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Hauntings In America

By Marissa St. Ours for Ms. Barklow: Monsters & Misfits

Introductory Video

Dear reader, before reading through this project you must know that if anything that has to do with ghosts freaks you out, STOP READING! I talk about ghosts and their impact on us as humans living in this world. This topic is important because the paranormal is such a mystery that we either tend to ignore or obsess over. We either don't believe it and block anything having to do with the topic out, or are all about ghost hunting and wanting to come into contact with the dead. I chose this topic because for some reason I've always been interested in hauntings. I've also expierenced some questionable occurrences myself that the only logical reasoning behind them is that it was a spirit or ghost. Americans consider the occurrences of ghosts because as a culture we seek explanations for what's happening around us.

"Who threw the ball?" A Short Story- Creative piece

About 6 years ago when I was twelve years old i moved into a small duplex in Saco, ME. It was just me and my mom living there, and no one else. Friends and family would visit occasionally of course but not unexpectedly . The structure of the house was like one big square. When you walked in the front door you were immediately in the kitchen, with the living room close by on the left. Directly across from the living room was my bedroom, and next to my bedroom was my moms which was further away from the living room. Obviously a bathroom as well across my mom’s room. It was a very tight and compact apartment, it was similar to a hotel room suite.

My 3 year old dog at the time named Lola loves to fetch a tennis ball, she will do it all day and all night. So usually around dinner time and me and my mom would relax in the living room lounging on the couch after a long day. While relaxing either me or my mom would throw Lola's ball into the kitchen where it would usually bump up against the cupboards and bounce around before she got to it. We had hardwood floors, so Lola would run across from the living room to kitchen to fetch her ball and you would always hear her toenails clicking on the floors and her trying to slow herself down and slipping. It was a noise I was so used to and didn't think anything of. From my room I could easily hear if Lola's ball was being thrown due to the thin walls.

I was laying in bed on a school night. Around 12 AM I heard a noise coming from the living room. My mom always stayed up late so I thought to myself, “It must be her.” I heard her throwing the ball for Lola and Lola running to fetch the ball. After five minutes I texted my mom to ask if she would stop throwing the ball so that I could fall asleep. My mom never answered but the ball stopped being thrown after about five minutes. The next morning I woke up and my mom asked why I texted her because she was asleep therefore not throwing the ball. So if it wasn't my mom throwing the ball who was throwing it? It still is a misotry to this day who was throwing the ball, "In this kind of analysis, ghosts are mysteries that must be solved, although they are not significant in their own right" (Holloway, 298).

Endnotes

I chose this for my choice writing because it was a real and personal experience that happened to me. Before this happened to me I never really believed ghosts were real, but after I always believed in them, "Particularly, experients often explained that they had not believed in paranormal phenomena prior to their critical expierence" (Drinkwater, 37). It was so real and confusing the only logical explanation was that there another person other than my mom there sitting on the couch. This relates to my project and I thought it would be fun to add into my project because it will give it a more raw feel. I'm not making any of his up, I actually sent texts to my mom when she was asleep. It was very scary and a big eye opener for me.

A Biography of Mary Smith- Informational piece 1

Who is Mary Smith?

Mary Smith was born in Bradenton, Florida, on June 2nd, 1920 and began working as a nurse at her local hospital when she became twenty-years old. She died 10 years later at the hospital. The hospital was very old and held a lot of history about the surrounding area. Later on, named Sarasota Memorial Hospital became a historical landmark.

Early Years

Mary’s parents were named Edward and Rebecca James. Growing up Mary’s father Edward, was a very busy business man who was always working. Mary and her mother were very close until Mary reached about ten when Rebecca gave birth to her second daughter, Madison. Madison and Mary loved each other and Mary was the perfect big sister. Although, once Madison was born she became their mother’s favorite and Mary was forgotten about and neglected.

Troubling Past

Madison took all the attention from Mary growing up. Rebecca was an alcoholic and whenever she became stressed she would take her anger out on Mary but not Madison. Mary dealt with only having about 3 outfits in her whole closet while Madison had several times more clothes, and having to babysit Madison almost everyday. Her mother would also verbally and physical abuse Mary. She didn't let Mary have a happy childhood like she let Madison. Mady loved her little sister but because of her mother she grew jealous of her sister.

Haunted Hospital

In 1930, the hospital was shot up be a man. 16 were murdered while 28 were injured including workers and patients. Mary was one of the victims who had been shot and died. It is said that Mary still lurks around the hospital and plays tricks on visitors.

The Sarasota Memorial hospital still exists today and has reported paranormal activity. The hospital holds history from hundreds of years ago relating to, “Overall, “heritage tourism” connotes an activity in which visitors connect with sites (cultural, natural, or built locations) through the hook of “heritage”— “that which is inherited from the past” (Miles, 28). Visitors have reported strange things happening to specifically little girls. It was reported that often little girls will trip while touring the hospital, or they will get lost. One women reported she saw a pale women peeking behind a curtain and when seen she somehow disappeared and is said to be Mary taking a visit at her old workplace, “Now a growing number of southern tourist attractions, including historic plantation homes, emphasize death and hauntings” (Miles, 27).

Endnotes: I wanted to do a biography because I wanted to get a chance to get really creative. This whole scenario is made up by myself. It was interesting and a challenge to come up with a character and her story but worth it to incorporate into my project.

Quote: "Some research suggests that paranormal beliefs are a substitute for conventional religious beliefs"(Eaton, 392)

Advice Column- Informational piece 2

Endnotes: I chose to do a letter because I thought it'd be a first fun way to incorporate a haunting into my project. It also gives a good understanding of what occurs when you think you're living with a ghost, so I thought it was fitting to add into my project.

Functional Piece

Endnotes: I decided to do a movie review because I really enjoyed this film even though it's horrifying. It gives another example of a haunting for example a demon. It was a different approach to inform the readers on my topic.

Works Cited

Holloway, Julian and James Kneale. "Locating Haunting: A Ghost-Hunter's Guide." Cultural Geographies, vol. 15, no. 3, July 2008, p. 297. EBSCOhost, libraries.maine.edu/mainedatabases/authmaine.asp?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,uid&db=edb&AN=32816629&site=eds-live.

Miles, Tiya. "Goat Bones in the Basement: A Case of Race, Gender and Haunting in Old Savannah." South Carolina Review, vol. 47, no. 2, Spring2015, p. 25. EBSCOhost, libraries.maine.edu/mainedatabases/authmaine.asp?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,uid&db=edo&AN=101075877&site=eds-live.

Pascal, Richard. "Walking Alone Together: Family Monsters in the Haunting of Hill House." Studies in the Novel, no. 4, 2014, p. 464. EBSCOhost, libraries.maine.edu/mainedatabases/authmaine.asp?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,uid&db=edsglr&AN=edsgcl.395165345&site=eds-

ANDREW, MCKINNON. "PARANORMAL AMERICA: GHOST ENCOUNTERS, UFO SIGHTINGS, BIGFOOT HUNTS, and OTHER CURIOSITIES in RELIGION and CULTURE Christopher D. Bader F. Carson Mencken Joseph O. Baker." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, no. 2, https://content.ebscohost.com/ContentServer.asp?T=P&P=AN&K=61036752&S=R&D=a9h&EbscoContent=dGJyMNXb4kSep684v%2BbwOLCmr1CeqLFSs6y4SLOWxWXS&ContentCustomer=dGJyMPGut1Gxq7dJuePfgeyx43zx

DRINKWATER, KENNETH, et al. "Understanding the Unknown: A Thematic Analysis of Subjective Paranormal Experiences." Australian Journal of Parapsychology, vol. 17, no. 1, June 2017, p. 23. EBSCOhost, libraries.maine.edu/mainedatabases/authmaine.asp?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,uid&db=edb&AN=123620481&site=eds-live.

Eaton, Marc A. "Give Us a Sign of Your Presence": Paranormal Investigation as a Spiritual Practice." Sociology of Religion, vol. 76, no. 4, Winter2015, p. 389. EBSCOhost, libraries.maine.edu/mainedatabases/authmaine.asp?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,uid&db=edb&AN=111513472&site=eds-live.

Gray, Stephen and David Gallo. "Paranormal Psychic Believers and Skeptics: A Large-Scale Test of the Cognitive Differences Hypothesis." Memory & Cognition, vol. 44, no. 2, Feb. 2016, p. 242. EBSCOhost, libraries.maine.edu/mainedatabases/authmaine.asp?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,uid&db=edb&AN=112860938&site=eds-live.

Dumsday, Travis. "Authors of the Impossible: The Paranormal and the Sacred. By Jeffrey Kripal." Journal of the American Academy of Religion, vol. 81, no. 2, June 2013, p. 529. EBSCOhost, libraries.maine.edu/mainedatabases/authmaine.asp?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,uid&db=edb&AN=87825708&site=eds-live.

Created By
Marissa St. Ours
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Created with images by Simon Matzinger - "untitled image"

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