’re like okay, like googling one, it’s called coal city… it’s like, on the way to Moab, like two and a half hours away, and it was like abandoned in the 40’s, right? And we’re like, okay. So, so we drive there, and we’re there before the sunset and on the way there we’re like commenting …