Disclaimer:
Because of the inherent subjectivity of any researcher in an oral history project, we pose to frame our research by presenting the content as objectively as possible. We will outlay our own biases as researchers in a narrative style that describes the setting of the interview, thus lay bare our subjective view of the interview for the reader to interpret objectively. By presenting the transcription of the interview in entirety side by side with the unedited audio, we can minimize the bias in the transcription process, again, allowing the reader to interpret the interviews objectively. we feel that given the subjectivity that exists in all party to this project; the interviewer, interviewee, and reader, that the only way to present this oral history objectively is to be blatantly subjective in our presentation, and allow the reader to draw their own conclusions based upon the information presented.
We will frame this project using modified participant/observer journal model. The observer’s viewpoint will be demonstrated with narrative from the researchers, the subjective observations of Troy and myself. The participant viewpoint will be demonstrated by a unedited audio and transcription of the interviews themselves, the objective content generated by the participant of the interviews: Anne Drennen and Barb Stewart. While we understand this is not a strict interpretation of the participant/ observer model, it does allow for the deconstructing of a subjective event in the most objective way possible. Furthermore, by recording our personal observation of the interview content and interview process and juxtaposing these observations with the transcription and audio interviews; we can provide a comprehensive oral history record that can be interpreted objectively.
If you want to learn about Craftbury Ghost stories click here: Anne Drennen
If you want to learn about Sterling College Ghost stories click here: Barb Stewart
Or, return to the Black River Voices homepage.
Conclusion:
When we wrote our first proposal for this project we wanted to find tall-tales, myths, legends, and/or unusual stories, but later we narrowed our search to just ghost stories. Why did we choose to focus on this somewhat macabre topic? We have been asking ourselves that same question ever since we began, and it’s about time we came up with an answer. Certainly our choice of informant helped shape the direction of the project. We started out by searching for any kind of weird tale we could find, and it led us to the old Graham house. We were oddly excited by the ghost stories that Anne shared with us and wanted more. Our newly focused search next took us to the office of Barb Stewart where we gathered more stories, this time about the ghosts of Sterling College. By the end of this second interview we had collected more than enough material but still couldn’t decide what drew our interest to this topic. It’s kind of funny to do a project and then decide why you did it afterward, but using this methodology has given us plenty of time to gather our thoughts as we meticulously transcribed the audio recordings.
We are not alone in our interest in ghosts and the paranormal. If you search for ‘ghost stories’ in any online book dealer you’ll find over 30,000 results. Many of the books are tales of true stories such as Our Haunted Lives: True Life Ghost Encounters, Coast to Coast Ghosts: True Stories of Hauntings From Across America, Real-Life Stories of Supernatural Experiences, as well as a series of books that are state specific and many others. Of course there are also countless ghost and paranormal movies and television programs. It seems as though people can’t get enough ghoulish entertainment, but still the question remains: why? What is the fascination with ghost stories?
You don’t have to believe in ghosts to enjoy ghost stories or even to write them. In an article on writing ghost stories the author Joan Aiken presents her thoughts on why people read them. Her explanation: curiosity. Although some people pretend to know what happens after this life the fact is that no one knows for sure. This, however, does not stop speculation, and ghost stories offer a kind of medium for exploring the possibility of an afterlife, but of course this is only one interpretation. When we conducted our interviews we asked both informants how they felt about ghosts. Of course we expected to get different answers since one had personal experiences and the other was relating second hand stories, but their answers were not all that different. When we asked Barb what her interest was in ghosts she replied, “because it’s unexplained…it’s just all very odd. You know, you’re walking down the hall and all of a sudden…hmm…someone’s there.” Then we asked her if she would believe in ghosts if she hadn’t had her own experiences and asked her to remember what she thought before she had them. She told us, “I think I kinda believed but was a little skeptical. But after that…I was not skeptical. It totally changes your outlook on…the weird things in life.” On the other hand, Anne Drennen told us several stories that she had heard from other people, but even though she had no personal experiences of her own she seemed to trust the validity of the stories. “I have no problem with ghosts…I just haven’t had any experiences…I’ve just lived in houses where other people have experiences with them. I figure they’re friendly. I like cemeteries and ghosts and all those things, but they just don’t reveal themselves to me.”
So whether you believe in spirits or not, ghost stories are an important instrument in the storyteller’s toolbox for they come from cultures from all over the world. In his essay, “The Supernatural” in Hong Kong: Young People’s Ghost Stories, Joseph Bosco says, “we need to listen to tales of supernatural phenomena with open minds and a respectful stance, even if we are skeptical. We cannot prove the supernatural is not so, even though we may prefer an alternative, natural hypothesis.”
As researchers that have no personal experiences of our own with ghosts, we both remain somewhat skeptical, although we both love to hear stories and want to believe. Too many stories of the unexplained exist to discount them all. Maybe ghosts are not actually the lingering earth-bound spirits of the deceased, but there exists unexplained phenomena beyond the realm of scientific explanation, and that’s what makes it so exciting. Mysterious occurrences can be interpreted and speculated upon in any way thought possible because no hypothesis can be proven right or wrong, but again this is only one interpretation. Some people like ghost stories simply because they enjoy the thrill of being scared. Pick up any collection of H.P. Lovecraft stories and you will always be greeted with the same quote, “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”