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Scary Story Writing: An Exploration and
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SCARY STORY WRITING: AN EXPLORATION AND
ANALYSIS OF FOLKLORE AND NARRATIVE IN
FOURTH THROUGH EIGHTH GRADERS

By

Nancy Jane Johnson

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of English

1987

Copyright by
NANCY JANE JOHNSON
1987

ABSTRACT
SCARY STORY WRITING: AN EXPLORATION
AND ANALYSIS OF FOLKLORE AND NARRATIVE
IN FOURTH THROUGH EIGHTH GRADERS
By

Nancy Jane Johnson

Few studies explore the connection between traditional
childlore, folkstories, and the institution of school, and
Offer implications connecting these with child’s language
learning. This study brings together two disciplines --
folklore and education -- to investigate children’s natural
story transmission and its affects on written narratives of
a familiar genre (scary stories) that fourth through eighth
graders are asked to write in school. This study also
explores the similarities and differences in these stories
and analyzes the oral and written language structures that
young writers incorporate into their written stories.

Following a pre-writing discussion centering around the
questions, "What makes people afraid? Where are good places
to tell or hear scary stories? Who do you know who
qualifies as master scary story tellers?" 202 fourth through
eighth graders were asked to write a scary story (either an
original story, a re-telling, a true story, or a story that

combined more than one of the categories). Stories were

divided into seven groupings according to story plot
similarities (including variants) and differences using
methodology similar to Jan Harold Brunvand’s urban legend
collecting and Alvin Schwartz’s scary story collecting.
Analysis of oral and written language used by the young
writers in their first-draft stories, speculation on what
affected their language choices, and implications for
teaching writing then followed.

Results show that young writers have a wealth of scary
stories to tell and write, and they include oral narrative
structures when they write. Their stories exhibit a strong
sense of audience, many demonstrating "performance" elements
borrowed from the media and oral narratives. I've used
William Labov’s work on narrative elements to explore what
these young storywriters do to make their narratives
"reportable."

The major hypotheses that (1) young writers
possess a wealth of scary stories acquired from sources in
addition to school; (2) their written narratives exhibit
knowledge and use of oral narrative devices; (3) a sense of
audience and story "performance" is included by young
writers when they’re confident with their writing "topic";
and (4) stories, storytelling, storywriting, and even
folklore offer rich language opportunities both inside and

outside educational settings were borne out by this study.

To Stephen N. Tchudi,
who more than any other teacher has affected
my teaching and learning.

He has become a model and mentor by the
teacher/learner/storyteller/storywriter impact
he’s made on my life. I
will always be grateful for his contributions to
education and educators and for
his impact on my own professional life.
Perhaps more than anyone else he understands
the (in)sanity of the quest.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Acknowledgements are due many people for making this
project a reality. Foremost are Kurt Dewhurst and Stephen
Tchudi, my dissertation director and doctoral program
director, who gave generously of their time, advice,
expertise, and enthusiasm throughout the years this project
was in the working. I am grateful for their guidance and
support. Thanks are also due to the other members of my
doctoral committee, Sheila Fitzgerald, Randal Robinson, and
Marilyn Wilson, who Offered encouragement, support, and a
wealth of valuable suggestions.

Special thanks are due to my Macintosh owner—friends
(Susan and Andy Steffel and Michael Bennett) who Offered use
of their word processors at odd hours of the day and night,
home or office, and to Patti Johnson for her hours and hours
of word processing (and editing) getting this project in
publication form.

My gratitude also extends to the over 400 young writers
who shared their wonderful scary stories with me and to
their teachers who allowed me to interrupt their classrooms
with hours of sharing, writing, and telling silly and gory

stories. The continued enthusiasm of these storywriters and
their unending wealth of stories made this project a
delightful experience -- one I hope to continue.

Final thanks to the special peOple who’ve supported me
throughout the years and years of this project and this
Ph.D. program -- my parents, sisters, friends, and students
who encouraged me to continue when my own energy seemed to
dwindle, who humored me through the rough times, supported
me through the down times, and shared with me through the
joyful times. And thanks especially to Doug Miller who
helped me keep it all in perspective -- and who reminded me
to laugh.

vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES . . . . . . . . .

Chapter
I.

II.

III.

IV.

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . .

DESCRIPTION OF MODELS/DEFINITION OF TERMS

The Sutton- Smith Model: Content-Oriented/

Age Grouping Model. . .

The Opie Model. Childlore and Language

MOdel I O O O O O I 0

The Knapp Model: Functions of Childlore

MOdel O O O O O O O O

The Brunvand Model. Thematic Story

Classification Model . . .

The Schwartz Model: Classification by

Story Type Model . .

EXPLANATION OF RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .

PRESENTATION AND ORGANIZATION OF

"Attack" Stories . . . . .
"Haunted Houses, Haunted Places"
"Strange Noises" Stories . . .
"The Doll" Stories . . . . .
"The Babysitter" Stories . . .
"Being Followed" Stories . .

"Those That Defy Classification"

ANALYSIS OF STORIES . . . .

Media Influence . . . . . .
Sense of Audience . . . . .
Narrative: Discursive Structure
Orientation . . . . . .
Codas . . . . . . . .
Oral Narrative Technique .
Use of Repetition . . . .
Explicatives . . . . .

vii

STORIES

Stories

Page

ix

15

18
20
22
23
26
31
50

53

93
126
134
142
150
156

180

191
207
210
213
217
223
224
227

Chapter
VI.

APPENDIX

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . .

viii

0

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page
1. Story Types and Categories . . . . . . . 187
2. Story Groupings by Sex . . . . . . . . 190

ix

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Traditional Childlore, folkstories, and the institution
of school have rarely been linked in a study that carries
any implications for child’s language learning -- both in
the context of schoolroom learning and in less structured,
natural learning environments. When children of all ages
enter classrooms, they Often fall victim to the "teacher as
expert" or "teacher as distributor of knowledge" syndrome,
perpetuated (unfortunately) by a tradition in its own right
-- a tradition established over the years by teachers who
have carried that burden of having to be the "expert" and
disseminated by the belief that their expertise is crucial
to their performance as a teacher.

The American school system has been established not
just as a right, but also as a requirement. Requiring
school attendance implies the tremendous importance that
schools have in the lives of children. It also implies that
schools offer opportunities and learning that cannot be
acquired elsewhere. This right, as well as obligation,
given to American children assumes some strong beliefs about

how human beings learn. Herbert and Mary Knapp, two

1

2
American folklorists who have invested a great deal of time
and interest studying the language and Childlore of
children, support this view of the American school system
and express concern over the emphasis on school as the
institution of learning:
For children, this dual right/obligation has

traditionally meant submitting to a rigidly
structured environment where a teacher supervises

and directs learning. It is generally assumed
that all knowledge is "passed down" from an
experienced adult to an innocent child. (A

corollary bit of wishful thinking which everyone
denies accepting but which has greatly influenced
our attitudes toward the school is that children
can’t find out anything that adults don’t teach
them.) Even children’s play has been brought into
the rigidities of the official curriculum, so that
in many elementary schools, recess -- with the
freedom and respite the word connotes -- has given
way to the physical education period or to
supervised recreation, as if children cannot even
play without instruction.

We are so preoccupied with what we have to offer
children that we overlook the education that they can
offer one another; yet in the unsupervised nooks and
crannies of their lives, where they perpetuate
centuries-Old folk traditions, children learn what no
one can teach them.1

Often teachers, as well as those associated with the
development of school curricula, haven’t acknowledged the
complex language structures children have already acquired
by the time they enter kindergarten or first grade. Very
early in life, even before children have been influenced by
well—intentioned professional teachers, they have learned
the basic structure and meaning of an entire language
system. Before the age of four, children create new

sentences they have never heard before using rules they know

3
mostly by inference and guided by the recognition and
responses of the people around them whose speech they’ve
patterned their own learning after. When young children say
something that is not immediately understood, they repeat it
or try it another way. When they say something that
produces a positive response, they are very likely to keep
it "on file" for further use. (An example of this is the
use of baby talk beyond an expected or acceptable age.)
Research has shown that young children acquiring language
structures and use do not require formal language
instruction to master the language they already know how to
use. In many school systems, however, teachers are expected
to rely on expensive textbooks and workbooks to "teach"
language, taking great care to follow the scope and sequence
for instruction as stated in the teacher’s manual and as
developed by the publishers of the texts.

In this text-developed curricula, children are assisted
with structures and formulas intended to develop their
languaging abilities -- "To be a good listener you have to
follow these simple rules..."; "In order to master reading
it’s important that you learn all of these sound-symbol
relationships..."; "To become a competent writer you need to
know all the grammatical structures and mechanical
conventions, plus memorize the basic spelling rules (not

forgetting those tricky exceptions such as ’i before e,

except after c’...)"; and "You must remember that every

4

story has a basic ’story grammar’ including the story’s
introduction, the body (complete with conflict, climax, and
resolution), and the conclusion. Be sure to avoid ’Once
upon a time’,’...they lived happily ever after’, and using
’THE END’ at the bottom of the page because, if it’s a good
story, we ought to know that it's the end, oughtn’t we?"

What is often not acknowledged in school is children’s
acquisition of an essentially artistic competence, the
competence to tell stories, for example. The research of
Chomsky and Brown2 provides clear evidence that children of
four and five years are equipped with a mastery of the basic
linguistic categories and processes of their native tongue,
though subtleties of vocabulary, for example, remain to be
developed. By the same token, the five-year-Old is no
newcomer to artistic performance. Basic aesthetic
capacities and responses probably begin to develop in
infancy.3 By the age of five children already reveal a
grasp on the performance persona, although the actual
performances they produce are often less than entertaining
to anyone but themselves. The ensuing years, especially the
period from five to nine years, are crucial in the
development of performance repertoires with general
entertainment value. By the age of nine the performance
persons is armed with a set of effective routines, ranging
across several genre of verbal folklore.‘ (A closer look at

how children in the fourth through eighth grade develop

5
performance techniques in their written narratives will be
explored in Chapter V of this study.)

The language "tips" students are given in school are
often frustrating, especially to younger students who are
overly concerned with getting things "right," and rarely
offer children much opportunity for language play and
language performance. Rules indicate that there is a
specific right way and a specific wrong way. An emphasis on
rules, especially early in a student’s language development,
places an extraordinary emphasis on "rightness" and often
results in the student’s unwillingness to take risks with
their reading, writing, and oral language use and denies
what they know and already use effectively.

All too quickly children are "advanced" from writing
stories (and other "creative writing") to more formal
expository writing and research papers ("to prepare them for
next year...for high school, for college"). Just as "Show
and Tell" slides out of the curriculum when children advance
into intermediate grades, "creative" writing and telling
stories becomes unacceptable or is available only as "extra
credit" or as an "elective" once students graduate from
elementary schools into middle schools or junior high
schools and then into high schools. Opportunities for
aesthetic performance, in oral as well as written language,

rarely exist beyond the very early school years.

6

Despite teachers’ efforts to assist their students with
formal language structures, children still manage to develop
informal language abilities on their own, outside the
confines of the schoolroom, and probably with little
conscious regard to the language rules and structures
they’ve so carefully been taught in school. Just how much
of this informal language use, this swapping of tales and
stories and ideas that every human being participates in,
bears any relation to what children and young people learn
in school and what they learn on their own, is probably
difficult, if not impossible, to measure. It is interesting
to consider, though, the conscious and unconscious language
choices children and young people make outside the school
setting as well as in school-developed and school-assigned
language activities.

Oral sharing of stories, chants, jokes, catch phrases,
even jump rope rhymes occurs on every school playground, in
every town, in every country. Iona and Peter Opie’s study
of the language and lore of British school children,
published in 1959, explored this informal means of
communication and found that rhymes and word play were more
than playthings to children; they seemed to be one of their
means of communication with each other. While language was
still new to many of the young children the Opies Observed

in their study, the children found relatively little

7
difficulty expressing themselves on their own and in
informal, risk-free environments.

When on their own they burst into rhyme, of no
recognizable relevancy, as a cover in unexpected
situations, to pass off an awkward meeting, to
fill a silence, to hide a deeply felt emotion, or
in a gasp of excitement. And through these quaint
ready-made formulas the ridiculousness of life is
underlined, the absurdity of the adult world and
their teachers proclaimed, danger and death
mocked, and the curiosity of language itself is
savored.5

All human beings, regardless of age, carry their own
"personal cultural baggage"6 composed of stories,
traditions, attitudes, and patterns of behavior through
life. Some of these items come from the formal structures
available in school, while others are assimilated through
contact with books, magazines, and newspapers, as well as
through radio, television, and movies. A great deal of our
"cultural baggage," however, comes to us inadvertently,
possibly (as the Opies found) even on the playground.

Jan Harold Brunvand, folklorist and author of numerous
books on the study of American folklore, particularly
American urban legends, believes that every human being
possesses a wealth of narratives, acquired unconsciously:

We are not aware of our own folklore any more than

we are of the grammatical rules of our language.

When we follow the ancient practice of informally

transmitting "lore" -- wisdom, knowledge, or

accepted modes of behavior -- by word of mouth and
customary example from person to person, we do not
concentrate on the form or content of our

folklore; instead, we simply listen to information

that others tell us and then pass it on -- more or

less accurately —- to other listeners. In this
stream of unselfconscious oral tradition the

8

information that acquires a clear story line is

called narrative folklore.... This, in broad

summary, is the typical process of legend

formation and continues to operate today.7

A similar explanation of the language learning
processes is given by another folklorist, Barre Toelken, as
he explains how joke telling is a means of discovering some
bases of our own expertise in folklore as well as our
expertise and control over the use of our language:

Anyone who has listened to jokes and has

later told them knows that, generally speaking, we

need to hear a joke only once in order to learn

it. We do not memorize jokes verbatim, nor do we

take lecture notes on them. In fact, if someone

tells a joke as if it has been memorized word for

word, it is often received badly. When we tell a

joke, we are reshaping and recomposing clusters of

ideas that we have heard expressed in a similar

context at another time.°

Tapping the basic language and lore that young peOple
have acquired through their own informal transmission of
stories and tales (and even jokes) has been explored by
several researchers, mainly those interested in the study
and collection of Childlore and folklore. This type of
research is far from new. Scholarly discussion on the
subject of folklore has been taking place for over one
hundred years. Numerous people from a wide variety of
disciplines have spent many years gathering, collecting, and
publishing stories and lore, art and artifacts, that have
been transmitted and preserved over the generations. Taking

into consideration "story" as artifact, and focusing on

children’s stories as a particular form of that artifact,

9
has been the work of Peter and Ion Opie (1959), Herbert and
Mary Knapp (1976), and Brian Sutton-Smith (1981). In
addition to these specific Childlore-based studies,
libraries contain volumes of studies including the
collections of stories transmitted by people of all ages.
Very few of these studies, however, are written by educators
in an effort to examine Childlore transmission. Even fewer
have explored the connections between Childlore and folklore
and the school classroom, including the pedagogical
implications for language learning and language development.

The work in this dissertation focuses on first-draft
scary stories written by children in the fourth through
eighth grade. In this study, I’ve examined the children’s
narrative tradition through the similarities and differences
in the scary story genre and have analyzed the language
structures (both oral and written) that these young writers
have incorporated into their stories.

Many teachers are interested in the stories young
people tell. Some are curious about the stories that
children continue to tell over the years; the stories
they’ve assimilated both in school and out of school.
Teachers are in a key position to tap that wealth of natural
storying by helping their students make connections with in-
school (often formal) language use and language learning and
the natural language (usually informal) their students bring

with them into the classroom. In the next five chapters of

10
this dissertation, I will explore the possible connections
between children’s natural story transmission and how that
reflects on the way written and oral language is "taught" in
school. I will also make connections between language use
in folklore and folk stories and language/story learning in
school; bringing together two disciplines -- that of the
folklorist and that of the English/language arts teacher --
sharing knowledge, philosophy, and methodology from both
disciplines. Numerous questions were developed at the onset
of this study and, as the study has progressed, have been
revised to focus on the most prominent areas that connect
the education and folklore disciplines. The questions that
will be addressed as this study progresses from a review of
literature pertaining to folklore and narrative study
(Chapter II), to the methodology used in this study (Chapter
III), to the presentation of six groupings of stories
collected (Chapter IV), to an analysis of narrative
structures used by the young writers (Chapter V), to
potential implications for teaching (Chapter VI), are listed
below:

1) What is the impact/influence of story transmission
through the generations on the stories that children/young
people know and tell? Is informal story transmission still
alive in 1987 and, if it is, what evidence is there of

traditional stories existing today that existed in previous

11
years? If the stories have stayed the same, how have they
done so? How have they changed over the years?

2) What do the results of this collection of
ghost/scary stories written by fourth through eighth grade
writers tell educators about the written composition
processes and products of young people at those grade
levels?

3) What does this collection and this study tell us
about children’s knowledge of narrative story form? About
how children develop narrative structures in their writing?

4) What do the written stories in this collection/study
tell us about the role of oral narratives in children’s
concept of "story"? Did traditional oral transmission need
to occur to prompt the written storying?

5) What elements of performance and staging were
noticeable in the gathering and collection of these written
stories? How much of a role does the production of the
story have on how it is written? What is the young writer’s
concept of "audience" and how is that concept expressed in
their stories?

6) What is the potential for utilizing student-written
stories as a means of teaching language skills? How do
stories, storytelling, storywriting, and even folklore fit
into an educational setting?

People involved in folklore study and folklore

materials don’t limit themselves to one way of studying

12

folklore. Members of different disciplines come to the
materials of folklore with different interests and with
different ideas of how folklore should be understood and
utilized. Because of their disciplinary focus, they develop
a collecting structure and methodology that emphasizes their
disciplinary interest. According to Alan Dundes in his
article "Ways of Studying Folklore," a literary scholar
treats folklore as literature or as source material for
literary masterworks, while an educator thinks of folklore
as part of the treasured heritage of national and ethnic
groups, used to enrich and enliven otherwise routine
curricular offerings.9

In this study, I’ve taken into account the folklore
concerns and interests of literary scholars and have also
focused in on a language arts educator’s perspective. While
literary concerns will be discussed and story origin
transmission will be explored, this study will not be
limited to a literary exploration; oral language and
composition attempts and abilities of fourth through eighth
graders will play a major role in the folklore focus of this
study. Equally important will be an acknowledgement of the
roles of the children and young people who have transmitted
and shared their scary stories in written form. These young
people, and the storying abilities and interests that have
taken place outside the traditional classroom prior to this

scary story writing, are the key to the entire study --

13
without these young writers and their fascination with
writing and telling stories in this genre, this scary story
collection would never exist.

Peter and Iona Opie have recognized children as the
critical element in the continuance of Childlore and have
celebrated that educational community as "the greatest of
tribes":

The world-wide fraternity of children is the
greatest of...tribes, and the only one which shows

no sign of dying out.... No matter how uncouth

school children may outwardly appear, they remain

tradition’s warmest friends...they are respecters,

even venerators, of custom; and in their self-
contained community their basic lore and language
seems scarcely to alter from generation to
generation.10

This salute to "the world-wide fraternity of children"
is echoed throughout this dissertation and can be heard in

all its naturalness in the 202 scary stories that appear in

Chapter IV.

FOOTNOTES - CHAPTER 1

1Knapp, Mary and Herbert Knapp. One Potato, Two
Potato...The Secret Education of American Children. (New
York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1976), pp. 8—9.

2The extensive research done by Carol Chomsky in IQ;
Acquigition Of Syntgx in Children fromgS to 10 (Cambridge,
Massachusetts: M.I.T. Press, 1969) and Roger Brown in A
Firgt Language: The Early Stages (Cambridge, Massachusetts:
Harvard University Press, 1975) confirms the language
abilities of children prior to schooling.

3Both Nicholas Jones, in his article entitled
"Categories of Child Interaction (Ethnolggjcal Studies of
Child Behavior. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Cambridge
University Press, 1972), and Brian Sutton-Smith, in an
article entitled "A Developmental Structural Account of
Riddles" (Speech Play. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
University of Pennsylvania Press, 1976), discuss how young
children use their language as forms of performance
depending on their audience and their needs.

4McDowell, John Holmes. Children’s Riddling.

(Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1979) p.
187.

5Opie, Iona and Peter Opie. The Lore and Language of
Schoolchildren. (London: Oxford University Press, 1959),
p. 18.

‘Burdick, Kim. Delaware Ghosts. (Delaware Department
of Public Instruction, 1984), p. 2.

'Brunvand, Jan Harold. The Vanishing Hitchhiker:
Americgn Urban Legends and their Megning_. (New York: W.W.
Norton & Co.), 1981, p. 1.

'Toelken, Barre. The Dynamics of Folklore. (Boston,
Massachusetts, 1979), p. 26.

’Dundes, Alan. "Ways of Studying Folklore, in Our
Living Tradition; (New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1968), p.
37.

14

CHAPTER II

DESCRIPTION OF MODELS OF RESEARCH/DEFINITION OF TERMS

There have been few studies that have focused on an
exploration of childlore/folklore and narrative structures.
Either they focus on folklore and collection or study of the
lore itself, or they focus on narrative structures in oral
or written language. Since I was interested in combining
both areas of emphasis, I had to explore the available
research that came closest to work done on children’s
narrative language structures or work done on children’s
knowledge and use of folklore tradition. Five studies
proved most helpful by offering background information on
how I might best go about setting up childlore research.
These studies will be discussed in this chapter with mention
of the particular aspects of each study I focused on in
developing my particular study methodology. Since the
compilation of scary stories involves the collection of a
type of story that has been transmitted through the
generations (qualifying scary stories as folklore material),
I found the best place to begin in setting up a methodology

was through an exploration of the procedures used by

15

16
folklorists. This information confirmed the methods I had
tentatively planned for my own research.
Folklore study consists of collecting,
classifying and interpreting in their full

cultural context the many products of everyday

human interaction that have acquired a somewhat

stable underlying form and that are passed

traditionally from person to person, group to

group, and generation to generation.... Simply

becoming aware of this modern folklore which we

all possess to some degree is a revelation in

itself, but going beyond this to compare tales,

isolate their consistent themes, and relate them

to the rest of the culture can yield insights into

the state of our current civilization.1

Folklore study has its own methodologies and involves
specific techniques. Whether titled as "folklore
researchers, "folklore scholars," or simply "folklorists,"
the same basic procedures are followed by those involved in
the field. Basically, folklore technique involves the
following steps: collecting and studying data, sorting and
classifying the collected material, and looking at it to see
how it has changed over the years, what form(s) it takes in
the present, and what it says about the people who produced
it.

The term "folklore" has two meanings. It can refer to
the actual material that’s been or is being collected, or it
can be considered the study, the work that researchers in
this field do with what they’ve collected. Folklore
material is transmitted around and around and around

(generally by oral tradition) and is often recognizable from

generation to generation and locale to locale. Although

17
many folk artifacts possess similarities, especially stories
and legends, they are by no means static but flourish
through variation, changing from teller to teller, locale to
locale, and year to year. Folklore study is the actual
nuts-and-bolts work done by researchers and scholars in the
field: collecting the variations, organizing them, and
attempting to classify and explain the forms and interpret
the needs these forms seem to fill.

Numerous books have been written dealing directly with
the study of folklore and the methods of collecting, most
notably Richard M. Dorson’s Handbook of Americgn Folklore
(1983) and Jan Harold Brunvand’s The Study of American
Folklore: An Introduction (1967 and 1978). In most, the
emphasis is placed on oral transmission as Egg valid means
of communicating folklore and maintaining its transmission
through generations.

In order to proceed with this study, I needed to review
other research -- studies concerned with stories
(specifically with the folkstories or folk narratives) of
children and young writers. This review resulted in the
five studies or collections dealing with childlore and/or
folklore that I used as study models in the development of a
research methodology for this particular study -- extracting
and adopting ideas and methodologies from each. I have
labeled each study as a specific model and have provided a

brief explanation of each. Chapter III follows these five

18
study models with an explanation of the methodology I used
in this study, explaining what has been drawn from these
five models in developing the form of collecting,
classifying, and analyzing that seemed best suited for this

study. The five study models are as follows:

The Sutton-Smith Model: Content-Oriented/Age Groupinngodel

In 1981 Brian Sutton-Smith published The Folkstories of
Children, a study comprised of stories collected from
children between the ages of two and ten years old. Sutton-
Smith didn’t consider his collecting as traditional folklore
research, however:

...not if folklore is defined as "traditional

items of knowledge that arise in recurring

performances" (Abrahams (1976, p. 195). They

might easily have been termed fantasy narratives

and in some earlier articles we have done just

that...but part of the function of this book is to

show that when given the opportunity, children are

inveterate tale tellers, and the tales they tell

have considerable similarity to traditional

folktales.2

Sutton-Smith groups his large collection of stories by
age level, dividing the verse stories of the two- to four-
year-olds and the plot stories of the five- to ten-year-
olds. In the section of his book preceding the actual
stories themselves, Sutton-Smith explains his method of
collection, analyzes the stories and speculates on their
origin, and concludes with additional speculation on the

nature of narrative for children. He sees narrative

structuring as a mental activity that develops in children

19
as either personal experience narrative (which occurs with
most frequency early in children’s lives -- ages two to
three years), or as story/fiction narrative (which occurs
with more frequency in the stories of older children).

Sutton—Smith’s major focus during his review of the

stories of children was plot analysis. Dealing with five
basic narrative elements -- preparation, complication,
development, resolution, and non-action —- Sutton-Smith

analyzed the stories in his collection from a set of ninety-
one narrative elements. As can be expected, the stories
written by older children in his study were more
proportionately distributed over these elements while the
very youngest children (the two to four-year-old group) told
stories focusing on the basic narrative elements of story
beginnings and story endings. In his study Sutton-Smith
discovered that the children’s stories were less well
structured than fairy tales, folktales, legends, and myths.
While most of the stories he collected included more modern
content, they also dealt with the same basic plot structures
and the same general concerns with fate as did the other
genres. Sutton-Smith also noticed a repetitive nature
occurring in the stories that most of the children told
indicating that children will come to tell their own stories
more readily and retell the stories of others with
confidence and interest if they are given the audience they

desire. When this occurs, their stories might become

20
folktales.3 At the point the children’s stories appeared in
Sutton-Smith’s collecting, they were termed an "embryonic
stage." Because of this, he termed them "folk stories"

rather than folktales.

Thengie Model: Childlore and Language Model

Peter and Iona Opie, two British folklorists, spent
over thirty-five years hanging around school buildings and
schoolyards involved in conversations with children as they
studied the folklore and language that school-aged children
have transmitted from generation to generation. In 1959 the
Opies published The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren, the
first of their major studies. This publication uncovered
and explored the curious lore that exists between children
aged 6514.

Their study, based on the contributions of five
thousand children attending seventy schools in part of
England, Wales, and Ireland, presents the riddles, epithets,
jokes, quips, jeers, pranks, significant calls, truce terms,
codes, superstitions, strange beliefs, and rites of the
modern schoolchild, examining and commenting on them with
fascinating, detailed historical annotations and comparative
material that suggests an extraordinary continuity of the
beliefs and customs of the tribe of children.‘

In 1969, the Opies published their second book,

Children’s Games in Street and Playground. This study,

21

based on a survey of more than ten thousand schoolchildren,
explored the simple outdoor games that six- through twelve-
year-old children play of their own accord. In both books
the Opies made a conscious effort to maintain and preserve
what they refer to as the spirit, zest, variety,
contradictions, and disorderliness of the children’s
language and activity. And, as anthropologist Edmund Leach
wrote in The Listener, the Opies emphasized a "natural
record of the child’s astonishing ’natural’ capacity for
organization and rule-making and learning and teaching."5

This natural "learning and teaching" that children seem
to provide for themselves, as well as for each other, is
evident every time they repeat the same jump rope rhymes we
used as children, every time adolescents secretly plan
another telephone prank (often quite similar to the ones we
used at our own slumber parties and sleep-overs in the
1950’s and 1960’s), every time our own children try to
frighten each other by telling scary stories while huddled
together in the basement or tucked into sleeping bags around
a campfire. These stories (with a few modifications) are
often the same ones we told and our parents told and their
parents told. There has been enough record of childlore
over the years and across the continents to confirm that
chance plays only a small role in the transmission of these
stories. Children share stories because doing so satisfies

a need for them. Bruno Bettelheim’s exploration of the

22

meaning and importance of emotions as expressed through
fairy tales offers some insights here, especially in the
area of how stories and storying represent a psychological
need to scare and be scared.6 I attribute much -- if not
most -- of this passing on of lore and language to the
natural capacity that children (and all people, for that
matter) have for sharing their knowledge as well as their
stories; learning from and teaching each other along the
way. The Opies’ careful and exhaustive research offers

evidence to support this notion.

The Knapp Model: Functiong of Childlorg Model

One Potato, Two Potato...The Secret Education of
Amgrican Children (1976), another extensive study of
childlore has been collected and described by two American
folklorists, Mary and Herbert Knapp. With a belief that
traditional childlore has never attracted the attention it
deserves, the Knapps developed a model for collecting and
interpreting children’s language, based on how the
traditional lore of children in kindergarten through the
sixth grade functions in their lives. Mary and Herbert
Knapp grouped their findings by similarities and settled on
these four categories: Games Children Play, Prestige and
Power, Coping With the Here and Now, and Coping With the
Unknown. Each category explained the function of the

childlore as well as providing a description of it.

23

The purpose of the Knapp’s study was to explore how
children use their traditional lore to cope with the
stresses in their lives and how children learn what it means
to be a member of a human society. The Knapps also explored
folk curriculum; how children’s lore has been transmitted
and distributed over generations and across all parts of the
world. A major concern expressed throughout One Potato, Two
Potato... is adults’ attempts to plan, structure, and
accomplish what children can accomplish themselves, if given
the opportunity. Whether playing games or dealing with
social problems ("like farting or having a girlfriend"), the
Knapps believe children are guided by their own folk
tradition. The stories gathered in this study offer
evidence that scary stories function in meaningful ways in

children’s lives.

The Brunvand Model: Thematic Story Claggificgtion Model
Another model reviewed for and influencing the
methodology for this dissertation is the work done by Jan
Harold Brunvand, especially the information and stories
gathered in his three books on American urban legends -- Th2

VanishingiHitchhiker, The Choking Doberman, and The Mexican

 

Pet. A legend is defined as a folk narrative that deals

with realistic incidents. Often told as "true" stories --

and often believed to be true -- legends sometimes contain

24
supernatural and bizarre elements. According to Brunvand,

urban legends:

...display the same characteristics as older

verbal folklore. They pass from person to person

by word of mouth, they are retained in group

traditions, and they are inevitably found in

different versions through time and space. If an

urban legend at first seems too recent to have

achieved the status of folklore, further study

often reveals its plot and themes to be decades or

even centuries Old. And even a new story partly

disseminated by the mass media soon becomes

folklore if it passes into oral tradition and

develops variations.7

The Vanishing Hitchhiker - American Urban Legends and
Their Megnings (1981), the first in what has now become a
series of books on urban legends, has become a landmark book
of this genre and has set up a "cottage industry" for
Brunvand. The stories appearing in The Vanishing:Hitchhiker
were legends Brunvand collected from people around the
country who responded to his interest in urban legends.
Assuming these stories represented only a small portion of
the belief tales shared in communities across the country,
Brunvand concluded The VanishingiHitchhiker with an
invitation to his readers to send in more legends, either
versions of those published in the book or new ones. His
readers responded overwhelmingly.

Hundreds of Brunvand’s readers proved they, too, had
new stories to tell, or at least variations of legends they
had read in The Vanishing Hitchhiker. Many claimed the

stories they sent to Brunvand "really did happen" -- either

they happened to them, or to a relative Of theirs, or to a

25
friend of a friend (referred to as a "foaf" by Brunvand).
The Choking Doberman and Other New Urban Legends, published
in 1984, is a collection of these legends; the compilation
of Brunvand’s mail and phone calls following his "tell me
more" invitation in The Vanishing Hitchhikgg.

Pleased with the response and assured that many more
urban legends existed, Brunvand concluded this second
collection of urban legends with an invitation for more
legends. The Mexican Pet -- More "New" Urban Legends and
_Qme Old Favorites (1986) resulted from legends heard on the
radio and seen on television, dramatized in films, read in
newspapers and books, and transmitted via the mail, the
computer, and the telephone. What has become a cottage
industry for Brunvand began simply by reading his mail,
following the media, and keeping his ears open for the
latest "true" stories that were going around, often in
several different versions.8

Each chapter in The Vanishing Hitchhikgg, as well as in
the books that followed, describes, classifies, and groups
together common urban legends, offering an explanation of
the similar legends (e.g., classic automobile legends, "The
Hook" and other teenage horrors, dreadful contaminations,
favorite media legends). Every chapter also includes the
retelling of stories and legends that support these

classifications. It is because of this collection by

26
similarities that I’ve labeled Brunvand’s work as a Thematic

Story Classification Model.

The Schwartz Model: Classifiggtion by Story Type Moggl

In a sense, Alvin Schwartz has gathered stories in a
manner similar to Brunvand’s, although Schwartz’s
collections include stories other than those considered
"urban legends." Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and M23;
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (as well as In a Dark,
Dark Room, an I-Can-Read Book) are collections of scary
stories retold by Schwartz and published with a younger
audience in mind -- much younger than the audiences
considered by the other authors/researchers I’ve selected to
use as models for this study. Schwartz’s books can be found
in local bookstores in the children’s and young adult
sections. With the exception of Brunvand, whose urban
legends are now available in paperback, the other studies
and story collections suggested in the models for study are
either out of print, must be special ordered, or are only
available in a large library such as a university library.

Alvin Schwartz is a folklorist. His collection of
stories takes note of the varied sources he used to acquire
his stories, most involving the direct transmission of story
to collector from people who aren’t professional
storytellers but are children and teenagers and adults who,

quite simply, have scary stories to tell. Alvin Schwartz is

27
also, and must be considered, a scholar. Each of his scary
story collections includes a comprehensive list of notes
tracing the various sources of the stories he has chosen to
include in his books. Schwartz also cites similarities to
other more well-known stories even acknowledging media as a
source (or a transmission agent) for some of the stories in
his collection.

In Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Schwartz has
organized 29 stories, poems, and even songs into five
chapters: "Aaaaaaaaaaah!" -- a chapter filled with "jump
stories" (stories that make the reader/listener "JUMP with
fright"); "He Heard Footsteps Coming Up the Cellar
Stairs..." -- a chapter of ghost stories; "They Eat Your
Eyes, They Eat Your Nose" -- a chapter filled with stories
about all kinds of things (graves, witches, even worms
eating a corpse); "Other Dangers" -- a chapter filled with
belief legends (stories that deal with ordinary people in
incidents that do not seem beyond the realm of possibility,
reported again and again at various locations in different
parts of the country -- what Brunvand has termed "urban
legends"); and "Aaaaaaaaaaah!" (once again) —- a chapter
including scary stories to make the reader laugh.

More Scary Storigg to Tell in the Dark offers 28
stories divided into four chapters. These chapters include:

"When She Saw Him, She Screamed and Ran" -- a chapter filled

with ghost stories; "She was Spittin’ and Yowlin’ Just Like

28
a Cat" -- a chapter of stories about all kinds of scary
things; "When I Wake Up, Everything Will Be All Right" -- a
chapter filled with stories about scary places;" and "The
Last Laugh" -- a collection of stories that are both scary
and funny.

Schwartz makes a strong case for the wide variety of
scary stories that are just waiting to be told (or heard or
read). Ghost stories are just one type of scary story.
Urban legends and belief legends are others. Tales of
witches, devils, bogeymen, zombies and vampires are others.
Monstrous creatures, frightening places, unexpected dangers,
and evil spirits lurking in the dark make good material for
other types of scary stories. There are even stories that
make the scariness laughable. As Schwartz and Brunvand
claim, and as the Opies and Knapps discovered, many of the
stories and tales are very old and are told around the
world. And many have the same origins. They are based on
things people saw or heard or experienced -- or thought they
did. They aren’t confined to collections by folklorists but
are available in the most respectable literary classics as
well as among untrained, unscholarly storytellers, story-
collectors, and story writers.

Years ago, a young prince of about five years Old
became famous for a scary story he started to tell, but did
not finish. William Shakespeare told about this young

prince, named Mamillius, in The Winter’ngale.

29
On a dark winter’s day the prince’s mother, the queen,
requested that he tell her a story.
"A sad tale’s best for winter," he said. "I have one

of sprites and goblins."

"Do your best to frighten me with your sprites," she
said. "You’re powerful at it."
"I shall tell it softly," he said. "Young crickets

shall not hear it."

And he began, "There was a man dwelt by a churchyard."
But he got no farther in the telling. That very moment the
king came in, arrested the queen, and took her away.
Mamillius never finished telling his tale that day. An soon
after, he died.9

But scary story tales didn’t die out with the death of
Mamillius. They still exist in the lives of all of us, from
the very young to the young at heart. Telling scary stories
is something people have done for thousands Of years and,
most likely, will continue to do for all eternity. Why we
tell them, how we tell them, and the different kinds of
stories we tell are a major concern in this dissertation.
Chapter III will explain how the scary stories were
collected and how those concerns are explored and addressed

in this study.

FOOTNOTES -- CHAPTER II

1Brunvand, Jan Harold. The VanishingAHitchhiker:

American Urbgn Legends and Their Meaning_. (New York: W.W.
Norton & CO., 1981), p. 2.

2Sutton-Smith, Brian. The Folkstories of Children.
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania
Press, 1981), p. 1.

3Ibid, p. 2.

‘Cott, Jonathan. "Profiles (Iona and Peter Opie):

Finding Out is Better." The New Yorker, April 4, 1983, p.
47.

51bid., p. 54.

6Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment. (New
York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1976), pp. 10, 15, 133, 280-282.

7Brunvand, Jan Harold. The Choking Doberman and Other
"New" Urban Legends. (New York: W.W. Norton & CO., 1984),
p. X.

aBrunvand, Jan Harold. The Mexican Pet: More "New"
Legends and Some Old Favoriteg. (New York: W.W. Norton &
Co., 1986), p. 10.

9Shakespeare, William. The Works of Williag
Shakespeare. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1938).

30

CHAPTER III

EXPLANATION OF RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

I have always been a believer in "special effects" or,
at least, in the most conducive atmosphere for telling scary
stories. The best time seems to be at night, in the dark
and the gloom, with the rain pelting against the windows and
beating on the roof (if you’re indoors), or with wind
rustling leaves and rattling branches (if you’re outdoors),
or even huddled together near the dying embers of a once-
roaring campfire when it seems, oh, so quiet...a deathly
quiet...a spine-tingling, bone-chilling quiet...a quiet that
seems to dare us to even begin telling a scary story, much
less to breathe.

It’s those times, with full-blown horror story
atmosphere, when I’d expect the richest, most imaginative,
fearfully frightening stories to be told. Lacking most
(all?) of those atmospheric possibilities, I set out on an
expedition of gathering. Not in the woods, or along a
trail, or among an adolescent slumber(less) party community.
My scary story gathering was confined to the classroom. The
public school classroom, in broad daylight, on Tuesdays and
Thursdays for a few months. The setting, according to my

31

32

own criteria (and to the criteria recommended by the Knapps
and the Opies), was all wrong, but I had little choice. I
had kids, classrooms, and teacher-volunteers willing to give
me some time. Could I get them to use that time to tell
scary stories? Could they write them in a schoolroom
atmosphere. Would they write considering the circumstances
were not ideal? Would they see this as "just another
writing assignment" or could they capture some of that scary
story atmosphere, just enough to transport them out of their
classrooms and into the woods, or their best friend’s
basement, or around a campfire, or snuggled tightly into
their very own sleeping bags? Could they, would they, write
scary stories? An, if they did, what kinds of stories would
they write? Would the stories vary from grade level to
grade level? Would any of their stories reflect stories
they’d read or heard or even seen on television or at a
movie theater? But first, and foremost, would they write?

These questions, and an interest in the storytelling
abilities of school—aged children and adolescents, led to
the development of this study. Ghost/scary stories were
selected as the specific type of story I’d have the
children/adolescents tell because I had a suspicion that all
kids had some experience with scary stories (either through
telling, hearing, or seeing them). Scary stories are a part
of most of our lives. We own them, as well as the sense of

fear that accompanies them, from early childhood on. The

33
sound and the silences, the anticipation, the dread, the
horror, and even the sense of relief that often results at

the end of the telling, have become part of our scary story

education -— an education that takes place outside of the
classroom.
Being scared -- but not really -- is a feeling that

children love. And the love of scary stories extends across
the ages. Early childlore is full of semi-serious spooky
stories and ghastly threats, while the more sophisticated
humor of Bloody Mary stories and Dead Babies stories and
other cycles of sick, the-grosser-the-better stories enters
a bit later. Among favorite readings at school are Edgar
Allan Poe’s blood-soaked tales and favorite stories at
summer camp tell of maniacal ax-murderers and deformed
giants lurking in the dark woods to ambush unwary campers.
Halloween spook houses and Hollywood horror films cater to
the same wish to push the level of fright as far as
possible.

Beyond a fascination with fear, scary stories seem to
serve some practical reasons for children. For some,
flirting with fear is a way of learning to control it, a way
of learning to empathize with others who are frightened, and
a way of embellishing one’s own life with a little dramatic
fiction. Some children like to hear and tell "cautionary

O

tales,’ modern fairy tales in scary story wrapping --

tales that remind little girls to lock up the house tight,

34
those that warn of the perils of parking in lovers’ lane,
and those that remind babysitters of the threats to their
responsibility for someone else’s children, offer
contemporary lessons in a world where morals are still an
integral part of growing up. There is no one single reason
why many people like to hear or tell scary stories, but the
long tradition of the story genre proves its lasting
fascination.

With these ideas in mind, I set out on a series of
school visits collecting children’s scary stories. The
story gathering started in January 1985, in a kindergarten
classroom at Pinecrest Elementary School in the East Lansing
School District (in East Lansing, Michigan). I spent a
total of approximately eight hours over four Thursday
mornings listening to, tape recording, and writing down
scary stories told to me by five-, six-, and seven-year-old
kindergarten children. The first two visits included small
group storying (small groups consisted of two or three
children plus myself) with all stories shared orally and
recorded on a tape recorder. The children took turns, some
more eager, more willing, to share than others -- some
spending most of the time fascinated with the tape recorder
("Can I hear myself again?"), others probably still
scratching their heads wondering which of their "special
teachers" I was. On the last two Thursday mornings, I

changed the form of story gathering and met with only one

35

child at a time. This seemed to provide more feedback, more
stories, less apprehension to share a story in front of
their classmates, and more acceptance by the children toward
me, the project and, of course, the silver tape recorder!

Almost every kindergarten child I spoke with (ten
total) managed to share at least one scary story with the
story types ranging from real life experiences, to
retellings of movies, to Halloween—candy-razorblade-warning
stories, to created-on-the-spot tales, to yegy modified
versions of somewhat familiar stories, to one young fellow

who even sang a few of his stories (ironically this was the

only child who wanted to write -- pen and paper stuff -- a
story out on paper). This child had no trouble coming up
with stories -— he wrote, he sang, he told his stories, and

he displayed various storying presentation forms while
confidently trying out his Options. Even more ironically,
this young fellow is currently being tested as an
emotionally disturbed child, one who can’t handle the
structure of the classroom, one who creates problems, and
one who is chronologically older than the rest of his
classmates but "isn’t capable of doing the work." It was
this youngster who told the most stories, who had a lively,
animated storytelling style, and who took risks by both
singing and writing ("Kindergarten children can’t write
yet," his teacher told me) his stories. The kindergarten

classroom he was in exhibited a structure that did not offer

36
him many opportunities for informal oral language
exploration. Whatever the reasons for that, he thrived on
this opportunity to tell his stories, and he certainly had
many to tell.

The second story sampling took place in February 1985,
in a second grade classroom at Cornell Elementary School in
the Okemos School District (in Okemos, Michigan), during a
two-hour period of time spent with the entire class. The
story sampling procedure used with this class was quite
different from that used in the kindergarten classroom.
Since I had a two-hour period of time and an entire
classroom full of children to whom writing was part Of their
daily classroom work, the sampling didn’t require as much
individual prompting. These children had seen me during
brief observations in their class in the fall, so many were
familiar with who I was and trusted the writing activity we
would do together.

We began by generating a list of ideas about what kinds
Of things they could find in scary stories. Their ideas
ranged from spiders to haunted houses to bats to Count
Dracula. When we had nearly three-fourths of the chalkboard
covered with ideas, we stopped, switched gears, and played a
record ("Scared and Not Scared" from the Dick and Jed Lourie
album entitled Small Voice, Big Voice). After listening and
singing, we returned to our idea list and added more scary

story ideas gleaned from the record. Clean, unlined paper

37

was distributed and the second graders were given
instructions to draw a picture of a scary scene using any of
the ideas that came to mind from our list-making and our
discussion of the types of things that could be in a scary
story. After their colorful and detailed drawings, they
were asked to write the story that was represented in their
pictures. Once again, they were encouraged to refer to the
list on the board for ideas, and were also urged to use
their illustrations to provide the essence of their stories.
When I left Cornell School at lunchtime, the scary story
writing was in varying stages of progress. A few weeks
after my visit, I was presented with a copy of Sgggy
Thimgs...I’m Not Scared, a "bound" anthology of the
collected scary stories and illustrations created on the day
of my visit.

This scary story sampling needed little prompting.
Even the young children knew what things they feared, what
things made them shiver or squirm or keep the light on in
the hallway when they tried to sleep. The keeping—the-
light—on-as-a-safety-measure feelings are shared by older
kids, too. The next series of classroom visits Offered
proof of that.

In March 1985, the scary story collecting moved outside
the general Lansing area into rural agricultural
communities. Maple Valley Junior/Senior High School (in

Vermontville, Michigan) and Dansville High School (in

38
Dansville, Michigan) provided eight hours of classroom time
for story collecting -- stories told (written) by seventh,
tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders and a few teachers.
Each class started in a manner similar to the second grade
pre-storying. The questions, "Can you remember what scared
you as a child? What kinds of things make people,
especially kids, afraid?" were asked, and students’ ideas
and answers were listed on the chalkboard. After those
lists seemed to get the ideas flowing, a list was then
generated that included the types of places people tend to
hear (or tell) scary stories and what kinds of people seemed
most likely to do the telling.

The older students’ lists included sixth grade camp,
slumber parties, basements, and movie theaters as some of
the places most conducive for scary story transmission and
camp counselors, baby sitters, older siblings, and friends
as those who earned master scary story telling honors.

These three chalkboard categories developed long lists
of ideas and many verbal anecdotes from the students about
times when they had been frightened by a scary story.
During the idea generating, some of the students began re-
telling beginnings of scary stories they knew. This was the
point when the approach was changed. Varying from the
strategy used with the elementary-aged children, it was now
time to turn to some actual storytelling. The stories I

told varied from class to class (with the exception of a

39
retelling of "The Hook" -- Vermontville and Dansville style,
naturally!), taking into account the direction of each class
discussion, the class ideas listed on the board, and the
students’ interests. I told "The Mayonnaise Jar" as a gee-
that’s-gross story and "The Coffin" as an exaggerated story
to provide examples of the wide variety of scary stories
available for writing. (See Appendix for abbreviated
retellings of these three stories.) Time was also spent in
informal sharing prior to writing -- a few more personal
tales of true-to—life scary incidents and bits of remembered
sixth grade camp experiences were told -- although never
complete stories because I only wanted them to get
started...using the oral storying as a "teaser’ for written
stories. And that became the next step. Everyone then
wrote -- including the kids who sat back at the beginning of

the class hour daring me to involve them, to entertain them,

to teach them anything. Even the so-called non-readers and
non-writers. Even the teachers whose classrooms I
"borrowed." Even me.

When I left Maple Valley Junior/Senior High School and
Dansville High School, I had a collection of well over 200
stories, all first-draft pieces of writing ranging from
retellings of familiar scary stories, to scary poems (some
humorous, some dead serious), to retellings of frightening
experiences from their own lives. I now had a healthy

collection of 256 first-draft, scary stories from

4O
kindergarteners, second, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth,
eleventh, and twelfth grade storytellers. What was lacking
were the stories from children in the middle grades,
specifically the upper elementary ages.

In May 1985, I visited a classroom Of fourth graders at
Wilkshire Elementary School (in Haslett, Michigan) and,
using a procedure similar to the one used in the
junior/senior high classrooms, I gathered almost twenty-
seven more first-draft scare stories. As before, every
child responded with a written story, some with more than
one. When I left the school before lunch time, the students
could be heard telling each other even more scary stories.

Nearly one full year passed before my collecting
resumed. My next scary story collecting took place in the
Grand Ledge School District at Delta Center Elementary
School (in Grand Ledge, Michigan), located in a community
immediately west of downtown Lansing. I spent two days in
April 1986, in three classrooms, making lists with fifth
graders of "things that make people frightened," "good

places to tell scary stories,‘ and "who qualifies as top-
notch scary storytellers." The procedure was changed from
the past, mostly due to the limited time (forty-five
minutes) in each classroom. Once the lists were generated
on the chalkboard, the students went immediately to the

writing. No stories were shared orally, although a few

minutes were spent discussing the names of some scary

41
stories many of the children were familiar with. The
students volunteered a few titles of their own, and many
seemed eager to tell a scary story, but, with the time
constrain, we didn’t pursue any complete telling.

I changed my methodology in one other way, also. Prior
to their writing, I suggested four possible categories of
scary stories and invited the students to write a scary
story that would fit one of the categories. Then I asked
the young writers to write that story category in the upper
corner of their paper. These four categories were derived
from the natural categories patterned in the stories I’d
gathered the year before: Real Scary Stories (stories that
happened to you or to someone you know); Original Scary
Stories (stories that you made up); Retellings of Scary
Stories (writing the story as you best remember it told to
you); and Combinations of Any Category (the "combination"
category was suggested by some of the high school students
who feel their stories weren’t totally original but were
partially fiction and partially taken from a real incident).

The same procedure was used again in second and fourth
grade classrooms at Delta Center Elementary School in
October 1986. The second graders referred to their stories
as "Stories That Make Us Shiver" and were requested to
illustrate their story either before or after they wrote.

The fourth graders wrote without illustrations, with the

42
exception of a few students who decided on their own to
illustrate their story after or during their writing.

One additional classroom visit took place the first
week of March 1987, in a seventh grade classroom at Hannah
Middle School in the East Lansing School District (in East
Lansing, Michigan). This particular class visitation was
arranged by invitation. The students had heard about my
interest in collecting children’s scary stories and,
believing they had many stories they could tell, had their
English teacher invite me to their class. Once again, the
same procedure for story collecting was used. In this
class, the students were pressed for time since their class
period was only thirty-seven minutes long. These students
requested being able to finish their stories at home that
evening and return them the next day. Even though they had
additional time to write and were asked to bring in only
their first-draft stories, some of these students expressed
concern that I would see their stories with spelling errors
and illegible penmanship. This was the only group of
students who seemed hindered by the desire to turn in
something less than a "perfect" story. In part, this
concern seemed to be founded in the writing behaviors
expected of them by their teachers at that school and by an
emphasis on final product. During the almost forty minutes
in that classroom, students were interrupted by their

teacher bringing them a thesaurus, reminding them to skip

43

every other line while they wrote, and chatting with them in
general about their writing, their ideas, and their
vocabulary the entire time they had to write. This was the
only classroom in the story sampling visits where the
teacher played such an active role while the students were
writing. In most of the other classrooms, the teachers
participated by writing scary stories, too. This teacher
did not. Whether the other teachers shared their stories
with their classes following my visit is unknown.

At this point, my scary story sample had grown to over
400 first-drafts of written scary stories. The next step
involved re-reading all the stories and then grouping them
into categories: original stories, retellings, true
stories, and combination tales. This categorizing was
assisted by the category labels placed on their stories by
the writers themselves. Prior to my story gathering at
Delta Center School, I’d asked the writers to label their
stories immediately after writing. (The kindergarten and
second grade stories were categorized with some guessing
since that information had not been requested from the
storytellers during the time of their storying. Many of the
kindergarten stories were combinations of bits of the truth,
and fiction, and influences from retellings, especially from
movies, cartoons, and fairy tales. The second grade stories

seemed heavily influenced by their illustrations but were

44
still creations affected by some reality, some retelling,
and combinations of fact and fiction).

What stood out most during the reading and re-reading
of all the stories were the commonalities, the similarities,
and the general patterns the stories shared regardless of
the age or sex of the story teller. During the two-year
period of this story collecting, I spent time not only
gathering stories written by local children but reading
scary story collections and folklore studies from both the
United States and Great Britain. Most of these studies and
collections have also noted the similarities found in the
scary story genre. The vast number of similarities is
fascinating and also remarkable since many of the stories in
these collections have spanned not only great distances but
many years. Peter Opie, whose collection of children’s lore
and stories was mentioned in Chapter Two, felt that in his
over thirty—five years of collecting, "It’s the similarities
that are extraordinary...."1 Jan Harold Brunvand, whose
studies are also noted in Chapter Two, also devoted much of
his collection of urban legends to re-occurring themes and
consistencies available in these legends, and he noted that
tradition is the key that links together this genre.3 Alvin
Schwartz categorized his story collection by dividing the
scary stories into related types. Obviously, the logical
choice for grouping the stories collected in this study was

by story similarities.

45

This dissertation follows the same traditional folklore
study methodology of collecting, classifying, and
interpreting that was used by the Opies, the Knapps,
Brunvand, and Schwartz. The collected scary story samples
were then grouped into story types as Schwartz suggested.
At this point, the dissertation will rely on some of the
methodology used by Sutton-Smith (in addition to the
research done by others who have explored children’s and
adolescents’ use of language in written narratives). The
first drafts of the scary stories in this extensive sample
were grouped and examined for information they seem to tell
about the choices (conscious and unconscious) young writers
make when they commit a known story type onto a piece of
paper. This information is presented in Chapter IV.

Grouping 421 stories and examining and comparing the
language choices of story writers from kindergarten through
twelfth grade is a task deserving enormous effort, as well
as years and years of time. Because of the immensity of
that task, this study has been narrowed to focus on the
scary stories of fourth through eighth grade writers. The
decision to explore these particular grade levels arose from
knowledge that these grades include writers in an elementary
school as well as a junior high/middle school. The writers’
ages are close enough to examine even the subtle changes and
differences in the choices made in their written stories as

they mature in age and ability.

46

The methodology used in the scary story sampling for
this study and the analysis of story groupings gleans ideas
and methodologies from the five models discussed in Chapter
Two. Similar to the Sutton-Smith Model is the exploration
of story similarities and differences across the age/grade
levels. It was impossible to use the Opie Model’s
methodology of gathering children’s language in a natural
setting since requesting written stories in a schoolroom
atmosphere does not qualify as a "natural" setting in the
same terms as the Opies’ would find. Ideally, the stories
should have been collected in natural situations with the
last possible interference from the collector.3 For a study
collecting the written scary stories of schoolchildren, this
form of collecting is not only impractical, it is also
impossible. There is no way an adult collector can become
part of the community of storytellers that most young people
establish when they choose to tell scary stories. An adult,
even a trusted adult, is not and never will be a member of
an adolescent slumber party community or a camp-cabin-after-
lights-out community, and probably never will be included in
the actual experience of natural telling that goes on in
these environments.

This particular study, however, gathers written
stories, not the oral stories that would be collected in a
traditional folklore-gathering situation. Most often, when

storytellers "tell" scary stories, rather than "write" them,

47
they do so spontaneously. The act of writing sets up all
kinds of potential problems that interfere with spontaneity
-- problems that will be discussed at a later point in the
study. The only means of creating as much freedom for
natural writing as possible during the classroom visits in
this study was to create what Brunvand terms an "induced
natural context",‘ creating an atmosphere in the classroom
where tellers feel the situation is not threatening and
where they are subtly urged to tell the stories they know.
While Brunvand believes teachers have an especially good
opportunity to hear and collect tales and legends -- "if
they can gain the confidence of their students to talk about
such ’non-educational’ matters"s -- the Knapps are doubtful.
They see the school acting as a strong force against the
perpetuation of tradition.6 Nevertheless, I established the
only possible type of situation available under the
circumstances and proceeded with my study.

Taking the advice of Iona and Peter Opie, I recorded
information and stories of one particular story type -— in
this case the story type termed "the scary story" -- and
have provided some focus for the re-tellings of student
stories based on that story type. From the Knapp Model I
explored the functions for the scary story genre in the
lives of young people and have made connections with story
function and implications for educators (Chapter VI), and

from the Brunvand and Schwartz Models I have classified the

48
scary stories according to themes or story types (Chapter
IV). The major difference from the models I have explained
and drawn from and the model used in this study to compare,
contrast, and discuss the stories, will be the close look at
similarities and differences in this story type, the choices
young writers seem to make when they put onto paper stories
that are most often shared orally (what is termed oral
narrative style when it is discussed in Chapter V), and the
implications there are for teaching based on this type of
study combining folklore technique and traditional
story/tale/legend form with written composition. Most Of
the models used in this study, as well as other models and
research studied, are not education-related in the sense
that they do not draw conclusions or offer extensions for
classroom teachers and curriculum and language learning.
This particular study is unique because it does make some
connections with folklore/childlore and language teaching.
To understand how storying, especially scary storying, has a
place in the school curricula, an exploration of what young
people know about story form and language use is necessary.
Chapters IV and V demonstrate that through the actual

stories and language of children.

FOOTNOTES -- CHAPTER III

1Cott, Jonathon. "Profiles (Iona and Peter Opie):
Finding Out is Better." The New Yorker, April 4, 1983,
p. 53.

2Brunvand, Jan Harold. The Vanighing Hitchhiker:
Americgn Urbmn Legends and Their Meaning_. (New York: W.W.
Norton & Co., 1981), p. 3.

3Brunvand, Jan Harold. The Choking Doberman and Other
"New" Urban Legends. (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1984),
p. 198.

41bid., p. 198.

5Ibid., p. 201.

oKnapp, Mary and Herbert Knapp. One Potato, Two

Potato...The Secret Educgtion of American Children. (New
York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1976), p. 8.

49

CHAPTER FOUR

PRESENTATION AND ORGANIZATION OF STORIES

I have divided the many types of scary stories that
were told (written) again and again throughout the story
gathering into seven groups. These groups, labelled
"Attack" Stories, "Haunted Houses, Haunted Places" Stories,
"Scary Noises" Stories, "Being Followed" Stories,
"Babysitter" Stories, "The Doll" Stories and "Those That
Defy Classification" Stories, were formed by the numerous
stories that had similar features. Natural groupings formed
during my re-readings as stories echoed similarities of
plot, setting, conflict, even characterization. While there
were other story groupings based on similarities, these
seven seemed most prominent by sheer story numbers. For
every "I felt like their were eyes following me" story I
received, there were three or four "This thing jumped out
and got them" stories. And while the "Babysitter" story
category ranked as one of the most popular with the high
school students, the number of "Babysitter" stories
collected by the fourth through eighth graders dropped
remarkably; yet there were enough to warrant a category of
its own. With the younger writers, these seemed to have

50

51
been replaced by stories where the main character was
home...all alone...at night (naturally), or was accompanied
by a friend or two. But, unlike the babysitters, the
characters in the fourth through eighth grade stories rarely
were in positions of authority.

The following 202 stories are listed in these seven
groupings in an effort to examine how scary stories retain
similar characteristics from storyteller to storyteller,
regardless of age, sex, or storytelling location, and also
to show how each storyteller alters his or her telling. I
have made no effort to edit the stories; they have only been
re-typed and appear exactly as they were submitted —- most
in rough draft form since I was most interested in observing
the writers’ first draft, unedited efforts.

This collection of scary stories is presented in the
same style that Jack and Olivia Solomon use in Ghosts and
Goosebumps (1981), their collection of Alabama folktales.
There has been no attempt to make corrections in grammar,
spelling, or sentence structure. I wholeheartedly agree
with the Solomon’s claim that, "to regularize grammar or
spelling [in folklore anthologies] is a contradiction in
terms; to alter another’s manuscript is dishonest."1 And so
these scary stories, written by fourth through eighth grade
story writers/storytellers, appear as the stories appeared
in the Solomons’ study. Some may be awkward, clumsy,

incomplete; others may be begged, borrowed, or even stolen

52

from stories familiar to the reader; but most vibrate with
the energy of the teller and of the folk who’s doing the
telling. As the Solomons claim, all are worthy of
attention: "Although a community usually produces only one
or two naturally gifted story tellers, every man, woman, and
child has some tale to tell."2

Each story has been preceded with the title as given by
the young story writer. In the cases where the students did
not provide a title for their story, I have listed the story
as "untitled." Following the story title is the story
acquisition categorization. The first category listed
(either True, Original, Re—telling, or Combination) is the
category I have used to compile the exact numbers and types
of stories that were written. The second category
(appearing in quotation marks) is the exact category wording
the individual students wrote at the top of their stories.
In some cases, the stories were listed by the young writers
as "original" when there is clear evidence to support the
story’s origin from another source. In these situations,
the two categories listed next to the story title appear to
be in conflict. This provides an interesting sense of where

young writers perceive their stories come from.

53
STORY GROUPINGS
"Attack" Stories

Fears of escaped convicts, mad killers on the loose,
and crazy people out for revenge appeared again and again in
stories from all grade levels. Out of the 202 stories
collected from fourth through eighth graders, the 72 stories
included in the "Attack" Stories category represent the
largest grouping of stories in the study. Of these 72
stories, 26 were written by fourth graders, 26 by fifth
graders, 19 by seventh graders, and 1 by an eighth grader.
Thirty—eight "Attack" Stories were written by males, 29 by
females, and 5 stories included no name.

While the common, traditional tales and urban legends
involving the perils of parking in Lover’s Lane (stories
such as "The Hook") didn’t appear at all among the stories
collected from fourth through eighth grade, versions of this
story appeared frequently among the high school story
writers. With storywriters at the younger ages, when dating
has not begun, things that attack occurred in locations
other than Lover’s Lanes, and the attackers were not
necessarily escaped convicts with a hook where their hand
used to be. Some of the stories collected, however, did
accuse convicts or escapees of attacking. These stories
range from the simple, stereotypical escaped convict attack

to more elaborate tales; tales including the name of the

 

 

54
jail, the name of the attacker, even the repetition of a

chant sung about the attacker on the radio.

untitled (Combination -- "True and Re—telling")

There was this man and he had escaped from some
place I’m not to shur were. but anyway he had
killed this girl and cutter her up and hung her.

Leari - 7th grade

untitled [Combination - "Original and true"]

Monday afternoon John Dow escapes from Eaton
county jail. There were cop cars everywhere that
day. Monday night, Know Body is home, but me and
then Someone Knocks on the back door Knock’s soft
then a little harder, harder, finally I went In to
my room and get the 12 gauge out of my closet and
then loaded it, went over to the door and pulled
the curtain away, and it turned out to be the guy
that works for my dad in the shop.

Craig - 7th grade

"Convict Through the Night" [Combination -— "Original and
True"]

When a convict is by your house hiding in a bush
waiting to strike at you at the right moment. You
are all alone at night. And you hear rustle.
Then you hear a creepy sound of a door opening.
Your hiding in a blanket. Then you hear a
tipping-toes on the stairs. Then your still
hiding and shaking for a moment. And then you
hear a noise. You are shaking.

We gotcha

Renee - 7th grade

Untitled [Combination -- "Combination true original"]

Mr. Arson was sitting around the fire listening to
the radio while the four boys Jerry, Tom, Pete and
Mike were out for a boat ride. Then an important

bulletin was being shouted over the radio about a

Prisoner from the county jail escaping and was

55

near the lake where Mr. Arson and the boys were.
Mr. Arson quickly ran down to the lake to see if
the boys were okay. When he got down there it was

too late. Jerry, Tom, and Mike were standing on
the beach as they watched the prisoner row Pete
away. The two of them were never found.

Liz - 7th grade

Untitled [No category given]

One day a dark stormy midnight a person broke in
to the house next door he stole alot of stuff.
about 2 miles from the house a automatic magnum
went of if the bag a shor him 3 times in the back
the police saw a scary figuer on the street two
cops investaged it was the man who had broke in
and suddenly the same pistol went off sending 4
bulles into each cop in the head suddenly a figuer
that liked just like the man that had broke in but
you could see right threw him before the other
policeman were able to escape that had each
recever 4 bullets and ever sins then any one that
had seen the decay body had reciven 4 bullets from
a figuer that looked just like the one on the
road, but you could see right threw it and that is
not the end

Aaron - 5th grade

untitled [Original -- "original"]

One night one hundred years ago today, a gang of
murderes escaped from a jail and were armed and
dangerous. The town depudes whent after them.

The depudes shot five of ’em so there were five
were left. They escaped into the woods. They’re
leader had an iron claw for a hand. They weere
never seen again. Fifty years later two of them,
the leader and his best man the only ones that
survived were killing agian. The depudes chased
them into the woods agin. SO they sent a serch
party two kill them. They set camp up in the
middle of the woods. The search party was hearing
strange noises, so the drew their guns but before
they could turn around he was sliceing them in
half his partenr had been killed. The leader took
his claw and slided the remaning parts into pieces
that were no biger than a inch long. He ate the

 

56

pieces of the men that he could find. They finely
shot him to death.
The End.

Aaron - 4th grade

untitled [Combination -- "retelling & original"]

Lora was a humble girl that didn’t really
have many friends. Because her mother had died 10
years ago she mostly kept to herself. The scrawny
girl lived in a small but beautiful house with her
caring grandmother.

It was Christmas break and Lora sat in her
little attic bedroom, looking out the dusty
window. Today was the day before Christmas. It
was also the day that Lora’s grandmother said she
would tell Lora what had happened to her mother.
Lora’s mother had mysteriously died exactly 10
years ago today. Lora’s grandmother didn’t want
to tell her about her mother’s death. Lora could
tell that. But her grandmother knew that Lora
must know.

"Lora," her grandmother called, "Please come
down her."

Lora rushed down the squeaking steps and sat down in an
old oak chair across from her grandmother.

"Your mother," her grandmother started in
slowly, "was murdered. You weren’t even two when
it happened. The person that killed your mother
was call the insane man. Well, thats what he was,
crazy. The police finally caught him, but he
didn’t get the chair. They said he was mentally
insaine and put him in an institution."

Lora looked at her grandmother. Lora already knew
that story, but what was the mystery? "I suppose you
knew that," her grandmother started again, "but what
you don’t know is that your mother died for you."

Lora stared into space. She had never heard
this story before. Lora listened some more as her
grandmother started talking again.

"The Insane man loved to kill little babies
and he came here one night. Your mother heard a
prowler in your room and went in there. The
Insane Man was standing over your crib holding a
knife over you. When your mother screamed at him,
he turned around and stabed her. He ran out of
the house but the police eventually caught him

Lora got up quietly and went upstairs. She
plopped on her bed and turned her old radio.

57

"Darn! The news is on!" she said listening to the
stupid guy on her radio talking about some Iran arms
deal. Then a very interesting but quite frightening

new buletin came on.

"The Insane Man has just broken out of the
county insane . Be on the look-out for him.
He says he’s not going to let any of the families
that he killed a member of forget what happened.
He was last seen driving a black porche."

"Maybe I shouldn’t have listened to the
radio." Lora said to herself. "Maybe I shouldn’t
have even let my grandmother tell me all this."

But if she hadn’t known, she wouldn’t have
known what to do that night.

Lora tossed & turned in bed that night. She
could see a full moon staring from the window down
on her. The clouds floated limply in the dark
lifeless sky, but didn’t cover the harsh moon.
the moon was like an eye staring at her, intently.
Lora listened but only heard a light sound
probably the wind. But was it really the wind?

It sounded like the wind was calling her name.
Wait! The noise was coming from inside! It
couldn’t have been the wind!

Lora slipped quietly out from under the old
quilt that was on her bed, and walked across the
frigid, attic floor. She turned the old metal
door knob & slowly opened the creeky door.

As she walked down the crooked stairs to the
second story & passed her grandmother’s bedroom door,
she thought about what she was doing. He was down
there. The Insane Man. He was coming to get her and
she had to do what she had to do.

She reached the living room and looked at the
Christmas tree. Although it was dark in the room,
the moon showed the outline Of the sweet smelling
pine. Suddenly a small candle in the corner lit
up! She still could see nobody, but she knew
someone was there! She would have run away if she
didn’t know about her mother.

Then the room suddenly filled up with bright
colors! Someone had turned the Christmas tree
lights on! She turned to the Christmas tree &
looked at her favorate ornament. It was hanging
near the top of the tree and all the lights were
shining on its silver outline. It had been her
mother’s until the day before she died. She had
wanted Lora to have it.

Suddenly the tree started shaking! Someone
was behind it! Lora watched in horror as her
favorate ornament fell to the hard, wood floor and
shattered into big slivers and little crystals.

58

A man emerged from behind the tree. She
remembered him from earlier that day. He had a
crooked face and the look in his eye wasn’t good.

"Out of all the families that lost someone because
of you, why did you pick us first? Lora asked the
Insane Man.

"I wanted you to be with your mother," He
answered her, "In Hell!"

"Why don’t you think she went to heaven?"

"Because she killed her father. Not
knowingly But she killed him. You see, your
mother got pregnant with you when she wasn’t
married. It was such a shock to you grandfather,
that he had a heart attack."

You can’t blame that on her! And that gives
you no right to come back here & hurt this family
again! Who do you think you are anyway?! Lora
screamed at the man who had killed her mother.

"I," the Insane man started again, "am you father.
And We come to kill you."
"You can’t kill me! You won’t!: Lora said as

she reached for the star at the top of the
Christmas tree.

Lora yanked the star by its pointy tip and charged
at the evil figure. It just couldn’t be her father!

Everything was quiet. Now the tables were turned.
The Insane Man was weaponless.

"You’ll go to Hell!" He screamed at Lora.

"At least I’ll be with my mother!" Lora said
as she charged at her father with the pointed end
of the star heading for his heart.

Lora didn’t notice the rug that her feet were
heading for. Suddenly, her feet slipped out from
under her! She felt pain in her chest. It felt as
though someone had cut her chest open. She
listeded to the sileince and only heard a door
squeal shut. Lora tried to scream but she went
black.

"My Poor baby" Lora’s grandmother cryed to
the police, "She was my only love left! How did
it happen.

"Obviously,' the policeman started in, "She
was taking the star from the top of the tree &
lost her balance when she sliped on the rug here.
Your granddaughter must have knocked the tree
because theres a crushed ornament here. That’s
how she died. A piece of the ornament went right
through the heart."

"The Insane man must have come!" Lora’s
grandmother started in again. "This couldn’t have
happened on it’s own!"

7

59

What her grandmother didn’t know was that it
was an accident. Lora’s mother died for her and
she died for her mother. But what happened to the
Insane Man?

Lizzy - 7th grade

The next three "Attack" stories include the terror of a
character named Freddy Kruger -— the name and the
viciousness of action apparently "borrowed" from the horror
movie titled, "Nightmare on Elm Street" (1984). In this
movie an escaped convict, also named Freddy Kruger, strikes
terror into neighborhoods. It is interesting to note how
each young storywriter chose to represent this character in

their stories.

untitled [Re-telling —- "true"]

We just got threw watching Night Mare on Elm
street. it was 12:00 I had to go to bed I finly
fell asleep. At 12:30 I woke up my bed was
shaking.

I got up looked under my bed my pet turtle
slowly walked out I Let out a scream I ran
downstairs where my mom and dad were. Well where
they were suppose to be I ran up stairs I could’nt
find them.

The phone rang I answered it no one was there just
as I hung up I heard the word help coming from the
phone then I heard a screem I hung up fast I ran to my
bed room then the radio turned on it started to sing
l-2 fredy’s comming for you
3-4 better shut your door
5-6 grab your crusifix
7-8 gonna stay up late
9-10 Never sleep again

I fell a sleep

Emy - 5th grade

60
"The Nightmare" [no category given]

One hot summer A gril was sleeping she was
having a night mare about a weard man he was in
the newspapers yesterday the guy was singing and
it was like this 1, 2 fredds coming for you 3,4
you better shut your door 5, 6 you better get your
cruesafix 7, 8 youbetter stay up late 9, 10 I
going get you anet and the grils name was anet so
she was scared she got out of bed you could hear
this weard voice saying 1,2 fredys coming for you
3,4 you better shut your dorr 5, 6 get your
cruesafix 7, 8 you better stay up late 9, 10 I
going to get you anet

She ran back in to her room she shut the door
and lock it radel, radel the door handle was
moving back and fourth he started bracking the
door fredey she called don’t get me please don’t
kill me (he was coming closer he had knives on his
fingers) he stuk the knifes into her and pulled
out her heart blood was squting evrey where she
was not dead yet horns stared coming out of his
head i am free thank you. Fredey the weard guy
was gone he disapeard and never seen the gril
killed her mom and dad she trind back in to a gril
and killed 100 adouts in one week she was walking
down a street and she fell in a old well and deied
but if you go by the well you still hear her way
help I’m dronnding

she might
come
for you
The
End
Candy - 5th grade
untitled [Re—telling -- "re-telling"]

One day these kids were going to school and
one said I had this dream last night it was really
bizar because this guy had like long knives on the
end of his fingers his name was freddie kruger
another girl said she had the same dream and the
knives made a screeching noise the boy said I
don’t think you had the same dream. When the boy
went to sleep he had the same dream he told his
friends so they stayed at one of the girl house
because the one girl was all alone her parents
left on a business trip to chicago.

61

The next night they had all the same dream
except one of them got killed the other kids were
really scared so they stayed another night a girl
had the same dream she was killed that night the
last two stayed at there own house the girl said I
am going to kill Fredd cruger but I need some help
so wake me up at 11:30, she got of the phone she
ripted the phone cored out and so she hered the
phone wring it was freddie and he licked her on
the chek and then she hung up the boys house was
on the other side of the rode the boy fell asleep
and he was killed blood as spattered all over the
room including the sealing the girl couldn’t get a
hold of her friend so she did it on her own she
hooked up a sledge hammer on the door and freddie
was finally killed her mother explande that
freddie was killed because he meder kids in the
neigborhood.

The girl said she wished her mother would have
told her earlier but she felt better anyway.

no name given - 5th grade

The next two young writers gave their stories the
titles of the horror movies they chose to re-tell. Each
story includes a male attacker, although neither one’s

actions resemble the other.

Halloween part I [Re—telling -- "retell"]

A Old man tries to stop this man maned Alec. The
old man sold some mask [next word indecipherable]
that rotted head. And he wanted to kill all the
people on this eathe so he will be eruner of the
earth so he test the mask and finds out the masks
work. So he kills ten peple with rotten heads and
they die. So old man get some sinetits
[scientist] to help him. He wants to Killed
Aleac. SO he puts Alec in the room he puts a mask
on him and leaves. The slihlist studys him and
finds out noything can stop him. Alec drives the
shirts nuts and killes them a the old man. And
Alec drives his car home with his wife wife tries
to kill him and he kills her wife and he dies.

Brandy - 4th grade

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Friday the 13th [Re-telling -- "Re-telling"]

Once upon atime I was watching Friday the
13th and this kid named Jason & his mom were
walking thre a spoky woods weds were hanging from
the trees and they seen this barn and theywent and
got in the barn and was resting they were sitting
there and they heard something coming down the
road so they went out there and it was a jeep and
they hitched hiked and the jeep picked them up he
said he was going to kill them and jason’s mom
jumped out so did Jason and the jeep turned around
in the middle of the road and came back and they
hid in the woods and they were running and his mom
was in the lead and he was tagging along behind
his mom and Jason’s mom tripped and feel the guy
they hitched a ride from was chasing behind Jason
and his mom and could not find them because there
was a fork in the trail.

Jason and his mom were very safe.

TFIJIE

IEIJI)
Jenny - 4th grade

Convicts and robbers aren’t the only category of people
these young writers selected as attackers. The next few
stories include attacks from unlikely professions -—

plumbers, monks, grocery story managers, even circus clowns.

"The Plumber" [Re-Telling -- "re-telling"]

There was a plumber who was working on the
sink and there was a girl who lived in the house
and had three 3 friends sleep over and the names
of the friends were Jennifer, Jenny and Jen.
Jennifer said "I have to go the bathroom" Amy
said it was up stairs, Jennifer came back down to
Amy and said, "I can’t reach the toilet" Amy said
"Ask the plumber maybe he can help you," and she
never came back. Jenny said "I have to wash my
hands." Amy said "The bathrooms up stairs."

Jenny came back down and said "I can’t reach the
sink" Amy said "Ask the plumber maybe he can help
you." Jen said I’m going to find Jennifer and

63

Jenny." Jen cam back down and said "I can’t
find," Amy said "Ask the plumber maybe he’s seen
them." Jen never came back down, and you know

plumbers have big basket that you put the stuff
in? The plumber came back down stairs with his
basket and had three bloody heads in it.

Leslie - 4th grade

untitled [Combination -- "re-telling and true"]

"The

About 150 years ago a yong girl was rushed to
the hosdpital. She was the because she tripped on
a monks gave. The yong girl could have sworn the
when she stepped on the monks grave a hand reached
out to trip her.

That night at the hospital the yong girl next to
her got up to go the restroom. As soon as the girl was
gone she saw a monk follow her down the stairs. The
yong laddy followed the monk down the stairs. When the
monk saw he was following he wrong girl he disappeared.
The girl went to pick the monks cloak up. touched the
cloak it turned to blood in her hands.

Erick - 4th grade

Dark Hall" [Original -- "original"]

Dan was on his way to the story one hot muggy
morning. He was walking down the sidewalk. He
went in the store. He said, "Whare is the milk"?
The manager said it was in the way back of the
store. he went back there, got it. Dan went up
to the manager payed for it. The manager said
That is your name"? Dan said "Dan". Then he said
"What is you phone number"? Dan said it is 655-
1817. Then he went home.

That night Dan got a phone call. It was the
man at the pick and go store. He said "I wan’t
you to come to my house, Dan this is your friend
Keny room 118.

Then dan went to the house room 118. He
knocked on the door, no answer. Then Dan went in,
the man grabed Dan and ! Then they never saw him.
The next day Dan was a ghost. A girl was walk
down the street Dan was walking behinde her. She
turned around and saw!

Amy - 4th grade

64

"CLOWN" [Original -- "original"]

Jim Wats age 8 is home with his mom, dad and
baby brother.

His dad just gave him a gold tooth that he
found he looks out the window and sees a clowns
face. He looks again and it’s gone. He looks

again and it’s gone. he thout is was some gone.
He heres the back door open then close then the
stairs creak. The baby starts crying then it stops.

You go and chek the baby. The babes room is torn apart
he finds the baby shreaded. He opened the closed door
and his parents fall out riped apart.

He run down and grap some matches then you
see him a clown with long nails. When he smiles a
tooth is missing. He ran out side and lit the
matches and threw them at the house. Then he
heard this sceam it was like another sceam. Then
out of the flames came his mom, dad, and baby
brother.

Matthew — 5th grade

untitled - [Original -- "original"]

"The

Once there was a little boy Jason. He had a
little clown 3 feet tall. But he didn’t like it.
He got out of bed to kick it but when he got out a
knife poped up fro under the bed. He looked under
but know one was there. He looked for it but it
wasn’t there. The knife was right by his foot
with the handel in the ground. The ground pulled

it in. Then it was in the clowns hand. Suddenly
under the bed grabbed the clown. The boy looked
under there but it wasn’t there. He saw the knife

on the ground.

Dusty - 5th grade

Circus Clown" [Re-Telling —- "Re-telling"]

Once upon a time there was a family of three, the
mom was 39, the dad was 41, and thier daughter was 14.
One night the mom, Joanne, and the dad, Richard, went
out to eat. Of course they thought that Julie, thier
daughter, could take care of her self. So they left
her home.

At about 9:00 she went down to the basement
to watch M.T.V. After a while the phone rang.
She picked it up and a piculiar noise, like from

65

the circus came on. Of course she hung because
she thought it was a prank.

At 10:00 she went up stairs to the kitchen to
get a drink. And again she heard the same music.
She said to herself it’s just the wind.

At 11:00 she was down in the basement. This time
she saw a clown and heard music. By this time she was
pretty scared so she ran up stairs to the top story of
the house and into her room. Then she heard footsteps
coming up to her room flung open the door and no one
was there, she shut her door and locked it. She turned
around. And out on her balcony was a clown. It Opened
the sliding glass door.

Ouside everybody in the neighborhood heard one
short scream and nothing else.

Later the parents got an autopsy. They found out
that under her finger nails there was clown make-up.

Karin - 5th grade

untitled [Original -- "made up"]

Once a long long there was A clowns that
killed and ate people one night the clown took
this little Boy for a walk to se the birds when
they got there the Boy skok to see other kids
there to well it was after 6:00 so he locked up
the Boy and took another kid out Told the other
watch real close and the boy did the first thing
the clown did it tied the kid down and stared to
eat the Boy the fingers first the kid was shout
and scrimme 5 minutes later the clown rod fininas
the arm and the Blood was running down in a pal
the clown took the sal and

The Block Then The clown cut the Boy in half
and ate the inside of the kid and the Boy was
never to Be seen again that end the spooky Chanel
for tonight so remember to lock your door and
windowns or the clown will get you. HA HA HA

Shaun - 7th grade

One of the surprising groups/types of people selected
as attackers in the stories are attackers who are relatives.

These next five stories each accuse family relatives (or

66

take responsibility for being the accused family relative)

of dastardly deeds:

"The Creep Story" [Re-telling -- "re-telling"]

One time there was a couple who hated each other.
They needed each other because she was pregnet.

He was the father of the baby. Their names were
Brad and Amanda Wilson. One day the Wilsons were
invited to a going away part. When they got there

some people were telling scarey stories. This one
person told a story about a beach. "One day" she
said, "Two lovers were trapped in a house." she

went on, "All of a sudden a man peeped out at them
he said I will drowned you at the beach." she said
shivering. "So he took the woman across the
lake." "He dug a hole at low tide." "Then he
went back to the other side to drown the man."
"Again he dug a hole and filled it in to his
head." "When high tide came in the both drowned."
"The next day the two lovers came back to haunt
the guy and kill him." "The two lovers had the
man pinned down." "They each had a knife they
brought their hands back and killed him." "This
other person told a story about fathers day." One
Fathers Day the daughter and wife were making a
cake. He was so hungry that he was yelling, "I
want my cake, I want my cake. So the daughter was
so mad she took a marble ash tray and killed her
father." "The next father’s day he caughnt them."
All of a sudden he twisted his wife’s head of for
a cake." After the couple hear those stories

they liked each other.

Brian - 4th grade

untitled [True -- "true"]

One day my friend and I decided to go
camping. We were going to camp in the woods
behind my house. We packed our stuff and started
off. When we had picked a spot we put our tent
up.

Pretty soon it started to get dark. We decided to
get into our sleeping bags and tell each other ghost
stories.

It was around 12:00 and we were still telling
stories. My friend was just at the part of the story
where someone opened a door in a haunted house when he

67

stopped short. There was a shadow of a man with a gun
on the tent wall.

For an instance I was scared but then I remembered
that we were close to my house and my older brother
knew we were going camping. I wispered to my friend
what I though and then we quickly opened the tent and
pounced on the guy.

Luckily it was my brother or else, well we wont
say might happen.

Lynn - 5th grade

untitled [Original -- "I made it up"]

When I was about 9 my brother told me about the
boogyman that leaved in his bedroom and that night
brother had some of his Friends over and their was
his 2 freinds plus him all in one room and he
knows me very well and he knew that i would go in
his room that night to see the boogyman. and my
brother and his Freinds went to sleep and it was a
qurter to 12 so I Let them get to sleep i watid
about 15 minutes then i opened the door to my
brother’s room and went in i walked in and as i
got to my brothers bed ther lad a skeliton it
scared me but i was curious to see were he was so
i went to the closet and as i hoped the door their
was a nother sketilon but i was still curious and
my brother had a big trunk and about four small
people could fit in it. So i new they was in
their so i planned a joke on him i went down
stairs and got a bucket of water and som rope and
a tape recorder I taped a scream and some
footsteps. then i put the rope around the handel
of the bucket and hung it above the the trunk and
tied it to the handel on the trunk and turned it
one they lifted the trunk and the water dumped and
then and i told them they were all wet.

Dianna - 7th grade

untitled [Original —- "original"]

There was a Kid that always had to have a
light on when he went to bed or he would have
alful dreams and one night the power went out and
he had to go to bed in the dark. So he had a
dream about a guys that came and riped off kids
arms and beat them to death with it. So he woke
up screaming and nobody was home they went to the
someplace and the Kid look up and saw someone

68

standin there and he though it was that guy he
started screaming and was scard half to death it
was only his mother that had been home all the
time, but he never saw her.

Billy — 7th grade

"Sary Night" [True -- "true"]

My name is Karla Dickert and last year my friend
Libby invited a hole bunch of girls to a slumber
party out in a tent. It started to get dark and
Libbys older sister started to tell spooky stories
and I mean really scary stories and we talked and
gillge, told jokes and made up plays for atleast
for a half an hour then we all got sorta tired a
laid down. we switched the light down medum, we
were just wispering softly to each other and then
Libbys sister say somthing scrcading around the
tent! it looked like a mgm! Andra (Libbys sister)
said it looks like "Robert Redferd!: some of us
started to get realy scard some of us started to
cry softly. then we started to talk to him softly
we said who are you? and other qustons so he
didn’t answr then we just thot it was are
amaganashion Andra opend up the dore it looked
like a man something was shiny! holding knife he
started to walk tword the tent some started cry
more! we shined the light in his face IT WAS
LIBBYS DAD and the shiny thing was his belt bule!
we were all so scared most of us went inside to
sleap, and the morning came and are moms came to
pick us up.

no name - 4th grade

Five young writers decided their scary stories would be
about attacking hands -- not a complete body, just a hand --

waiting to do the soaring and the murdering.

"too scared to scream" [No category given]

One night a girl came home from work, about
10:00 p.m. When she got home her boyfriend called
and asked to go out. she said "Thats fine I’ll be
there in about an hour." All the sudden she heard
a noice coming in the house from outside. She

"The

"the

69

went to look, she couldn’t find anything but her
parrot.

When it was time to go to her boyfriend’s house.
She went to get her mink stole when she opened the
closet all the sudden a hand grabbed her.

The End

Ricky - 5th grade

Hands" [no category given]

One day a man decited to go into this forest
for a walk. He only told one person his best
friend. Well before he went he asked his friend
if he whould keep his dog for a day. Well his
friend said yes and he was off.

As we walked into the forest he noticed that
the limbs on the trees were closing over his head
but he could still see. When he got to the middle
he saw a old sign and it read Beware of the Hand
Go Back or Die. Well he thought some kids most
have put that up there so he walked on. Then he
came to a bush and he started around it but found
that his feet were stuck. When he looked down
there were two hands hanging on to his feet. He
pulled out his knife and started to cut the hands
but then they started to pull him down. He
struggled to stay up but they pulled him down the
dirt closed around him he yelled.

The next morning the mans dog got outside. When
he came back he had a bloody bone. He led the mans
friend to a bush were he found a blood skeleton and a
knife.

The

End

Chris — 5th grade

Moveing Hand" [Original -- "made up story"]

Once there were these teenagers camping and they
were all siting bye the camp fire. then they all
turned in the Girl heard some moises it sounded
like a Bunch of People Breathing. over there tent.
the girl was scared she woke-up all of the outher
girls up. then the Breathin got heaver and heaver
then they heard some thing scroch on the tent.
then the thing put a hole in the tent the girls
were scared. they all opened the tend ziper and
Ran out.

"THE

70

this hand was cut off and was chasing these girls
it killed every one. then killed some outher
people these cops had shot the hand and took it to
A lab. And the hand is still a secert story
today.

The End.

Julie - 7th grade

HANDS OF THE UNKNOWN" [no category given]

Once upon a time there was a boy named Kipp.
He had to look after the house when his mom and
dad went out for the evining. He was scarred
because this was his first time that he was ever
without his Mommy or Daddy. He started watching
T.V. He heard some noises down stairs. All of a
sudden, the lights went out! He saw a pair of
hands flout out in the dark. He saw footprints on
the floor, Glowing. He saw the floor buckle under
an unseen mass of weight. He tried to skream.

The footprints turned twords him. Sweet orgen
music started playing. Louder and louder it
played untill it was unbearable. All of a sudden
it stopped and everything was silent. The
footsteps glowed and pulsated. They stopped. He
saw the hands glide over to the sink. They turned
on the faucet. Blood flowed out. Flowing
Silently, continuously, flowing.

The block overflowed the sink and started pouring
on the floor. It covered Kipp in blood. the Block was
filling the house. Kipp was drowing with blood.
Drowing, dying, drowing in blood.

CPIJIE
IEPJI)

Akt: ]_ELEBt:!

David - 5th grade

"Real Nightmares" [Original -- "Original"]

I ran harder trying to get away. I couldn’t,
I was surrounded. They trapped me. I tried to
scream. nothing came out. They moved in
close..."Aieee!" I looked around where did they
go? My heart felt like it was trying to pump
itself out of me. I was in my cozy bed. Ever

71

thing was silent. I knew I must of just had a
nightmare. But it was so real. I crawled out of
my bed. I went into my parents room. They were
sound alseep. It was 12:01 midnight. I got back
in bed and slowly drifted off.

I woke up into a nightmare. I was bleeding,
block was everywhere. I was in a cementary. All
of a sudden, hands were grabbing at the soil from
under the ground. Slowly a horrid corpse came
from under the ground. It multiplied into many
more. They had swords in they’re hands with block
on it. I tried to run but I couldn’t. I tried to
scream but I wouldn’t come out. Once more they
trapped me and got closer..

Next thing I know, I’m in my bed again. I
didn’t know what was happening but I couldn’t

stand it anymore. I ran into my parents room.
They had vanished. I looked into my brothers
room. He was gone too. I looked at the clock, it

said 11:59 midnight. But it was 12:01 before I
went back to sleep. I couldn’t figure it out at
all. Ding Dong, the clock struck midnight.

Then there was block all over me again. I
was in the cemetary. The creatures were there and
started chasing me. I knew I was in a night mare
and I tried to wake up. I couldn’t. This time
they were going to make sure they got me. And
they did.

Tenda - 7th grade

Most of the attack stories featured attackers who were
male. One young writer, however, decided her combination

story should feature a female attacker.

"Sleepaway Camp" [Combination -- "a little original and re—
telling"]

One day boys and girls went to a camp fore
one week. There was a boy and a girl and they
were cousins. The boy always protected his
cousin. One day the boy’s cousin, Angelia, got
mad at this person, very mad! The person she got
mad at works in the kitchen. He was putting
spices into this huge pot. Angelia came in and
pulled the chair that he was standing on. He fell
down and the pot that had boiling water in it came
with him. He was burned with water so bad he
died. 1 point for Angelia. The next day all the

72

girls a boys went swimming except for Angelia.
Angelia was just sitting on a bench until some of
the girls came up and picked her up over one their
shoulders and threw her into the water. Later the
girl who threw her into the water, Meg, she had a
hot date. She went to take a shower. Angelia had

a knife. She went to where Meg was taking her
shower. Angalia stuck he knif through the thin
shower wall. The knife went into he back. Meg

started screaming. Angelia pulled the knife down
the spine. Blook started squirting out of the
thin wall!

Heather - 4th grade

Another category Of attackers include goblins,
boogeymen, witches, ghosts, skeletons, monsters, beasts,
creatures, zombies, and other assorted non—human types of
critters. Sometimes these "things" bear a resemblance to
human beings, other times they are half-human, half-beast,
but all the time they’re striking fear into the hearts of

innocent human beings.

"Under the bed" (pome) [Re-telling -— "re-telling")

There’s a goblin
unde my bed

At night his
somik rombils

In the day hises
not there

But at night
hises there

He eyes glou
with hunger

One night I

made a boo boo
And he ate

ME! Aahhh

Lisa — 4th grade

73

"The party in the wood’s with my friend’s" [Original --
"original"]

One day my friend’s Molly, Cindy, and I. We were
haveing a party when we all heard a noise in the
wood’s molly sied it was a ghost. Molly was the
scared one Cindy is the one that is a on the mean
side but she’s is still nice and was not scarred,
then we all heard the noise when Molly scremed I
sied shhh! and then Molly ran in to the woods I
sied stop Molly she kept on running Cindy was glad
that Molly was gone. I sied shut up. Then Cindy
did then we heard a sream it was Molly’s sream.
then we both looked at each other then we ran into
the wood then we saw a fire we were scered. Cindy
ran to the fire she saw golins and creaters.

Cindy ran to me but the creater’s and bogin’s saw
her and ran to then Cindy gone from behind me the
I was very very sceard and I tiptied to the fire
it was a god like think in front of me, and then I
saw Molly and Cindy dean with spear’s and other
scarp thing’s stuck in them. The next day I saw
the gobin and creaters all around me. I screamed
thay did not like the noise thay ran into the
woods and now it was 12:00 pm I found a way to
kill them all, And I know that answer.

Jaime — 4th grade

"No Escape" [Re-telling -- "re—tell"]

The boogie man isn’t real, you say. Your dad
comes up the basement stairs. "Boogie. Boogie.
Boogie." You see: it isn’t your dad at all!
It’s someone. Coming to get YOU!

He - or it - is horrifying. With wild black
hair, skin as pale as death, and piercing blue
eyes, he is enough to make you scream. You open
your mouth - but no sound comes out. You realize
there is no escape. You are DOOMED.

Ashley - 5th grade

untitled [Combination -— "Combination"]

One time there was a kid called Petey. He
was only 5 one night it was time for bed so he got
in bed then his parent went to bed. That night he
heard noises under his bed so he looked nothing
there. The next morning he told parents they
didn’t believe him. So the next night a little

74

little creature came out of the wall to Petey but
his cat Rascal attacked the creature. the
creature still tried to kill Petey but, Rascal
wouldn’t let him. The only thing the creater
could do was run and bite. Finally the cat got a
good swing and knocked the creature in the fan.

THE END

no name - 5th grade

"The monster" [no category given]

Up three worn steps Through a heavy door,
Into the midst of gost. From them anything. From
here anywhere all the gost stared at me. I went
in a little farther in and heard a sterring noise.
then I saw a sign that side go back. I did not
pay attention to the sign. I keep going. I saw a
few bons sum boold on the floor. I got a little
scared then I saw a gost he had a knigh and swung
at me and mist I ran back to the door but the door
was looked. he was righ behind me he swung again
and mist me his knif stuk in the door.

The End

no name - 5th grade

untitled [Original -- "original"]

"Once I was walking in the woods and I was with my
friend. We were talking and all of a studning we
heard this voice say this I am comeing to your
house at night. We went home and ask your where
they were going they said to a football game, I
asked if we can go with them they said no but why
not because we will be oud late what time will you
be home, about 1:00 am. Why so late because have
to celebrate it. Then they left we were scaryed
and there was a skeleton right outside my door he
said let me in. No Ok. I will come back at 12:00
am and if you don’t let me in I will kill you."
(What are we going to do.)

Let’s call the police came and burned him
again. they the witch came out and the same thing
happen. Then my mother, and Father came home and
were coming to get you. Then we went to sleep, we
where scaryed In the we ate breakfast we went back
out into the woods the ghost said I am going to

"The

"The

75

kill you he got Mary but not me. I went back to
tell my mother she said call the hospital so we
did and they save her life. I am never going out
to the woods.

Amy — 4th grade

town of Never Return" [Original -- "original"]

There once was a kid who was taking a trip and
when he was in a town called Never Return he got lost
in the middle of no where he was shivering from the
cold.

Then it happened in the middle of no where a storm
came the rain poured down he decided he would get in
his car and drive tell he was in town but unfortijily
his car would not start there he was there all alone.
So he decided to just get some rest why he was setting
up his blankets he tripped and there laid a leg then he
became scared. And then something hit him and can you
guess what, it was well it was the skelintons arm
wanting his leg back then he became dizzy and was
knocked out the skelaton took his leg put it back on
took the kid and he never returned ha ha ha! Now do
you know what I mean about the town of Never Return!

Chandra - 4th grade

Man on the Hill ! ! !" [True -- "true"]

One day long ago are Sunday School teacher
invieted a couple of girls and me to a sleep-over.
Well when we got to her house we went sledding
down there hill. We went sledding half of the day
and then ate dinner. We wanted to go ice skating
but the ice was to soft. We went sledding
instead. So some girls went sledding. Those
girls were, Jenifer, Stephanie C., and me (two
other girls too). Well we were going up the hill

and suddenly two men came after us. Everyone

screamed and ran. I was crying. Well we all got

to the door except me! What had happened to me!
Stephanie C. asked "were’s Leigh"! Everyone went

to see were I was. I was ......., Passed out by the

side of the house. Stephaine and Jenifer help me up

the the door. I was all right but scared to death. I

went inside to rest. That night had a strange dream it
was.......a monster dream. I was were a montser lived,
and I walk passed the house........And it grabbed me.

I woke-up screaming. Then I though I saw someone in

76

the window, but I didn’t. And then I went to sleep and
told everyone the next day about...The Man on the
Hill ! ! !

Leigh - 4th grade

untitled [Original -- "original"]

One scary looking night I was walking home
from night school, I looked at my watch it read
1:09 am. I was supposed to be home by 12:00 am,
boy was I late. I decided I had to take a
shortcut to home. I went through the woods
keeping a close eye all around me, I hadn’t been
through here in 3 years, I think that it is
abandoned by now. I looked around, I didn’t know
where I was. It was 1:27 now I tried my mini-
flashlight to see if it would work, it turned on I
looked around me, then right in back of me was a
tent. I didn’t want to disturb whoever was in
there but I needed help. I decided I had to wake
them up. So I did. there right in front Of me
was something (I don’t know what) that looked like
this:

[illustration of monster’s face with seven eyes,
four noses and a mouth with sharp teeth]

I yelled. It came running after me. It
reached out and tried to touch me, I ran faster.
The thing stopped, he started to cry green tears.
I felt sorry and scared of him. I didn’t know
what to do so I decided he looked nice (I guess),
I’ll help him. So I went to him, he cried harder
I aked him what the matter was, he said, "Nobody
likes me."

I said "I will be your friend."

"O.K." said the monster.

They lived in the woods for forever and ever.
The End.

Betsy - 5th grade

"It’s Alive" [Re-telling -- "Re-Telling"]

It’s about this Monster that this lady gives brith
too and it kills all the docters in the hospital
and it runs away. and a lade here’s it and go’s

"The

77

to see it. but it kills the lady. Now this baby
had claws and fangs. So the baby keeps on
crawling. but these people hear a baby crying and
call the cops, but it wasn’t it, it was a regular
baby. Then the police got called to this school &
all these police guards were there. these two
police men heared a baby crying and one gots into
the bathroom and one stayed outside the bathroom
and the policeman outside got hit by a toy & got
got really scared and thoughted it was there. And
then it camed out and killed him. and then it ran
away to the person’s house and and the the guy
shot the baby in the arm so it was bleeding to
death and it ran away again and they found it in a
tunnel and the man found it and he wrapped up in
his coat and took it & ran with it and all of
these policemen were surrounding it and they said
to drop it and he didn’t drop it and then he trow
on a policeman and it killed the policeman it got
killed and they just got wind that another one was
born.

Jeremy - 4th grade

Grendel" [Re-telling]

There was once an old king by the name of
Hreoth. He loved to have banquets and feasts.

One night he called upon his servants to make the
best feast of all time and invite 90 good men.
The banquet was to be held in a hall near an old
swamp. What the kind didn’t know, though, was
what lurked in the swamp.

A terrible monster called the Grendel lived
there. He had come from generations of people
that were convicted of crimes. He blamed all
mankind for this. Now He hates everything. He is
driven by hatred of all mankind. He never knew
pain, pleasure, or fear. He only knew hatred.

It was late at night in which the Grendel was
awaken from his deep hibernation beneath the
swamp. King Hreoth was having a terrific time at
the banquet and wasn’t about to stop. The Grendel
was awakened by all of the noise and was annoyed
by it. Soon he was slumping through the swamp,
heading for the hall. When he arrived all ninety
men were asleep. King Hreoth was deep in his
throne at the end of the large table. Quickly,
with his great claws and arms, the Grendel killed
all ninety men. He found no pleasure in it.

"The

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Luckily, Hreoth was not killed for he was way down
at the other end of the room.

Many years later, Hreoth went back to the
hall. It was all dusty and hasn’t been used since
the Grendel striked. Now he had come back. Not
feast, but to recall those vivid memories of the
banquet. He had stopped feasting after the
Grendel incident for fear of the monster striking
again.

Suddenly, while the old king was sitting on
his dusted up throne, lighted started to pierce
through the door. A sturdy, muscular young man
walked in and informed the king to have another
feast that night in this hall. The king quickly
disaproved. But then the man stated he was here
on a quest to destroy the Grendel. Finally, after
much convincing, the king once again called upon
his servants and invited 30 good men. And then
once again did the Grendel come, driven by hate.
By the time the Grendel got there, all 30 men were
asleep. The only person not asleep was the young
man.

The Grendel quickly destroyed all men and
started out the door when a muscular arm took hold
of his. The Grendel tried to tear lose but the
grip was too powerful. This was the first time
the Grendel ever felt pain.

The Grendel began to tremble and wildly tore
lose, snapping tendons and finally tearing his arm
off. The monster soon found itself tearing
through the underbrush and plunging into the
swamp, his home. Now he was crying, feeling fear
for the first time.

By dawn the Grendel was dead, and a great
rejoicing began at the hall. The young man had
his trophy, the Grendel’s arm. He had done what
he had come to do. An now the hall was filled
with banquets, parties and singing once again.

Ben - 7th grade

Cemetery of Death" [original]

In a cemetery with peoples guts all over the
place. Ded people comeing out of the ground.
Zombies wanting to kills. Grave stones broken
zombes breakin houses riping street signs Diggins
up grass, ded people coming out of the sewer.
Think vandalizing things Killing anybody in their
sight. One person said that the zombies are
coming the zombies are coming. help, help Im

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being attacket help. after every one was ded
every thing torn apart. the zombies went back to
the cemetery and went back under ground but
they’ll be back next Hollowen at midnight. I hope
they don’t come back.

no name - 4th grade

"Ghost Town" [True -- "real"]

Once my cousin who is 23 was going through an
old town that had a man to take people threw the
old town My cousin went threw it. The man took
the people in an old house and siad it was a
witches hous. He said the witch was a mean
whitch. Then he took the people into this one
room and took a jar of the table and said "This is
the witches body dust that is in the jar." A
person did not believe in witches so she took the
jar and threw it on the floor, and broke it. The
people looked at her in a wierd way. After the
tour was threw, that night that girl who broke the
jar got killed in a car reck.

The End

[followed by a drawing of the jar of dust being
thrown aside while observed by a young girl]

April - 5th grade

untitled [Original -- "original"]

Hello my name is John: I am a reporter for
channel 3 "I have a real witch with me here."

Do you know any magic? Yes

DO you have a cat? Yes

Do you have a cave to live in? Yes

Do you have a magic broom? Yes

Whats that you have on that jacket of yours.
zzzzzzzzzz. He’s gone where’s my nest victim.
Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!
He! He! He! He! He! He!
Hucup!
[story is concluded with an illustration of a
witch on a large broom zapping down a reporter
with a microphone in his hand]

Phil - 5th

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untitled [Original —- "original"]

the time when the woods were full of hunters all
trying to track the huge deer that romed freely here.
Then, one day, a man named Thompson Kean saw a patch of
blood spread out over the field beyond. Coming closer
to examine the patch more closely, Tom saw what looked
like a body about 100 yards off. What he saw was the
mutilated carcass of a deer. The damage done was of
nothing smaller than a cannonball. He was stonished by
the sight he beheld. So much that he failed to notice
the wavering of trees in the non-turbulent air coming
closer and closer yet. The the silent wilderness was
suddenly aroused by a deafening cry of some inhuman
beast. Thompson lifted his head only to see the
indefinable outline of a figure on the edge of the
woods slowly advancing. He grabbed his gun and aimed
to shoot a pound of buckshot into the creature’s head.
But in an instant, the creature was upon him. Thompson
could feel himself being dragged through the woods
until his back was raw and numb. And then, silence. A
smell of death lingered in the air....

Andrew - 7th grade

In 1984 a horror film hit the movie theaters and
thrilled the hearts of its young audience. While "C.H.U.D."
did not receive rave reviews, large audiences, or a long
box-Office run, the story of the half-man, half-beast still
fascinates young people and has become a popular camp story
as well. Once C.H.U.D. hit the summer camps, his name
changed to Bruno (or maybe the story originated at summer
camps and a former camper now in Hollywood decided there was
a movie in the story?). These next five storywriters

attempt their own version of this legendary beast-man.

"C.H.U.D." [Re-telling -- "retellin8"1

C.h.u.d. is an animal that lives in the sewer and
lives on human flesh. So one day this guy saw a

"The

81

C.h.u.d. and the C.h.u.d. at all the flesh off his
leg so the man ask a woman to still a gun so he
could kill the four animals. 80 the women left to
find a gun. So the women was walking with her dog
a sudenly a hand reched out of the sewer and
grabed the girl and dog. The next day a women
walk down in the sewer and she found a door that
leads to the sewer she was curious what was down
there so she Opened the door and went down there
she looked around an sudenly she yeld it was a dog
hanging up buy it’s thoat. She went back up
stairs and called the polece but they were in the
bar and sundely four C.h.u.d.s killed the two
polece. So she called a gas man so he came right
away. The gas man gased all of the sewer holes
and killed all the animals.

Greg — 4th grade

Mystery of Mistylake Camp" [Re-telling -- "Re-telling"]

Once there was a camp called Mistylake Camp. In
it there was a train that fell down. In it there
was a lion, bear, tiger, and a part man - part
beast named Bruno. When it fell down, they
checked the train. The lion, bear, and tiger were
there & all right. But Bruno was not there. Then
they closed the camp & looked for Bruno. Bruno
had a 50 pound weight on his wrist. The only clue
they found a hand in a pond in the back. "He must
of chewed his hand Off" said one of the people.
Then they opened the camp. None of the people
they saw before came because of Bruno missing.
They took pictures of the camp every year to see
if something changed. One time some "cool kids"
went into the back to see if something really
happens. Bruno was there because the boys were
never seen again.

Sarah - 4th grade

"Bruno" [No category given]

I was at camp one day and after dinner our
konsaler told us a story. The story was about a
person named Bruno. Bruno was half Man half ape
that morning I herd that two boys were camping and
one got up to get a drink and Bruno attacked him
and threw him againest a tree. Bruno went back to
kill the other boy and he ripped him to shreads.

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The next morning we herd yelling we went to see
what happened and in the woods we saw men that had
capthered bruno. Bruno was taken to a dungeon
where they locked him up that night we herd lots
of noises and screams bruno had killed the people
that had captered him.

Believe it or not.

Matt - 4th grade

"Bruno
to be encountered Part I" [Combination --
"*fiction*-retelling-origin"]

One time, behind the trees of a camp, There
was a set Of old traintracks. A kid was walking
behind the trees until he found some trainbracks
he ran to the hoping to see something —- They
seemed to come from the west and go nowhere. They
just seemed to lead to a clutter of tree branches.
He ran to them to find that they led into a sort
of tunnel. He walked towards it "I would’nt go in
there if I were you" said a voice coming from
around him "Some say that an old circus train
traveled through here once. It had cars full of
hundreds of animals including a half man, half ape
animal. It seems that it went speeding into an
old unfinished tunnel. My explosion, everyman
thats gone in here never come out." Justin turned
around to see a scrawny old man wobbling on one
leg. "Did the moster get away?" said Justin.
"Well the man that berely got out said that the
second car that had the monster in it had a big
hole in it." "Neat!" said Justin. "How long ago
was this" "Well" said the man, "Id say it was
about 100 years ago." "Exciting" said Justin.
Justin pulled out a flashlight "Im going in.

Well, than Im coming too" Why!" "Revenge!"

Justin pushed the trees away to find a tunnel with
some kind of wreckage along the sides. It was
quiet and dim. Justin turned on his flashlight.
The man leaned on him. They came to a corner They
walked around to see brightly painted train cars
and an old steam engine on their tracks. They
heard a grunt and a large figure run down the rest
of the tunnel. Then, It disappeared. "What was
that said" Justin "BRUNO" "Bruno?" "yes bruno" the
half man half ape animal." They hesitated, to
look at the train. In the darkness, it looked
like new, but, when they shined the light on it it
showed the remnence of being almost majicly put
together. Then they took off towards the end of

83

the tunnel. Justin noticed the gravel being
displaced and the tracks on it’s side. This showd
probley that Bruno had great strength. The tunnel
had turned and continued until he could see the
end. In the dim light he could see a one armed
animal gasping for breath The smell of blood
filled his senses and the sight of half eaten
skeletons. Suddenly, the figure rose and fell
back. It had disappear. Justin walked and
looked. A furry hand with only 3 bloody fingers
grabbed him with great strength. He could feel
warm blood maby his own dribble down his face.
Justin struggled and escaped. But now he was in a
different place. All around him were long dark
corridors. He quicly ran down the most likly one
he came from. Unfortunatly it led to a dark room.
he could see the Opening to the tunnel on the
other side. He stepped forward to find him
falling. Then he hit the water at the bottom.

The one problem was he herd two splashes. He
called out to hear the old man. When they
connected Justin asked the old mans name. "My

names Mr. Freidback, well Just call me Pops" okay.
Luckly Justin flash light was waterproof and it
shown brightly "I can feel a current in me said
Justin wait, its solid." Justin was pulled of
part of his right arm. He was bleeding badly.
Justin flashed the light around with the
flashlight, he saw a glare. It was a knife in Mr.
friedbacks hand. He was gabbing at the water and
being pulled down. At last the pulling stopped
and the blood dripping from his knife stayed in

Justins mind forever. "Do you know why I have
only one leg?" Bruno took it and now he has paid
for IT." When they had found the way, the train
was gone. "I guess I will have to find Bruno
later", said Justin. "Don’t worry, he will find
you!"

tto be sequeled

Tim - 7th grade

"Quarlock" [Original —- "originall

Once there a town that the people were
mysteriously dissappering. The FBI sent one of
their men to investigate the disappearences and to
find out was happened. The FBI AGent was
patrouling the area. There was a rumer that a
quarterwolf, quarter-man, and quarter-troll was
roming the area. they called Quarlock Well anyway

84

the FBI Agent stopped at a park to see if happened
there. When on the raidio a news flash went over
the radio that Quarlock was in Madison Park which
was where the FBI Agent was. Another News flash
that Quarlock was attacking the animals in the
park. Then the FBI agent heard something
scratching at the roof he thaught it was the wind
he thaught he’d go down the street. Then we heard

a scream. He went into the house where the scream
came from he walked in he saw a women with a chain
saw and an arm sitting on the ground. It was a

scaly green arm.

Andy - 7th grade

Animals, insects, reptiles, even dinosaurs are accused

of attacks in this next grouping of scary stories.

"Wolverine" [No category given]

Growling and Snarling, the wolverine faced
him. He knew that the slightest movement could
kill him. The animal had cornered him almost an
hour ago. He knew that it should have killed him
long ago, but it hadn’t. It wasn’t hungry. Maybe
injured, but not hungry. In a flash, the woverine
lunged!

The next morning, the cops found the man
mutilated in the forest. His throat was totally
ripped out and so was his stomach.

Oh well.

Ben — 8th grade

"A rabid Dog" [Original " "original"]

Well one night a man walked home from a
basketball game. He heard though that there was a
rabid dog in the vaciante. Will he was walk home
he heard a dog barking about twenty yards behind
him. So he began to jog the bark was getting
louder so he ran his very fastest when turned
around it jumped on his arm a started bite his
face all up and final ate his hole head off.

The End

Tom - 7th grade

85

"The Mysterious Squirrel" [Combination -- "own life and
original"]

Once upon a time, I had a slumber party. At my
slumber party, we slept in a tent, outside, in my
back yard.

At about ten o’clock, my sister was telling the
story "The Ax-Man". All of a sudden, somethink
moved in the bushes.

"What’s that?’ someone said.

I said "Its probably a squirrel".

But it wasn’t. I grabbed the flashlight to look.
One of my brave friends went outside. We waited.
"Iiiiiiiii -".

"What was that?"

We jumped out of the tent.

"She’s dead." After a while 2 of my friends sent
inside for the night.

Five of my friends and I stayed in the tent.
Another sound came from the bushes.

"What’s that?"

"Another squirrel, I hope" I said

"Let’s forget everything that has happened tonight
and go to sleep. At about 12 o’clock, I heard it

again. It was closer this time. "Wake up!"
I turned on the flashlight. Four of my friends
were in the tent. In the morning, my missing

friend was laying on the ground close to where my
other friend was laying.

After all my friends were gone, my mom called the
police. The police came a investigated. A police
man stayed for the night.

The next morning the police man was dead. My mother
called the police again.

My dad took my family to a hotel to stay in for a few
days.

The second night at the hotel, there was a fire.

It burned down the whole hotel, a resturant next
door, and a bank. When the firefighters got to

the burnt hotel, the fire was out. A man who
survived said "All of a sudden the fire was out."
Later on someone found a blackish gray squirrel.

Libby - 4th grade

The next two stories, although brief, are re-tellings
of an urban legend that traces back as far as the 1960’s.

At this time there were reports claiming that the New York

86
sewers were becoming infested with alligators, presumably
unwanted pets that had been flushed down the toilet. In

1973, Peter Lippman wrote a children’s book, The Great

 

Escape, or The Sewer Story, based on the legend of the
alligator’s dogged Survival under adverse conditions.3
Lippman’s story bears no resemblance to these next two

tales.

untitled [Re-telling -- "re-telling"]

A storie about a little alligator that gets
flushed down the toilet and it gets to be really
big and it kills alot of people and at the end the
aligator bites a guys leg off and the guy shoots
him.

Spencer - 7th grade

untitled [Re-telling -- "re-tell"]

This girl went to the fair and wound up
getting a baby alligator. She took it home and
her parents flushed it down the toliot. Then it
went into the sewer.

This alligator got fed by sum guys who
kidnapped dogs and cats they would experiment.
But if the experiment didn’t work they would feed
the alligator the dead pets.

After the alligator got about 25 feet long
came to the surface. He ate everyone in the city.
He ate there head, guts and everything all gone.

The
End

Noel - 7th grade
"The Bug" [Original -- "original"]

One day Mrs. Brown went to Church. During
the coffee hour the ground shoke and there was a
small earthquake. Mr. Lopez had promist to take
her home. He forgot to take her home. Mrs. Brown
had a strange feeling like something was going to
happen. When Mr. Lopez stopped home bugs fell out

87

of his aghust pipe and his car blew up. Mrs.
Brown had another feeling a trail of fire started
beside her. First she followed back to the church
and she knew no evil was that way so she turned
around an went another way. The fire went to an
old house it was covered with bugs a bug got on
her and burned her.

Mrs. Brown saids "evil be gone" some
lightning shot down hit all the bugs but she died
also. Up in heaven any evil that killed for no
reason was taught good.

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

Good evening

Jeff - 4th grade

"My worst Dream" [Original -- "true"]

I went to my mom she was cleaning the cave. She
had me go down to the pond to get my sister. When
we got back dad was home. Just then a dinosaur
started attacking the cave. We picked up one of
the logs liing around. We rammed the dinosaur in
the nose, then eye he backed of and fell into my

dinasaur trap. but it was to small. He got out
easily but he had 10 spikes in his foot. He left
in pain.

Mike - 5th grade

untitled [True -— "original"]
Once I was at my friends house. And he had two
snakes and one mouse. And he had a wood cage with

two lims and no top. And the two snakes got out

and killed the mouse and we woke up and seen the

mouses guates and head on Jims bed.

Kam - 4th grade

Sometimes classifying and categorizing stories isn’t
easy. The next group of stories is evidence of that. One
story includes an attack by a troll in the basement while
another features the gross antics of a character call the

Puss Man. Included in this miscellaneous attackers category

are stories where attacks are performed by the devil, by

 

88
spirits, by green shapes, by an eyeball, by unknown
entities, and perhaps by the scariest of them all...an

attack by a child’s own toys.

"Troll" [no category given]

There was this family that had a mom, a dad,
and one little girl. Once the girl was playing
jacks when the ball rolled down the stairs. She
wasn’t tall enough to reach the light switch so
she had to go down in the dark to find the ball.
She thought about how here parents had grounded
her and she said "I wish they weren’t my parents."
A troll deep in the ground heard her and he came
up. He gave her, her wish that he krepted away.
She found the ball and went upstairs when she saw
that the neighbors were over. She called "Mom.
Did you know the Smiths are over," And Mrs. Smith
said "I’m right here you don’t have to yell. All
of the sudden she heard a laugh from the basement.
Do you like your parents?

The End

Kyle - 5th grade

"Puss Man" [Original -- "original"]

There was a town named Horor town. Well there was
a family named the toots. And they lived on
Booger Street. So one night they were watening
t.v. when someone knocked on the window. So
father toot went out and he was knocked out. He
woke up 2 minutes later, and he saw the puss man.
And father toot hollered but it was to late he was
a Puss man already. So the mom toot she was a big
mama went out and sat on Puss man. But she turn
only half Puss woman, the puss man was puzzled.

So brother toot came out and shot the puss man
with a 16 gauge, and puss went flying every were.
So father toot and mother toot were back to
normal. And lived happily every after.

Roger - 7th grade

89
untitled [Re-telling -- "5 years old"]

There was a boy he was talking to his friends
about the Devil all day long, so that night the
Devil came to his house in his bedroom with a
knife and stabbed him but in the morning all he
had was a rip in hes leather jacket that he slept
with and he never told another Devil story agin.

Ryan - 5th grade

"A Gargoil in the attic" [Original -— "original"]

One night I was home alone in the house that
we just bought. then when I went to get a book to
read I heard a noise in the attic. At first I
though It was olny a pile of garbage falling down,
then I heard it again. I was scared so I went &
got my b.b. gun, then I went up in the attic.
before I went in the attic I cocked my gun.

Then I could have died. A huge slime-zombi-
like gargoil was tearing the walls apart. I was
so scared I froze with terror, but then I fired my
bb gun. Nothing happend there was nothing I could

do, then the..."it" lunged at me. I dove aside,
barley reaching saftey. But then I tried to get
up. I couldn’t. The "it" roared feircly opening

its jaws full with with blood on its fangs within
senconds he killed me.
Luke - 5th grade

untitled [Combination -- "re-telling and original"]

Once upon a time there was a girl who had a dense
[disease]. Her Mom and Dad and brother and sister
would’nt do anything about it. So the girl died.
Now her Mom, Dad, Mary (her sister), and Joe (her

brother). The girl who died came back to life as
a sprit! Mary asked her mom if her and Joe could
go out side and play frisbe. her mom said yes.

So Mary and Joe went out side They were trowing

the frisbe back and forth. when it landed on the
bathroom window sill. Joe climbed up to get it a
the girl who died was in the bathroom standing by
the window. Joe put his hands up on the sill and
bamm! The died girl sprit closed the window and

killed the boy. A couple of day’s after the boy

was killed Mary asked her mom if they could order
pizza. her mom said Yes how long has you go see

what our dad is doing. So Mary did. He was

"The

"The

"The

90

taking a bath while listeing to a raido. The girl
you died made the radio fall in the tub and killed
the dad. Then the doorbell rang ding-dong the mom
anserd the door it was the pizza man. While the
mom was cutting the pizza and the girl was
helping. Then the pizza cuter started fling tords
her mom. The mom started screaming but the pizza
cutter shreed the mom up. The girl who died made
the pizza cuter cut up her mom. Mary was crying.
Mary took a knife out of a draw and killed
herself.

The end

Donn - 5th grade

Strange House" [Original -- "original"]

One night the whole family was asleep. The
little girl Maria woke up to get a drink. So she
went to the kitchen. She stood on a chair and the
chair started to move. She screamed so hard she
woke her family up. He mom came and said "it’s
ok. You were just imagining." Her mom took her
to bed and said good night. Maria saw green shape
coming at her. She grabbed her doll and cried.
She ran to the door but it was locked. She ran al
around the room until the odd shapes caught her.

The next morning her mom came in the room but
she wasn’t there. Her mom never found her. The
green things must have killed her and taken her
away.

Stacy - 5th grade

eyeball" [Original]

One day there was a eyeball. it lived in a cave
the eyeball was big. and red. scary to. onone went
in to the cave at all in if you ever see a eyeball just
just just just. ! ! scream for it may be the eyebal

that lives in the cave. comeing to get you.

Rick - 5th grade

tree with Arms" [Original -- "original"]

One day I was walking threw the woods when I
heard something I ternd around and a owl was
sitting on a brand of a tree. I walked closer
because I wanted to see if I could pet the owl. I

91

was allthe way up to the tree when I heard
footsteps behind me. I turnd around and a
skeleton with a jack-o-lantern on his head was
staring at me. Then It stared to walk toward me.
I walked backword hoping this thing wouldn’t tear
me to little bits. When something behind me raped
its arms around me I look down at the arms. I
ternd my head to see what it was. I had backed
into the tree with the owl in it and the tree had
its branches wraped around me wast the owl came
and landed on my shoulder. When I looked around
to see what that thing was going to do. I saw it
had a sowad [sword] now it was run toward me I new
that this meant that I was going to die. I closed

my eyes tite. When I opened my eyes. I was in
the middle of the woods and the owl was in the
tree. The trees bramches were in there proper
plas. I ran all the way home. I told my older
sister it. She was frecked out.

the end

Cindy - 4th grade

"Guts and Blood" [Original -- "original"]

It was a bad Halloween it was pouring rain
outside. And All of a sudden there was a boom and
lightning hit the ground. A little boy was in his
yard and lightning hit the little boy and it split
him in half, you could see blood and guts, they
were all over the yard!!

It was a sad halloween I will tell you. the poor
boy was only letting his little german Shepard puppy
in, so he wouldn’t get soaked. And that’s when he got
killed the next his mother and father took him to be
creamated! The mom threw up when she saw him! The
throw came shooting out like a rocket!!

TFIJIE IEPJI)

Eric - 4th grade

untitled [Original -- "Original"]

There was once a girl how lived with her Mother
her father dide and she was spoilt one day a loge
time a go her dad was driving on. Iowa and his
angen stald so he whent out to hes engen he opened
his hudd and there was something wraning so he
stuch his hand in and his hand was chopt offe and

92

blodd was all over the place it was evrey are and
as soon as the blodd was out of his bouttey. he
was all bloddy and his bones were showing. so
that why most of the popel did of the dezzes of
the skin posing mom i dont now dotter you might
have it what ever it is it is a killer and must be
humen blodd cuze it is stile in the car and i am
deturmined to find out what is in the care and i
will find out what is in this there was a crepper
the chreppers was she was turnd in to a skelten
and she put some placket skin and she tricked her
dother and she siad come with me i kild the
monster he is a gobolin. i sene you father he is
a skelten and his gutse were all over your
fother’s car so come with me doter and i will
showe you your father he will miss you so much i
think you should come with me so you cane come to
as him. "I guse mother." ok she said and so they
whent to the care and they looked in side and
guttes wer all over the place and the engen was
covred with bold and guttes she siad go a head a
toche this pece of bold and your father will come
a live a gen so she said ok she said to her mother
she toche the blod and she became one of the
peopel the popel we called the skalten popel and
every time someone toched the gobelen or the care
once they will be come one oave the catpopel the
child became one of the queens that turn in to the
child of a catporson she desided to become one of
the popel of the cates becus her faileney was
there her life was a haid of her she desided to
stay with her mother and her father.

The end.
Connie - 4th grade

untitled [NO category given]

Once there was a group of kids of about four.
They went out to the woods. There ws two boys and
two girls. The one boy started telling a story
about the man that got his head out of so he
started telling the story and about half way
through on of the girls were gone so he stopped
and looked around.

The other boy started geting afrad that the
one girl got kild and blood all over the trees.
For a minute it was quiet then all of a suden
strong sounds through the air.

The girl got scared to so the three went out
looking for the girl that was missing. They were

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walk through the woods and and the boy that was
walking in front got an ax throw her stomach so he
was "deid" but the last two started running and
the girl tryed and hit a rock and got kiled the
thing that was killing the kids set a trap for the
lost kid but it back fird so the thing got killed.

Jim — 5th grade

"The Wax Muesume" [Original -- "false - original"]

One week in June I left for London. This trip was
a very long trip. I went with my dad. We landed
shortly after six. My dad said that tomorw we
were going to the wax muesume. So when we got up
in the moning we started for the muesume. First
of all we went into the Chamber of Horrors. It
was all dim lit. As we went farther in we could
hear seeming like some one wus beening killed.
Thats what was to. There was a man sitting on a
Garrotte beening killed.

Erik - 4th grade

untitled [Original -- "fake - original"]

One day a boy named jefry went to the story and
boughed army men. when jefry got home he went out
into a big feild. Then he set up all his armymen
and jefry had good armymen and bad armymen. jefry
left his armymen There when jefry got back his
armymen were gone jefry started looking but all of

a sudden his army men jumped out of the bushes and
killed jeffry

The end

[illustration follows of Jeffrey laid out on the
ground with army men surrounding his body]

Lance - 5th grade

Haunted Houses, Haunted Places" Storieg
The second largest grouping of stories has been labeled
"Haunted Houses, Haunted Places" stories instead of just

"Haunted Houses" stories because, quite simply, these

94
stories are set in a wide variety of haunted places. Of the
47 stories in this grouping, 25 were written by fourth
graders, 10 by fifth graders, 1 by a sixth grader and 11 by
seventh graders. Fourteen "Haunted Houses, Haunted Places"
stories were written by males, 30 by females and 3 stories
were without an author’s name.

Many of the writers with scary stories falling into
this grouping chose to use a haunted house motif as an
appropriate scary setting, allowing for the strange
occurrences that Often take place in haunted houses --
skeletons in closets, darkened dungeon-like basements full
of spiders and unknown critters, attics harboring noises and
other unknown fears. Some of the young writers, however,
decided that there were plenty of haunted locations
appropriate for scary story writing other than haunted
houses. As will be discovered by reading the stories in
this grouping, these writers made use of haunted locations
in order to allow the unexpected to occur. Many wrote about
haunted houses (including the house they currently live in
-- or mged to live in!); many chose other haunted locations
-- haunted condominiums, haunted graveyards, haunted
campfires, haunted campsites, haunted closets, attics, and
basements, and even a haunted Indian burial ground for their
story settings.

A fairly traditional haunted house is occupied by a

witch, or at least by a witch-like creature. These first

 

95
few haunted places stories include characters that could be
classified as witches, all abiding in their own houses --

haunted houses, naturally.

untitled [Original -- "original"]

My friend Becky and I decided to go trick-or-
treating together this year. When she got to my
house, we left right away.

As we approached the house on Casteron
Street, I asked Becky nervously, "Do you think we
should go there? All the kids say it’s haunted."

"Don’t be stupid. That’s just a bunch of
rumors."

"Well, OK, if you’re sure." Becky rolled her eyes at
me and we walked up to the house.

The door opened just as we got there. A tall
woman with a pale face and long black hair
answered the door. "I am Countess Vampira. Come
in, come in."

When she smiled I noticed the incredibly
white, gleaming teeth. Becky looked at me
nervously.

Just then a man who looked rather like his
wife stepped out from the shadowy darkness.
"Greeting, children. I am Count Darkness. Stay,
why don’t you? You’re just in time for dinner."

"What are we having?" I said eagerly,
realizing how hungry I was.

"YOU!" he said, grinning at me with those
gleaming teeth.

Before I knew what happened, he sunk his
fangs into my neck. And I could almost feel him
sucking the life out of me........

Stephanie - 7th grade

untitled [Original -- "original"]

Once in a haunted house there was a girl. She was
about nine years old. and she didn’t know this
but ther were witches and golens and all sourts of
things. There was blood every where she wonder
why. There was some stairs she walked up them.
Sundley the lights went off she was scared! She
felt eerie feelings. She walked up the stairs in
the dark it was scary. She didn’t know this but
there was a goblen behind her. So she turned

96

around and there he was the goblen. She screamed!
SO she ran in the dark as fast as she could but
the goblen got her. But she didn’t know how to
get out of the dongon. She screamed & screamed.
she didn’t think know one would her. But some one
did. She was happy. Until he said I don’t know
how to get in there.

The End!

Jennifer - 4th grade

untitled [Re-telling -- "retelling"]

Once upon a time my Uncle Dave was playing
baseball with his friends. One day my Uncle hit a
baseball and hit and old witches window. His
friends made him go get the ball from inside the
house. Well this old witch wasn’t home so he went
inside to go get the baseball. when he was going
into the room a cat jumped into his arms and
scared him. As he was going out the witch came
home. The old witch came inside and said its you
again. Then she said how many times do I have to
tell you to play baseball somewhere else. So from
now on he stayed away from the wicked old witches
house.

The End

Rene - 5th grade

In a sense, the story just told would never have
occurred had Uncle Dave’s friends not convinced him to enter
the house in search of the baseball. However, Dave dig
accept their plea and, upon entering the house, he met up
with the witch. Luckily for Dave, this witch was pretty
harmless -- at least she was on that occasion. Not all
witches or haunted house inhabitants are harmless though.
The next few stories tell the adventures of characters
who’ve been "convinced" to (or dared to) enter a haunted

house. According to the storytellers who wrote these tales,

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some of their characters were not as fortunate as Uncle
Dave, yet all managed to survive the dare. The tale of a
person who is brave enough to spend a night in a haunted
house, and who often is rewarded for his bravery, is told
again and again around the world. There are many versions

of this story, but the theme never really changes.‘

untitled [no category given]

One day Me and my friend were walking down
the street when we went past two bulleys.

"Hey you guys why don’t you go in the old
Rover Hill Mansion."

"Are you crazy people say that is is haunted"

"Butch, I see we met some chickens for our
first time today."

"Were not chickens."

"Well, then you would go in the mansion."

"Fine we’ll go and prove to you we’re not
chickens."

So they went on their way to Rover Hill
Mansion.

"It looks scary."

"We shouldn’t do this."

"I heard no one every comes back from their."

"Don’t chicken out on me now!"

They went in the door and looked around.
They had decided to split and meet back in an
hour. We had back an hour they had looked around
they couldn’t find anything wrong with the
mansion. They had all met back in the parlour.
They rested for a few minutes and then they talk
about what they then all of the sudden the room
started to spin and then they fell.

They saw an old lady in a wheelchair.

"They look like nice kids. let them go."

"Wait what are you doing in here?"

"I had this house since I was 10 years old
and then they started to try and make me move."

"Will you help us scare the heck out of of a
couple bullies."

"Why not?"

Everything worked just as planed and we never
were called chickens again.

Becky - 5th grade

98

untitled [Re-telling]

"The

There was three kids walking home from school on
hallween and Sam said lets go up to the honted
house the other kids said Na. 80 Sam said what
are you chicken, so they went to the honted house
Sam said to Tom you go in first, Tom said No.

Noel said are you chicken. So Tom went in so did
Noel and Sam. They looked around they herd a
noise coming from upstaris. It said don’t move or

we’ll drown. They looke in the kitchen nothing
was there they look in the bed room nothing was
there, THEN they herd the noise agin but louder
It said don’t move or we’ll drown. They looked in
the den nothing was there. So they looked in the
library and nothing was there. THEN The noise
came back but it was really LOUD It said don’t
move or we’ll drown so they went across the hall
into the bathroom were they saw four ants on a
toothpick in a sink full of water saying don’t
move or we’ll drown.

Shawn - 7th grade

Lodge" [Original -- "original"]

Ever since I was eight years old, our entire
family would drive up to Oak Grove Lodge on Judy
first for two week 8 of fun and sun.

I don’t recall any events of the first year,
but I remember clearly the second year.

It was a nine-bedroom cottage with a large
kitchen, storage room, three bathrooms, a ping-
pong room, living room, and dining hall. Then
there was the basement. The basement was the one
thing I feared most. There was a dusty scratched-
out sign above the door that read: Oak Grove
Office. The door was open, maybe four inches, but
wood boards barred the entrance. Cobwebs covered
all corners, making you fear what was beyond that
door.

The second week of our vacation, my three
cousins and I found a tiny staircase in the
kitchen hidden by a big board with a tray in front
of it. Later, we found that the staircase led to
the basement. My Oldest cousin, Jeannie,
convinced us to go down there with her and look
around.

When we entered the opening, bugs scurried
out from under our feet. We reached the bottom
step and spread out, each of us heading in a
different direction.

99

I was looking through a stack of oil
paintings when I heard Julie let out a shrill
scream. I ran in her direction, as did everyone
else. Suddenly we all stopped dead in our tracks.
Leaning inside a closet was a body, a real dead
body, smelling of mold and age. We all ran back
to the stairs and up once again to the kitchen.
we then closed the panel and pushed the cart back
in place.

Later that night, we all got together and
decided to keep this to ourselves. Only then did

we notice that Casey was not there. yes, she went
into the basement with us but...she didn’t come
out.

We looked and looked in the basement for her
but not once did we open the closet, dreading to
find that the body was not a dream. Of course, we
told our parents, but not about the basement. We
never found Casey. Our parents hired police and
everything and after three years we finally gave
up.

It’s ten years later now. I’m eighteen. I
go back to Oak Grove Lodge, enter the basement,
look around and then open the closet. There lying
dead against the wall is my dear, dear cousin
Casey, moldy and smelling of age, slowly rotting
away.

Emily - 6th grade

Kids playing outdoors, kids bored with nothing to do,
kids camping in the woods -- all kinds of kids in all kinds
of situations make connections with haunted houses in these

next stories:

"The Dark Shadow" [Original -- "original"]
1

One hot summer day some kids were walking
down Zig Rd. They were all bored and hot. Then
all of a sudden one of the kids yelled out Look!
There out in a empty feild there laid an large old
house. All of the children looked. They couldn’t
beleave it. Then one thought they should go in
it. So off they went. When they had gotten to
the door they took a deep breath. One of them
steped foreward. Then the door opened. They

100

walked in and all were scared. In the house it
was quiet. Then one of them jumped! I wonder
whyOOOOO.

2

One of the girls thot she saw something but
she couldn’t describe it. SO they started walking

up stairs. Then one of them saw a door one
decided to go in it. So he did. but he neve came
out.

3

All of the children were worried. Then one

decided to go in that same room. But never came
out!

4
There was only one left and he went in too. Then
when he walked in he saw a dark shadow holding two
body’s.

Janelle - 4th grade

"A Spooky Tale" [Original -- "original"]

Anne, Amy, and Melanie were best friends.
One Holloween when the moon was full they went
trick-or—treating together.

When they were done they stared back to
Anne’s house were they were spending the night.

Then suddenly Melanie said where is your
house Anne its nowhere in sight! Oh no! Said
Anne and Amy were lost!

We better look for it they said. Soon they
came apon a old house. Lets look inside! said
Amy. They went up to it and knocked then Melanie
saw a sighn. This is what it said: Vacant! Then
the others saw it. Let go in! said Amy.

O.k.! said the others.

Soon they where inside.

Creeeeeeek! Creeeeeeeek!

Wha wha what was that! said Anne. What do
you mean? said Melanie and Amy. Creeeeeeek!
That! said Anne. Suddenly a a human like ghost
with guts and blood hanging out came out of
nowhere!

111E141)! they all cried. Lets get out Of
here! they said.

101
And that just what they did. Infact they
where so scared that they forgot about being lost
and they ran a the way to Anne’s house and did not
tell ghost storys for a year.
tHE End!

Anne - 4th grade

untitled [Original -- "original"]

"The

A week ago my freinds Erice and Dean were camping
out in the woods by a big hill. There was a big
house on it. We were sleping wen sundly we herd a
noise coming from the old house it was a laughing
nois. Dean said "Look there is a lite in there"
We went to investigate. We open the door it was
horbl all the furniture was coverd up and cob webs
were all over. All a sunden we tern a light and
herd a lughting noise again. We ran and so quikly
a big wind came up and blow us over a ghost come
staght to us we starghted sceeming we ran and a
hand pick us up and took us to the dungeen. I
looked over and there was a skeletin. We yelled
for food. A big sliming green ball came and took
us to the keechin we look in the frech, ick. They
had slimball soup and goul ghost ball-n-skeletons
surpius. I said "You kispeat [expect] me to eat
this stuff" and we ran all the way home. We
did’nt stop till we got there. We must of ran ten
miles.

no name given - 4th grade

House" [Original -- "original"]

I was in the woods with 5 friends behind my
house. We were looking for old stuff laying
around. And we went to far an we got lost we kept
on going and we came to a field and about in the
middle of the field was a house. It looked old.
It was getting dark and we needed to call home and
get derection back. We went up to eh door and
knock. The door open. We went in. There was lot
of cobwebs and junk. We went farther in. I was
first of course. The floor was made of wood. We
heard a shut we looked back and the door was shut
and look. We found a phone and it was dead but I
herd someone on the phone said you will die. I
told everyone and we look around. Upstairs we

102

herd a noise we started to run bakc and I fell
throw the floor and landed in the sink. I ran
back up and found all my friends dead. And I turn
around and there was a black guy with a blunt
knife and he swung. The End

Rob - 5th grade

untitled [Combination -- "Re—telling and real"]

"The

David Rock’s grandfather was in the army.
One damp, dim, and spooky night He came to a house
with his friend. It had a green glow in the

window. His friends went up to the house with him
behind. They knocked at the door of the beat up
house. No one came. they coundn’t open the door.

SO they found an open window and slipped inside.
They unlocked the door and then looked around. It
was dim until Mr. Jackson lit a candle. Nothing
was downstairs. So they slowly asended the stairs
and then the candle blew out. They lit the candle
agian and got to the door with the green light in
it. they opened the door and the green light
rushed out and they saw four skeletons. They went
to the next door. The went to open it and a green
glowing skeleton head blew out the candle. They
ran down the stairs with the head behind them.
They ran to the car. all of them got in except
David’s grandfather. He caught the car and
climbed on top. then a big cloud shot one
lightning bolt and blew the house up. The the
cloud vanished.

They never found out what happened. The
story was said to be true but one witness never
came back after he went back to the ruines. They
say the ghosts each had there revenge. No one has
gone back since.

Ken - 5th grade

Darkwoods" [Original -- "original"]

Once there was a boy and he was thinkig about
the next night when he was going to camp out in
the woods. When he woke up the next morning he
packed the things he would need to take with him
on his camping trip. And then he just remembered
they’d be by a graveyard. So he packed a bb gun.
And at 12:00 they headed for the campsite and they
had to get a fire permit from the part ranger. At
1:00 pm they set up their campsite and at 2:00 pm

103

they went fishing. And they came back at 5:00 and
had their fish dinner. And at 5:30 they played
around with their dog fido. And after that they
set up the tent and went to the fire pit and lit a
fire and told a round story and they looked behind
them and they saw a haunted house they never saw
before so they went into it and the door slamed
behind them and they where scared. so they went
up the stair case and they saw a shadow. And they
said hi and it said ha ha ha And they saw fangs
it was count dracula so they ran outside. And his
and he came out he turned into a bat and chased
them and fineley he went back in the haunted
house. The boys went to sleep and the next day
they went back to their house.

Nick — 4th grade
"A Night Mare on S.T. Lois Street" [Original -- "original"]

Once apon a time a boy went for a walk. he went
by and old house. When he went by he herd a noise
and then a scream and a funny scary sound. He
slowly steps forwade tord the house. The door was
unlocked. Then when he got in the door just
closed by its self. Then he herd a laught that
sounded like ha ha ha ha ha ha. He ran and then
saw a skelton. He screamed. He saw something
that looked like a creture it was all green a
slimey. He ran and then found a open window. He
jumped out it and he was in a grave yard. He herd
a noise. And then bones rased up and were all
over. He screamed and screamed and a big bler
went over him and he found him self on the side
walk and he was going to tell his mom but she’d
never boleve him.

Jerry - 4th grade

"Is she dead or alive?" [Original -- "original"]

One day Libby was walking down the street on her
way to school, and a goblin jumped out in front of
her and hopped down a dirt road, of course Libby
followed him she was so curious, it was a long
dirt road, she was afraid she would be late for
school but she still followed it, finally they
came to a house, it was spoky in her mind she said
its haunted its haunted over and over, the goblin
went inside so did Libby she walked up the steps
creeeek, creeeek, then she was on the porch she
open the door creek, creek, Libby said I think it

104

needs some Oil a lot of oil cobwebs all over
spiders jumping and hopping and hanging she heard
noises and sounds she was scared she ran down some
stairs and fell of course she was late for school
she fell and broke her neck, her parents finlly
found her at the end of the stairs her parents
said What happed? A big slimey creature pushed me
down the stairs we should get her to a hosital
there he his, Where right there help hes trying to
kill me. then she laying in there arms the parent
asked is she dead? I don’t know.

Danielle - 4th grade

untitled [Original -- "original"]

The headlines said "John Partridge Found Dead
by Mysterious Causes." Kathleen Mailer, one of
the police investigators threw down the newspaper.
Kathy knew that John Partridge was the 3rd person
in the to have been killed in the Partridge house.

She and two other investigators decided to
find out why. She decided her comrade would be,
her best friend, Courtney Hall, and Sergeant Peter
Jenkins.

They decided to hold a meeting the next day
at 1:30.

II

Kathleen, Courtney, and Peter sat around a
table a Courtney’s house. "I think" said Kathleen
"we had better go armed with hunting guns.

"I agreed. We should also bring my hunting
dog" said Peter.

"Okay. How long are we going to be in this
grave?" questioned Courtney.

"About three days." replied Kathleen "we
will leave tomorrow if we can get everything
ready."

III

The door creaked loudly. Courtney stifled a
scream. The three companions tip-toed in.
Darkness enclosed them. Kathy played a flashlight
around. All they saw was some rickety stairs and
a slashed painting of a pale lady with blood red
lips.

Peter, Kathleen, and Courtney walked quietly
as they could upstairs to the second floor. All

"The

105

they heard was the pitter patter of their feet.
Then they stopped dead in their tracks. Something
glow at the top of the stairs! They then
recognized it to be a pal eoutline of a knife!
Something then hit them in the temples.

IV

The next days headlines "Three Comrads trying
to Find the Answer to Mysterious Killing Found
Dead in Burned House."

Becky - 4th grade

unholy Horror" [Original -- "original"]

"...we loved him dearly. He was a man that
we all will miss," said the priest.

"That’s a lie! He was an evil man."

"Sir! This is a funeral!"

"And much to late at that!" said the man.
"He murdered my daughter!"

The crowd was appaled at that accusation.
The nice Mr. Sattison, a murderer! Impossible!

But yes, it was true. Five years ago, a man,
peaceful as can be, invited a young girl into his
home. She never came back out.

Soon after the funeral, two investigators
entered the house of Mr. Sattison. They never
told what they found in that old house, because
they never came out.

The next day, ten men with machine guns from
the police entered the building. One came out.
He had no gun, his clothes were riped to shreds.
Cuts and bruises littered his body. he collapsed
in front of the house.

He woke up the next day in a hospital bed.

"It was awful! There was no floor when you
walked in, you just fell down a tube into a
dungeon. Sudenly, a thing would be clawing at
you. It wad no shape that I could see. There was
a flaming cross on the other side of the room.
the thing kept saying, "Hello, my children" I saw
the shape form into a priest as my eyes adjusted.

It was the same priest, the priest at the
fineral. It was Mr. Sattison.

"Then, a white and yellow, illuminated blob
appeared. First its wings formed, then the body.
It was an extremely powerful angel."

"The angel’s voice boomed forth, ’You!’ it
said, pointing at the priest, ’You are the one

106

that destroyed this church built by me before I
died! Now you must pay!"

Suddenly the man started to choke, a few
doctors rushed in, but couldn’t save him. It was
the work of the Devil.

Well that’s the story. I’ll bet you are
wondering where this took place, right? It took
place in that rickety old house right in your
town.

Peter - 7th grade

"The Ghost of My Old Kentucky Home" [True -- "true"]

The Date, April 12, 1984. the time; 12:23 A.M..
My Old Kentuck home was just standing there. The
two oweners were leaving, just getting into their
car. A man, a farmer was walking across the 100
year old plantation looking very old. They yelled
to him but no awenser. There was a dead sielence
except for the soft purr of the 63 Oldsmobile.
The oweners left leaving no sign of there
exstitane except a purse inside the enormouse
House. The farmer faided away into the dead of
night.

The soft purr of a car roared again turning
back into the drive way. the one human going
after the precious belonging. The other staying
in the car hearing a soft moan coming from the
distance. A chill running down her spine. The
other women running out of the house her body as
pale as the white in hers eyes.

The next mornig the women in a daze. We
walked into the Historical site and looking
amased. They told us the story. Me and my couson
decided to look in the basement.

They told us not to worry that there was
nothing but a wax figure. We went down stairs and
the wax dumy wiggled and a faint fugure walked
through the wall.

Molly - 4th grade

untitled [True -- "true"]

My ant bought a new house. This happend a long
time ago. Well, they got on packed but, it was
not put a way. Me and her went to sleep that
night. She was a dog. the dog was sleepping
nexst to us. The dog bark and I wock up I could

107

not see what the dog was barking at I looked

arond. I saw somthing it looked like a man. I

wock up my ant. She saw it to. But i forgot to

tell you that someone or somthing lived up stares.

It would not let us up there. we thek it was that

thing that would not let us up stars. The thing

never tuched us.

Keith - 5th grade

The next set of haunted places stories have a common
element. Each tells the tale of what happened in a haunted
house where someone had previously been murdered. The first
story is a retelling of a popular movie, "The Shining,"
released in 1980.

"The Shining!!!" [Combination -- "combination -- re-

telling and true"]

One day a man was murderd in a old haunted

house. Two weeks later a family was going to live
there. The family had one son and two daughter
and Mother and Father. It was in a big house.

When they arrived at the house rely afrad.
The next door naber said "You beter live at once
but they didn’t leasn.

A month later in the winter the father was
very mad at this children because they didn’t pick
up there room. The mother named Martha tried to
stop Tom witch who was the father.

The next day Tom was iven angriere than

yesterday.

That day he stabed the to girls at least ten
times and put the boied in the friver. "IT seems
like something is taking over my mind." Tom said.

The next day he killed the boy and the mother
and liced them both in half.
That day the spirit of the man killed him.

Bobby - 4th grade
"The Mistury of Kasey and her baby" [Combination -- "Re-
telling and original"]

We were Devering down a road when we stoped at a
gas sation. And we asked derations to a spoky

"The

108

house they said that a women died there because
her baby fell out of a window and they said the
gost of Kasey was looking for her baby. We went
there anywas not beliving a thing they said. When
we got there we went inside we herd a pinno
playing we went over to see what it was but noby
was at the paino and the keys were moving we went
into the kicten and herd I want my baby. I want
my baby. agian and agian then we saw the goast of
Kasey dressed in white clothes looking everwhere
for her baby we took of we ran so fast we triped
over a cain Erin and Jennifer fell ontop of me the
goast of Kasey was gone. so we went upstairs and
looked in a closet where my friends bones and
boold were I got so scared that I fainted! then
we went to the attic there were more disotng
[disgusting] thing there like blood, guts, skin
and bones we tried to escape but the doors were
locked then we saw a goast-lee baby it was to you
to walk craw or anything then Erin said it must be
Kasey baby weve got to Show it to her but how so
we led Kasey into are trap and showed her the baby
she was so happy she unlocked the door. SO we
drove away.

The
End
Chris - 4th Grade
Hunted House" [True -- "true"]

Finally we made it to our new house. We just
got here and I was inside the house. Don’t go no
where yet said my mother. We packed all of our
stuff.

Then the next morining we all woke up. I was
a little scared of my new house. My brother and I
went down stairs to eat. Then we went outside to
play football. That night we lit the fire. My
dad heard a little baby crying. We all went
upstairs to see where it was. It was coming from
upstairs. SO we did not see anything.

Then we went back downstairs. Every night
when we lit the fire the baby would start crying.
Then the next morning we found out that a baby got
burned up in the house.

The End

Willie - 5th grade

109

Untitled [Combination —- "combination..retelling"]

Once I remember when I went with my parents
to look at a new house in atlanta we cheaked it
out it seemed perfect but after we were there for
5 days funny thing started happining my sisters
window kept opening by its self my dad kept
closing every 5 minutes but even when my sister
was not it there it would open. On my uncles
wedding he dropped 1,500 dollars and he never
found it my dads looked under the carped he
cleaned the wole room looking for it and on the
seventh day the most odd think hapend somebody
Broke out of our house usually people Break in the
door was broke out
someone kept saying
get out get out in a very soft voice I herd it
onece but I thought somebody was playing games
when we found out that the father of the family
that last lived in the house had killed all of his
family in the house we moved to michigan we left
all our stuff their. to top it off the barried
them in a wall in the basement.

Taka - 7th grade

Untitled [Combination -- "retelling & original"]

"Died!" I screamed at my mother, "Someone
died in my house!" "Relax Rachel" my mother said
patiently, "It’s nothing to worry about." "How
could you move into a house that some one died in?
It could be haunted! I’ll never get to sleep at
night meg. I grubled as I left for school.

I had just learned the day before that there
was something strange about my house when one of
the kids at school backed away from me when he
found out where I lived, but just this morning
that I found out that Mrs. Andrews murdered Mr.
Andrews in my house.

That day at school I found out the whole
story. Jenny Andrews was out at a cocktail party,
when she found out from a friend her husband, Tom
had been fooling around with another woman. She
left for home in a fury. Her husband Tom, who had
stayed home with a headace, was asleep in bed.

She took the gun they kept in the house for safty
and shot him in his sleep.

110

I found this out from Jimmy, a boy from
school.

Several days later Jimmy suggested having a
seance in my mom and dad’s room, (the room where
Mr. Andrews was murdered.) He said I could get a
lot of people to come.

At first I said no way! but finally he
talked me into it.

Finally the night of the seance arrived, it
was perfect wather, stormy and dark, After every
one had arrived we went to my parents room where
Jimmy had totaly changed the room.

Black sheets were draped over every thing
giving the room an efect of a cave. Candles were
placed on the dresser and the humidifier had been
on so the room had a cool damp feeling.

When everyone was seated in a circle Jimmy
began by telling us we had to be scilent through
the whole thing, no matter what happened.

"Now we will try to contack the goast of
Thomas Andrews! We know you were killed unjustly
and we feel sympathy for you, & you need not be
afraid of us. If you are in our presents, make it
Known! there Jimmy paused and I could here the
wind blowing outside, suddenly a hudge gust of
wind blew the candles out & it was totally dark.

"I was murdered without a cause" a voice
suddenly came. I thought Jimmy had very good
effects.

"Yes we know, but she was punished!" Jimmy
yelled to be herd over the wind and murmer between
people.

"I want justice!" the voice came.

0

"You have it, your wife is in jail.‘ said
Jimmy, still yelling.

"I must take her life as she took mine," the
voice

"No, she is being punished, you must rest in
peace you have your justice."

"Thank you" the voice said

The candles flikered back on and every one
started to talk.

Then next day on the way home to school I got
the chance to ask Jimmy the questions I had.
"A tape recorder for the voices right?" I asked.

"Yeah, I did a couple days before the seance"

"How did you get the candles to go out & come
back on?" I asked

"I didn’t"

"But then who did? everyone was seated on
the other side of the room."

"I don’t know Rachel."

111

"But--" I started, But then realization hit
me, wind dosent blow inside rooms and that wind
was too strong to be a fan.

Irene - 7th grade

The young authors of the next three haunted places
stories all selected a dream motif to tell their story. One
story is a re-telling of an actual dream (as the young
writer claims, it is "one of my most scaryest dreame’s"),
while the other two stories follow a fairly typical storying
pattern where the teller (and main character) ends the story
by waking up and discovering their fears were only part of

their dream:

untitled [Original -— true dream]

"Once upon a time there was a nice family
called the Stevenson’s. They were as nice as
could be. In there family was, mom and dad,
Bryon, Brad, and Keisha.

They decided to have a picnic with another
close family.

Well the mothers and fathers were making
lunch all us kids decided to play frizbee Mom and
dad told us to stay away from the big spoky house,
they said it was haunted. Well Brad through the
frizzbee to high and it went in the old house. So
I said I’d go get it, (Mom and dad didn’t know)

When I went in side it was all messing
clouths all over. When all of a sudden a ghost
came at me. I began to scream I fell back on the

coutch and the ghost said, "I got you now." Then
Brad came in, piked up a broom and hit the ghost
and killed it. So we came out and I was

9k-

(This story was one of my most scaryest dreame’s.)
The End

Keisha - 5th grade

112
"The Hauted House" [Combination -- "combination"]

Once upnon a time I was coming home from schol and
when I got there nobody was home so I went walking
down the street and i saw a big house I went to go
see if they could help me so I went inside and it
looked very scary And I shouted Hello Is Any Body
Home and I opened the closet and there was blook
steeking all over the closet and I scermed so loud
and went to the stais and started to walk and the
stairs started to crack and break and I ran up
them as fast as I could And there was thee doors.
two on the right and one on the left I went in
both on the right know I half to go on the left so
I went in there and the room was so dark and there
was gust all over the foule and I got out of the
room I heard a kreepy sound. I ran down the
stairs and got out of the house and I ran home and
I woke up in my room and I was sweting and then
she got up ate by breakfast and went to school
telling my scary dream ! !

The End

2 2
Beth - 4th grade
untitled [Original -- "original"]

There was once a haunted person liveing next door
to me. I went over there one night because I
thought I heard somebody crying. So I went over
and knocked on the door. Nobody answered so I
decided to go back home. When I started to walk
away the door started to open. I went over and
pushed the door open the rest of the way. I
yelled "hello" and there was no answer so I
decided to go on in. I went in and I didn’t hear
anything so I decided that it was a very safe
house. So I kept walking in and to my surprise
the shot behind me. I turned around and ran over
to the door I tried to open it but it was locked.
So I told myself that there was another way out so
I was looking around and I didn’t see anywhere I
could get out. And then I saw a person that was
haunted so I screemed and then I woke up and I
realized that it was only a dream.

Beth - 4th grade

113
The next five stories have isolated specific areas of a
haunted house as the prime location for the inhabitance of a
skeleton (as well as other haunted house—related
grossness!). The first three young writers have settled on
a closet as the place where their story’s skeleton will make
its frightening entrance. The last two stories isolate the

attic as the skeleton’s "home."

"The Haunted House" [Original -- "original"]

The day before Hallowen by Mom and Da went to
look at a house. I got stuck with my babysiter.
She was 17 years old.

When my Mom and Dad went to look at the house
they left at 7:00 A.M. and now its 5:35 A.M. the
next morning.

I asked my babysiter if she would drive me
down ther so she did.

Whe went inside the house it had cobwebs all over
and the chairs were dusty but ther was no sighn of Mom
or Dad. We yelled but ther was no answer.

We went upstairs still no answer.

We chect in the closet ah !!! we screamed. (Ther
was a skelaten the size of my teacher.) We went to the
main bedroom no sighn of them.

It was a ghost and it cilled me.

The End [underlined nine times]

Ryan - 4th grade

"There’s something in the Closet!" [Original -- "original"]

Once upon a time there was a girl named Katty.

She lived with her mother and father and her step
brother. She hugged her family goodnight and went
to bed. She woke up to get some water about two
hours later. She heard a banging noise at the
closet, then she herd it again. She went over to
the closet door and opened it. Nothing, but, that
funny. She said. I never new I had a wigte
[white] coat. The coat’s russeled, Katty slamed
the closet door and ran into her step brothers
room and hopped in bed with him. The next morning

"The

114

after breakfast her father and step brother went
golfind, and her mother had to go to a meeting.
Katty sat down to read a book. Suddenly she herd
a big bang upstairs! It was comeing from her
room. She rushed upstairs and opened her closet
door. Out droped a skeleting! And pulled her in
the closet, and she was never seen again.

The end

Mindy - 4th grade

Man Of on return" [no category given]

oneday in a dark woods aman with no head came
and skard me. I am Ed. and all my freinds call
me Ed. Ed. pumpkinhead. So I went in a dark
woods again and you would not beleave what I sow.
I sow aman and He ran and ran ofter me and His
name is the man of no return he ate my Mom and Dad
and my sister, and now he is after me. But he
will not get me. I will will run and run away
from Him. I went back in the dark woods to get
him. I saw a house. I thought it was safe But it
wasn’t. I still went in and I saw a bucket of
blood, it’s my Mom’s blood. I can tell. I
tripped over the bucket of blood and someone said
come in. It was the man with no head. I ran and
ran a way. I ran out of the Dark woods, and I ran
home. The next day I went Back into the dark
woods, and back to the house. I went in and I
looked in the closet. I sow two skeletons. They
were my Dad and my sister. And it was scary.
There were snakes on them, and mice crawling all
over them. I clossed the door and ran. I ran to
the next door and I went in it. I clossed the
door.

I was scarred in the closet. I saw a mouse
and I screamed OOO..and I ran and ran. I was very
scaired, So I came back the next day and I went in
the closet it was just a mouse. I looked some
more, because it is a big house. I looked in the
kitchen. I went in to the kitchen. I saw a body
on the table. It was choped up. It looked like
it was going to be served for dinner. It was
gross and I screamed 0000!!! I ran up stairs and
I went in to a bed room. I saw the man of no
return and He had my girl friend! I got mad so I
took a knife and killed the man of on return. And
then I took his girl friend home. He loved her
very much. They married and moved into the house

115

of the man of no return. Ed had saved everyone
and killed the man of no return for ever.

the End.

Jennifer - 4th grade

"The House of Skelting" [Original -- "original"]

Their was this man and he walked in to this
house. As he walked he heard this noise. he
didn’t think anything of it and he heard it agin
and this time he was going to find out what it was
as he walked he heard the clock strick midnight
and he heard the noise agin and agin. Then he
ehard a cat run acrossted the flour and still he
walked but as he walked he got closer the the
ceiling. he stoped and looked up and he seen a
door in the ceiling he opened it and it and a
skelting fell out at him. he climed in the door
and seen alot of skeliting. He took one more step
and fell in a cofin and go eating by a skelting.

Lynn - 7th grade

untitled [Re-telling -- "retold"]

There was a girl that lived in a big, old house on
Main street. She had a very big family, so they

had to share bedrooms. But when the girl was
born, all the bedrooms were full, so they gave her
a bedroom in the attic. She wasn’t scared, but

only because she was a baby.

Now she was 9 yrs. old, and still not afraid
of the attic.

There was a high partition separating her
bedroom from another room. On stormy nights she
could see a faint purplish glow through a crack in
the partition. She wondered what it came from.

The next day, she looked for a door leading
into the room. She couldn’t find one.

A few days later, she saw a window to the
room, and had an idea. She would climb out of her
window, with a rope, and inch her way over to the
windows and break the glass with a stone. Then
she would go in and find out what the purplish
glow was. That’s exactly what she did, but when
she got to the window, she saw a big round hole,
with slime running down the hole’s walls. There
were a lot of skelotons hanging from wire around

116

the room. All of the sudden she lost her balance
and fell in the hole.
The end

Amy - 4th grade

Graveyards, swamps, roads, fortresses, shacks,
condominiums, campsites, hotels, caves, refrigerators —-
almost anyplace imaginable has been selected by the young
story writers in this study as suitable haunted locations
for their scary tales. The next grouping of stories
represents the wide variety of haunted locations, that scary
stories are developed around. This supports W. K. McNeil’s
findings in his scary story collection from the American
south:

Although Old houses are the favorite hangout for
ghosts, the otherworldly creatures can be found
just about any place. In American tradition, they
frequently haunt battlefields, mines, highways,
boats, graveyards, gallows and wells.5

"Death is on the Way" [Combination -- "combination"]

Come on I here something. Wow we’ve never been
down here have we? No I don’t thing so heres the
opening I can see the sun.

Come on we better get home you know tonight
is Halloween. Ya you right lets go o.,. Come on
Star yo! yo! When I trot thro the graveyarn I get
nervise. Ya me too o.,. lets gallop good Idea
wow! I’m going to walk. O.k. this is scarey look
at the Skeletons! help! Come on let’s go in that
house o.,. I’m going to leed star. I’m leeding
Fonka. its dusty in here look at that chair. Its
all bloody ya look at all the bones theres slime
on this I can see why I here something like a
witch laughing me to.

Are you scared? Yes. Susan lets get out of
here O.k. slam! the doors there locked. Easy
Star. Star heres Something. Maybe Fonka will
buck down the door. Crack she did it lets go look

117

at the Black cat lets take it home O.k.! Mom were
home. Hi girls get ready for Halloween o.k. 12
hours later

bye girls don’t let any people scare you.

Mom they already have!

tzliee IEIIC1

[On the page following the story, this writer
included an illustration of some stairs with a
pumpkin resting on the ledge at the top of the
stairs. Next to the stairs she wrote the question
"What was upstairs?")

Amber - 4th grade

"The Grave Yard" [Original -- "original"]

There was a Ladie that lived in an old house
in a grave yard. She went for a walk verey late
at night and she saw a light in her atic she went
to see what it was she opened the door to the atic

and ---- some one choped her head of
no name given - 5th grade
"the Man in the hole" [Original -- "made up"]

There was this Guy walking in a graveyard and
all of the sudden theres this nosie like a man
moaning and he lookes around theres nobody there
so he starts walking agin and the fog was so thick
he could see and he fell into a grave hole and he
can’t get out and he looks up and theres this man
whos face is roted and an eye gone and the man
with 1 eye fills up the hole and there that guy
lay till he rotes and another man comes and getts
scared and falls into a hole to.

Carrie - 7th grade

Untitled [Original -- "original"]

It was a dark, stormy, scary night. I was
lying in my new bed a my new house. Besides the
thunder, and pitter-patter of the rain, it was
completely silent. I knew my parents were asleep.
Or were they? Maybe someone had killed them and
now that person would find me. no. That couldn’t
be. I got up and looked across the street. It

118

was the first time I had actually noticed the
cemetary. My mom had told me it had gravestones
dating back to the early 1800’s. I was getting
scared so I went back to bed. I fell asleep
watching the shadows on my wall.

The next morning I met Sandy & Tom. They
were a brother and sister that lived a few houses
down from us. It was nice to find people my age.
They didn’t turn out exactly as I though they
would, though.

I spent the next four days with them before
they really started acting wierd. While we were
playing together one day, they dared me to go in
the cemetary at night. They got very mad. From
then on, they seemed obsessed with getting me in
the cemetary. I finally got sick of them asking
me, so I said yes.

That night there was no moon. The only light

around was a couple of street lights. Sandy & Tom
were waiting for me. I looked around them. There
was no graveyard. I stared at them. They said

someone had come & stolen all the gravestones!
Sandy & Tom just stood there, stonefaced, and they
walked without saying a word.

The next morning I woke up early and decided
to go for a walk. Just as I was about to open the
door I saw Tom & Sandy outside putting the
gravestones in their place. I ran out and asked
them what they were doing. When they turned
around they had no faces! There was just a mess
of blood & bones.

Then there was a burst of laughter from
behind me. There stood Sandy & Tom. Tom had a
little box in his hand, which I later found out
was a remote control. It turns out the whole
thing was a scam. A joke that is played on all
new residents. I did eventually forgive Sandy &
Tom, but only with the thought that I can do it to
someone else someday.

Kathy - 7th grade

"A trip to the unown places of the swamp" [Original --
"original"]

One night I was walking in the swamp with my
crossbow. then all of a sudden I thriped over a
lem and my cross bow fired it hit a secret lever
and a tree opened.

I went in it and I walked down the stairs intill I
was under the swamp.

"The

"The

119

Thir were cobwebs and coffins and greenslim and
blood all over the place. I walked under the
swamp and an oar almost hit me but I jumped in
fright and it missed me by a couple of inches.
Then all of a sudden the walls started moving
towed me I shot my crossbow up at the roof and I
jumped out and ran to my scooter and road home.

frlies IErlcl

Jaime - 4th grade

race" [Retelling -- "original"]

Our story scene is in a graveyard and on a
road next to the graveyard.

One knight on an Old dustly haunted road next
to the graveyard. There were some kids one was 16
and his name was Ed. The seventeen year old’s
name was Mike. And they were driving a 1954 car
and drinking.

Well about the time they were both drunk a
set of head lights were behind them and when the
head lights got behind them the head lights lit up
and went around them. And the were doing about 70
or 80 miles per hours.

Back in the graveyard

In the grave yard where there freind was
buried erler that week.

There freind died when he was road racing his
new car. He died when his car overturned and
killed him and his girlfriend.

Well under a big tree sat him and his girl
freind. He walked over to Ed and said you beat me
once and I beat you once so were even. After he
said that he drove off in to the sky.

Ed - 5th grade

coumputercamp Mistury" [Re-telling -- "re-telling"]

[This story opens with a full-page illustration of
a large fortress with a person or creature of some
kind in the upper window, another peson walking
along the upper edge of the fortress wall, a ghost
in the lower window, six bats flying overhead, and
a crescent moon in the sky.]

120

One day at coumputercamp I heard something outside
it sounded like something from the old fortrice no
one has made it to the fortrice Scott my best
friend asked "What was that." and I seid "It
sounds like the count from the old fortrice." The
next morning Scott and I went outside no one ws
there so we went to the gym no one was there so we
went to the fortrice and we opend the old fortrice
door and went in and out of no ware came a ax and
cut of the head of scott and arm and I ran under
the ax and I found a secret pasheg and I went to
the basement and there was the count and the
campers and that were tide up for a axparment
[experiment] and out of the cage came a huge beste
and ate all the campers and I shot it with a gun
and it turned around and he started to ran at me
and I jumped over a firepit so the monster tride
and faled to get over the pit so I steped on it’s
hand and it died and I saved the world again.

[This story ends with another illustration. This
one shows two people fighting on platforms on
opposite sides of a vast pit of fire. One fighter
has a sword in his hand, the other has a whip and
a long stick with something sharp-looking on the
other end. Under the platform holding the fighter
with the whip is a cage with a creature inside.
This cage is labelled "Fire Octopus cage."]

Jason - 4th grade

"The Ghost that doen’t like Halloween" [Original --
"original"]

One day I walk through a forest just then a herd
something crying I looked all around but I didn’t
see anything just then I saw it was a ghost in a
old shack it looks like he haunted it for a long
time. Then it saw me I was scared that time then
I thought it was scared of me then I saw it was
not scared of me it was a pumpkin that he was
scared of it. It got dark out. I felt strange
feelings. I wanted to go in the shack but my feet
won’t move. I got them to move because something
was behind me it was a gobin it had blood all over
it. I ran so fast right into the shack. I saw
the ghost it was crying still. I said why are you
crying. I don’t like Halloween. I ask why don’t
you like Halloween. I hate people that talk about
blood, guts, queer things and unknow objects. I
hate them. I think you are crazy because

121

Halloween doen’t have to have all that stuff that
you said. I guest Halloween isn’t as bad as I
though. I hope it is everything that you said. I
going to injoy Halloween.

Jill - 4th grade

untitled [Re-telling -- "retelling"]

There was a family on vacation who couldn’t find a
hotel. The only vacancy(s) sign they could find
was at a hotel that people said was haunted. So
they checked in and went up to their room. The
little boy began to look around and when he stood
by the closet he heard a voice say "Now I got ya
where I want ya, now I’m gonna eat ya!" The
little boy told his sister about the voice and his
sister told her mother. and the mother told the
father and the father opened up the closet doors
and found a monkey with a buger on his finger and
the monkey was saying "Now I got ya where I want

ya, now I’m gonna eat ya". And he did. The
End
no name - 4th grade
untitled [True -- "real"]

When I was one years old we used to live in texas
were we lived in condos and thes condos were built
over an indian bereal ground and we lived in one,
but anyways My sister would always say that in the
night she would see a man in her room and the
closet door would be open in the morning when we
closed it at night so we put the dryer in the
front of the door and the next night the handles
on the dresser started to rattel and my dad & his
friend were over and they saw this so the next day
we moved out p.s. every one who lived there was
divorced except my mom and dad.

The
End

Matt - 7th grade

122
"The Camp Fire" [Combination -- true and original]

It was about 10:30 at night when four kids in
their camper playing poker there names were Adam,
Eric, Erin, and Ryan.

"Erin do you know where mom and dad went,"
said Ryan.

"You ding dong, they went to brush their

teeth up at the bathroom", said my sister.
"Our parents are in our camper do you want to
play at my camper," suggested Adam and Eric.

"No this is fine, anyways if we do we won’t
have that much time to play," I said.

"Eric why is our camp fire still going," I
said

"It isn’t you ding bat," said Erin.

"then way do you I smell smoke," said I.

"It’s probaly just some other campers are
having a fire," said Erin.

"What time is it Ryan," Asked Eric.

"It’s 11:00 why,"

"I have to go at 11:00, come on Adam you have
to go," said Eric.

"Your camping fire is still going," yelled
Eric with all of his might.

From that day foward they have had a fence
around the camping site.

Ryan - 4th grade

"Land Called Spoke" [Original —- "original"]

Once upon a time there was this land called spoke
it was so spokey that this boy got brave and went
ther he got to the gate and he saw a bunch of
hands stuck to it. Because it was so hot that
they came right Off. So he went on the brick wall
climbed over it and jumped down in a swamp ther
was quick sand thir so he did not struggle but he
reached in his back pocket and got some rope and
roped a tree and pulled his self out he was so
sacred he did not touch anything. he went in this
house and he had to struggle because ther was slim
all over this floor. He sat down in a cair and he
was stuck to it and the all moved around it was
dark but then he saw a pair of green eyes. And it
cept coming closer and closer it was so dark he
could not see what it was so he went and closed
his eyes and never woke back up be cause it was a
vampire and nobody got brave anout [enough] to go
there again.

123

vampire and nobody got brave anout [enough] to go
there again.

ffliee
11
(1
Paula - 7th grade
Untitled [Original -- "orginal"]
The beach had a certin magic. Everybody who

went there said it did. That’s why it became her
hide away. The small cave in the side of the
cliff was the best place of all. Heather was
forbiden to go into the small allcove where the
cave was. Ten years ago a young couple was killed
there when a huge wave came up on shore and
crushed them against the jagged wall of the cliff.

"Mom you are so unfair." Heather cried. "You
let Nancy go!"

"Nancy is three years Older then you." Mrs.
Hasdab said calmly.

"But I’m as mature as Nancy and you know it."
Heather wined.

"I’m not letting you go for your own good.

And that final." Heather’s mother replied
impatiently.
"I hate you!" Heathe screamed and ran out the

back door.

Heather walked along the shore towards the
cave trying to think of a way to get her mother to
let her go. Heather finally found the cave and
sat down in it. Heather looked around not really
seeing. A silver shine caught her eye. For an
instant Heather thought she saw two ghosts. The
pale figures had been wearing long white gowns.
Heather blinked and the figures were gone. That
night Heather couldn’t sleep. Although she tried
and tried she couldn’t get those figures out of
her mind. Sighing, Heather got up and went down
to the kitchen to get some warm milk. Strange
shadows and the moon light that came through the
window gave the kitchen a eery glow. Heather
opened the refrigorator expecting to see shelfs
filled with food but instead there was a open
space. ghostly light shined through the open
space. Suddenly the figures appeared. Now seeing
them up close she saw something she had not seen
before. One was a man and the other was a woman.
the man was tall and dressed in a long gown. The
gown was glowing in a ghostly yellowing white. He
had no legs. Heather Opened her mouth to scream
yet nothing came out.

124

"You disturbed our resting place," said a angery
voice. The voice filled the kitchen.

"Now you must pay." came another voice. This
one was higher. A womans voice. Heather fell to
the floor in a dead faint.

The next morning Mrs. Hasdab came into the
kitchen. She let out a loud gasp. Heathers mother ran
over to her daughter who was lying pale and still on
the floor.

"Frank" Mrs. Hasdab screamed for her husband.

What’s the matt---Oh my god!" Frank said as
he rushed into the kitchen.

"Call a doctor." Mary Hasdab cried holding her
head in her lap.

Several minutes later Dr. Joneli knocked on

door. After being in heather’s bedroom for nearly
an hour. He walked out. His face grim.

"Well," Mary said the instant Dr. Joneli came
out.

"It’s not good. When she came to I couldn’t

get anything out of her. She mumbled something
about the refrigorater, two ghosts and a cave. Do
you know what she means?" Dr. Joneli ask.

Mrs. Hasdab sat on the couch slowly. She

remembered their argument. Then the story of the
young man & woman came back to her.
"Oh, no." she said.

"What! What" Frank yelled.

Mary quickly told Frank the story. Suddenly
there were earpiercing screams from Heathers
bedroom. All three adults ran into her room.

Heather was clawing at clothes, shrieking.

"Get these clothes Off me. They are killing
me." Heathers words eoched in the room.

No one knew what to do. Suddenly without
warning her screams stoped. Heather fell to the
floor. Eyes wide open and staring. Dr. Joneli
ran over to her.

"She’s still alive." he said.

"Get her to a hospital right now.
cried.

At the hospital no one could figure out what
happened. Heather never moved. Never spoke.
Never even blinked. Specialist from all over the
world came to see what had happened. No one in
the world knew what happened. Only Heather. The
Heather that never did any thing every again.
Except stare into space. The two ghost went back
to there cave and stayed there for enterity with
out being bothered again.

Mary

Angie - 7th grade

125

These final three stories in the "Haunted Houses,

Haunted Places" story grouping vary from the haunted

location motif. Instead, they are concerned with haunted

household items (such as haunted lamps) and a haunted person

(such as a haunted maid!).

untitled [Ture -- "true"]

"The

Last month I went to spend the night at my

friend Beth’s house. Beths parents left. We ran
down-stairs and turned on a lamp. Poof! It
exploded! We turned on the radeo. I heard a

mumbeling sound. It stopped. The radieo woldn’t
work we tryed everything else they didn’t work.
We went upstairs and called Beth’s Parents they
wouldn’t get her parents. So Beth and I started
to watch T.V. We didn’t forget about it though!

TFllee
IEr1c1
Adrienne - 5th grade
Mean Lamp" [Combination -- "original and retelling"]

Once upon a time some people bought a new
lamp. The lady of the house hated the lamp, she
said it was the ugliest lamp she’d ever saw. That
really was’nt true she loved the lamp she just
knew some bad things it could do. So she toke it
to the attic. (to find something to break it
with) When she got to the attic there was a wheel
chair it looked kind of spooky. It was the old
kind, it had rusty brakes and old tires. She
didn’t think anything of it and just kept looking.
The wheel chair started to rattle. Looking back
at it it stopped as she was looking for a hammer
to break the lamp with it rattled again and

started moving towards her. She screamed but
nobody heard her. She had died. The next day the
man came up to find her. Nothing was there but
BONES.

Stephanie - 4th grade

126

untitled [Original -- "original"]

A lady walked up to tan old house. Rung the
doorbell and asked a man standing at the door if
he needed a maid. He said he would like one but
the pay was low. She took the job. The man said
to start as soon as possible because his hose was
full of dusty antiques. The next day the lady
walked up the brick side walk and rung the
doorbell but no one ansewed. As she turned around
to go home she saw the man out on his lawned
feeding the birds. Tha man told her to go in the
house. So she did. This lady really wasn’t a
maid she was a robber. She found a bag and ran
around putting things in it. Then all of a sudden
she heard a high scream. She ran out to see what
it was. When she was running out the man was
running in she saw a dead bird on the sidewalk a
ghost of a cat eating it. That evening she called
the man and told him that she wasn’t going to be
his maid anymore. Then she heard that same
scream. She turned in to ghost and haunted people
for the rest of her life.

Anne - 4th grade

" trange Noiseg" Storieg

The category with the third most scary stories
collected in this study is one where the stories revolve
around strange noises. Seventeen stories fell in this
category; 3 from fourth graders, 10 written by fifth
graders, none from the sixth grade storywriters, 3 from
seventh graders, and 1 written by an eighth grader. Eight
of the stories were written by males, 7 by females, and 2
stories included no author’s name. Many of these stories
include a main character who is home alone, or at least home

without the supervision and protection of an adult. These

127
first few stories concern themselves with strange noises

coming from either upstairs, downstairs, or both.

untitled [True -- "Real"]

One time I was at my grandmas all alone. And I
hate her house because its realy big and scarey
and everybody tells me it’s naunted. And of
course I believe them. Well I was sitting in the
living room watching T.V. and I heard a loud
banging sound upstairs. So I got up an opened the
stairway door. And the banging stopped. SO I
shut the door and sat back down. Then I heard the
banging sound again by that time i was scared. I
figured it was just that cat playing with
something. So I just sat their and stared at the
door. Then the banging stopped and I heard
something or somebody walking down the stairs.

And of coarse I sat their like a dummy. Then the
walking stopped and the door knob started to move.
As soon as the door got ready to Open my grandma
walked in. Man I almost died. I told her what
happened and we went up stairs and looked around
and their was nothing.

Brenda - 7th grade

Untitled [True -- "True Story"]

It was a dark stormy night. Me and my sister were
home alone watching a horror movie. Soon as a
comercial started. I herd a knock at our back door. I
said it was nothing but I herd it again a few minutes
later. Then my siste and me ran upstiars. All of the
sudden I herd a knock at the front door. I ran down
stairs to see if it was my mom wanting help. Before I
opened the door I looked out of the peak hole. It was
a tall dark figure with a hat and sigars. He had a
mustach and beard. I locked and deadbolted the door.
Then I ran upstairs in fright. That night in the
middle of the night, when everyone was asleep, except
me, I herd footsteps in the hall and on the roofs.

Timothy - 5th grade

128

"The Shadow" [Combination -- "Part real Part not!]

One day I was alone at home. I was reading a book
while sitting on the couch. I kept on hearing
footsteps downstairs. Well then my cat jumped up
on my lap and scared me out of my witts. Well
then I heard footsteps come up the stairs. I got
so scared I was shaking. I hade’nt heard the foot
steps for a while but the I heard it again. I
could not move. I was sweating. Then I saw the
shadow, I got up slowly and walked to the door but
the door was locked and I was to scared to unlock
it. Then I could of sworn I saw it! run!

Liz - 5th grade

Untitled [True -- "True Story"]

"The

One day I was on my bed listing to my raido (I was
alone) Then I heard our door on our cabnit shut.
Well It was open before I went into the bathroom
and the cabinet door was shut! Well I grabbed my
cat and called my friend and told her to come
over. I ran outside and dident go back in untill
my parents got home and never found what it was !

no name given - 5th grade

Noise" [True -- "true"]

One day in the morning everybody was gone so
I turned on the T.V. Then I herd a hammer baing
downstairs in the bacement. I took my two Grate
Dains into the basement to ceck it out. When I
got downstairs there was nouthing there so I thout
that it was my amginaton. When I got back
upstairs I sat down in the chair then I herd it
again. SO I went back down then I opened the door
It was my brouther.

ffllee
131161

Richard - 5th grade

129
"The Creeking sound" [True —— "true"]

One day my baby-sitter was over. We were
watching T.V. until Boom! Barn! Creak!
my friend, sister, baby-sitter and I all took a
pan, knife, ar a broom. We huttled to gether and
made our way down stair. then we all spit up some
looked in the closet and outside. I looked in my
dad’s workshop. As I opened the door........It
was louder bang! creek! Boom! bam! over and
over.

My dad came home latter and he said It was
are pipes for are pool are melting the insolation.

no name given - 5th grade

Untitled [True -— "True"]

Ok, by see you tomorow. as I pedded down the
road. As I was pulling up the driveway my Mom was
going to the store, she asked me if I wanted to
go. I said no and went indsid and grabbed a
twinkey and turned on the tv...Wheel of Fortune
was on....just then I herd a noise down the
basement. I went down to check it out, It sounded
like a hammer beatting on a pipe. I went in the
landery room and suddlenly it stopped. My cake
fell out of my mouth. I went up stairs as the
stairs creaked I got back into the familroom and
plunjed into the chouch It was dark out and I
moved away from the windo. After Wheel a Fortune
was over I wached The price is right. About half
way thru it my dad got home I was releaved.

Troy - 5th grade

"Knoxville Scare" [True -— "True"]

We rented a house in Knoxville, Tennessee,
twenty five minutes from the 1982 World’s Fair for
a place to stay. We were on our yearly trip with
our friends the Hos and the Wangs. On the first
day, we spent the day at the fair and the night
playing cards. The adults slept in rooms while
the kids slept in the basement.

On the second day, we again spent the day at the
fair and the night playing cards. During the night,
none of us kids could sleep, so we told ghost stories.
By late night we were psyched out. Larry Wu tried to
scare us by telling us he saw shadows at the window,

130

but we knew better and asked Felix to continue his
story.

Larry started saying he really saw shadows.

Again, we shrugged him off.

After Felix finished his story, we heard
sounds outside, like knocking, but guessed it was
just thunder. It was now raining. We heard it
again and saw a shadow. My sister got up and
turned on the light.

Plastered on the window was a face. My sister
screamed, but Show-Pei and I, lying on the bed next to
the window, recognized that it was Show-Pei’s father.
It turned out, he got locked out when he went out for a
newspaper and feared he would wake up the parents if he
rang the doorbell.

Nicky - 8th grade

"Raided Party" [True -— "TRUE"]

My friend Keri had a party. There were about
12 girls there. We went outside and talked to
three boys who rode their bikes over. After
awhile we went inside and ate pizza. Supposedly
they had gone home.

But after it was dark, we saw a familiar shoe
in the window. We ignored it. Then Heather saw a
hand on the window. By then we were scared.

We decided to do a parlor trick Susan and I
sat out one of them. In the middle of the story I
thought I heard screaming noises, footsteps, and
Indian cries. I freaked out Susan said she
thought she heard something but wasn’t sure.

All through the night I was hearing things.
We saw two bikes in the backyard. Everyone was
nervous and scared.

At about 2:00 AM, Keri’s brother came down to
calm us down. Finally, we were asleep.

In the morning we saw bike tracks in the
backyard.

Kelly - 5th grade

"At a Party" [True -- "a true story"]

Once I was at a party. There was about 10
girls there. We were telling ghost stories & all
kinds of stuff. We were talking and we heard some
knocking at a window. We were all scared. After
awhile we heard some more. Then we heard yelling

131

outside. We had the girl having the party have
her brother go outside and look around. When he
came back he said he didn’t see anything. So we
got ready for bed. When we were all in our
sleeping bags I saw a light coming from the
window. I told the other girls and they saw it
too. We were all freaked now. We all finally got
to sleep. The next morning we went outside and

saw tire tracks from 2 bikes. We found out who it
was.

The

End

Jill - 5th grade

Not all scary noises occur within the confines of
someone’s home. Scary noises surround all of us. Sometimes
they’re in our basements, Often they’re following us through
the woods, or haunting us outside our tents, or crying
through the night. Sometimes those sounds are nothing other
than nature herself —— the wind rustling the leaves, an
angry bird’s cries piercing the night air -- but at other
times, these noises are not caused by nature. Sometimes
there are reasons -- real reasons -- to be frightened. In
these next stories the young story writers move outside
their home and discover sounds and noises that haunt at
Scout camp, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, at a slumber
party in a backyard, and even at an intersection along a

country road.

Untitled [True -- "real"]

I was in Webelo’s at the time and I went to a
Boy Scout camp overnight. The night before we
were going to leave the Boy Scout leader decided
to scare us. We were far from this long open-

132

field trail that led to these dark woods. So,
they waited until it was pitch-dark and then they
took us. We had just started on the trail when
there was dogs calling and yells from a person.

We just thought it was one of the leaders. All of
the leaders were with us except one. So we
figured it was him trying to scare us. So we kept
walking on the trail and looked for the one leader
to join us or go somewhere else. We did not see
him until the end of that very long spooky trail.
he popped out of the woods and scared us half to
death. he said he checked in the woods to see if
it was afe and he kept denying that it wasn’t him
making those calls. We went in the woods and it
was very dark. We ended up at this huge hill that
looked like if you would fall down it, you would
break your neck. So we started back and the
leaders kept laughing about how bad they scared
us. It was so mysterious how the one leader just
popped out of the woods and told us it was safe.
He just kept refusing it wasn’t him. All he said
was, "It must have been real."

Barry - 5th grade

Untitled [True -- "Real Story"]

I was up North in the U-P on a Hunting trip
and our dogs were runing a bear and it got closer
and closer. And a few minuets later we herd a
crashing noise going though the brush and trees.
All we herd was crunch crack smack banging of
noises and I asked my dad if it was the bear he
said "I dont know" and the sound got louder and
louder. It seemed real spokey because some little
animals ran out of the woods a chickmunk a mouse
they came out like they were going to die. My
legs were shaken so much I just about lost my
balance. It was more spooky because it was still
dark. Than all of a sudden our dogs came out of
teh woods. I about lost my gut but it wasn’t the
bear I thought go. My legs stoped shaking afer a
while.

The

End

Matt - 5th grade

"One

133

One night a 6th grad camp. It was about 7:00
o’clock about time to go to bed. We heard some
knocking on our door and all of us girls were
scared out of our pants. Then our conslur told us
that people had died in the lake were we were at
and they come back and haunt you. All Of a sunden
or other conslur comes in and starts to laugh and
told us it was just a joke.

Debbie - 7th grade

Scary night" [Original -- "original"]

One day I was having a slumber party after
the party was over we went into the tent.

We all started to tell gost stories one off
them was so scary we thought it was real but it
was only Fred the next time we thought it was Fred
but it was the wind the next time we thought it
was Fred but he was siting rite next to me so we
fighured it was the wind but we saw a shadow it
was only my mom.

Cory - 4th grade

Untitled [No category given]

"The

It was 6:00 P.M. in the contry there wasen’t a
sond outside. Then all of a suden I heard a crash
in the barn and went out to look. I couldn’t see
a thing becuse it was so dark.

Then I heard something in the hayloaf I went up to
look and I didn’t see anything at all.

It semd like it moved faster then anything in the
wole wold it moved fast.

It turnd out to be the fastest and most bigest
black bat in the wold it was scary realy scary.

Sandy — 4th grade

Woods" [Original -- "Original"]

One day Zack Vollen was riding his bike. He
was at a Intersection in a country road. he
looked to hiss right and he though he had seen
something jump into the woods. He knew that the
woods could get very dark, but his curiosity got
the better of him. He looked for the thing untill

134

after dark. He was about to ride home when he
heard drums He looked through some bushes and saw
ten creatures of different shapes dancing around a
large black pot. There was something bobbing up
and down in pot. It was a wolf body! Suddenly
Zack felt something touch his shoulder!

Paul - 4th grade

Untitled [Original -- "Original Writing")

The Full moon night of February I stepped out
of my bed by some scary noise. It was very faint,
but I could hear it clear, a baby crying from
yard. When I opened the window against strong
wind then I saw some fog which has baby shape was
coming in my room. With short noise, "Sup, sup"
it went round of me faster, then stayed on the
air, beginning to laugh. I jumped from the
window, frightening and tried to run away from
that baby, but it chased me just behind me. It
was too fast!! When I passed through the forest,
the trees were changed to some ghosts which has
big, long wooden arm whilling. They shouted, "Get

her get her!!" Although I was nearly die, I ran
and ran. Suddenly, the shouting grew into
silence, and the moon hid behind the clouds. I

sighed and looked at back carefully. With
appealing moon, the baby-fog grabbed my neck with
laughing, and started to strangle strongly. I
tried to get it away and hardly stepped back to
cliff! Screaming, I fell down to black hole.

Sooyeon - 7th grade

"Thegpoll" Storieg

Stories about a doll that comes to life surfaced in the
United States in the 1970’s as re-tellings of a television
episode on The Twilight Zone. Since then it has become an
urban legend of sorts, even though the possibility of a doll

coming to life and killing people is not plausible. But, as

135
urban legends go, if it is told with enough sincerity by a
storyteller who truly believes it could possibly come true,
then someone, somewhere -— and quite often this is where
young people fit in no neatly as urban legend transmitters —
- will believe it and keep passing the story on. In this
scary story grouping there were 12 stories, 3 written by
fourth graders, 6 by fifth graders, 1 by a sixth grader and
2 by seventh graders. Two males wrote "The Doll" stories, 9
females wrote stories that fell in this category, and 1
story had no name. The first two stories are not about
dolls, though, but are about stuffed animals, a variation of

the doll story!

"The Teddy" [Original -- "original"]

"Hay, mom tommoroww is teddy bear at school
and I don’t have a teddy bear." "Don’t worry I
think you can use the one that has never that was
mine! It is stored away in the basement I’ll get
it out tonight!" "Ok"! So that night we all went
down to the basement. As we were walking down a
patch of lighting sturk and as soon looked up the
eltricty had gone out. My mom went back upstairs
to get the flashlight as I walk down the steps
some more. Bang went thunder and as light folled
the teddy bears face appeared. I screemed it to
late a face appered in the window and laughed as
it said you will be killed tonight I ran upstairs
my mother was saying that she would murder me
tonight! It happened to be she was in a spell!
But a few seconds she popped right out Of it.

now you start up for bed and I’ll be right
up! As she laughed in a deep voice as I layed in
bed I though about what I had seen. It flashed
back in fourth! As I woke up the next morning I
rode my bike over to Bill Luderbarry’s house he
was a detivive. He came over that night and found
out about it.

What happened was the teddy bear was worth
alot of money and when my mom went to get the

136

flashlight she was kindnappe the laddy has dressed
up like my mom. And the other person wanted to
try to murder me to get the teddy.

Vanessa - 4th grade

Untitled [True —- "real happening")

When I was real little I used to Be afried of
stuffed animal one night I went to bed and my mom
turned off the light after a while I looked over
the side of the Bed a I swear I saw a shark cause
it had eyes and it was black a big and when i woke
up in the morning it was just my Blaket that I
always used to Sleep with and I thought for sure
it was watching me all night so I never got and
went to the Bathroom.

Nikki - 7th grade

The next five stories deal with a specific type of doll
—— a China doll —- as the mysterious toy that causes grief

for the doll’s owners.

"The China Doll" [Original -- "original"]

One day a lady named Karan went to Japan.
Karan always wanted a China doll, so she went to
store where they sold beautiful China dolls. She
walked in and asked the storekeeper if he had any
special China dolls. The store—keeper said yes
and gave her a China dol with the name of Santana.
Santana was a special doll alright
because.................... One day when Karan
went home Santana and her went to sleep. Karan
made a special bed just for the special doll
Santana. karan went to sleep but Santana got - up
an dwent to a house 5 miles down the street where
Karan’s house was. Santana opened the door and
went to one of the bed room’s and...............
The next morning Karan turned on the news and
heard that two people died 5 miles down where she
was living. Karan was amazed. The next morning
she heard the same thing but it was at a different
place. Every morning Karan heard the same thing,
that someone is killing people. "Chineses
People"! Karan got scared. That night Karan went

"the

"The

137

to bed. Santana got - up a took a ribbon and
tried to choke Karan but Karan woke - up in time.
She took a knife and chopped Off the doll’s head
and the was it for the China Doll!

GTIIGE 12:1ci !

Renae - 5th grade

china doll" [Original -- "original"]

there was this big house next door and this couple
had a china doll sitting on there dresser and the
first night the had settled in the went to sleep.
and the china doll came to life the next morning
they found there bodies all sliced up so they
moved there things out of the house except that
china doll when the other couple bought the house
they seen the doll and they kep it and put it in
the same place as the other couple did the next
day they found the next couple laying there and
another couple moved in the same thing happened to
them but the next couple move in they didn’t keep
the china doll they throw it in the fire and they
heard a scream. the End

Frances - 7th grade

China doll." [Retelling -— "Retelling from sister")

One day This girl and her mom where going
threw town and the girl said I want a china doll
so she brib her mom to get it for her so she did.

When she got home she reed all the tags and
one said put me in the addic for a wekk and get me
and I will come to live. So she did.

A week later she was washing her dishes so
she sent her brother up and waited minut. She
thout her brother was having fun with her doll so
she went her sister up and come screaming her
sister screamed when she laufed so she went up and
she sall blood splatered evry where and peaces off
her brother and sister arms, legs, heads she sall
her doll. The doll said I will Kill you to and
her finger nails started growing to her
and...splater, blood evry where.

The
End

138

[This story concludes with a small illustration of
a doll with four very long fingernails on each
hand, one arm raised as if to strike an oncoming
victim.)

Scott — 4th grade

"The China Doll" [Retelling -- "Retelling")

One day this little girl and her mother went
to a china store and they were looking around and
the little girl foun a china doll and asked him
how much it was and he said I wouldn’t by that
doll if I wrow you well I like this doll the girl
said and I want to buy it. Mommy will you buy
this for me yes I will so they took the doll home
then it was dinner and her mom told her to take
her doll to her room then the hole family sat down
for dinner. An a few minuts later the little girl
went in to put her doll in the living room by her
dad then she went in to help her mom do the dishes
in 2 minets her dad got ate up by the one and only
the China doll then she got up and walked away
went in where he brother was and strangled him
went in the kitchen and grabed a knife and stabed
mom and the little girl.

Who was it
the China Doll.

GTFIES
ISIuci
of
them
Natalie - 5th grade
Untitled [Retelling -- "retell"]

About a week ago lisa asked for a china doll
her mother got her one she went upstairs to play
with it. Her mother called her down for dinner no
answer so her mother went upstairs when she got to
lisa’s room the doll was on the bed the t.v. was
on and the girl was dead on the floor so they had
a funerail for her and locked the doll in the
basement one day the dad was home alone and herd
loud noises from downstairs so he went to check
what it was. The mother & Brother walked in they
noticed that the basement door was open and the
light was on so the mother went down stairs the
phone was off the hook & the dad was dead on the

139

floor. So they had a funiral for him they put the
doll in the garbage.

Cfllee
1211c1

Wendi - 5th grade

The talking doll story televised on "The Twilight Zone"
a few years ago has been retold in these next five

variations.

"Talking Tina" [Re-Telling —- "retell"]

This is the house of the Smith’s. Julie Smith,
Susan Smith and the X husband Harry. One day
Susan Smith buys a doll for her daughter Julie.
When harry finds out that Susan bought the doll.
Harry yells you spend all our money on a little
doll for Julie. Just then Julie comes down stairs
and says "daddy look at my new my neat doll she
pulls the string on back of the doll the doll says
My name is Talking Tina and I love you. Instantly
Harry grabs the doll away from Julie and says go
upstairs and don’t come down until I tell you to.
Julie runs upstairs and started to cry. Susan
says to harry why did you take the doll away from
Julie! Harry yells I’m taking this doll back to
the store and getting my money back wheres the
reacet?!!! Susan couldn’t find it so Harry gives
Susan a hard wake acrost the face with the back of
his hand. Then Harry goes down to his work shop
but just before he trys to get rid of the doll he
says these are yours last words Tina he pulls the
string my name is talking Tina and I don’t think I
like you Harry Instanly runs to the drill part of
his shop gets a drill and trys to drill a hole
through Tina but the drill won’t go trough Tina
starts to laugh this makes harry more antios to
get rid of the doll he takes the doll to the vice
he had and put the dolls head it in then he gets
blow tourch and tries to melt the dolls face it
won’t melt Tina starts to laugh harder and says my
name is talking Tina you can’t kill me but I can
kill you she starts to laugh harder then before
Harry puts the doll in a heavy duty glass cupbord
and locks it but the cupbourd had knives, files,

140

and other things like that but just before he left
he looks at Tina and says my name is talking Tina
Ill find you and Ill kill you. The knight Harry
couldn’t go to sleep all of the sudden the phone
rang Harry answered it the voice on the other end
said my name is talking Tina and Im going to kill
you Harry ran downstairs to see if the doll was
still there he opened the cupbourd Tina wasn’t
there harry was going back upstairs to see if
Julie had it the doll but when he looked up the
stairs he saw in the hallways on the night table
was Tina with the knife in her hand pointing strat
at him all of the sudden the window in the
upstairs hallway opened the wind knocked over the
table sending Tina toward Harry the knife in
Tina’s hands dived right into harrys chest Tina
started turning around the knife leting it scoop
out the insides of Harrys chest than Tina took her
hand and dug in into his chest grabing his heart
and ripping it out Harry died instantly The next
morning Julie and her mother scremed at the sight
of her slottered father and sitting right by the
mess was Tina the doll said my name is talking
Tina you better be nice to me. The next day
Julies mom returns the doll about 20 years later
Julies daugter buys an old doll Julie pulls the
string the dolls says my Name is talking Tina do
you remembe me

T

h

end

I only want special effects when Tina speaks.

Yvette - 6th grade

Untitled [Re-telling -- "retelling"]

One time there was a young 11 year baby
sitter and she bought a doll that talked. She
gave it to the kid. Dad did not like the doll so
he put it in the garbage disposal head first.

Just then it went of. SO he tryed his rifle to
blow her head off. But his gun was busted. The
dad got mad and put it in the garbage can. So the
dad got a telephone call. The person said I am
your daughters doll and I am going to murder you.
Suddenly she hung up. He went upstairs to get his
survival knife he was ready. When he came down he

141

triped, the doll got a hold of the knife and the

dad.
1? I1 12 IE IQ I)
Kasey - 5th grade
"The Doll" [Combination -- "retell and original"]

One day Elly Mcgillber wanted a doll. She
was twelve and her parents didn’t think it was
right for a twelve year old to have a doll so they
didn’t get her one. One day Elly saw a very
pretty doll in the store window and decided to buy
it with her own money.

When she got the doll home she took it to her
room and put it in a box which was in her closet.
Then she went downstairs to tell her mother she
was home.

The next day her mother was looking for her
sweater while Elly was at school she wondered if
it had bene put in Elly’s closet by mistake so she
went upstairs and looked through the boxes in
Elly’s closet when she found the doll she decided
she must destroy it so she decided to burn it but
when she put the match to the doll it bouced off
the doll and hit her. She started to burn so she
didn’t notice the doll waddling out the door.

When Elly came home she saw that her house
had burned down and then she saw the doll lying on
the ground as perfect as when she just bought her
except for a sign that said:

Can I go to
the
funeral?
The End
Susan - 5th grade

Untitled [Original -- "Original"]

Once apon a time there was a little girl. She was
almout ten years old. And she didn’t have any
brothers or sisters. She was all alone except for
her mom and dad. She is a very nice girl and had
alot of thouts about her mom and dad for she had
her own dubel bed and her own room. One day she
went down to the basment and found a very old doll
so she brout it upsairs and then she noticed
something very unushul about it and she heard it
say something when she pulled a string. she puled

142

it agine and the doll seid "Hello," and then seid
"How are you" she anserwed fine and then she said
some thing more "My name is Karen. what’s your
name?" she seid my name my name is Katy. Then the
doll seid "Can you feed me?" so Katy seid
sertenley so she set her down and never went down
stairs agine.

TFIIee IEI1C1 !

Beth - 4th grade

Untitled [Original -- "Original"]

One day a girl went up in the attic to
refreshen some Old times. And she found a old
doll of hers that talks. When she held it up it
said remember in Sara Longhorn the one that you
put me up in this dusty old place. And the girl
said yes my mom put you up her. Well the doll
looked mad bicause she was up here all this time
waiting for someone to get her out of the attic
all that time thinging that the girl put her up
here.

So when her mom went up to attic to say it
was long time the doll killed the mom because she
kept her up here all the time. And the girl
screamed and her dad came up saying what happened.
And the doll said I just am about to kill you all.
And so they ran because they saw the old knife in
here hand. So when they went in the kitchen and
took a knife and killed the doll.

no name given - 5th grade

"The Babysitter" Storieg

One of the largest categories of scary stories among
female high school scary storytellers and storywriters is
the grouping of stories referred to in this study as "The
Babysitter" Stories —- stories that either relate the
incidents taking place during a babysitting job experienced

by the storywriter, herself; or stories about another

143

character’s experiences during a particularly fearful
babysitting experience; or the retelling of a very popular
movie with the teenage crowd, "When a Stranger Calls",
released in 1979 by Columbia Pictures. The advertising
blurb for this movie promoted it to the audience saying,
"Every babysitter’s nightmare becomes real...."6

Out of the 202 fourth through eight grade storytellers
in this study, 9 young writers selected "the babysitter" as
the key character in their scary stories; 3 were written by
fourth graders, 2 by fifth graders, and 4 by seventh
graders. Four of the writers were male and 5 were female.
The first story is a true memory of a seventh grade boy as
he recalls how terrified he and his friend were while
watching "When a Stranger Calls" on television. The next
four stories bear a resemblance to the plot of the movie,
and to the widespread version of a story entitled "The
Babysitter" where the intruder is captured by the police
after the children are found murdered in their beds. The
babysitter usually escapes. Each story writer in these four
re-tellings has selected some different elements of focus,
thus creating variants of the basic story. The story
settings are particularly worthy of notice, as are the story
endings since none of the four storywriters solves the

situation in the same manner.

144

Untitled [True -- "True Story")

When I was staying the night with my Friend we
were alone and was watching a movie were a
babysitter was siting two children and and
suddenly she got a phone-call and he said have you
checked on your children Lately and she hug up he
kept call her when he was up stairs. My friend
and me got terified

Troy - 7th grade

"Why Haven’t You Checked on the Children?" [Re-telling --
"Retelling")

I had been babysitting for three hours at

$2:00 an hour. I was watching Joshua and Amanda
Fleece. They had been sleeping for almost an hour
and I was watching television. It was raining

hard outside so I brought Tom, the dog in. He was
soaking wet and getting everything else wet, so I
looked him in the basement. Just as I was coming
up from the basement I heard the phone was
ringing. I ran to answer it because I couldn’t be
sure how many times it had rang. I answered it
but there was nobody there I figured they had hung
up after the rings -- I didn’t hear. "Oh well."

I thought to mysel. "If its important they’ll
call back." Just then the phone rang again.
Smiling to myself because my theory was right, I
answered it. All that was there was the sound of
a very wicked sounding laugh. I figured it was
probably one of my friends playing a joke on me.
"Ok guys. That was really funny. Ha Ha. Now cut
out the vile sound affects and tell me what you
want."

"Molly," came a voice too deep to be any of my 16
yr. Old friends.

"I was just wondering, why haven’t you check on on
the children?" then came the dial tone. I was
shaking as I hung up the phone. "Who could that
have been?" I asked myself. Just then the phone
rang again. I was hesitant about picking it up
but then I thought It might be Mr or Mrs Fleece So
I answer it after the third ring. there atain was
that deep voice. It laughed that wicked laugh
again and asked "Molly! Why hmyen’t you checkeg
on the children?!!" I slammed down the phone and
ran to get Tom. Although he was only a cooker
spanal he was company. As I was coming up the
phone rang again. I answered it. As soon as I
heard that laught I slamed down the reciever.

Then I called the plice. I figured since he had

145

called 3 times maybe they would be able to find
out where the call was coming from. Luckily he
had been on long enough. They told me to stay
calm and would call back when the got the results.
I sat down shocking! The phone rang. It was the
police station. The officer sounded weird. He
said "Molly, try to stay calm."

I said "did you find out where this maniach is
calling from?"

"Yes Molly" said the officer, "The call is coming
from insider the house!!" Just then I heard a
scream come from upstairs Then that wickid laugh.
And then a deep voice that said, "Molly, Why
didn’t you check on the children.

Heather - 7th grade

Untitled [Combination -- "Combination of re-telling &
original"]

"Why did it have to happen to me? Why?! It
could of happened to someone else, but he picked
me. I don’t know why, but he did. He put me in
this awful place!"

"What are you babbling about?" demanded the
attendant.

I stood up and glared at her. "You! I’ll
bet you helped Him!" I screamed.

"What are you talking about? Helped who?",
she asked. When I didn’t say anything she said,
"Oh, you people are going to make me like you one
of these days. Crazy!" As the attendant walked
slowly down the aisle, she felt cold stares pierce
her back as she looked in each cell.

Then and there I decided to get out of that
terrible insane asylum; through the door, through
the glass, through the wall if I had to.

Next day
"I’m going to get out of here!," I screamed.
"NO one can stop me! If you try to stop me I’ll

kill you!"

The person in the cell next to mine said,
"Why do you want to get out of here?"

"So I can win back my sanity.

"How ya gonna do that?"

"By going to my church and praying my heart
out, because I have sinned," I confessed.

"What did ya do?" asked the girl.

"It’s a long story," I replied.

"Well, I’ve got time," she said.

146

"Okay fine! I’ll tell you. You see, I was
babysitting these kids, Ronny, 8, and Peggy, 2
months. They were great kids and I’d never hurt
them, but somehow they did get hurt. Killed
actually. I didn’t do it though, really I didn’t!
See, i had put them in bed and I was sleeping on
the couch when a voice inside my head said,
"Karen, check on the children. Karen, have you
checked on the children! Has something happened
to them! Are they already dead? 80 I ran
upstairs to check on them. I went into Peggy’s
room first. There she was smothered in her crib;
her body was stiff and life less. Yes, it’s true,
she was dead. I didn’t do it! Or at least I
don’t think I did it. Well, then I was really
scared, so I ran into Ronny’s room. On the bed
there was written, in blood, ’Go to the BATHROOM.’
I ran into the bathroom and sitting there, with
his head in the toilet, was Ronny’s dead body.
Someone had drowned him in the toilet. And I
though, ’Maybe I’m next!’ I ran screaming from
the house and that’s why I’m in here."

"Wow! What a story!"

Tyrell - 7th grade
"The Babysitter" [Combination -— "Combo -- retelling,
original"]

One night Kelli was called to babysit for the
Hollerns so she went over to their house at 10:30

pm. The mother said the kids were sleeping and
they would be back in four hours. Kelli said ok
and sat down to watch television. After about

five minutes she heard some noises coming from
upstairs but she just though Ricky got up to get
some water. So she kept watching tv. After
fifteen minutes the phone rang. Kelli answered it
and some one said why don’t you check the children
and Kelli said (thinking it was her boyfriend)
Come on Joe, stop saying that so she said bye and
hung up and went back to watching tv. Ten minutes
later, the phone rang again and it kept ringing
every ten minutes and saying why don’t you check
on the children. Finally Kelli got tired and a
little scared. So she called the operator and
asked her to trace the next call so the operator
said okay then the phone rang a few minutes later,
it was the operator again. The operator said get
out of the house now! Someone is on your upstairs
phone. Kelli left the phone hanging and ran

147

outside. A few seconds later, the police arrived
with guns and rifles so she felt a little safer.
The police went into the house and walked up the
stairs quietly and looked into Ricky’s room and
Ricky had a knife in his stomach. Then they went
into Kim’s room and they saw a guy with a lollypop
in his hand getting ready to stuff it down Kelli’s
throat and Kim was on the floor and she bled to

death.
ffliee
IEIIC1
Susan - 5th grade
"Halloween Night" [Combination -- "original"]

One night a girl named Kim had to come over
to babysit me and my brother. She came over and
my perents left we were watching a scary movie and
the phone rang and the voice said I’m three blocks
away then he hung up we all started to watch the
movie again then 15 min. later the phone rang
again and the voice said I’m two blocks away.

Then in stead of watching the movie we all went to
the window to watch tricker treaters go by. Then
it was gime for me and my brother to go to bed.
so we did. Then the Phone rang again and the
voice said again I’m in the perents room. she
almost got to the stair when she saw a ash fall
down she looked up and the man was holding a sword
and then struck there heads off. Then she
screamed and ran out of the house the man started
to run after her. She got to her friends house.
And called the police and the mean guy kills the
police. I started running got into my car and
left the country.

Lauren - 4th grade

The next story includes some similar features to the
four previous stories. This particular story, labelled as a
"re—telling" by the storywriter, also including phone calls
from the threatening intruder, but this intruder never once

threatens the children. The threat is to the babysitter --

148
and also to the attacker, a character who was not threatened

in the previous stories, nor in the movies.

Untitled -- [Re-telling -- "retell"]
One night a girl name Beth C. was baby
sitting. The phon rang she anserd someone said
bark she hung up. the phone rang agan Someone

said bark she hung up. The phone rang agan
someone said I am coming over now Beth ran up
stairs and hid. He is in the hall he is going up
stairs. there is gum on the stiar. He has a
choice of weopons a gun, knife, rop, and a paper
clip. He take the paper clip and starts looking
for her he finds her and kills her with a paper
clip. Walks down the stars and forgets there is
gum on the stops and fall and dys. The police
come there are pozled case closed.

Chad — 5th grade

Yet another version of "When a Stranger Calls" appears
in the next story. This attacker has been given the name
"the babysitter ax man" and succeeds in doing the work he
sets out to do. He doesn’t rely on the telephone to warn
the babysitter; instead he uses notes and strange music,
carrying out his mission over a period of time and in a

variety of locations.

"My Babysitters" [Combination -- "Combination"]

One night my parents decided they would to
out.

So we had to find a babysitter, we found a
cheerleader from MSU who said, she’d love to
babysit for me.

So that night around 7:00 P.M. are new
babysitter came her name was Kelly.

149

After are parents left Kelly who was very
pretty called her friends to come over there names
were Jennifer and Chris. When they got there they
started playing a game of trival Pursuit why’ll I
watched T.V. sense it was a friday and I didn’t
have school tomorrow.

At about 11:00 P.M. my mother called and said
they would be spending there and woundered if
Kelly could stay with me that night, Kelly said,
"That would be fine."

So about 12:30 P.M. we all got out sleeping
bags and slept in the living room that night Kelly
got up and went to get a bag of derotoes.

Chris was wondering what happened to Kelly sense
she had been gone so long she went to the Kitchen.
Oh my gosh, Jennifer, get in here, There

pinned up against the refigerator was Kelly with
ax thru her and there was a note it said, Beware
of the babysitter ax man!

We were frightened, later we went back to sleep in
the morning I woke up and Jennifer and Chris had
axes in there necks?

I ran outside and waited for mom and dad
finally mom and dad got home.

I showed my mom the babysitters with axes
thru there necks.

We called the police, and moved out as soon
as possible.

When we moved into are new house we were
quite at home I had lots of new friends, on friday
my friend Danielle asked if I’d like to spend the
night, I said, "YES".

SO on friday I went to Danielle’s, her
parents were gone so 2 older girls came over we
were having great fun, until...Karen (one of the
older girls) went to the kitchen to get some food,
tina (the other older girl) went to the Kichen to
get Karen, when she got there Karen was pinned up
aginst the stove with ax thru her neck.

This time I was smart me, Danielle, and Tina
jumped into the car Tina on some musec on, this
music was strange it went like this:

Beware of the babysitter ax man, suddenly
something stabbed all three of us we went in ditch
and we were never found again.

Erin - 4th grade

The final two babysitter stories are listed as true

occurrences by their respective storywriters. Each story

150
plays on the idea of fear of the unknown -- either the
appearance of an unexpected/unknown object or the threats of

unknown sounds and movement.

"The Scay night" [True -- "(true)"]

Once a girls baby siter was babysiting her
and her tow sisters. The babysiter had a friend
over her friend sed she had to leve now. So she
did, "by" she left. The girls were watching T.V.
They sliding glass door was open.

Alove asuden they saw this nift coming in
from the sliding glass door Ohno, said one of the
kids They were scard. They hid under the blanket.

Then the kids told the babysiter, and one of
the kids to go and check to see what was out there

they said. "No ones out here." The kids did not
buleve them so one of the kids whent out. Theres
someone out here if not whats this. It was the

babysiters friend.

Nicky - 4th grade

Untitled [True —- "This story is Real")

One night when I was babysitting at my dada
we went down stairs because Gary left the light
over the pool table one. There’s this suit of
armer down there and could have swore it moved.
Then when we was going upstairs we saw a mouse run
across the Flour. All 4 of us ran up stairs.
When we were watching TV we herd something in the
attice. So me and Gary went up there. We turned
the stairway light on but the light in the Attice
wouldn’t work. So we went into the living room.
When we were geting ready for bed I thought
something was moving up stairs. When we wer in
bed I heard it again. I went in the living room
till someone got home.

Jennifer - 7th grade

"Being Followed" Storieg
One of the smallest groupings of stories in the sample

included stories that focused on characters who had a sense

151
that they were being followed. At the onset of the story
classification, these stories were included with the
"Attack" Stories; however, none of the stories ever dealt
with a full-blown attack. Instead they were concerned
mostly with the pursuit, the feelings and fears involved
when the story’s characters have a clear sense that they are
being followed. Whether the characters are stalked
secretly, whether they only imagine they are being followed,
or whether they actually see their pursuer, every character
must deal with what it feels like to be followed...and how
terrifying that experience can be.

This story grouping includes nine stories: 4 are
written by fifth graders and 5 are the works of seventh
graders. Two of the stories were written by males and 7
were written by females. The first two stories involve
situations where the characters are being followed while
walking in the woods; the next three deal with being
followed along the story characters’ own street in their own
neighborhood, a place that "should" be safe if the
conditions are normal. Then there are three stories that
deal with the sense of being stalked in other familiar,
fairly non-threatening locations -- one in the local
shopping mall, one while walking to the local movie theatre,
and the last in a character’s own home. The final story in
this grouping is a re-telling of "High Beams," a well-known

story among teenagers.

152

"The Shadow" [Original -- "original"]
There was once a boy named Aaron Card. His
nickname was rubber blubber. He was walking in

the forest one day. at about 11:30 PM. He saw a
big ugly shadow behind him. So he started running
and the shadow starting running to them after 15
minutes he fianlly relized that his shadow was
his. It did pay off though. He lost four pounds.

The
End !
Anthony - 5th grade
Untitled [Original —- "Original"]
One day as me and my sister walked home from
school. We got lost in the woods. Then it was
dark 1 said that don’t be friten. Then we saw

alot of bload in the ground. the the wind blew
the leaves and it sounded like some one was

coming. So we went back and saw some house and it
was five blocks to our house.

Then suddenly a mad dog came after us. We
ran home as fast as we can and got home and close
the door. We were scard and we didn’t tell
anybody.

Mary - 5th grade

Untitled [Original -- "Fack Story")

I was on my way to the movie and a big rat
ran out in front of me and my Freind. We didn’t
thingck it would hurt us. But Mike saide it was
following us and I said he was nuts.

But then a few minniutes later I saw it so I
told Mike and he said let’s run the rest of the

way. SO we both run to the movie’s.
When we got their we sat down and forgote all
aboute it. Then the movie started and neither one

of us new what the movie was about.
Then when the movie started and it was aboute
a big black rat.

The
End

Jeff - 7th grade

153

Untitled [True -- "Own Life")

One day I was going to the mall with my mom.
She said meet me in 1 hour at the fountain. I
said fine. Well I started to go in a store.
After I came out I went to the bathrooms. While I
was walking to the bathrooms I saw this man he
look at me in a scary way. When I got to the
bathrooms I saw a sign it said

Cleaning
Closed

So I dieced to go to Burger King to use the
bathroom when I got there I saw that one man
coming out of the bathroom i ran into the
bathroom. I looked myself in until I thought he
was gone I started to walk to Liens Camera Place.
when I was there I saw that man looking into the
jewery store. It looked like he was looking threw
the merrio at me. As some as I got my film I went
to the fountain to meet my mom. I saw my mom
going into another store. I ran up to her and
showed my mom the man she said to just necnor
[ignor] him. When I turned around the man gave me
a mean look and left.

That night I heard very werried noises.

The
End
Beth — 5th grade
"Loud Noises" [Original —- "original"]

One night a guy was walking down his street
to go to the store. Behind him he heard a car
screech. He turned around & nothing was there.
This happened several times that week. The next
day he heard a car screech & he turned around &
again, there was nothing. After a half hour he
heard it again. This time he decided he wasn’t
going to look. Just then a car drove by him
without a driver. After that nothing like that
ever happened again.

Jill - 7th grade

154
"Scarie Story" [True -- "true"]

Once when I was at My freinds house for a
meeting and it started to get dark out side and
the wind started to Blow and the tree’s were
moveing all around. And I had to walk home from
there house. And I was skart of goast and people
out there to get me. It came time for me to leave
and I got skart and then I ran all the way home.
And when I got there my parents and my Bothers and
sisters were there and I though that was dumb of
me to Be skart of that.

Lacey - 7th grade

"The fear of the unknown" [Original -- "this is not real"]

One day I was walking down the street with my
friend from school. I asked Her if she felt
weard? She said yes. I said I did to. We both
looked around but there was nobody behind us so we
turned back around & kept on walking but we still
felt weard. We finally got to my house But my
friend still had to go to her house. She told me
she did not want to go unless my mother took her
so we looked for my mother & we finally found her
& told her but she said not to wery but since it
was a Friday night she could spend the night over
if her mother would Let her so she called her
mother & mother said it was OK to spend the night
so she did & we were still skared but we did what
my mother sait to not wery about it so we ate
dinner & watched tV but all that was on was skary
movies so we went to bed. We wolk up the next
morning & thought some one was in my bedroom &
watch us the whole night & as we started walking
out of my room the door locked 7 we herd a voise
that said you will not leave this room I screamed
for my mother but she could not hear us we were
stuck in there until death wich was 1 year later.

Kelly - 5th grade

Untitled [True -- "true storie")

It was 9:30, time for Amys favorite T.V.
program - Night Court. Amy ran down the stairs,
flipped on the T.V. and jumped on the couch to get
comfortable.

155

10:00

"What do you need sinus pain,? Sine-off
Sineoff....." the T.V. sang. Amy turned off the
T.V. and wa heading upstairs for a snack. ’Thats
odd,’ she thought ’Molly never barks." Amy
skipped up the stairs to find her dog barking
ferociously and wildly jumping at the front door.
Amy peared thru the kitchen window where she had a
good veiw of the front porch. Standing there was
a stocky man wearing all black clothes. "Why is
Molly acting so weird’ Amy thought as she headed
for the front door to see what the man wanted.

As Amy neared the door Molly ran at Amy. Her
normally big soft brown eyes were red and in
slits. Her mouth pulled up at the sides into a
sinister growl. Molly pushed Amy back into the
kitchen and again started pounding on the front
door. Amy peared thru the window again. The man
had opened the screen door and was trying to open
the front door. Any just then remembered she had
forgoten to lock the front door.

Amy, panic-stricken, did not use the phone to
call a neighbor but crouched close to the floor
begind the counter where her dog pushed her. Amy
heard a car, she stood up a looked thru the
window, a car drove by her house a slowed to stare
at the man at the door. Immediatly the man fled
away from the house. Molly let a final bark and
came over to AMy and started licking her hands and
face. Amy stood up and walked to the front door
and as fast as she could she looked the door. Amy
then vowed she wold never be at home alone without
Molly. ’If it was’nt for Molly’ Amy thought, ’I
might not be here to make this vow.’

Whitney - 7th grade

Untitled [Combination -- "Combination - retelling/
Original")

It was a dark & stormy night. You could hear
the wind howling. My grandpa said this was a
perfect night to tell The High Beams. Grandpa
told me to go to the kitchen to get hot chocolate
while he got the blankets. When I had returned
the lights were dimmed, and four candles were
burning. "000!" I said a little scared.

I sat next to Grandpa, on the sofa.

"High beams" Grandpa began.

"Grandpa, What dye high beams?" I asked
eagerly.

156

"Well, er, high beams are the bright head
lights on a car."

"OK" I said satisfied.

"Well, anyway, there was this lady driving in
her car, she must of been in her late twenties or
early thirties. She had to go to the grocery
store and buy a few things, then this red pick-up
pulled up next to her parked car. the person
driving the red pick-up was Mr. Owens. Anyhow, he
saw this creepy man creep into the lady’s car next
thing ya knew Mr. Owens was driving right behind
this lady. The lady was driving on a desserted
road, and was suspicious of the pick-up behind
her. Once in a while Mr. Owens would flash on his
high beams, then turn them off. Fortunately the
lady’s house was at the end of the road. she got
in the driveway, she dashed out of the car and
called the police. by the way, Mr. Owens was
parked in front of the house. In two minutes the
police had come. The lady said to the police
"this man (Mr. Owens) has been following me, and

I’m scared." Mr. Owens said calmly "Officer, I
don’t think it’s me that you want, It’s,’ -- he
walks over to the lady’s car door and opens it,
"him that you want!!’ On the backseat is a crazy
man with a knife! ’I saw him get into your car
while you were inside, that’s why I’ve been
following you, and flashing on my highbeams.’ Now,

that’s the end of the story, Kiddo! Off to bed!"
Grandpa said with a soothing voice.

Jendy - 7th grade

"Thoge That Defy Clmggificmtion" Storieg

One of the largest groupings of stories in this study
includes those stories that didn’t fall neatly into one of
the other seven categories already discussed. Within this
broad category are a group of 36 scary stories spanning a
broad range of concerns; 9 written by fourth graders, 10 by
fifth graders, 15 by seventh graders, and 2 by eighth
graders. Twenty of the stories were written by male

writers, 15 by females, and one story had no author’s name

157
listed. Some of these stories are definite retellings of
well-known scary tales (e.g. "The Golden Arm"), while others
are retellings of not-so-well known tales. Some are
retellings of movies the storywriter has seen at the theater
or on television, and others are reportings of true
situations from the storywriter’s life --situations when

fear was not fiction.

"The Golden Arm" [Retelling -- "re-tell")

Once upon a time, there lived a man named
Joseph. His wife, Karla, had been in a car
accident and her arm had been cut off. Joseph
bought her a golden arm.

Then one day he killed her. When they buried
her he went and took the golden arm. When he got
home he put it under his pillow. He tried to go
to sleep, but he couldn’t.

At midnight he was still awake when the ghost

of his wife came in. She said, "You have
something of mine." But he didn’t pay any
attention. He said "Where are your beautiful
eyes?" "in the grave." "Where is your golden
hair?" "In the grave." "Where is your golden
arm?" "Under the pillow!" And she took the arm.
But after that Joseph never got one wink of sleep.
The End.

Jenni - 4th grade

"The Golden Arm [Retelling - "retell"]

Once upon a time there was a couple that lived in
an Old big house. The wife had had her arm cut
off and she has a golden arm to replace it and
every night she makes her husband promise that
when she dies he won’t dig up her golden arm.
Every night he promises. While, when she dies he
goes and digs up her golden arm. And that night
he hears a voice that says this "You devil you.
You promised you wouldn’t did up my arm. Go put
it mack NOW!!"

158

And right away he put it back in the grave
and moved away.

The End

no name given - 5th grade

"Haunted House" [Re-Telling -- "original)

A man named Charlie with his dog. He had a
suitcase and he saw a house that was dasleded he
got un packed the he was very tired so he went to
bed and the dog slept under the bed and then he
heard drip drip drip he stuck his hand under the
the bed and the dog licked him. Then he heard it
again drip drip drip he went down stairs nothing
was driping so he went back upstairs then he it
again so he went all the way downstairs it got
louder he opened the door and his dog head was
hanging and blood was dripping and a sighn said
for liking to

Lauren - 4th grade

"Bloody Bones" [Re-Telling -— "retelling"]

On upon a time you and dad and you were walking
down the stret he louvd you and told story about
Bloody Bones. Bloody Bones was a old man if he
cought you by hiss house he woul loke you i his
seller and then kill you one time he cought a boy
he loked him In his seller and started to kill the
boy but the boy killed him in sted and that is the
end of the old Bloody Bones

Clint - 5th grade

"Bloodie fingers" [Re-Telling -- "re told")

One night at 3:00 AM in the morning This guy was
walking he heard somthing in the woods. It was
really dark and then a man jump out of the bushes
and choped of the mans head his figuers were all
bloodie and boned. but his eyes were hanging out
of his head and then he ran all the way to his
hiden place but when he got thier on his way he
saw a girl crying he went over and said my name is

159

bloodie fingers. I want to eat you. And the
little girl scream A man saur him eating her up.

The
End

Robert — 7th grade

Untitled [Combination -- "retell"]

Once this guy was betting this young kid that
his litter would light 10 times. If it didn’t the
guy would get the kids pincky finger and if he did
he would get a car they to the guys apartment. He
asked the bell boy for a bucket, bucher knife and
a bag of ice.

The bell boy brought it back and he said
thinks and close the door the kid lit it
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, he was on his last one 10. the
door open and the guy wong the bucher knife and
mist the lady comes down the stair and siad to the
"I won it all." She only had two fingers left on
bouth hands.

Troy - 5th grade

9

"bloody ten fingers' [Original -- "original"]
One full moon night a girl was walking down

to her piano lenssen class. Her name was Jenny,
she was 14 years old. She was the best piano
player in Rainbow Middle school. One thing
strainge about Jenny is; she likes to go some
place a mide night. She always goto school 4:00
A.M. to practice piano. She didn’t have her own
piano in her house. One night gym teacher had to
correct the test at the school. So he had to stay
over night to correct the test. About 12:30 A.M.
he felt thursty, so he went go get drink and hear
beutiful piano sounds comes from music room. He
notice that music teacher had left school about
5:00 P.M. and Jenny gets school at 4:00 so he
wonderd who was playing piano. Of course he
didn’t have key but, about after 5:00 P.M. all the
rooms used to be open specially music room
because Jenny had to practice a 4:00 A.M. and
nobody gets school that early. He was a little
bit scared but he grabed flashlight and went to
music room. Unfortunately the door was locked.

160

But, there was a window over the door so he decide
to look over the window.

"Oh my god!" he felt because bloody fingers
are moving on the piano keys. He ran down to
office and took his jacket and sat on his chair.
Some how he went to sleep. Next morning he
explained the princple and they made plan to stay
over night. Again beutiful piano music comes from
music room. Pricple and gym teacher was playing

chess. Finally gym teacher heard the music and
yell
"That’s it!"
"Can you hear the music?" gym teacher said.
"I sure do!" Priciple said.

They were kind of scared but, they grabed flash
lights and walk to music room. They look at
window. Again bloody ten finger were moving. But
they decide to see where it’s from and how they’re
going to stop it. It was about 4:00 A.M. Jenny
should be here by now but, bloody ten fingers are
stopped and whole body showed up! It was Jenny.
She looked at these teachers and talked real

softly.
”As all you know 1'- Jenny and I’m not normal
people like you are. Some one killed me about ten

years ago and hide my body behind this pinno, no

if you take my body out of here and bury me under

ground these thing won't hnpn.”
And she disappear. Next moring Pricple and gym
teacher barried Jenny under ground and nobody say
those bloody ten fingers again.

Chulkya - 7th grade

"A Scary Scare" [Combination -- "original"]

One day a serten girl went in to the bathroom
and turned off the lights went to a mirror put
flashlight on her face and began to say something
over and over again. When she was all she came
out with scares all over her body.

The
End
Ri - 7th grade

Untitled [Re-Telling -- "Original"]

There’s a boy and his mom only had 350 and
They wanted some liver. And he went to a semetay

161

to get a peace from a mummy and he payed her and
she asked him for the knife and she cut his liver
and ate it a siad were even now.

Jason - 7th grade

"WHO StoLED MY LiVER" [Re-telling -- "original"]

Tom and Brian where out sade playing when Brians
mother called him. Brian can you go and git me

some liver for dinner. Yes mom said Brian. Mom
ccan Tom go to asck Brian. you will have to go
and asck his mother said Brians mom.

So Tom and Brian wint to asck Tom mom. Mom,

said Tom can I go with Brian to the store for
Brians mom. Yes you can but stay to gether.

Brian and Tom were walking. And all the
suden Brian said Tom I think I’ll bey some wheels
for my Hot wheels cars!! Forgeting all about the

liver he haed to get for his mother.

So they whint and bought the wheels. Tom cryed
out whith fer. Brian you forgot to buy the liver.
Oh no said Brian. So they went to the grav yard
and haed two sovels. And dug up someone and tuck
the liver. And Brian invite Tom over to eat and
stay a night. And the person they tuck the liver
from came back to get them.

C.J. - 4th grade

Untitled [Re-Telling —- "Retelling")

Theiars a man who Loves katup and he wonders why
its filled up beccus he used half a bottel a day
and one day he stayed up. he hied in the cubert
the man has one of his hands cut off and it bleads
and the man scan the blood drip in the bottole.
the next day he throw the bottle away.

Paul - 7th grade

Untitled [Re-Telling -- "Re-telling")

One night when two kids were alone the phone
rang the little boy awensered it I am the Vindow
Vipper and I am coming at 10:00 P.M.

So the little boy and girl were scared and
they didn’t know where their mom or dad was. So
the were realy scared because the time was 9:50.

"The

"The

162

So the ran upstiars went into their moms room and
hid.

But they forgot to lock the front door. 30
at 10:00 the door bell rang nobody awens it so he
walked in he knew they were up stairs so he went
up the first step and said "I am on the first
step. So he went on like that all the way up the
stairs. When he got to their moms room and
knocked on the door and said "Where are you?" So
they came out and he said "Hi I’m the Vindow
Vipper would you like your Vindows Viped?"

Allison - 5th grade

Black Coffen" [Re-Telling - "retelling"]

One dark Halloween night a lady named, Amy,
was coming home from her friends house. She had
gone there because a few month ealey her husben
died in a car axceadent.

It was fri. the 13. She had a eerie feeling.
when she was home she got a phone call and a deep
scary voice said, "Black coffen 1 mile away." she
got scared because her husben was barried in a
black coffen and 1 mile away.

The next night she got another phone call and
again a Deep, Scary, voice said, "Black coffin 1
blocks away," she got even more scared. so she
called the police and F.B.I.

"Black Coffin, 5 door steep." Black coffin
right behind you." "Black coffin, your dead.

TFlnee IEIIC1

Rachel - 4th grade

’Ghost’ of ’Mable Fable’" [Re-Telling -- "retell"]

One day a guy about 60 walked into a hotel
and said "Can I have a room?"

"There’s only one, but it has a ghost in it,"
answered the clerk.

"I’m not scared of ghosts, so I’ll take it,"
said the guy.

He walked in and saw money on a table, he
went to it and put it in his back pocket.

The ghost came out and said, "I’m the ghost
of Mable Fable and I say the money stays on the

"The

163

table!" So, the man jumped out the window and was
"dead."

The next day a guy about 19 walks in and
takes the same room. He sees the money on the

table and picks it up. The ghost comes out and
says "I’m the ghost of Mable Fable and I say the
money stays on the table." He jumped out the
window and he was "dead."

The next day a boy about 11 walks in and
takes the same room. He goes to the room, sees
the money on the table, and pickes it up. The
ghost comes out and says "I’m the ghost of Mable
Fable and I say the money stays on the table.

The boy stares at him and says "I’m the ghost
of Davy Crocket and I say the money stays in my
pocket."

So, the ghost jumped out the window and was
never seen again.

The End

Mitch — 5th grade

Ghost of Mackinac Bridge" [Re-Telling —- "Retelling")

When they were first building the mackinac bridge
and laying the underwater foundation the crew was
short of men to finish the job so Manny the

director went to hire some more men. Among the
ones he hired was Joe. Joe was well lets say
plain. Being average height, brown blunt cut hair

and an ordinary face he didn’t stand out in the
crowd. But, Joe did have a kind hear, he was soft
and gentle to his new wife and one-year old son.
St. Igneaous that was right by the new bridge was
home to many of the workers including Joe and
Manny. Since Joe was not fortunate enough to have
a car Manny Joe, Same and Alain all rode to work
in Manny’s car. One day a few weeks after Joe was
hired a ferocious rainstorm was happening just as
they began pouring the wet cement down the shift
to the foundation around the forms to create a
tunnel going under water. The tunnel would be
used as a source of maintance and support for the
iron skeleton of a bridge. Well Manny and Joe got
in a huge argument over if they should pour the
cement.

"No, Manny," said Joe gripping to a pole so he
wouldn’t get thrown, "Were not going to pour
today" "Oh yea? Whos director here? Me! And

when I say pour we’ll pour!"

164

"Calm down" Joe said letting go of the pole and
moving closer to Manny and the open shaft that
fell for thousands of felt to a hard cement
bottom. Joe looked down and became rather dizzy
and swayed of his feet. Grabbing another support
beam Joe felt better.

"It’s alright if you pour but I dont want to"
"fine you’re fired"

"What!" said Joe letting go.

Manny flung a hand back to dismiss Joe but hit his
right shoulder instead throwing him a few feet
back. Joe caught his balance. Just then he
looked back and say the shaft, swayed w/his weight
and fell in the shaft a long scream carried him
down, down, down.‘ Then a horryifying sound, the
sound I’m invisable to you. But I can see you!"
"Who! Who are you!"

"Many" the voice said softly then louder" Many
you killed me!

"I’m Joe!"

"I didn’t mean too!" Manny wailed.

"Oh Manny Manny Many"

Manny jumped Off the bridge just then two guys w/
a tape recorder came up. It was a joke but Manny
didn’t think so. Now theres two ghosts on the
bridge not just one.

Jada - 7th grade

Two young story writers based their scary stories on a
real incident that occurred to them -- a tornado. One Of
the stories relates the tornado experience as the author
remembers it. ’The other story combines a real tornado
experience with some new details. Is it possible to tell
which story is true and which one is the combination of

truth and fiction?

"The Tornado" [Combination -- "Combo"]

Once upon a time there was a day when there was no
sun outside. It was raining all day long. We saw
lightning, then we heard thunder again, and again,
and again we heard on the T.V. that there was a
tornado watch in affect until 3:00 p.m. It was

165

12:00 P.M. now, it has 3 hours to get here. An
hour after we watched the T.V., there was a
tornado warning, it was in ingom county, and we
live in Baton County. It was 8 miles away from
us, it was by the airport. We went down stairs,
after 3 hours the tornado went the other way. I
was relived.

The

End

Carol - 5th grade

"A stormy night" [True —— "A true story!"]

One hot sumer night my sister and I slept in
our tent. We had my radio, a flashlight, & a
sleeping bag & a pillow.

The night was nice, but around 11 o’clock it
got windy and later on it got so windy and it
started to storm.

My parent came to get us, but all of the a
sudden the tent flipped. We trapped but my
parents got us out. I ran out with my radio. We
were ok.

The rest of that night my dad, sister, & I
stayed up listened for tornado watches.

The End
Beth - 5th grade
Untitled [Original -- "original"]

In the winter of 1832, before most inventions
of cars were made, there was an old, made up story
that will make you think two before you build a
snowman:

In an old house, there were the family of the
Reynold’s. They had no fortunes or money, they
didn’t have any type of transportatiion, so they
hdad to walk to place to place.

One day the smallest boy in the family, John,
got ready for school and started walking out the
door. He started walking as the snow crunched
under his feet. The he walked towards the
shortcut that he had made. He hit what felt like
a rock under his feet. He always trips trying to
get overrocks, so he figueres it’s just snow and
he jumped on it. He heard it crack, but he was
not done. He put all his weight into it and he
felt is smush all over. He wondered what it was
to he digged it up. It looked like a
scarecrow,...He uncovered the rest of it. He saw

166

a body of a man; but his head was missing. John
screamed once, but didn’t run. He uncovered the
smushed "rock" he tried to move...There layed an

eye, nose, and a tongue and a sticky fluid keeping
it cemented together. He fainted and fell in the
snow.

The next day the older brother got on his way
to school...John was missing but he figured he
went to the neighbor’s.

He got stuck on one part, it was a rock, he
decided it was snow and tried to smush it.....

Greg - 7th grade

I have grouped the next three stories together because
each one of them include a focus around water. In the first
story the two characters are sleeping on a boat immediately
prior to their scare. In the second two stories, the
characters end up in the water -- one by choice, the other

out of fear.

Untitled [Combination -- "real and retell")

Hi I’m going to tell you a scarey story that
happened to me. Me and my brother were at our
boat asleep when my brother tapped me on my
shoulder. He said he had to go to the bathroom
but he was scared. So I went with him. We got
their and he went in and just as he went in I
heard some moving in a trach can. I backed up a
little bit. Then I got enough guts to look in the
trash can. I put one hand on the barrel and I
felt something wet. I had blood on my hand. I
backed up a little bit and bumped into my brother.
The next morning a siren woke me up. A police car
was parked in front of the trash can. I went and
asked what was going on and he said I don’t know.
He looked in the barrel and then I did. Their was
nothing there. I told the police officer what had
happened and I think he believed me. Thank G-d.
But he still didn’t know what was going on.

167

Suddenly we hear a scream from a traler. I don’t
know what happened.

Adam — 5th grade

Untitled [Combination -— "I herd it before true")

I was at a lake and I herd a gay who had a
wagon whit some hourse and he was dieing. So the
mane had to kill himself because he good not live
with that concouse on himself. So the next day he
loaded his wagon up with rocks and his hourse.

And road them into the lake. And avcorse he
didn’t live. And I herd sometimes at 12 at night
you can see and hear him.

Ricky - 7th grade

Untitled [no category given]

Old man gilly used to live in a shack on gilly
swamp in Charleston S.C. until one of the camps’
cabin and counselor decided to give him a scare.
They walk up to the shack dressed in sea week and

other plants. the kids and the counselor gave Old
man such a scare that that he jumped clear into
the lake.

Its been said that if you go into the lake
old man will suck your guts bone dry. And also if
you happen to go to that camp don’t every go in
cabin 3.
firliee

eerlci
Kipp - 5th grade
Four young storywriters focused on fears resulting from
falling into a bottomless pond or a deep hole or travelling
into a tunnel. Each of these scary stories touch on the
"fear of the unknown" -— one of the most common fears

expressed by the storywriters in all story categories.

168

Untitled [True - "true"]

"THE

"The

Over By Delton there is a Bottomless pond. One
night me and my bother went down to it to see if
it was really bottomless. My bother and I were
scared at first because we kept hearing these
noises. He kept looking back to see if there was
anybody behind use. There wasn’t. We got to the
pond and was ready to go in to see if it was
bottomless. But before we went in we saw
something come out of the water and go back under.
We decided to wait and see if we see it agian. We
did and it bit my bothers foot and he pulled it
out and on the end was a trutle.

13363

Ehnci
Gary - 7th grade

HOLE" [Original -- "original"]

One day I was walking home from school and
all of a sudden, WHAM! I fell to the bottom of a
fifty foot deep hole. I tried scaling my way out,
but every time I was one foot from the top, grease
would squirt out from the walls and I would land
flat on my back. So one day I dug a tunnel with
steps with my school book. When I got out, I woke
up!

Bob - 8th grade

Night Before...." [Combination -- "Combination"]

One night I was outside playing baseball when
I hit the ball in the field and I went in the
field when it rolled down a bill.
It was dark down in the mouth of the hill then the
ball rolled in a hole. Well I wanted the ball
that my (girlfriend, as I lied to my mom one day).

I jumped in the hole. I crawled down the tunnel
(luckly I had a flashlight). I saw the ball as it
rolled down the tunnel when the tunnel stopped and
there was river.

I fell in the river and there was a strange
looking fish. "Huh! those are pirhanas"! as I
yelled. I swam to the side of the river, but
there was waterfall and I fell in?

169

Then I fell right on my moms car. And so I got in
the car and then it wasn’t my moms car and this is
what looked like a (*@@#@@**@***@*) and that’s
what I looked like.

He got a knife, he threw it at me and I died (but
it was a dream).

The
End

Alec - 4th grade

"The Stinky Suer" [no categorey given)

Dec. 12, 1807 as I recall. That was the
coldest winter in that century. Well anyway I new
some people, (my mother and father,) who were poor
and had no money to take care of me. So i ws sent
to my Grandma’s House. These nice people were
just kicked out of of there house and sent away on
a bus with 30 people riding on it. All of a
sudden? the bus got a flat tire in the rain, and
in a ditch! They didn’t have a spare so they
decided to get out and look around. My father
found a hole and a black tunnal under it. They
decided to go in it...All of the people decided
that they whould go in it...

Jodi - 4th grade

The next two stories just didn’t seem to match up with
any other stories in the entire collection of 202 scary
stories. The first of these is an original story involving
a fear of seeing something and not being able to identify
what it is. The second story is based on a true incident
where someone is mysteriously running up long distance calls
on the family phone bill. This young storywriter has
inserted his own perception of what it could mean. In true

fourth grade style, "it could mean blood and guts," although

170
just how that gore is tied in with the mysterious phone bill
is never quite revealed. Perhaps that’s part of the fear --
one never knows how the telephone company will retaliate

when long distance bills aren’t paid!

"HALLOWEEN" [Original -- "original"]

It was a dark, cold night at the end of
October. There was no light anywhere, except for
the street lights that showed out of the darkness.
Suddenly, off in the distance, I saw a faint
glimmer of light. This sparkle was followed by
more and more glimmers. The whole street was
quickly lit with hundreds of tiny lights. As I
stared at the small light closest to me I saw that
it resembled a face. I quickly looked about,
noticing that all of the lights were faces peering
at me out of the darkness.

The speed of my heartbeat intensified as I

began to pale. Out of the darkness a monster
climbed a step and rung a doorbell! The door
opened and I heard a shout, "Trick or treat!" My

heartbeat slowed down and my color returned as I
thought, "Oh year, it’s Halloween."

Eric - 8th grade

Untitled [Combination —- "1. own life 2. original"]

one night we got a phonebill that had all these’s
strange place’s. one was new Jersy, El paso
texes, orlando Florida, Iowa Iowa city. My mom
called El paso texes to se if they new somebody in
Lansing, Michigan but didn’t. My mom looked on
phonebell again and about four of them were on the
night that they bowl. My mom an dad bowl at 8:30
but these’s phonecall’s were at 10:30 so somebody
could of broke in. You now what that means.

It could mean blood and guts. Somebody could
take an ask [ax] and cut off hour hands. They
could of took a jacknife and cut hour eye’s out.

We got some other one’s that we were not even home
on labor day weekend.

TFIIea IEIIC1

Chad - 4th grade

that happened to you (or to someone you know quite well),
the focus of these next five scary stories.
while quite real, also are popular settings for the original

stories written by the fourth through eighth

True life fears,

171

study sample. Whether it is a true incident or a

fictionalized account, being frightened can, and does,

anywhere -- near the local supermarket, in a basement,
kitchen, and even in the comfort and safety of your very own
bed.

Untitled [True —— "true"]

There was onece a group of kids they were at
the supper market and I pulled up on my bike and
they stole it I was very skard I ran after them
and I seen one of my friends and I told him to
stop them people he did I got my bike back.

David - 7th grade
"The story of my own life" [True -- "a true story"]

Once I was going to the story with my mom and dad
when we came back we started making supper and
then we got a call it was a bad call well me mom
picked up the phone and some people said that her
dad has had a heart attack and fell to the ground
and died then my mom started crieing because it
was very unhappy even I started crieing to because
he was my grandpa and my best grandpa to and I
loved him. Well after that I was very sad and I
always cried once in awhile and I still do because
he is dead in real life of my own.

{I17kiea}

‘{IErnc1}'
Lanissa - 4th grade

being frightened by a real incident

The settings,

graders in this

172

"about scaring my sister" [True -- "true"]

one day I was in the Basement and my sister comes
Down stairs it is Dark and I was Hiding in Her
Bedroom closet and She comes in and sits on Her
Bed. And reads a book then my Bruthe comes and He
sees me I Told Hi to Be Qiuet so He did. Then my
sister left I am still in the closed when she left
then I Hang up a Poper Obuve the door then I took
some green slow in the dar stuff and Hug it above
the door enyway She comes down stiars and open’s
the Door It fell and Hit the floor and it Pop and
scares Her out of He wits then the green she sees
the green stuff and it fell and Hit her on top of
The Head and scares her out of Her wits so Fin all
She saw me

Mike - 7th grade

Untitled [True -~ "true"]

"The

I was in am bed. I looked up at my closet. I
cood see some think out of the corner of my eye.
I looked straeat it was a lady with a wite dress
on it scard me so bad that I puld the covers over
my head. I tuck tham back down it was gone.

Ben — 5th grade

teahcher’s Old House" [True -- "This is a true story")

One night I went to bed this just so happened
to be Frecky Fri. Well enyway I went to bed at
about 8:00 P.M. I was asleep Four about an hour
when suddenly I wook up. The room was pict black
you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.
I was so druged out because I had a asthma atacck
and my ey’s had swollen up. Well enway like a
fool I thought I was in my Grand parent’s
moterhome so four anether hour I keep on looking
four the lighel swicth but I went in my clothsit.
And then a ther I screemed Louder than any girl
could wish for. My mom and Dad raced out of ther
room (my Mom thot it took Dad one step to get out
the dor). I was crying so hard I gave my self
another asthma atack (by the way this was in Mrs.
Brendahl;s old hous). I was still crying by the
time my dad got me out. My mom had Goose bump’s
all over her because my clothing is rat under the

173

door and she thought sombudy took Off withe me.
And that’s the way it happend.

Jeany - 4th grade

This next story takes place in a kidnapper’s house but
was included in the "Stories That Defy Classification"
category rather than the "Haunted Places" category because
much of the fear in the story is based on the young
kidnapped boy’s fear of heights. The kidnapper’s house is
frightening because of its location -- high up in the
mountains at the edge Of a cliff. And, if that isn’t scary
enough for someone who is terrified of heights, the room the
kidnapped boy is placed in is all windows! The kidnappers
in this story really knew how to intensify the situation.
This particular scary story is the only story in the entire
sample that centered on a kidnapping incident and the

ensuing rescue attempt as the plot development.

Untitled [Original -- "original"]

Once there was this kid who was afraid of
heights. One day he got kidnaped. these people
that kidnaped lived high up in the mountains on
the edge of a cliff. the room they put him in was
all window, the windows faced the cliff. It was
about 1-1/2 miles down. One day his parents where
out looking for him. when the saw a house on the
mountaning aout a 1/2 mile away.

The dad went back and got some guns. He went
back to the house broke in and got his son. the
kidnappers wernt home at the time.

When they did get home the kids father Put
them at gun point. He tied ropes to there feet
and put them about twanty feet down he left them
there.

174

At the hous that the kidnappers lived every year
you can hear them scream!

Allen - 7th grade

The last three stories in this category are stories
about telling scary stories. The first one relates the
storying incidents that take place when friends tell each
other spooky ghost stories at a slumber party. The second
story tells about a stepsister and her friends as they tell
the much younger sister some ghost stories during a visit to
a graveyard. The last "story within a story" is told to a
ten-year-Old by her Grandpa while they are settled in front
Of the fire. All three stories relate tales of times "when
nightmares were as real as shadows" and each one haunts the

listener in its own memorable way.

Untitled [Combination -- "combination -- real and fiction")

I was having slumber party with my friend. Just
for fun, we decided to tell each other spooky
ghost stories. We turned out all the lights to
give the fearful atmosphere. My friend had a
flashlight below her chin as the dim light colored
her face ghostly white. We opened the window so
that the curtains would mysteriously fly flapping
wildly and the cold air would chill our spine with
goosebump all over sitting in the center of the
hugh living room my friend began her ghost story
in a deep, quiet voice I’ve never heard of.

"There was a sickling boy with his loving father
besides him telling ghost stories." Her cold, sly
eyes stared at mine. Those evil eyes made me cry
out in horror. But my voice sunk deep inside me,
hiding. "Then the ghost story was abruptly
interrupted by a sudden boom." She paused;
waiting. Then it came the flashing lightening
wiring and streaking out of the window, shadowing
the trees into desperate clawing hands reaching
for me. "An angel appeared and turned them, "DO

175

not open the door!" she said in a strenthened
voice. "The angel left, leaving only foggy smoke
behind." The lightning struck again but the

shadowing hands seemed to reach closer.

"Suddenly, they heard. Footsteps slowly but
rythmically steadily climbing the stairs."
Surprisingly, I heard footsteps approching slowly
and rythemically. I felt startled. My eyes
bewildered with frightful fear. My heart raced
faster and faster pouncing hard against my chest.
Cold chill ran up my spine. I wanted to run but I
froze like icy ice. The frightening silence
surrounded me. The silence that can’t scream with
fear, won’t scream with fear. All but silence.
The huge livingroom rippled the sharp tapping
sound from the door. Then a voice called out,
making me jump out of the freeze. "Pizza
delivery!" Just then I remembered. I had ordered
pizza for dinner. I felt wonderfully relieved but
still shocked never again did I want to listen to
spooky stories, Never again.

Lyona - 7th grade

Untitled [Re-Telling -- "Retelling")

One time when I was five years old my older
step sister (she’s 17) took me to the grave yard
along with some of her friends. We were there for
about 5 minutes and then my sister started to tell
ghost stories. She started. Once upon a time
there was an Old man named Harry Johnson and all
the kids just called him Scary harry! Anyway he
lived in an old broken down house that sat on
Shady Lane Drive, some peopl say that at 12:30
sharp all lights in his would come on and you
would hear one really loud scream then all the
lights would go out again. Then one night Scary
Harry’s mother went to see him, but nobody every
seen her again. Then an old an lonely man that
lived next door went over to Scary Harry’s to
investigate. He opened the door and very slowly
started to walk inside, he starte very slowly up
the circle stairs when he got to the very top he
felt something dripping on his head. He looked up
and saw Scary Harry’s mother’s head without a
body! A couple years later Scary Harry visited
the grave yard. He walked up to a grave stone and
read

176

Old man Kroger
1777 - 1850
Died of : Heart attack and
a terrible fall from a
circle stair case.

Then my sister told me to look at the grave stone
I was sitting on and it was Old man Krogers.

Stacy - 7th grade

Untitled [Original -- "Original"]

The night was cold and damp, and the window
stood ajar causing a chilling affect to come over
the tiny house. I sat quietly on the hearth
stroking my cat and watching my grandpa intently
as he told me a tale of a time when nightmares
were as real as shadows, shadows that sent fear
ringing through the minds of all. The fire burned
slowly etching a light onto grandpas scarred face,
mother had told me not to talk with him for as she
said he was a skitzafrenic and dangerous. But I
was 10 years old and not known for being scared,
especially of my grandpa. "Where yer mother
yoiung lassie?" Grandpa inquired.

"Grandpa I’ve tole yer she went to the
hospital for some tests don’t yer remember?" I
asked impatienly, I wanted to char the story.

"So I do, So i do. Well youngen, I’m goin’n
to tell yer a story, and don’t yer be getting
scared on me like yer ole ma did, she don’t have
the bones for it"

Silence crept over the room, for I dared not
say a word exposing the subconcience fear
developing inside me.

"A long time ago, when I were just a lad not
much Older than you here, a strange incident
occured, a body was found missing in a graveyard
it was though to be a member of our family. the
strange part of it was, that we didn’t have a body
of our deceased in that graveyard, or so I
thought. Well my ma and pa left that after noon
and promised to be back just after supper. I was
quite a weak one then and terribly frightened of
the creatures that might enduce me during their
absence." Grandpa paused to take a breath as I
shuddered to myself despite the warm fir dimily
ablaze beside me.

"Go on Grandpa." I whispered, "Yes child, yer
grandpa just needs a rest. As I were saying, the

177

time of my parents departure, I went through a
little melo drama within myself but then I started
gettin preoccupied with makin supper and decided
to calm myself until they got home. I waited for
2 hours straight, pacing crying and praying they
was a comin. Well soon enough my insides got the
best of me and forced me to grap my courage by the
throat, and use it. I walked out of the house and
into the camp atmosphere, ready to start the 3
mile journey to the dreaded graveyard of the past.
I walked onto the dirt road every so cautiously as
if not to awaken the dangers of the night. Fog
enveloped me as I trudged on into the darkeness
ahead. I dared not look back into the night
because then my fear would get the best of me.

But suddenly, I felt the presense of another being
walking close to me. A figure faintly appeared in
front of me, his face was hard and evil. I braced
my throat trying to scream but the sound wouldn’t
come out.

"Come my son, don’t be scared. I am only
your real father" the man crooned. "Your mother
and stepfather have been returned to the devil,
you have no one now but me, saten has allowed me
to rise from my grave and get revenge on those who
have hurt me most," My disbelief turned to horror
but the memorizing eyes held me locked in place.
He headed me home and i followed despretly trying
to break the power he had over me. We lived like
that for 8 years, and not once was his power or
force ever weakened. I left him then, my father,
for love seemed to break the evil curse. Anny and
I we married and had your father. But my
satenized father returned and indoing so handed my
dear wife to the devil." Grandpa sighed and gave
a little moan in sadness but continued slowly "He
has never returned since but only left me with
words in which he killed my beloved Ann by. "All
bad is undone when good is returned by the devil,
I will return to undo all bad" "Anna, my dear
child," Grandpa said his voice gasping for breath
"never decieve saten, for history will be reborn"
Grandpa then closed his eyes carefully and his
hand dropped, lifeless. I stood up, braced
myself, and walked over to Grandfather. The fire
had burned to cinders and provided no warmth or
comfort, the only light was the sliver of moon
peeking out behind the fog. On Grandpas hand a
gold ring with a big ruby shone brightly, the
inscription read ’Death comes before Life in all

178

cases.’ A tear stung my cheeks as the tiny sliver
of moon faded dead away.

Marci - 7th grade

FOOTNOTES -- CHAPTER IV

lSolomon, Jack and Olivia Solomon. Ghosts and
Goosebumps. (University, Alabama: The University of
Alabama Press, 1981), p. xi.

11bid., p. xi.

3Jan Harold Brunvand has done some extensive research
on "Alligator in the Sewer" stories and reports these
extensive variations on pages 90-101 in The Vanishimg
Hitchhiker. The Great Escape, or The Sewer Story (Peter
Lippman, New York: The Golden Press, 1973, second printing,
1974), the children’s book referred to in Chapter Four
chronicles the return of New York City’s sewer alligators to
the Florida swamps by disguising themselves as tourists and
chartering a flight from which they bail out over the
jungle.

‘Schwartz, Alvin. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
(New York: J.B. Lippincott, 1981), p. 94.

5McNeil, W.K. (ed.). Ghost Storiee From the American
South. (Little Rock, Arkansas: August House, Inc., 1985),
p. 49.

6Brunvand’s treatment of the variations of the story
"The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs" on pages 53—57 in 1mg
Vanishing Hitchhiker Offers evidence that this urban legend
was in circulation as far back as 1973, six years prior to
the release of the motion picture, "When a Stranger Calls."

179

CHAPTER V

ANALYSIS OF STORIES

John Rouse, in The Completed Gesture (1978), claims "we
are all storytellers." Steven Spielberg, director and
screenwriter, accepted the Irving Thalberg Award for career
achievement in the motion picture industry during the March
31, 1987, Academy Awards presentation stating, "We are
first, and foremost, storytellers" and challenging his
profession to "return to the romance of the word." Both
Rouse and Spielberg aimed their message at an audience of
adults. Children do not seem to need these messages to
remind them of their natural storytelling abilities,
abilities they have internalized during, and even before,
their first few years of schooling. Using the stories
collected and captured on the pages of Chapter IV as
evidence, it is clear that children are, indeed,
storytellers -- storytellers in both the oral and written
sense -- and storytellers who are romancing the word.

As has been mentioned earlier in this study, this
collection of scary stories focuses on first-draft written
stories. This does not deny the existence of the oral
storytelling that preceded the writing and is a part of

180

181
these stories. This oral storying is obvious in many of the
written samples. In almost all cases, these 202 stories
represent the lively language of 202 young writers. These
stories Offer clear examples of effective use of
repetitions, pauses, and inflections, all effects that
storytellers use naturally when sharing their tales orally.
The rhythm and tempo, the capitalized, underlined and
italicized words, and the lively dialogue used by the
storywriters across all five grade levels bring these
written stories to life. A sense of audience, whether an
audience of listeners or readers, is evident in many of
these stories. They read as if they’re meant to be
performed, even though "performance" wasn’t mentioned to the
students as part Of the storywriting process; even though
the classroom environment wasn’t the ideal location to
create spontaneous storytelling; and even though requiring
the stories to be written denied the children the use of the
storytelling form they knew and used most naturally -— their
oral language.

When Herbert and Mary Knapp were organizing the
material they had collected for One Potdto, Two Potato...
they expressed concern for placing oral rhymes, chants,
poems, and stories onto the printed page. They were
hesitant to do so since folklore is, by definition, strongly
based on oral tradition and oral transmission. The role

that books play in oral transmission has always been a

182
problem for folklorists. But, as the Knapps decided,
folklorists themselves put material from oral tradition into
books where it is read and then, once again, passed on
orally. The printed material is still folklore as long as
it is learned orally somewhere and as long as it exists in
different versions.1

Since I did not request information from the
storywriters regarding where and how they learned the
stories they wrote, it isn’t possible to ascertain whether
or not the stories in this study were all learned orally.

In fact, many of the storywriters claimed their stories were
originals, created just for this specific scary story
writing experience. Even though some of those "original"
stories retain some of the earmarks of other known stories,
there is no guarantee the writers were conscious of that.
Would the Knapps have included this study’s stories in their
collection of childlore? Perhaps not, simply because there
is no proof that the stories were originally acquired
orally.

Brunvand, however, is more willing to acknowledge that
people acquire folk narratives from situations other than
oral storytelling and story sharing. His research and
collection of urban legends and belief tales offers story
acquisition information by the people who have sent him
their urban legends. Some of these people claim they heard

the legend from a friend, others claim they read about it

183
somewhere, and still others credit radio and television and
the newspaper as the sources of their stories. Here, then,
is evidence contradicting the Knapps’ definition of what
constitutes traditional folklore. It cannot be denied that
human beings -- especially human beings living in the 1980’s
-- are surrounded with stories, legends, tales, and
narratives from sources in addition to direct oral
transmission. This study acknowledges Brunvand’s belief
that stories in contemporary times have oral roots but may
also have written sources or media/visual origins.

The origins of the 202 stories collected in this study
are, for the most part, unknown. Regardless of this lack of
knowledge, they still offer the reader some insights into
traditional stories —- or, at least, into children’s
concepts of scary story tradition. By nature of the fact
that these stories have all been collected in written form,
they could be observed only from a study of their literary
and compositional features. If this is the only focus
taken, I would be discrediting the oral influences that
permeate these stories. Even the bare printed text of these
stories offers the reader a look at effective oral tradition
and at the young writer’s use of oral narrative technique.
Most of these stories are not stiff or awkward on the
printed page unless the reader chooses to read gmly the
printed word and ignores the oral signals given by the

writer. Many of the young writers have managed to create

184
stories that the reader can actually "hear" ii the reader is
willing to listen to the stories as they have been written.
"Hearing" written stories entails stepping out of a teacher—
as-reader role and into a story-reader role -- something
that comes more easily to folklorists than it does to
educators.

With that in mind, I have read and analyzed the 202
stories collected for this dissertation as a folklorist-
educator and have come to some conclusions about what the
young storywriters are doing with written language, what
they know about the genre of scary stories, and which
language influences play a role in their concept of story.

The stories in Chapter IV of this dissertation were
grouped by story types (representative of how a folklorist
would group data), mostly for convenience of discussion.
These groupings allow an observation of similarities from
story category to story category as well as an Observation
of the multiple variations of these stories and the
similarities and differences from storywriter to
storywriter. There is no hard and fast rule of stability in
folklore. All items of folklore retain some fixed central
core, yet all are constantly changing as they are
transmitted. It is these changes that result in the
countless "variants" differing in length, detail, style, and
even in performance technique.’ The story variants

themselves will not be discussed in depth in this chapter

185
since they were presented in detail as the stories were
grouped in Chapter IV. It is important, however, to keep in
mind the notion of variants (used interchangeably with
"version" and "text" by most folklorists) as other story
similarities and differences are discussed in order to
maintain a folklore perspective as well as an educational
perspective in exploring and analyzing the stories.

Table 1 offers a concise look at the stories in this
study, revealing that the largest number (75 of the 202
stories) of the storywriters chose to write "Original" scary
stories.3 The second largest number of stories written were
"Re-tellings" (40 out of 202 stories) with "True" stories
and "Combination" stories close behind ("True" stories
accounted for 37 out of the 202 and "Combination" stories
accounted for 35 out of the 202). Fifteen stories were not
listed with categories by the young writers. The
categorization runs similar for both male and female
storywriters -- both falling in a similar division to the
group as a whole. A look at the seven scary story types
reveals "Original" stories predominated the "Attack"
stories, "Haunted Houses, Haunted Places" stories, and
"Being Followed" stories, while "True" stories were most
dominant in the "Strange Noises" story grouping, and "Re-
tellings" were the largest category among the "Those That
Defy Classification" stories. What this reveals is some

conscious choice on the part of the storywriter as he or she

186
determined what story situations and story knowledge worked

best for certain story types.

187

 

 

TABLE 1 -- Story Types and Categories
No
Story Type True Original Re-Telling Combination Category
"Attack" Stories 6 30 15 11 10
"Haunted Houses,
Haunted Places" 5 25 5 10 2
Stories
"Strange Noises" 12 3 0 1 1
Stories
"The Babysitter" 3 1 2 3 0
Stories
"The Doll" 1 5 5 1 0
Stories
"Being Followed" 3 5 0 1 0
Stories
"Those That Defy
Classification" 7 6 13 8 2

Stories

 

Totals 37 75 40 35 15

 

188

As was mentioned earlier, this study did not include in
the sample collection any request for information from the
storywriters regarding where they acquired the stories they
chose to write. While the young writers may have assumed
their original stories were created at the very moment they
were writing, there is research to suggest that writers of
all ages include their own experiences in their writing
(experiences that include actual events that happened to the
writer or events that became part of the writer’s schema
without an awareness of their happening -- e.g., information
acquired through reading, watching television, conversing
with friends, participating in everyday activities).
Knowledge of this information opens up the possibility that
many of the stories labeled as "original" or "true" by the
writers belonged instead in the re-telling or combination
categories.‘

While there is no significant difference between male
and female storywriters according to story categories, there
is a difference between male and female storywriters
according to the types/grouping of stories told. While both
male and female writers wrote a great many "Attack" stories,
this category is the largest by far for the males (38 of the
88 stories written by males) with "Those That Defy
Classification" stories coming in second (20 out of 88
stories) and "Haunted Houses, Haunted Places" stories in

third (14 of 88 stories). The largest story grouping for

189
the female storywriters was "Haunted Houses, Haunted Places"
stories (30 out of 102 stories written by females), with
"Attack" stories a close second (29 out of 102 stories), and
"Those That Defy Classification" stories in third (15 of 102
stories). The other story groupings revealed some
interesting findings regarding male/female storywriter
interest. "Strange Noises" stories and "The Babysitter"
stories were almost even in number between male and female
storywriters ("Strange Noises" stories included 8 of the 17
in this category written by males, 7 by females and 2 with
no name. "The Babysitter" stories included 4 of the 9
written by males and 5 by females). "The Doll" stories were
far more interesting to female storywriters (9 of the 12
stories in this category were written by females, 2 by
males, and one story had no name) as were "Being Followed"
stories (7 of the 9 stories in this category were written by

females, 2 by males). (See Table 2.)

190

 

 

TABLE 2 -- Story Groupings by Sex
Story Grouping Male Female NO Name Given Total # of
Stories

"Attack Stories 38 29 5 = 72

"Haunted Houses,

Haunted Places" 14 30 3 = 47
Stories

"Strange Noises" 8 7 2 = 17
Stories

"The Babysitter" 4 5 0 = 17
Stories

"The Doll" 2 9 1 = 12
Stories

"Being Followed" 2 7 0 : 9
Stories

"Those That Defy
Classification" 20 15 1 = 36
Stories

 

Totals 88 102 12 = 202

 

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According to sex role socialization, the reader could
possibly understand the inclusion of more stories written by
females in "The Doll" and "Being Followed" story groupings.
For the most part, even in the 1980’s, there is a social
expectation that dolls are toys for girls. Advertising
plays a big role in maintaining that notion as does
parenting and education. Little boys are still socialized
to desire toys that portray "the masculine image" while
little girls are encouraged to pursue their "mothering and
nurturing instinct" with toys such as dolls and cuddly
little stuffed animals. Boys are encouraged to "Be brave."
Girls are cautioned to "Be careful." It’s no wonder more
female story writers in this study chose to write stories
about the fears of being followed. Indeed, there are
reasons for girls to be wary of "being followed." Just
watching the news on television and reading the local
newspaper offers evidence to support that. As much as human
beings attempt to reverse sex role expectations and
discontinue socializing children by their sex, it’s
difficult to fight images portrayed by the media, especially
in this day and age where the media has such a strong

influence on the everyday lives of children.

Media Influence
The media has an impact on more than children’s

concepts of themselves and on the promotion of sex roles.

192
It also has an impact on the stories that children know, as
well as on the stories they tell and write. By the time
Brunvand was writing The Mexican Pet, his third published
collection of urban legends, he was convinced that the folk
process of oral transmission and transformation defied the
march of progress. Claiming that "Folk tradition even
hitchhikes along with technological advances",5 Brunvand
discovered that many of the recent urban legends sent to him
had at one time appeared on television or the radio, had
been seen in films, read in newspapers, or were transmitted
via the mail, computer, or even the telephone. In the case
of dissemination of belief tales, the mass media has not
been uncooperative. On the contrary, mass media has always
served to spread the stories farther, with some of the
stories flourishing through the assistance of widespread
news coverage. In fact, it seemed the more the tales were
written about, the more they were talked about, and vice
versa.

Just how much influence, if any, did the mass media
have on the stories collected in this study? Does
Brunvand’s assertion that folklore has not withered in our
mass communications society hold if the 202 stories in this
collection are used as a representative sample of children’s
scary story folklore? While not all of the stories in this
dissertation can be classified as urban legends or belief

tales, many are representative of legends and tales and

193
stories that have been acquired from some other source.
Since the young storywriters were not asked to provide
information about where their story ideas originated, it is
impossible to get an accurate reading on the influence of
the mass media. It is possible, however, to attain some
sense of the media’s influence by a careful look at the
following things: stories classified as "Re-tellings,"
stories with plots, situations, characters, or vocabulary
similar to those in the mass media, stories borrowing their
titles from movies and television shows with the same
titles, and effects the young writers have included in their
stories that suggest media influence or a sense of
"performance."

Stories classified as "Re-tellings" accounted for 40
out of 202 stories, while those listed as "Combination"
stories included an additional 35, for a total of 75 of 202
stories with possibilities for direct media influence. Not
all of the "Combination" story authors included which
classifications they combined, whether their stories were
true/re-tellings or true/original or original/re-tellings.
Unless there are some distinct hints within the stories
themselves, the reader is left to decide whether the story
has been helped along by the mass media. In some cases, the
media’s influence is easy to determine. For example, the

following stories were not classified as re-tellings or

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combination stories by the young writer, but the media

influence is noticeable in both.

Untitled [True —- "true story")

When I was staying the night with my Friend we
were alone and was watching a movie were a
babysitter was siting two children and and
suddenly she got a phone-call and he said have you
check on your children Lately and she hung up he
kept call her when he was up stairs. My friend
and me got terified.

Troy — 7th grade

"Halloween Night" [Combination -- "original"]

One night a girl named Kim had to come over
to babysit me and my brother. She came over and
my perents left we were watching a scary movie and
the phone rang and the voice said I’m three blocks
away then he hung up we all started to watch the
movie again then 15 min. later the phone rang
again and the voice said I’m two blocks away.

Then in stead of watching the movie we all went to
the window to watch tricker treaters go by. Then
it was time for me and my brother to go to bed.

so we did. Then the Phone rang again and the
voice said again I’m in the perents room. she
almost got to the stair when she saw a ash fall
down she looked up and the man was holding a sword
and then struck there heads off. then she
screamed and ran out of the house the man started
to run after her. She got to her friends house.
And called the police and the mean guy kills the
police. I started running got into my car and
left the country.

Lauren - 4th grade

Both of these writers chose to include dialogue from
"the voice" in their stories; remaining true to both the
dialogue heard on the telephone in the movie "When a

Stranger Calls" and to the situation created in that horror

195
movie. And yet neither writer credited the movie as the
source of any of their ideas when they classified their
stories as "true" or "original." Both did, however, include
a situation in their story where the characters were
watching a movie. Troy seems aware that he is re-telling
some of the movie plot and that is what terrified his friend
and him. Lauren does not claim to re-tell the movie plot;
instead, she incorporates what happens in "When a Stranger
Calls" into what happens to the characters in her story. In
both stories, movies and television play a key role.

Whether or not the young writers actually re-told plots
from movies or television, their mention of movies,
television, and even the radio, occurs in a great many of
the stories from all seven groupings. In "THE HANDS OF THE
UNKNOWN" from the "Attack" Stories category, a character
named Kipp was left home alone so "he started watching
T.V."; in an untitled story from the "Haunted Houses,
Haunted Places" Stories category, Beth and her friend
"turned on the radeo"; in another untitled story from the
"Strange Noises" Stories category, a brother and sister were
home alone "watching a horror movie" while another young man
"grabbed a twinkey and turned on the tv...Wheel of Fortune
was on...After Wheel of Fortune was over I watched The price
is right"; in a story entitled "My Babysitters" from "The
Babysitters" Stories category, the babysitter and her

friends played a game of Trivial Pursuit while the main

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character "watched T.V."; in the story "The China Doll" from
"The Doll" Stories category, Karan "turned on the news"; in
"The fear of the unknown" from the "Being Followed" Stories
category, two young girls spend the night together and
"watch tV but all that was on was skary movies"; and in the
story "The Tornado" from the "Those That Defy
Classification" Stories category, a family received
information about a tornado watch because "we heard it on
the T.V...an hour (later) as we watched the T.V."
Television is a popular pastime for many of the characters
in the stories in this dissertation, sometimes advancing the
plot, other times Offering a distraction from the tension Of
being home alone.

One seventh grade storywriter does more than just tell
her reader that the main character in her story watches
television. We even get the specific time Of the evening,
the name of the show being watched, and the first few lines
from the television commercial appearing at the 10 o’clock
break: "It was 9:30, time for Amys favorite T.V. program -
Night Court...10:00 "What do you need sinus pain,? Sine-off
Sineoff..." the T.V. sang" (from an untitled "true
storie". This is definitely'the 1980’s -- a telling sign of
the times when scary stories include more than a mention of
television, when they go so far as to include jingles from

televised commercials!

197

The effects of "Ghostbusters," a box office hit at the
movie theaters in 1984, and now available in the home video
market, comes through in some of the stories written in this
study. In the movie "Ghostbusters," slime (particularly
green slime) plays an important role for three would-be
exterminators as they attempt to "bust" the ghosts that are
invading New York City by "sliming" them. The term gained
popularity as a result of the movie and could be heard on
playgrounds, in the arcades and malls, and at sleep-overs
around the country. While the term "sliming someone" has
given way to more contemporary language (terms coined by
newer movies), it can still be heard among elementary school
children, can be seen in the consumer market (e.g., "Slime
Time" watches are a current item desired by young children
in mid-Michigan), and can be read about in the stories of
young writers. "Haunted Houses, Haunted Places" Stories

included nine stories with references to either "green" or

"slime" or "green slime." Terms like "it was all green and
slimey", "A big sliming green ball", "with slime running
down the hole’s walls", "there’s slime on this", "greenslim

and blood all over the place", and "there was slime all over
this floor" ran through the stories even though no young
writer chose to retell the plot of "Ghostbusters." The
movie has influenced vocabulary as well as provided
description for situations in the stories told by young

writers.

198

Other visual mass media influences appearing to have
affected stories in this study are the movies "The Exorcist"
(1973), "Nightmare on Elm Street" (1984), "Halloween, Part
I" (1980), "Friday the 13th" (1980), "C.H.U.D." (1984), and
an episode from the television show "The Twilight Zone." In
one untitled story in the "Haunted Houses, Haunted Places"
Stories category, a seventh grade storywriter tells the
unfortunate story of a character named Heather who defies
her mother’s orders and pays a visit to the small alcove of
a beach cave -- a cave where a young couple was killed ten
years before when a huge wave caught them unaware and
crushed them against the jagged cliff walls. When a silver
shine catches her eye, Heather thinks she sees pale figures,
but they disappear when she blinks her eyes. Later that
night, unable to sleep and haunted by the memory of those
strange figures, she visits the kitchen to get some warm
milk. When she opens the refrigerator, the figures
reappeared (accompanied by a ghostly shine) and cast a kind
of spell on Heather who falls to the floor in a dead faint.
The next morning she is discovered on the kitchen floor, not
dead, but also not of her senses. The doctor’s examination
doesn’t prove hopeful and, while Heather’s mother is
informing the father of Heather’s possible cave visit,
earpiercing screams can be heard from the bedroom. Upon

reaching Heather’s room, they discover:

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Heather was clawing at her clothes,

shrieking.

"Get those clothes off me. They are killing
me." Heather’s words echoed in the room.

No one knew what to do. Suddenly without
warning her screams stoped. Heather fell to the
floor. Eyes wide open and staring. Dr. Joneli
ran over to her.

"She’s still alive," he said.

"Get her to a hospital right now." Mary cried.
At the hospital no one could figure out what

happened. Heather never moved. Never spoke.
Never even blinked. Specialist from all over the
world came to see what had happened. No one in

the world knew what happened. Only Heather. The

Heather than never did any thing ever again.

Except stare into space...for enterity...

If Heather’s actions seem familiar, perhaps the
connection is due to their similarity to Linda Blair’s
character in "The Exorcist?" Heather’s body had somehow
been possessed by the pale figures she saw in the cave and
in the refrigerator...possessed "for enterity."

The broadcast media has influenced the stories people
have told from as far back as the 1930’s and 1940’s when
teenagers retold stories they had heard on radio programs
like "Inner Sanctum" and "I Love a Mystery." Herbert and
Mary Knapp’s notion that "scary stories are sometimes merely
retold versions of television horror shows or movies," still
holds true for this study -- done more than ten years after
the scary story collections appeared in One Potato, Two
Potato...

A character named Freddy Kruger makes an appearance in
two of the stories in this study (an untitled "true" story

by a fifth grade storywriter; "The Nightmare," a story with

200
no category given, written by another fifth grader), and an
Old Man Kruger appears in one story (an untitled "re—
telling" written by a seventh grade storywriter). Freddy
Kruger has also appeared as a key character in a movie
entitled "Nightmare on Elm Street," a horror movie that was
popular among younger audiences in 1984. Since then, it has
appeared on television and is also available at local video
stores. Other character names appearing in stories in this
study that have also made their appearance in horror movies
are Alec (in the story entitled "Halloween part I," a "re-
telling" by a fourth grader), Jason (in the story entitled
"Friday the 13th," a "re—telling" by a fourth grader), and
C.H.U.D. (in the story entitled "C.H.U.D.," a "re-telling"
by a fourth grader).

Almost every story in "The Doll" Stories category is
based on the idea Of a doll (or stuffed animal) coming to
life and creating havoc in the family where it is now a
member. The concept of a toy as innocent as a little girl’s
doll coming to life and killing people isn’t an original
idea created by the young storywriters in this study. This
basic story idea has been borrowed from a Twilight Zone
episode televised in the 1970’s about a talking doll who
threatens members of the family when the stepfather attempts
to get rid of the toy.

In addition to story plots that have been retold from

movies or television shows, some of the young writers in

201
this study have also borrowed (with some variation) their
story titles from the mass media. Stories entitled
"Halloween part i", "Friday the 13th", "THE HANDS OF THE
UNKNOWN", "C.H.U.D.", "The Night Mare on S.T. Louis Street",
"The Shining!!!", "The Shadow", and "HALLOWEEN" resemble
titles listed in a video store catalogue under "Thrillers"
or "Terror."

Newspaper influence is obvious in one of the stories in
this study. In a story listed as "untitled" in the Haunted
Houses, Haunted Places" stories category, a fourth grade
storywriter has used newspaper headlines to introduce her
story, to set up the plot, and to provide a tidy ending:

I

The headlines said "John Partridge Found Dead
by Mysterious Causes." Kathleen Mailer, one of
the police investigators threw down the newspaper.
Kathy knew that John Partridge was the 3rd person
in he to have been killed in the Partridge house.

She and two other investigators decided to
find out why...

III

...Peter, Kathleen, and Courtney walked
quietly as they could upstairs to the second
floor. All they heard was the pitter patter of
their feet. Then they stopped dead in their
tracks. Something flow at the top of the stairs!
Then then recognized it to be a pale outline of a
knife! Something then hit them in the temples.

IV
The next days headlines "Three Comrads trying

to Find the Answer to Mysterious Killing Found
Dead in Burned House."

202

While this story appears to be an original created by
the young storywriter in this study, it could also be a
story borrowed from any newspaper or news broadcast.
Although "untitled" does not qualify as a legend in the
traditional sense, it holds to the same possibilities that
legends do when they appear "as lively and ’factual’ as the
television evening news"; when they, like the daily news
broadcasts, "tend to concern deaths, injuries, kidnappings,
tragedies, and scandals";6 or when the teller claims to have
read about it in the newspaper or heard about it on the
news.7

Additional influences of the mass media, specifically
television and movies, can be noted in the performance
affects (both oral and visual) that the young writers have
included within their written scary stories. One example of
oral influence can be noted in an untitled story in the
"Attack" Stories category:

Hello my name is John: I am a reporter for

channel 3 "I have a real witch with me here."

Do you know any magic? Yes

DO you have a cat? Yes

Do you have a cave to live in? Yes

Whats that you have on that jacket of yours.

zzzzzzzzzz. He’s gone where’s my next victim.

Ha! Ha! Ha! In: In! la! la: in: Ha:

He! He! He! He! He! He!

Hicup!

This young writer attempts to imitate a television

newscast where a reporter conducts a "witch on the street"

interview. Included are sound effects: "2222222" for the

203
witch zapping down the reporter, "Ha! Ha! Ha! la! aa: eat

an aaznaz... for her hideous laughter fading in and

'H
0

out, and "Hicup as her final acknowledgement of a deed
performed. And, in the event the reader didn’t quite
understand what occurred with the sound effects, the author
has concluded his story with an illustration of a witch on a
large broom zapping down a reporter who is holding a
microphone in his hand. Here the storywriter included both
oral and visual effects, perhaps an influence of the
television nightly news.

In a similar fashion, although written with less
elaboration, the fourth grade author of "The Bug" ("Attack"
Stories category) concludes his story with:

"Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha
Good Evaning"
in a style similar to Alfred Hitchcock’s "Good Evening
Ladies and Gentlemen" used in "Alfred Hitchcock Presents",
televised weekly in the 1950’s and 1960’s.

Another young writer uses "HA HA HA" as the television
voice -- a voice he claims comes from "the spooky chanel" --
to conclude his story about a clown who killed people and
ate them. The final paragraph of this untitled story (in
"Attack" stories) offers a contrast between the story being
told in a narrative fashion to a large audience, and the
voice of the announcer as if he is directing his final

comments personally to every listener:

204

...the clown took the pal [pail] and The

Block [blood] Then The clown cut the Boy in half

and ate the inside of the kid and the boy was

never to Be seen again that end the spooky Chanel

for tonight so remember to lock your door and

windowns or the clown will get you. HA HA HA.

Other stories appear to have been influenced by the
media. The title of "Bruno to be encountered Part 1"
("Attack" Stories) resembles movie titles that have been
popular with adolescent moviegoers the past few years
("Rambo - First Blood, Part One" and "Halloween - Part I,"
"Friday the 13th — Part II") and the author’s concluding
remarks, "*to be sequeled" seem to confirm that influence.
Sequels are big business in the motion picture industry, and
young people are well aware of that -- aware enough to
include the possibility of a sequel for their own scary
story!

Another scary story with an influence by the broadcast
media is "Talking Tina" ("The Doll" stories). This is how
the sixth grade storywriter concluded her story:

T
h

end

I only want special effects when Tina speaks.

Knowledge of special effects and how they have enhanced
radio, television, and movies, is evident here. This story
about a doll who talks and warns her owners about their fate

if they mishandle her would cause an extra shiver or chill

205
if the doll’s voice was performed in a manner other than a
typical human voice. In the case of a story appearing only
on paper, "special effects" are not always imaged by the
reader (at least this young storywriter doesn’t seem to
credit her readers with the ability of reading different
voices into different characters). The author of "Talking
Tina" wanted to guarantee her audience that the story would
be enhanced by the use of voice effects, something she has
no doubt learned from her own television and movie viewing.
This story was written in a classroom where the teacher
provides frequent opportunities for children to read their
writing out loud in front of the class. This teacher even
makes a small microphone available for any student who
wishes to use it for their reading. Children easily learn
how powerful their voice sounds over a microphone, and they
learn the "special effects" available with a microphone that
aren’t available in a silent reading, in a typical in-
school, stand-up reading, or in "round robin" reading. In
addition to the possibility that the story’s special effects
were modelled on the television or at the movie theater, the
young author of "Talking Tina" also had a sense that she’d
be able to "perform" her story in front of her class. A
story on paper wouldn’t remain only on paper in her
classroom. The possibility for an audience was great, so
this young writer wrote, assuming both a silent readership

and a "live" audience.

206
Special effects (both visual and vocal) are also
included in an untitled story in the "Haunted Houses,

9

Haunted Places' Stories grouping. This is a story about a
young girl names Rachel who is, at first, shunned by the
kids at school when they find out where she lives -- the
house where "Mrs. Andrews murdered Mr. Andrews" because he
"had been fooling around with another woman" —- but later is
included as part of the crowd when she allows the kids to
perform a seance in the room where Mr. Andrews was murdered.
The seventh grade author of this story goes into great
detail describing how Rachel’s friend, Jimmy, "totaly
changed the room" for the seance, draping black sheets over
everything to create a cave—like effect, placing candles on
the dresser and a humidifier in the room to establish a cool
damp feeling. At the seance, a huge gust of wind blows out
the candles, leaving the participants in total darkness:

"I was murdered without a cause" a voice
suddenly came. I thought Jimmy had very good

effects.

"yes we know, but she was punished!" Jimmy yelled
to be herd over the wind and murmer between people.

"I want justice!" the voice came

"You have it, your wife is in jail." said
Jimmy, still yelling.

"I must take her life as she took mine." the
voice

"No she is being punished, you must rest in
peace you have your justice."

"Thank you" the voice said

The candles flickered back on and every one
started to talk.

The next day on the way home to school I got
the chance to ask Jimmy the questions I had.

"A tape recorder for the voices right?" I asked.

207

"Yeah, I did a couple days before the
seance."

"How did you get the candles to go out & come
back on?" I asked.

"I didn’t"

"But then who did? everyone was seated on
the other side of the room."

"I don’t know Rachel."

"But--" I started, But then realization hit me,
wind dosent blow inside rooms and wind was too strong
to be a fan.

The young author was right. Jimmy did have "very good
effects." And, similar to what happens when young kids
inquire about special effects on television or in the
movies, some Of the special effects can easily be explained,
and some can’t. But they are included time after time
because of what they do to the character’s emotions ( as

well as what they do to create audience reaction) and how

they can enhance the tension in the story.

Sense of Audience

A sense of audience is obvious in the stories where the
young storywriters include special effects directing their
reader/audience to hear or see something that may be missed
in print. In fact, there are a few instances in these
stories where the writers seem to be speaking directly to
their readers through their written words. In "The
teacher’s old House" ("Those That Defy Classification"
stories), a fourth grade storywriter tells a personal

narrative about a frightening asthma attack and uses

208
parentheses in two places in the story as a means of
offering information to her reader.

My mom and Dad raced out of ther room (my Mom thot

it took Dad one step to get out the dor). I was

crying so hard I gave my self another asthma atack

(by the way this was in Mrs. Brendahl’s old

house).

The storywriter assumes that the reader knows who Mrs.
Brendahl is (the storywriter’s teacher) and she casually
makes the comments about her father’s quick actions as if
her reader could understand the father’s urgency. The sense
that there is an audience who will read this story seems
assured by this young storywriter.

Another young storywriter exhibiting a sense of
readership for his story is the author of an untitled story
(in the "Haunted Houses, Haunted Places" Stories grouping).
This short story is a personal tale about living in a
haunted condominium in Texas where the young author’s sister
would see a man in her room at night and where:

...the closet door would be open in the morning

when we closed it at night so we put the dryer in

the front of the door and the next night the

handles on the dresser started to rattel and my

dad & his friend were over and they saw this so

the next day we moved out p.s. every one who lived

there was divorced except my mom and dad.

This storywriter chose to include a P.S. at the end of

the story to inform his reader of some extra information

that didn’t quite belong in the story but might be

209
interesting personal information for the reader. The
previous storywriter chose to do the same thing for her
audience using parentheses instead of a postscript.

An audience also seems implicit to the fifth grader who
wrote an untitled story in the "Those That Defy
Classification" Stories grouping. His story opens with a
casual "Hi I’m going to tell you a scarey story that

happened to me,' and continues with a personal narrative
about sleeping on his family’s boat and getting up with his
brother in the middle of the night, hearing something moving
in a trash can, putting a hand in the trash barrel and
feeling something wet, then discovering that the wetness was
caused by blood. The boys are awakened in the morning by a

police siren and discover a police car stationed in front of

the trash can:

'...I went and asked what was going on and he said

I don’t know. He looked in the barrel and then I

did. Their was nothing there. I told the police

officer what had happened and I think he believed

me. Thank G-d. But he still didn’t know what was

going on..."

"Thank G-d" and not "Thank God?" This young
storywriter censors his inappropriate-for-school language
with an obvious awareness of his audience -- an audience
that includes a teacher —- and he takes special care not to
Offend that adult reader (and also not to get in trouble for

using the name of the Lord in vain -- at least not in fifth

grade!).

210

As writers of stories, rather than tellers of stories,
the children in this study made decisions -- some conscious
and others unconscious -- about Emmy to include in their
stories and what not to include and 22E they could best tell
their stories. A close examination of story development,
especially story beginnings and endings, mood and setting,
and progression of action, shows that these young writers
made some choices that follow expected (and accepted)
literary forms and also attempted some play with language

that was unique to their own telling.

Narrative: Discursive Structure

Here the work of William Labov (1972) provides valuable
insight into what the storytellers in this study are doing
as they tell their own stories in ways that make them worthy
of being heard. In his study on language in the inner city,
Labov analyzed the language of preadolescents, adolescents,
and adults in personal experience narratives that answered
what be labeled the "Danger of Death" question ("Were you
ever in a situation where you were in serious danger of
being killed, where you said to yourself -- ’This is it’?
What happened?"). Using this story prototype, Labov
explored the structures and devices that the storytellers
used to make their stories "reportable." The danger of
death or physical injury to the storyteller was highlighted

again and again in the stories he collected as many

211
storytellers chose narrative devices that made their stories
more than common, oh-that—happens-to—me-all-the-time events
-— telling their stories with events worthy of being heard.
Labov found that the dangerous, terrifying, weird, and crazy
events made the stories much more worth reporting than those
narratives with events that were strange, uncommon or just
plain unusual. Those narrators who used emotion-charged
feelings and associated those with their story events
triggered similar feelings in their listeners and also
signalled "Hey, this story is worth being told!"

There are many ways that a storyteller or storywriter
can make their story "reportable" and those ways can be
discovered at varying places in a narrative. An
identification of the structure of narration and the devices
Labov discovered the narrators using as they built on those
structures, deserves review here because many apply to the
scary story structures discovered in this particular study,
offering insights into what these young scary story writers
did in their writing to made their stories "reportable" and
exciting.

Some narratives are complete in the sense that they
have a beginning, a middle, and an end. More fully
developed narrative types include other elements of
structure. Using Labov’s definition, a fully-formed,

extended narrative may include the following elements:

212

Abstract: What was this about?

Orientation: Who, When, What, Where?
Complicating action: Then what happened?
Evaluation: 80 what?

. Result of resolution: What finally happened?
. Coda.

OEOIDOONH

Not all narratives contain all six elements; these are
simply analytical categories developed by Labov and are not
intended as an indication that the success of the narrative
is dependent on the presence of all six categories. Most
applicable to this study of written narratives is an
exploration of what Labov terms "orientation" (getting into
the story and establishing the setting), "coda" (signalling

N

that the narrative is finished), and evaluation" (why the
story was told the way it was told). These three aspects of
the narrative will be discussed throughout the remainder of
this chapter because they represent aspects of discursive
structure -- the relationship between narrator and audience.
"Telling stories" is one of the many uses Of language
in our culture, and has many conventions of language and
usage associated with it. From birth, young children are
told stories that introduce them to story conventions such
as beginning a story with a title or a formal opening phrase
("Once upon a time") and ending with a formal closing ("The
end" or "and they lived happily ever after"). Children come
to know these markers as acceptable ways to start and end a
story.8 Is it any wonder, then, that they continue to use

those conventions when they tell (and write) their own

stories? It’s not surprising that the fourth through eighth

213
graders in this particular study modelled those conventions.
What is surprising is how few children felt compelled to use
those exact forms and how many created variations of the
traditional story introductions (orientation) and closures
(coda) as they wrote their own stories. According to Barre
Toelken (1979), this demonstrates children’s combined

propensity to conserve and their inclination to create.9

Orientation

Out of 202 scary stories, only 17 storywriters started
their stories with the exact words, "Once upon a time."
Five writers began their stories with "There was once" (an
Obvious variation of "once upon a time"), 20 writers used

"Once" as the opening word in their stories (e.g., "Once a

long, long,’ "Once there were,‘ "Once I was"), and 64

writers opened their stories with "One... (e.g., "One day,"
"One dark night," "One time," etc.).
At least five writers used dialogue as story openers.

One fourth grader begins her graveyard visit story by

conversing with her friend:

"Come on I here something. Wow we’ve never been
down her have we? No I don’t thing so here’s the
Opening I can see the sun." [from "Death is on
the Way")

Another fourth grade storywriter uses a conversation
with her mother to introduce her story about a bewitched

teddy bear:

214

"Hay, mom tommoroww is teddy bear at school
and I don’t have a teddy bear." "Don’t worry I
think you can use the one that has never that was
mine! It is stored away in the basement I’ll get
it out tonight!" [from "The Teddy."]

One fifth grader who used dialogue as a means of
starting his story, never returned to it again for the
remainder of the story. It seemed to serve a purpose to set
the scene of a boy leaving his friend and pedalling home on
his bicycle, yet wasn’t needed for the rest of the story --

a first-person account about being home alone and hearing

noises in the basement:

"Ok, by see you tomorow, as I pedded down the
road. As I was pulling up the driveway my Mom was
going to the store...I went indsid and grabbed a
twinkey and turned on the tv...." [from
"Untitled"]

Two seventh grade storywriters chose dialogue to open
their stories and then continued using dialogue, working it
effectively and appropriately into their stories. One story

opens at a funeral with the words of the priest:

...we loved him dearly. He was a man that we all
will miss," said the priest.

"That’s a lie! He was an evil man!"

"Sir! This is a funeral!"

"And much to late at that!" said the man.
"He murdered my daughter!"

The crowd was appaled at that accusation.
The nice Mr. Sattison, a murderer! Impossible!
[from "The Unholy Horror."]

215
The other seventh grader’s story weaves the dialogue in with
the main character’s thoughts as she tries to impress upon
her mother how upset she is over her recent discovery:
"Died!" I screamed at my mother, "Someone
died in my house!"
"Relax Rachel" my mother said patiently,

"It’s nothing to worry about."
"How could you move into a house that some

one died in? It could be haunted! I’ll never get
to sleep at night now" I grubled as I left for
school.

I had just learned the day before that there

was something strange about my house when one of

the kids at school backed away from me when he

found out where I lived, but just this morning

that I found out that Mrs. Andrews murdered Mr.

Andrews in my house. [from an untitled story)

In the case of these stories, all five use the
character’s voices in the beginning moments of the story,
immediately involving the reader with the action, the
situation, or the conflict of the story. While "Once upon a
time" involves the reader with a vague sense of setting,
dialogue thrusts the reader into a clearer sense of what is
happening and to whom. Repeated use of conventional
introductions are often the result of habit or security with
a known, accepted form ("I don’t know exactly how to start
this story, but I’ve heard many stories that begin with
’Once upon a time’ so that’s probably a good way to begin")
and tend to diminish as writers mature and as their exposure
to various genre grows.

An orientation into what the story is all about

(establishing time, place, persons, and their activity or

216
situation) occurs not only in the introductory narrative
clauses. In his collection of personal narrative "danger"
stories, Labov discovered clauses providing a story
orientation section following the first several narrative
clauses. Some provided an elaborate portrait of the main
character, others established the time and set the scene.
In the stories I collected, there is a noticeable
establishment of story orientation by the fourth through
eighth graders, including their attempt to create a setting
and a mood appropriate to the story and their use of oral
narrative devices to accomplish this.

Young story writers are aware of the powerful effect
that darkness has on a human being. Seventy-three of the
202 scary stories in this study took place at night (15 at
midnight, 2 during a full moon), 11 were set in the dark,
and 12 took place during a storm. (These young writers
display an understanding of the "It was a dark, stormy
night" cliche without managing to fall victim to the phrase
itself!) Their settings also included cemeteries and
swamps, haunted houses and Halloween nights. But the most
horrifying setting to many of the young writers was a scene
where the character was at home -- their own home -- all
alone. In 35 stories the main character was alone. In 36
stories the main character was accompanied by a friend or
friends. And, in most, there was no mention of a parent or

other protective adult. In stories where the character’s

217
life was threatened, a parent (or parents) came to the
rescue only three times, the police saved the day in only
five stories (plus one rescue by a detective), other adults
saved the victims in six stories, a character saved himself
in one story, and a pet saved a character in one story!
Forty-eight stories told the tale of characters who simply
were not saved. These young writers managed to establish an
understanding of the fear behind their stories through their

settings; through the "orientation" of their narratives.

Sledge

Similar to many of the introductory narrative clauses,
story endings also included standard phrases and borrowed-
from-fairy-tale endings, including the stock phrase "The
End" in 60 out of the 202 stories. One intent writer
underlined "The End" nine times; others enlarged the letters
in the two words so they exceeded their own handwriting by
at least three sizes. Either they wanted to offer a clear
signal to their reader that they were, indeed, finished with
the story, or they were so glad to be done they emphasized
the finality of it or, perhaps, they were just allowing
their creativity to burst through with this visual display.
Other writers chose to conclude their stories with
variations of the stock "The End" closure such as "The End -
- at last!" "And that is not the end," "The End...of them,"

and "That is the end of the Bloody Bones". Only one young

218
writer used the actual words "And [they] lived happily every
after" (in "Puss Man"), but there were also a few variations
on that conventional ending, including "and that’s the way
it happened," "They lived in the woods forever and ever,"
and "Ed had saved everyone and killed the man of no return
for ever." Some young writers ended their stories with
questions ("But what happened to the insane man?"), some

left the final outcome up to the reader ("She turned around

and saw..."), and others tried to wrap it up their own way
("...and he was going to tell his mom but she’d never boleve
him"), and ("I screamed for my mother but she could not hear

us we were stuck in there until death witch was 1 year
later").

Story endings, Often occurring as free clauses at the
very end of the narrative (usually immediately prior to "The
End"), are referred to as the "coda." It is one of the many
Options Open to a writer as he or she signals that the
narrative is finished. As noted in the last paragraph, many
similar forms of the coda were used by the young writers in
this study.

Labov’s work on language and narrative structure
explores the variety of codas available from those that
contain general observations or show the effects of the
events of the narrator to those that seem to bridge the gap
between the moment of time at the end of the narrative and

the present time the story is being heard or read -— in

219

essence returning both the narrator and listener (or, in the
case of this study, the reader) back to the point where they
entered the narrative. More importantly, according to
Labov, is the fact that "codas close off the sequence of
complicating actions and indicate that none of the events
that followed were important to the narrative."1° A coda
such as this completes and seals Off any further events. It
signals to the listener/reader that the chain of events
occurring in the story has drawn to a close. After a coda
such as "And that’s the way it happened," there is no
expectation of additional events.

While traditional folk tales and fairy tales have

established fixed formulas for story beginnings and endings

H 0'

("Once upon a time... and ...they lived happily ever
after"), there is an obvious break from formula beginnings
and endings in this study. A closer look at these 202
stories Offers evidence that young writers are aware that
these formulas aren’t always appropriate for personal
narratives, for original stories, or for stories labelled as
"scary stories."

No matter how a story ends, the most effective coda
provides more than a mechanical solution; it leaves the
reader/listener with a feeling of satisfaction and
completeness that matters in the story have been rounded off

and accounted for.11 Some of the stories in this study

accomplished that. Others did not. And others seemed in

220
the process of searching for a way to draw closure to the
story events by trying out various phrases such as "I woke
up and discovered it was all just a dream."

Many young writers find themselves so caught up in the
invention of their stories, they either tire Of it by the
time the end comes, so choose the dream ending as an easy
way out, or else they get their characters into such
ludicrous situations there just doesn’t seem to be any
logical way out except to "wake up and find out it was only
a dream." Of the five young writers in this study who ended
their stories with the dream ending, two of those stories
ended that way because the writers re-told one of their own
real nightmares as their scary stories. Waking up and
discovering it was all just a dream would, indeed, be the
only logical ending to a nightmare re-telling. Cancelling
out these two stories, only 3 out of 202 writers succumbed
to the unconvincing "it was all just a dream" ending.12

What caused the other 197 writers to create endings
other than "the dream?" Was it the nature of the stories or
the instruction given prior to writing? Or did it have to
do with the maturity and abilities of the writers? In none
of the classes did I mention anything about how the
storywriters should end their stories. I restrained myself
from my "please refrain from falling victim to a cop-out
ending and concluding your story by waking up and finding

out that whatever happened was all just a dream" soapbox

221

appeal. I didn’t provide any "this is how you write a good
story" lectures. I didn’t discuss anything about style or
structure. The actual instruction, then, wasn’t the reason

the young writers selected endings other than "the dream."
The writers who contributed stories to this study

represented students of all abilities, with a broad range of

age, interests, and levels of maturity. One classroom of

seventh graders was composed almost entirely of special

education students. I didn’t receive that information until
two years after my collecting. Another classroom of seventh
graders included many "gifted" youngsters. That information

was provided for me by the teacher weeks before I set foot
in their classroom. The students whose scary stories are
included in this dissertation did not choose story endings
other than "the dream" because they were any more mature or
gifted or talented than fourth through eighth graders in any
other community. They chose alternate endings because they
kpeg other endings that "worked" better for their stories --
either because "the dream" just wasn’t plausible for their
stories, because they already knew their story (or a
variation Of it) and the ending was already decided for
them, or because scary stories have a variety of traditional
endings and they chose from any number of those belonging to
that genre, or because they just didn’t worry about it —-
when they got to the end of their story, the ending seemed

to take care Of itself.

222
A few of the young writers offered story endings that
cried out to be performed. These endings are similar to
those used in "jump stories" -- stories that end

unexpectedly, usually causing the listener to jump with

fright. In each of these stories the young authors included
the reader in their story (e.g. "When a convict is by your

house...waiting to strike at you...You are all alone at
night...you are shaking..."). By the time the ending
approaches, the reader is already so involved in the story,
they can’t help but "jump" when the storyteller focuses the
last word or words directly at them ("We gotcha"). With
careful timing, a strong storytelling voice, and "victims"
in the audience, this can be accomplished quite easily in an
oral telling; it is much more difficult to do in writing.
The following excerpts from four written scary stories (the
first written by a fourth grader, the second two by fifth
graders, and the last by a seventh grader) handle the "jump"
endings effectively:

There’s a goblin

unde my bed

At night his

somik rombils

In the day hises not there

But at night

hises there

He eyes glou

with hunger

One night I

Made a boo boo

And he ate

M e ! Oahhh

[from "Under The bed")

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...if you ever see a eyeball just just
just just ! ! scream for it
may be the eyebal that lives in the cave. comeing
to get you."
[from "The eyeball")

"He - or it - is horrifying. With wild black
hair, skin as pale as death, and piercing blue
eyes, he is enough to make you scream. You open
your mouth - but no sound comes out. You realize

there is no escape. You are DOOMED."
[from "NO Escape")

"...Then your still hiding & shaking for a moment.
And then you hear a noise. You are shaking.We
gotcha"

[from "Convict Through the Night")

Oral Narrative Techniques

The storywriters in this study managed to include other
effective oral traditions in the creation and presentation
of their stories. According to Labov’s study of what
narrators do with the language of their stories to make them

H

"reportable, there are certain "types of evaluation" that
narrators use in their telling to signal to the listener why
the story is being told. Labov analyzed the oral narratives
in his study using evaluative devices that perform the
following functions: they clarify for the listener the
factual circumstances surrounding the narrative; they
intensify certain narrative events that are most relevant to

the main point; they compare events that did occur with

those which might have, but did not, occur; they correlate

224
the linear dimension of the narrative by superimposing one
event upon another; and they explicate the point of the
narrative. In this study, there is evidence that many of
the writers have used some of these oral narrative devices
to intensify, clarify, or heighten specific events in their

written narratives.

Use of Repetition

While the device of repetition appears to be a simple
syntactic device, it enhances a narrative and adds to its
complexity in two possible ways: it either intensifies a
particular action or event, or it suspends the action. John
McDowell’s work (1979) on children’s jokes and riddles pays
close attention to the role of repetition in oral language.
In comparing oral and written literature he found a much
higher level of repetition and redundancy associated with
written literature. McDowell believes:

...the repetition found in orally composed and

performed texts does not fare well on the written

page. In writing, the repetition appears to be

just that, repetitive. In oral performance, with

the resonance of the spoken words enveloping one

in an ocean of live sound, the repetition takes on

quite a different character.13

Based on the stories collected for this dissertation, I
must disagree with McDowell. I found this artful use of
repetition (very typical of folk narrative style) appearing

in numerous written stories in this study by writers at all

grade levels, but this affective use of repetition can only

225
be found 1; the reader goes beyond the printed text and
"listens" to the text as it’s meant tO be read.

The phrase, "Ask the plumber, maybe he can help you" is
repeated effectively as a fourth grade writer tells the
ghastly tale of three young girls whose fate is determined
by the helpful plumber ("The Plumber). This phrase prolongs
the agony of learning why the girls never return after they
"ask the plumber" for help. The rhyming phrase "I’m the
ghost of Mable Fable and I say the money stays on the table"
repeats three times in a fifth grade writer’s re—telling Of
a tale about a clever ghost who presses her luck with an
eleven-year-old boy ("The Ghost of Mable Fable"), also
suspending the action of the story. Another fifth grade
author manages to create a sense of doom with his
repetitions of the words "Blood," "flowing," and "drowning":

They turned on the faucet. Blood flowed out.

Flowing silently, continuously, flowing. The

blood overflowed the sink and started pouring on

the floor. It covered Kipp in blood. The blood

was filling the house. Kipp was drowning with

blood. Drowning, dying, drowing in blood.

["THE HANDS OF THE UNKNOWN")

Some young writers chose to repeat a single word three
times in a row ("just, just, just" and "drip, drip,
drip") to create the effect they desired; others repeated
questions and dialogue and even story events. In almost
every case, the repetition slows down or stops the action.

What that does in oral narratives, according to Labov, is

226
indicate to the listener that this has some connection with
the evaluative point and, if it’s done artfully, the
listener’s attention is also suspended, and the resolution
comes with much greater force. This use of repetition to
build suspense and lead to a more powerful story ending is
shared in the written narratives also, as evidenced by the
stories in this study.

In many of the cases, a word or phrase was repeated
three times. The repetition of threes and the use of the
number three occurred over and over and over again in the
stories in this study. Words were repeated in threes, kids
went camping in groups of threes, crazed killers placed
three phone calls to terrified babysitters. A young girl
notices a man staring at her from three different stores in
a mall. Three comrades investigate unexplained murders in
the Partridge house. A construction site director’s name is
repeated three times as an employee falls to his death down
a long shaft. Threes occur too often in these stories to
consider it merely a coincidence. The young writers have
either inherited (through reading or listening to stories)
the "magic three" concept that is so prevalent in fairy
tales,H or they have been taught how to use it in their
writing. I would imagine they have acquired the concept
through actual experiences, hearing, or reading repeated

threes in literature.

227

Explicatives

The repeated use of "well" and the building of lengthy
sentences with conjunctions such as "so", "and", "but", and
"and then" are other hallmarks of oral style giving the
narrators complete control over their performance. What
these stylistic features do for a storyteller is squeeze out
any possible interruptions or prevent lapses in attention by
their listeners.ls These conjunctions were used quite often
in the oral narratives in Labov’s study and frequent
evidence of these oral trademarks can also be found in the
written stories in this study. One seventh grade writer
connected almost every sentence in her short "jump story"
with "and" and "then":

And you hear rustle. Then you hear a creepy sound

of a door opening. Your hiding in a blanket.

Then you hear a tipping-toes on the stairs. Then

your still hiding and shaking for a moment. And

then you hear a noise...
A fourth grade writer also used "and" and "then" to maintain
the flow of her story:

...It started to get dark and Libbys older sister

started to tell spooky stories and I mean realy

scary stories and we talked and gillge [giggled],

told jokes and made up plays for at least for a

half an hour then we all got sorta tired a laid

down...we were just whispering softly to each

other and then Libbys sister saw somthing scrading
around the tent!

Another seventh grade writer connected all of his

n n ,

sentences in his story with "and" and so

 

228

There was a Kid that always had to have a light on

when he went to bed or he would have alful dreams

and one night the power went out and he had to go

to bed in the dark. SO he had a dream about a

guys that came and riped off kids arm and beat

them to death with it. SO he woke up screaming

and nobody was home they went to the someplace and

the Kid look up and saw someone standin there and

he thought it was that guy...

There are also a number of storywriters in this study
who used punctuation sparingly, connecting sentence after
sentence with "and" or "and then" or "and so." A teacher,
particularly an English or language arts teacher, would
correct the young writer who does this, claiming that more
punctuation is needed to avoid run-on sentences. A
folklorist, particularly one interested in oral narratives,
would commend the young writer, praising the way the
audience’s attention is controlled through the continued
flow of sentence after sentence after sentence.

Another means of intensifying the action or events of
an oral narrative is through expressive phonology. One of
the most common modes is lengthening vowels ("for a lo-o-ong
ti-i-ime") or stretching out the pronunciation of words to
heighten their effect. This attempt to create sound effects
and provide written gesturing occurred in the stories in
this study as young writers developed written sound effects
that thundered and echoed throughout their stories.

Creatures calling out "OOOOOOO", crazed lunatics cackling a

hideous "HA HA HA HA", and doors squeeking open with a tense

229
"Creeeeek" could be found in numerous stories. Some young
writers also included the specific noises that haunted their
characters —- scratching branches and rusting pipes and
whining dogs -— others created the effect of noise and power
and fear by capitalizing certain words ("DOOMED"), by
increasing the size of the repeated words
("just, just, just"), by underlining words
("really scary stories"), by darkening the letters of words
("HELP!"), by writing the words in a jagged witch-like
scrawl, and by inserting "—-—" and "..." where tension
needed to occur. All of these stylistic effects were
choices made by the young storywriters in their attempts to
create mpg their stories were supposed to be read as well as
in their attempts to clue their reader into the fact that
their stories were indeed "reportable."

For oral storytellers, an audience is immediate. The
style used in oral narratives is dramatic, fluid, and
gripping in its actual performance before an involved and
sympathetic audience, but may seem stiff, repetitious, and
awkward when captured on the printed page. What is often
lacking in print is the essential ingredient of immediate
context -- the setting of the legend-telling, the
storyteller’s vocal and facial expression, the gestures, the
audience’s reaction, and even the texts of similar tales
shared at the same session. The fourth through eighth grade

students in this study "told" their scary stories in writing

230
and in doing so managed to weave in as many oral
storytelling features as they could without specific
direction or "assignment" to do so. Typical of folk
narrative style, they used repetition and pauses and they
included dialogue to bring their characters to life. They
also played around with print size and shape to mark
inflection, they illustrated their words, they set scenes
and established appropriate moods, and they invited their
readers into their stories ("Once upon a time...") and
offered them a variety of ways to get out of their stories,
sometimes relying on abrupt, unresolved endings, leaving the
possibilities of what really happened up to the individual
reader ("...the parent asked is she dead? I don’t know.")
and other times Offering a tidy little ending, leaving the
reader with an honest sense of closure. None of these
stylistic elements were "taught" in the context of my short
visits with the classes. There just wasn’t time, nor was
there much sense in doing so. These young writers already
knew the structures that make their stories "reportable."
They knew how to gel; a story -- they just needed the

conditions to write one.

FOOTNOTES -- CHAPTER V

l"napp, Mary and Herbert Knapp. One Potato, Two
Potato...The Secret Education of American Children. (New
York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1976), P. 4.

2Brunvand, Jan Harold. The Vanishing Hitchhiker:
American Urban Legends and Their Meaning . (New York: W.W.
Norton & Co., 1981). P. 3.

3Remember that the writers were asked to classify their
stories into one of four possible categories: True,
Original, Re-telling, and Combination. Some of the students
neglected to include a story classification on their papers,
hence the "NO Category" classification on the Table.

‘Herbert and Mary Knapp came to the conclusion that
children insist that the stories they tell are "true"
because they want to explore their deep-seated fears of
murder, mutilation, and cannibalism. "If the stories were
fiction, the events they describe would be less horrible and
hearing about them would therefore not provide as much
vicarious satisfaction" (Knapp and Knapp, 1976, p. 244).
Brunvand attributes storytellers’ assuming that what they
are telling actually happened to the fact that they have
heard (or read) that the stories are true. "Some of the
most popular narratives in modern folklore
-- like ’The Choking Doberman’ and ’The Severed Fingers’ --
are vivid accounts of threats, assaults, injuries, and
sometimes violent deaths that supposedly occur in everyday
life to ordinary people. Since these legends are told as
recitals of local events, they give the impression of having
some basis in fact, even if their fantastic plots, calmly
considered, are reminiscent of the most sensational
thrillers by Edgar Allan Poe or Alfred Hitchcock...but the
lack of authentication, the many variant versions, the
traditional themes and motifs in the stories, and the
formalized style in which they are told all indicate that
most of these shocking narratives belong to folk tradition
rather than history" (Brunvand, 1984, p. 69). Iona and
Peter Opie believe children are quite innocent in claiming
authorship to a story or rhyme that was written by someone
else. When this happens, what they usually do is retain the

231

232

original story, altering perhaps only one word in it, for
instance substituting a familiar name for a name unknown to
them (Opie and Opie, 1959, p. 12).

5Brunvand, Jan Harold. The Mexican Pet: More "New
Urban Legends and Some Old Favorites. (New York: W.W.
Norton & Co., 1986), p. 10.

6Brunvand. 1981, p. 153.
7Brunvand. 1986, p. 11.

8The extent to which story conventions, such as formal
openings and closings and stock character types and
situations, are recognized and used by young writers can be
taken, to a certain extent, as an indication of the degree
to which stories have begun their progression from the
child’s initial recognition that a story is in some way
different from other uses of language, to the final
established recognition of a story as a specific mode of
communication. Studies by Applebee (1978), Pitcher and
Prelinger (1963), and Willy (1975) explore and analyze how
children adapt those conventions in their own response to
the statement, "Tell me a story."

9Toelken, Barre. The Dynamics of Folklore. (Boston,
Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin, 1979). p. 38.

1°Labov, William. "The Transformation of Experience in
Narrative Syntax." In Language in the Inner City.
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania
Press, 1972), pp. 365-366.

11 Ibid., p. 365.

12Not only young writers rely on dreams to end their
stories, even television writers find themselves in
situations where their stories can only make sense if "it’s
all just a dream." In the 1985-86 season opening episode of
"Dallas", the show’s writers opted for the dream motif in
order to make sense out of the entire 1986—87 season’s
episodes -- an entire year of television "drama" that just
couldn’t be neatly explained or drawn together with a
logical closure, or so the television writers had their
audience believe.

13McDowell, John Holmes. Children’s Riddling.
(Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1979), p.
16.

 

233

 

1“Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment. (New
York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1976), pp. 102, 78, 81-82, 219, 263—
4. von Franz, Marie-Louise. An Introduction to the

 

Psychology of Fairy Tales. Zurich, Switzerland: Spring
Publications, 1975), pp. 64-65.

lsBrunvard, 1981, p. 10.

CHAPTER VI

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

This study of story tradition and story structure in
the scary stories of fourth through eighth graders has
produced both expected and unexpected results. My first
hypothesis that children as early as fourth grade are
tradition bearers was supported by the data in general. At
all grade levels the children wrote an abundance of stories
that fell into a story type I called "scary stories." Many
of these stories contained similar plots, characters, and
motifs; many were obvious variations on the same stories.
Regardless of whether or not the children in this study
labelled the stories they wrote as re-tellings, their re-
occurring ideas clearly illustrated a knowledge of stories
gleaned from other sources. Whether these stories were
originally acquired through oral storytelling or
storyreading, whether they were stories the children had
read on their own, or whether they were heard on the radio
or seen on television or at the movie theater, their concept
of scary stories and their ability to write and tell them
has developed from sources in addition to those available in

school classrooms.

234

235

The fourth through eighth grade students in this study
exhibited knowledge of oral narratives and implemented many
Of those stylistic techniques into their written stories:
use of repetition and pauses, creation of mood and setting,
use of dialogue to bring characters to life, development of
story introductions with immediate audience/reader
involvement, story endings that avoided cliches and overused
phrases, and use of language that created an oral—aural
sense directly from the printed page.

I began this study with the hypothesis that students --
particularly students in upper elementary school and middle
school —- carry a wealth of stories around in their heads
and, if given the opportunity, could tell and write stories
with a great deal of success and interest. Each classroom I
visited reinforced that belief. As a teacher, I have
experienced my share of writing "lessons." Many were
successful ("success" based on student involvement,
interest, and completion of a writing product); many lessons
weren’t. The scary story writing activity I explored with
the fourth- through eighth-graders in this study was
successful; it resulted in a scary story from every single
student in each classroom I visited. Not one student
complained that they "didn’t have anything to write about."
Not one student hesitated handing over their writing
product, even though it was only a first draft. Some

students continued to tell scary stories after I left -- in

236
their classrooms, while leaning against lockers in the
school hallways, even stopping to share "just one more
story" during my visit to another classroom in their
building a week later.

The success of the scary story writing was due to some
factors that have been addressed by both folklorists and
educators in the past, but deserve to be repeated in the
context of this study. Asking young people to tell scary
stories invited them to tell, and re-tell, stories they had
heard and told and read, time and time again. Ghost
stories, terror tales, horror legends, the "scaries," belong
to all children and young people. They receive a scary
story educatiOn from babysitters, camp counselors, and older
siblings. They yearn for the opportunity to participate in
scary story rituals -- at slumber parties, campfire
gatherings, family reunions. Young people "own" scary
stories. Some fear them, some are amused by them, and many
are obsessed by them (the glut of movies, cartoons, toys,
and books that has placed a market value on horror is
evidence of this). This scary story writing activity was
successful, in part, because students were allowed to tell
stories they already knew.

Another reason why this activity succeeded was because
it asked young people to work with a "topic" they had all
experienced personally. Every single student understood the

concept of fear because every one Of them had first-hand

237
experience with that emotion. Fear ("being frightened")
touched each of them -- some in intense ways —- and,
particularly for those who chose to write "true" stories,
those emotions spilled out onto paper. Exploring our own
experiences through stories Often validates those
experiences and presents storywriters and storytellers with
a means of expressing who they are.1

The students were also successful with producing
written scary stories because the approach was low-risk.

The story writing operated from a foundation of oral
storying -- something young people have succeeded at for
years. The activity did not ask them to create a written
masterpiece of an error-free product. There was no fear of
a grade hovering over the entire process. "Prompts" in the
form of an oral pre-writing generation of ideas preceded
actual writing. Students were given the time to write and
the freedom to share with their peers along the way. And,
as much as possible, they were provided with an environment
that supported their attempts.

What the young writers were not given were any formal
lessons in how to write a scary story. They were not
expected to learn and memorize story terminology. They were
not bombarded with samples of "good" scary stories and "bad"
scary stories to use as models.2 And they were not going to
be evaluated on their first draft attempts. According to

composition educators and researchers who promote approaches

238
such as the one used in this study, this scary story
activity had all the ingredients for success.3

From the perspective of some folklorists, this study
took a non-traditional approach to the collection Of
artifacts and, in doing so, may have neglected addressing
some important folklore information. Some folklorists
believe that true folklore is "in the main, oral tradition,
[and is] transmitted primarily by word of mouth.‘ According
to these folklorists, a legitimate folklore study would
concentrate on non—literate composition and recomposition
and must insist that all transmissions, or even
compositions, be oral.

Other folklorists (especially representatives of
folklore study in American in the 1980’s) promote various
methods of studying folklore, depending on the discipline
being studied, the interests in the materials studied, and
the different ideas as to how folklore should be understood
and utilized.5 Not all of these approaches would demand
that transmission be oral. One recent folklore orientation
takes an approach that focuses on performance as the primary
grouping of phenomena to be studied. The primary question
this approach would take is: Who is expressing what and for
whom -- and when, how, and why? Another approach -- often
referred to as the functional approach -- leans toward the
explanation of how and why certain kinds of folklore

continue to Operate in any given instance. Primary

239
questions for this approach are: Why do certain elements of
folklore come into being? Why do we continue to pass them
on? Both of these approaches treat folklore as a method of
study.6 In addition to defining folklore as a process of
performance and communication, Brunvand acknowledges
folklore as "those materials in culture that circulate
traditionally among members of any group in different
versions, whether in oral form or by means of customary
example."7 His emphasis is on the artifact, rather than the
methodology.

This particular study was approached with a focus
almost entirely on text; acknowledging the context of the
storywriting situation, yet not providing full contextual
information about the story tellers themselves, and the
stories they chose to write. Asking the young writers to
include story acquisition information in the form of a label
written on the top corner of their paper ("True,"

"Original,' "Re-telling," or "Combination") provided only
possible acquisition information. More likely, it only
hinted at that information. Many of the children labelled
their stories as "original" or "true" when their stories
were clearly re-tellings or variations of stories we had
heard ourselves when we were their age, or plots we had seen
on television or at the movies. What was missing for a more

contextual folklore study was information answer the

following questions: What was the student’s concept of an

240
original story? Of a true story? Of a re-telling? Have
these students been told that re-telling someone else’s
story is plagiarism? If so, did that knowledge result in an
unwillingness to write re-tellings or an unease in labelling
their stories re-tellings? Was there a conscious or
unconscious borrowing of ideas, characters, and stylistic
devices used in their story writing? Why did they write
their particular story? Did the students have more than one
story or story idea they wanted to write? If so, how did
they narrow down their ideas? Have the students in this
study had other opportunities to tell (or write) stories in
their classrooms? If so, how often? Who, or what, has made
an impact on the stories they chose to tell/write and the
way they chose to tell/write them? A questionnaire or an
interview with the students following their writing could
have offered answers to these questions and would have
provided valuable information for teachers who spend time
with narrative structures in their classrooms.

Many of those questions were not part of my original
focus when this study began. Instead they grew during the
re—reading of the scary stories. In a sense they extend
some of the pedagogical implications that a study such as
this could offer. The answers to these questions can only
come by making assumptions -- assumptions based on what was
gleaned from the young writers during the pre-writing

discussion and chalkboard idea-generation, from the

 

241

information provided by the teachers regarding their
students and the value (and practice) of oral and written
language in their classrooms, and from the research of other
folklorists and educators who have studied the storying
processes, both oral and written, of young writers. Future
studies need to rely more on direct information the students
can provide about how they acquire and extend their
knowledge and use of narrative structures, rather than
relying on just teacher speculation about this information.

An example of a teacher who’s developed pedagogy based
on student input is the work and teaching of Frances
Reinehr. While teaching fourth grade in an inner-city
school in Lincoln, Nebraska, Ms. Reinehr implemented what
she has termed "storyteaching" into her curriculum.
Storyteaching occurred somewhat by coincidence. In a
desperate attempt to "make connections" for (and with) a
roomful of angry, alienated, and racially intolerant
children, Reinehr discovered that carefully designed lessons
on prejudice didn’t work. They were too abstract. These
children did not need indirect approaches to their
estrangement. They were not only unwilling to hear some
good things about themselves, they were unreceptive to being
nurtured. Reinehr discovered that what these children did
respond to were myths, legends, and fairy stories from
diverse cultures, stories that contained inevitable lessons

about decent human behavior.

 

242
In an unpublished book-length manuscript entitled

H

"Storyteaching, Reinehr tells her story of that school year
and how storying became the central focus in her classroom.
One excerpt of this manuscript offers her philosophical
reasons for telling and reading stories:

The very stories we choose to tell illustrate our

beliefs, fears, attitudes, hopes, and how we see

ourselves in relation to others...children need to

hear stories of every genre, and they need

encouragement to tell their own stories.... We

need the consolation of stories that serve as

models to strengthen our view of our story. We

need stories, too, that end with the consolation

of "happily every after." We need those stories,

told and retold by every culture throughout time,

because we all need redefinitions of what it means

to arrive safely after difficult journeys.8

The remainder of the excerpt focuses on specific
instances where Reinehr relied on various forms of storying
she used in her daily teaching. She explains how and why
good talk produces good writing and how that, in turn,
becomes stories. Reinehr acknowledges the wide range of
experiences children bring to school every day and the
language they possess to describe those experiences. She
tells of the class collaboration that occurred while writing

the story "Goodbye, Chris Ann,‘ 3 horror tale based on an
old tree with a knife stuck in it that one boy had
discovered on his walk to school. She also tells about the
large hallway collage, the puppets, and the story

dramatizations that resulted from the class reading of The

Hobbit. This experience, in particular, developed skills

243

interchangeably. Listening became art that became writing

 

that became talking that turned into reading material for
others. Listening also found form in the puppets that
retold parts of the story. And so the storying process
continued across all disciplines.

Reinehr’s integration of language arts through storying
is clear evidence of what can happen in classrooms where
children’s stories are valued and where the stories of
others are explored as natural processes toward a search for
understanding. Whether the students were creating a ‘
cartoon-like adaptation of the story Of the goddess Artemis
and the hunter who dared to look at her while she was
bathing, whether they were writing journey dialogue for
puppets named Gandalf and Bilbo, whether they were taking
photographs of old garages and stumps and knives to
accompany the written text to their own Gothic tale, they
were all actively involved in storymaking, storytelling,
storysharing, and storyreading.

While Reinehr’s manuscript does not mention any
connections to folklore in her storyteaching curriculum, she
has established a classroom environment conducive to the
connection of folklore and storying and, in many ways, has
already validated childlore in the oral and written storying
in which the children are involved every day.

The possibility of creating folklore situations in

school classrooms is still wide Open for research and

244
development. There are some traditional classroom practices
and curriculum concerns, however, that would need to be
addressed and changed in order to make this a reality. One
major concern is the storytelling and storywriting that does
occur in school -- if it truly does -- often operates as a
requirement; everyone is expected to participate because it
is written into the curriculum.

Traditional folklore transmission (and natural language
acquisition) exists in situations that are not "required."
Children create these situations on their own, without any
assistance or direct teaching from an educator. Folklore
transmission occurs every time children gather on the
playground and chant jump-rope rhymes, every time they
snuggle into their sleeping bags at a slumber party while
someone begins, "Have you heard about the escaped murderer
from Jackson Prison who’s been seen in this neighborhood the
past few nights?", and every time a camp counselor lulls his
campers to sleep with the story about the half man, half-
animal who survives on the blood of young campers in Cabin
Three.

Would any of these examples of childlore occur if
teachers asked children to tell these stories or write about
them in class? Would the school environment violate the
spontaneous kid-created environment young people select as
their own unconscious tradition transmission grounds? Is

there something sacred about childlore that prohibits its

245
inclusion in the school curriculum? My initial response is
an overwhelming, "YES!" While this dissertation offers
examples of children’s lively language, of their knowledge
of story structure, and of their enthusiasm for both oral
and written storying, I hesitate to recommend a folklore-in-
education program. I hesitate because of what I have seen
happen with curriculum development in the past decade and
because of what some teachers do when they put curriculum
into practice. I’m also hesitant because I fear the current
trend ("Obsession" is probably a more accurate word) in
educational measurement -- a trend that could result in the
development of evaluation measures that would sap the
energy, the liveliness, and the spontaneous tradition that
folklore (especially childlore) has developed on its own.

If folklore-in-education programs were implemented, how
would students respond to more opportunities for
storytelling and storywriting in school? If teachers in the
classrooms I visited continued with similar storying
activities, would their students have more scary stories to
write? Would they be willing to write them? Would
storytelling and storywriting become as "old hat" as grammar
drills? Would kids come to dread folklore time? I agree
with Herbert and Mary Knapp (1976) in their curiosities and
conclusions about the possibility of a folklore-education

connection:

246

...the best-laid plans of adults can never

accomplish for children what children can

accomplish for themselves, if given the chance

[emphasis mine]. We would like to see children’s

folklore play a larger role in their lives, but

there is nothing that we can do directly to

promote it. Its whole value lies in the fact that

it is not ours to promote. It is our children’s

lore. All we can do is recognize its virtues and

give children the time and freedom they need to

make it flourish.9

I also believe that if storying and folklore were
allowed to become a natural part of the everyday classroom
learning and teaching, like it did in Frances Reinehr’s
classroom, then folklore-in—education could become a
reality.

The conditions for telling and writing scary stories —-
or any stories for that matter -- are available within most
classrooms but Often are not made accessible. The current
focus in schools, perpetuated over many years, is on matters
pertaining to learning through reading and writing. Seldom
is oral language given much credibility, except in younger
grades where show-and-tell is a traditional part of the
morning curriculum. Most human beings operate from an oral
language base. They do not shut down their oral language
capacities once they graduate from elementary school. In
fact, oral language often becomes the significant
communication form used by students in the upper grades as
their peers become the socializing force in their lives --

school building hallways erupt with conversation before

school, between classes, and after school hours; school

247
cafeterias scream with the voices of young people; home
telephones ring endlessly as teenagers share the latest
news, as they compare horror stories about their teachers,
their English exams, their unwarranted grounding by their
parents, their "hot" dates. Time after time, these young

people are telling each other the stories that make up who

 

they are, stories that confirm what they believe, and even
stories that amuse or confuse or frighten them. Sometimes
they pick up a pen and write this information down -- the
glut of note-passing that takes place in school is evidence ‘ v
of that —- at other times, they find a book or a magazine
article that speaks to their needs or interests. But
usually they prefer to meet face-to—face to talk about
whatever it is that needs to be discussed. And that talk
comes easier and with more total language intensity when
they converse about things that matter to them and when they
share with people who are willing to listen.

Oral language skills have traditionally received little

attention in English/language arts classes. Many educators,

 

however, have recognized that reading and writing must be
firmly based on a foundation of oral skills. For many
English/language arts teachers in the 1970’s, the oral
language curriculum expanded beyond the formal speech
requirements based on rhetorical models to include a variety
of oral language activities. Students were encouraged to

share their knowledge in panels and debates. They

248
participated in small groups to explore ideas and materials
and questions. They presented formal talks and
presentations, interviews, and reader’s theater. What they
need is the continued assurance that these oral language
activities will not be replaced by more measurable language
tasks, nor will they be considered unacceptable in school,

especially in secondary classrooms.

The Unfinished Story (problems, possibilities, and
curiosities):

One concern with a study such as this, a study that
proposes to look at children’s story traditions and then
focuses on written stories collected in an unnatural context
that consists of sitting at a desk under the bright lights
in a school classroom with two adults present (the regular
classroom teacher and the scary story collector), is the
expectation that the students would share scary story
traditions that they had transmitted spontaneously with
members of their age, sex, or status group.10

A suggested area for further investigation is a study
of whether the similarities between style and product in
written stories and style and performance in oral stories
would be accompanied by differences in the narrative
structure between the two storying forms. How closely do
oral storytelling narratives resemble the same or similar

written story narratives? Would the oral presentation

 

249
exhibit less structure and less organization than the
written narratives? In what ways does having immediate,
face—to-face audience interaction affect the oral narrative
performance and how does that differ from the lack of
immediate audience feedback available to a writer?

The research done by Ervin-Tripp and Mitchell-Kernan
(1977)11 suggests that differences in the elaboration of
certain narrative components are age related and may reflect
the developmental changes in the way children adapt their
speech to the requirements of their audience. It is
probable that the older storyteller or storywriter has a
greater awareness of audience, can more clearly anticipate
the areas that need elaboration or explanation for the
audience, and can make the changes necessary to provide that
information for their audience.

Audience awareness makes oral storytellers conscious of
the need to motivate the listener, to involve the listener
in the story, and to supply background information and make
logical connections so the story is clearly understood. In
some situations, this becomes an involving task for a
storyteller, but in situations where the teller is offering
a narrative that the listener already knows (a re-telling),
the story teller can assume some valuable information about
the story on the part of the listener. Implications of a
study referred to by Harste and Carey (1979) offer

information that young storytellers are more inclined to

250

delete necessary elements of narratives when the listener
already knows their stories, and are more inclined to
include additional information when they cannot presume that
the listener knows the stories. To what degree did the fact
that the students in this study were writing stories in my
presence, in the confines of a classroom, and knowing I
would be reading them, affect what information they chose to
include in their stories? Would they have written different
scary stories for an audience of only their peers? It is
difficult to evaluate how this information about audience
affected the stories in my study (especially the re-
tellings) but it would make an interesting investigation.

The study of story structure and the role that folklore
and traditon play on oral and written narratives ought to
consider differences in story types. It would also be
valuable to explore the connections between different
genres. How do narrative structures differ from expository
structures? What, if anything, do they borrow from each
other? Furthermore, are there differences between personal
and fictional narratives, between personal and expository
narratives? Are these differences the same in oral
narratives and written narratives? An exploration of these
questions would offer educators important information about
the value Of oral language in classrooms -- especially in
classrooms beyond the elementary school -- as well as useful

information to enhance writing in various genres.

251

There has been some research, although not a great
deal, focusing on the role that re-telling plays in
children’s language development, mostly dealing with reading
comprehension and understanding of story structure. Lesly
Morrow’s12 study theorized that asking young children to
retell stories in their own words would help them learn
story structure and, thus, to better comprehend stories they
listen to or read themselves. Yet a survey of preschool and
kindergarten teachers showed that they rarely gave children
Opportunities to retell stories because the activity was
considered time-consuming, difficult, and of no educational
value. Morrow’s own research with kindergarten children
showed that, when children were given the Opportunity to
retell the stories someone had read to them, they exhibited
increased understanding of story setting, theme, sequence of
events, and problems faced by the characters. They also
showed an increase in complexity of language when they
discussed the stories, they indulged in storytelling more
Often during free play, and they initiated story role-
playing with more frequency. An interesting extension to
this study would be the exploration of re-telling -- of
stories children had read and heard -- with older children
focusing on both their oral re-tellings and written re-
tellings.

Most Of the students who contributed scary stories to

this particular study were native English speakers. Two of

 

252
the seventh graders from Hannah Middle School were ESL
(English as the Second Language) speakers, and their written
stories reflected some language differences from the stories
of their classmates, although the differences were slight.
Rather than focusing on language choice used in scary
stories written by non-native English speakers, a
fascinating study would explore the types of stories they
would write and the motifs they would choose to focus on.
Would their stories differ in kind from the story groupings
listed in this study? How much does culture affect the
telling and writing Of stories, particularly scary stories?
I assume there would be some differences across cultural and
ethnic groups based on the individual concept of "scariness"
and how that is reflected in their society’s concept of
fear. What constitutes "scariness" to school children in
East Lansing, Michigan, is reflected in their personal
experience. The same would hold true for persons from
different cultural/ethnic groups. William Labov’s research
with cultural subgroups revealed not only different story
lines in response to the question "Have you ever been in a
situation where you were in serious danger of being
killed?", but also diverse linguistic strategies for stating
explanations. It seems reasonable to assume that scary
story categories and motifs would vary in the storywriting
of students based on their differing cultures. Regional,

national, and international studies of the scary stories

 

253
written by children and adolescents is another area worthy
of research.

In his work collecting and interpreting legends and
belief tales, Brunvand expresses concern with obtaining as
much solid information as possible about the narration of
the legends. He encourages studies emphasizing in-depth
fieldwork with informants within the context of the study --

Who tells the stories? When? To whom? Why? --believing
that better social, cultural, and performance data will

offer a clearer understanding of the function and meaning of

legends. While this dissertation did not focus on an
interpretation of children’s scary stories -- what they mean
and how they function in the lives of children -- this, too,

would provide an interesting study.

The Rest of the Story...

Alvin Schwartz, in his collection of scary stories
entitled Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, introduces the
notion that each of us is a tradition bearer. If this is
true, then our awareness and involvement in what is going on
around us every day must be more important than many of us
acknowledge. From the repetition of jump rope rhymes during
recess, to get-well concoctions mom and dad tried out on us
because they "always worked for me when I was a child," to
stories shared generation after generation at the dinner

table or while driving on vacation or whenever family or

254
friends got together and reminisced -— all of these become
part of the traditions we carry within. Choosing to pass on
these traditions, whether consciously or unconsciously,
happens more Often than many of us realize. Transmission
does not occur only among people who have experienced years
and years of life and rhymes and concoctions and stories.
At every age people are involved with the receiving and
transmitting of all kinds of traditions. Stories are,
perhaps, the oldest living tradition; one that each of us
shares at all stages in our lives. Because of this natural
involvement, this natural shared tradition, it seems
possible that an educational setting and school lessons are
unnecessary for a child to acquire the concepts of "story"
and "storying." English and language arts classes do not
need to carry the full responsibility of teaching children
to write stories in proper forms because children and young
people have been storying long before they came to school,
and will continue to do so long after they leave the
educational system.

If this premise is true, then perhaps a child’s
acquisition of "story" begins with, and is developed by, the
transmission of stories without school interference or
assistance. Perhaps the school’s role is to enhance a
learner’s natural storying tradition rather than attempt to
teach the writing (or telling) of stories from formula

prescription (beginning, body, conflict, climax, resolution,

255
conclusion) or teacher-fabricated story titles or
standardized "finish the story" paragraphs that too often
result in stories using language that lacks energy,
originality, vitality, and the storyteller’s personal style
and voice.

Stories can be (and are) received orally, visually
(e.g., television, cartoons, movies), or through contact
with the written word. They can be received from relatives,
friends, camp counselors, actors and actresses, teachers,
animated characters, and almost anyone with a yarn to spin.
They are shared in homes and libraries, at camps and slumber
parties, deep in the woods and beside dying campfires,

tucked tightly into sleeping bags and nestled under afghans

on grandma’s lap. Storytelling doesn’t have to wait for a
special time and place. It occurs easily and naturally
whenever one person shares an experience with another. We
tell the stories of who we are -- of what happens to us,

what affects us, what entertains us or frightens us or
threatens our existence. Our lives are a series of stories
-- some directly experienced, others vicariously
experienced, and still others experienced through an outside
medium such as television. Denying the existence of story

in our lives is like denying life itself.

 

FOOTNOTES -- CHAPTER VI

lBettleheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment. (New
York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1976).

2At the outset of my classroom visits, the "teacher" in
me attempted a form of model-sharing by telling a few scary
stories to "prime the pump." Fortunately, one middle school
student interrupted my telling by asking if he could "just
go ahead and write...please?!" I learned my lesson. When
it came to scary stories, these students didn’t need my
stories for models. By the time the list of scary things
had been generated, they were ready to write! What I needed
to do was step back and give them the time to do it.

3Current theories on the composing process of young
people and the teaching of writing -- pedagogy and
application -- has been influenced by the work of the
following researcher-educators: Stephen N. Tchudi and Susan
J. Tchudi (1981), Donald Graves (1983), Nancie Atwell
(1987), and Lucy McCormick-Calkins (1983 and 1986).

 

4Utley, Francis Lee. "A Definition of Folklore." In
Our Living Traditions, (New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1968),
p. 7.

5Dundes, Alan. "Ways of Studying Folklore." In Our

Living Traditions, (New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1968), p.
37.

6Toelken, Barre. The Dynamics of Folklore. (Boston,
Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin, 1976), p. 7—8.

7Brunvand, Jan Harold. The Study of American Folklore:

An Introduction, 2nd ed. (New York: W.W. Norton, 1978), p.
7.

8Reinehr, Frances. "Storyteaching." Teachers and
Writers, Vol 18, No. 3, p. 1.

 

9Knapp, Mary and Herbert Knapp. One Potato, Two
Potato...The Secret Education of American Children. (New
York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1976), p. 1 and p. 268.

1°See Kenneth Goldstein, "The Induced Natural Context,"
in, Essays in the Verbal and Visual Arts, ed. June Helm

256

 

257

(Seattle and London, 1967), pp. 1-6, for an example of how
one folklorist has employed an induced natural context as a
field work technique. The natural context of the legend is
much more elusive than that of other genres. Goldstein
points out that "Certain contexts cannot be viewed naturally
or induced in a manner permitting the collector to be
present to make his observations, simply because he does not
satisfy the requirements for attendance. He cannot arrange
to be present at events from which he would normally be
excluded because he is not a member of the proper age, sex,
or status group" (p. 5).

11Ervin-Tripp, Susan and Claudia Mitchell-Kernan.
"Introduction." In Child Discourse (New York: Academic
Press, Inc., 1977), p. 16.

leorrow, Lesly. "Retelling Stories: A Strategy for
Improving Young Children’s Comprehension, Concept of Story
Structure, and Oral Language Complexity." The Elementary

 

School Journal, Vol. 85, 1985, pp. 648-661.

 

APPENDIX

 

APPENDIX

The following three stories are brief versions of
stories told during my story gathering visits to Maple
Valley Junior/Senior High School and Dansville High School.
In the re-telling of "The Hook" I localized the telling,
using names of "real" Dansville and Vermontville area
parking hangouts and told the story as if it really happened
-- just a few years back, when the parents of the students

in the classes were about their age....

The Hook
Donald and Sarah went to the movies. Then
they went for a ride in Donald’s car. They parked

up on a hill at the edge of town. From there they
could see the lights up and down the valley.

Donald turned on the radio and found some
music. But an announcer broke in with a news
bulletin. A murderer had escaped from the state
prison. He was armed with a knife and was headed
south on foot. His left arm was missing. In its
place, he wore a hook.

"Let’s roll up the windows and lock the
doors," said Sarah.

"That’s a good idea," said Donald.

"That prison isn’t too far away,"
"Maybe we really should go home."

"But it’s only ten o’clock,"

said Sarah.

said Donald.

"I don’t care what time it is," she said, "I
want to go home."
"Look, Sarah," said Donald, "He’s not going

to climb all the way up here. Why would he do
that? Even if he did, all the doors are locked.
How could he get in?"

258

259

"Donald, he could take that hook and break

through a window and open a door," she said. "I’m
scared. I want to go home."
Donald was annoyed. "Girls are always afraid

of something, he said.
As he started the car, Sarah thought she
heard someone, or something, scratching at her

door.

"Did you hear that?" she asked as they roared
away. "It sounded like somebody was trying to get
in."

"Oh, sure," said Donald.

Soon they got to her house.
"Would you like to come in and have some
cocoa?" she asked.

"No," he said. "I’ve got to go home."
He went around to the other side of the car
to let her out. Hanging on the door handle was a

hook.

(This version Of "The Hook" was found in Alvin Schwartz’s,
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (New York: J.B.

Lippincott, 1981, pp. 62-63).

The Mayonnaise Jar

There’s a man who dearly loves mayonnaise.

He loves it so much that he uses a jar of it every
day. One day he wakes up to find a new jar in his
refrigerator. This happens again and again.
Finally, he decides to stay up and see who’s
putting a new jar of mayonnaise in his
refrigerator every night. At midnight, he sees a
one-armed man come into his house and squeeze pus
from the stump of his arm into the mayonnaise jar.

(This version of "The Mayonnaise Jar" was found in Herbert
and Mary Knapp’s, One PotatoJ Two Potato...The Secret

Education of American Children (New York: W.W. Norton &

Co., 1976, p. 246).

260

The Coffin

A girl lived out in the country. One night
there was a knock on the door, so she opened it

and there was a coffin. It came toward her,
closer and closer. She ran into the living room.
It came after her. She ran into the dining room.
It came after her. She ran up the stairs, but it
came up the stairs, one two,...until it reached

the top. She ran into her room and shut the door,
but the coffin opened the door and came closer and
closer and closer, until she was up against the

wall. At the last minute, she pulled out a box of
Smith Brothers cough drops and stopped the coffin.

(This version of "The Coffin" was found in Herbert and Mary
Knapp’s One Potato, Two Potato...The Secret Education of

American Children (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1976, p.

 

246).

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and Service Corp., 1973.

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