GhostStories

Kuzibah's Ghost Stories

Hi, Everyone! Happy Halloween!

Since this is the time of year to tell spooky stories, and as a bit of a balm to the skepticism festival we've had going here at True Ghost Stories through the summer months, I'm going to recount for you one of the oldest and perhaps the most common ghost story retold as true. Here's the version I first heard:

Two high-school boys drove to a dance in a neighboring town. Both young men were single, and were hoping to meet some nice girls. Well, they were there for several hours, and danced a few dances, but they didn't seem to be hitting it off with anyone. Finally, disappointed, they decided to go home.

As they were driving down a street not far from the dance hall, they spotted a young woman wearing a white party dress, walking alone by the side of the road. They pulled over and asked her if she needed help, and she told them she was walking home. Thinking she was only a young lady they had overlooked at the dance, they offered to give her a lift.

The grateful girl accepted their offer, and though the boy in the passenger seat offered to move to the back, she smiled and said she didn't mind sitting in back. She got in, and gave them directions to her mother's house. Although both boys tried to chat her up as they drove, she only gave quiet one-word answers, and they eventually just drove on in silence.

Before long they pulled up in front of the address the girl gave them, but when they turned around they found the back seat empty!

Not knowing what to think, but speculating wildly that she had somehow exited the car and made her way home alone, they went to the house's front door and knocked. An elderly woman answered. The boys described the girl and what had happened that night, and the woman began to sadly shake her head.

"I'm afraid the young lady you picked up tonight was my daughter," the woman told them. "Every year on this night she takes a ride to try to come home. You see, tonight is the anniversary of the night she died…"

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Have you heard that one? I'll bet you have, or something very similar to it. You may have even heard it about a town near where you live, or even that it happened to a "friend of a friend."

The earliest version is found in ancient Greek mythology, and though the car is a horse-drawn cart, the basic elements are the same. Over the centuries the story has spread around the world and to many different cultures, each with its own variation. In the Middle East, the hitchhiker is not a ghost but a wicked spirit, while among Hawaiian islanders she is the volcano goddess Pele, who rewards kind travelers who give her a lift. And the hitchhiker isn't always a young girl. Sometimes she is an old woman, or even someone famous (there is a story that truckers occasionally give a lift to a young man with sideburns on the road leading to Graceland.)

Some hitchhikers will impart prophetic statements to their startled drivers before disappearing. There have been stories over the years of these mysterious wanderers predicting everything from tragic accidents to the second coming of Christ. A surprising number are nuns. And every so often the driver will give the girl a jacket or sweater to wear that is later found on her grave.

Many, many of these stories have been collected in books of "true ghost stories," and it occasionally turns up in books and movies. Dickie Lee had a hit record in 1965 called "Laurie (Strange Things Happen)" which retold the legend in song.

So this Halloween, when the time comes to tell each other ghost stories, be sure to break out your own version of The Vanishing Hitchhiker.

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Also, if you're looking for other stories to tell around the fireplace, or while you're sorting through your haul of candy, be sure to check out this website. It includes a lot of the classics, including some podcast versions for your listening pleasure.
http://www.americanfolklore.net/halloween.html

Have you a true ghost story to share? Email me at kuzibah@creatureseast.com and your story may be featured in a future edition!

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