Kelsey LundFollow

Date Collected

Fall 12-1-2017

Place item was collected

Logan, Utah

Informant

Lauren Morrill

Point of Discovery/Informant Bio

Lauren is a student at Utah State University and is studying Marketing. She is also a member of Kappa Delta Sorority and has been for three years now. She has a lot of knowledge and love for Kappa Delta and Utah State University and is very involved in both organizations. Within the Kappa Delta organization, she is my Big which means she is my mentor, my best friend, and the one I am able to have a very specific and special connection. Lauren is a very outgoing and happy person who loves to tell stories. When I first met her she instantly told me about some Kappa Delta traditions including Patty the ghost.

Context

The place in which this piece was collected was at a Jamba Juice in Logan Utah. Asking her about Patty in this setting isn’t exactly normal, but Lauren is the type of person who easily tells stories no matter the setting. Our friend Lauren Romero was also there with us which allowed Lauren Morrill a larger audience to speak to. It is well known within the sorority that the knowledge of Patty should not be shared openly as it might scare some girls and influence them not to join our chapter. The stories of Patty are usually told in the house when asked, or after an experience. It is also not common to share stories of Patty when in a larger group setting. Usually, these stories are shared in smaller groups and usually with those who have had an experience with her. In part of her account, she references a popular show called Stranger Things that are on Netflix. Just as the show implies, strange things happen and that includes flickering lights to signal the presence of something supernatural.

Text

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

Lauren: The ghost’s name is Patty. And I lived there for a year and, uh there’s a lot of stories about Patty? And, um I’ve heard a lot of things? And I like, I mean while I lived there was things that happened that were weird um, but they weren’t like so crazy weird that we wanted to invite like ghost adventurers there or anything but like. So um, let’s see. One of my favorite stories that I’ve heard is from this girl named Becca Glover who um, so in the middle of the winter she was in her room. She woke up in the middle of the night and was freezing and she goes to her closet to grab a blanket and she opens her closet and she’s… Oh no, no, no, she. Let’s see, I’m trying to remember. Cause I know it was in the, anyway so it was back in the closet at her bed, she needs a blanket, she turns and looks in her closet and it’s open already. And she sees this like woman in white and like, and like she needs to get a blanket and as she gets closer, she doesn’t see the woman in white. She thinks maybe it’s just my eyes, and she gets a blanket and everything’s good and like nothing creepy. And in room, I think it’s like 13 or 14, and I was living in room 14, um, the blinds would move up mysteriously all the time? And like that’s always happened people say? And it could just be like a girl, every year designated blind puller. And the lights will flicker, like weirdly. Like in the second season of Stranger Things, like you know they flicker, and the mom’s trying to talk to the girl through the lights [the reference is somewhat inaccurate]. Um, I don’t know. It’s like they flicker weirdly like that.

Texture

The story was told initially with some hesitation, seeing as the environment was a public setting. As she told the story more she felt comfortable and was able to tell it with more enthusiasm and more details. While telling the story she looked ahead as if she was remembering the details herself. She told the stories as if they were her own, adding details and using her hands as she talked. In the telling of the story, she paused at parts that were appropriate to a ghost story. When getting to the climax of the story she looked each member of the audience in the eye to emphasize the final point. The way her story was told led the other Lauren to tell her story. In properly telling a ghost story, it may have sparked the memories of personal experience for those listening.

Course

Introduction to Folklore/ English 2210

Instructor

Dr. Lynne S. McNeill

Semester and year

Fall 2017

Theme

G7: Revenants

EAD Number

2.1.8.5.10

Download

Share

COinS