Mary M. Kubler interview with Pamela Faye Thomas, Gordon Bickers, Dodge P. Lewis, and Chloe G. Lewis

The John Burrison Georgia Folklore Archive recordings contains unedited versions of all interviews. Some material may contain descriptions of violence, offensive language, or negative stereotypes reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. There are instances of racist language and description, particularly in regards to African Americans. These items are presented as part of the historical record. This project is a repository for the stories, accounts, and memories of those who chose to share their experiences for educational purposes. The viewpoints expressed in this project do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of the Atlanta History Center or any of its officers, agents, employees, or volunteers. The Atlanta History Center makes no warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of any information contained in the interviews and expressly disclaims any liability therefore. If you believe you are the copyright holder of any of the content published in this collection and do not want it publicly available, please contact the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center at 404-814-4040 or reference@atlantahistorycenter.com. This audio recording begins with a short instrumental version of the song Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix. Then at 1:49, Pamela Bickers shares a local superstition from Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina, that seeing a man wearing a gray suit on the beach before a hurricane serves as a good omen. At 6:37, Gordon Bickers tells a story about a couple who travel to Lake Lanier, outside of Atlanta, Georgia, where an old lady kills the boyfriend with a hatchet. Then at 11:40, he tells a true story that takes place in Decatur, Georgia, in which a babysitter receives threatening phone calls. At 14:34, Pamela Bickers follows this up with a story she learned from an Erskine College student about a student who was found with her arms and legs amputated after staying on campus during the holidays. Next, at 16:04, Gordon Bickers tells a story in which a boy is found ripped to shreds after his car breaks down. At 17:27, the interviewees try to recall a similar story about a man with a hook, after which Mary Kubler tells a story about two men who make a bet to stab a grave with a dagger in Charleston, South Carolina. At 20:41, Pamela Bickers tells a story that she learned at a 1969 church retreat in Garden City Beach, South Carolina, in which a girl died under supernatural circumstances because her family disapproved of her relationship. At 30:28, Gordon Bickers narrates The Monkeys Paw folk take that cautions against making wishes. After Pamela Bickers mentions the mystery novel Ten Little Indians by Agatha Christie at 34:50, he tells a story about a judge who killed himself to cover up a murder investigation. Next at 38:04, Dodge P. Lewis recalls a tall tale in which a 7 foot tall man is crammed into a 6-foot coffin when he dies. Then he recalls encountering a transparent figure, followed by a funny story in which his friend sees a student dressed as Robin Hood for a school play. At 49:46, Chloe Lewis tells a variation of the omen Pamela Bickers told earlier in the recording, but in this version the man in the gray suit is a bad omen. Then she shares a scary story in which a creature kills a woman in her basement laundromat. At 53:02, Lewis tells a story about an escaped mental ward patient with a hook for a hand hiding in the woods. Then he tells a ghost story in which an old couple offers a ride to a girl near Columbia, South Carolina, only to find out that she died years prior. At 58:35, Gordon Bickers repeats a legend that he learned when he worked as a camp director at Camp Winnataska, in Alabama, about a serial killer called the butcher man who lived in the forest. Then at 1:05:53, he tells a story in which a high school teacher is found eating an amputated arm two students planted in his home. Kenneth Gordon Bickers (1951- ) was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and moved to Birmingham, Alabama, four years later, where he lived for nine years. He graduated from Georgia State University in 1973 and married Pamela Faye Thomas (1953- ) on August 19, 1972. She was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, to Harry Lee Thomas (1919-2007), a Baptist minister. Her family moved several times, and she attended Winthrop College in Rockhill, South Carolina, for a year, and then Georgia State University. Gordon and Pamela later divorced. Dodge Putman Lewis (1942- ) was born in Greenville, South Carolina, and grew up in Clemson, South Carolina. In 1971, he graduated from Clemson University with a B.S in Mechanical Engineering, after which he attended Georgia Tech University for an unspecified graduate program. On January 3, 1972, he married Nancy Chloe Greene (1950- ), who was born in Anderson, South Carolina, and grew up in Central, South Carolina. She graduated from Clemson University in 1972 and later worked at Emory University as a lab technician. Additional biographical information has not been determined. D@dge Putman Lewis was bern in Greenville, S,C, @n January 29, 19Lf 2, He grew up in middle-class e:nvinmment in Clems@n, S, C. D@dge attended public sche,@ls and graduated frem Clemson University in 1971 with a B,S, in Mechanical Engineering, He attended Ge@rgia rech @n a graduate program for five quarters, and @f c@urse, he m@.rried Chl@e Green @n ,January 3, 1973, My husband m<!lt D@dge at Ge@rgia Tech and he teld me his stories while at our h@use for dinner @ne night, The Lng John St@ry (tale 8) was t@ld te D@dge by his father (A. :0, Lewis wh,l lived rnestly @n the N@rth Car@lina-'l'ennessee bGrder and m1wed t@ Clemsen in 1941 where he n@w resides), The Vanishing Hitchhiker St@ry ( tale 13) and '.I'he H@ek St>ry ( tale 12) were b@th t@ld hi D@dge when he was y@unger by s@me friends, Tale nine, @f c@urse, is a mern@rat, and tale ten, the Twilight Z@ne st@ry was t@ld s.n1myrn@usly t<JJ him fr@m a friend from "back Nancy Chl;,e Greene Lewis, She w;..s bern in Anders@n H@spital in Anders<!ln, S. C. en January 16, 19 50, She grev, up in Central, S. C. in a rather rural CG!mmunity. She attended public sch@@ls and graduated frwm Clems@n University in 19?2. Chl@e married Dedge Lewis <1n January 3, 197J. She new w@rks at Emery University as a lab tech- nician~ I met Chl@e whem she was engaged te her husband, My husband and D<!!dg@ were friends at Ge@rgia 'rech, and Chl@e simply remembered a ceuple @f tales when she and D@dge were having dinner at @ur house Ddge 's m@ther t,i,ld Chl1)e the variant ending @f The Grev Man, lllrs, Lewis Sr, is frem Greenville, S, C,, and she meved t!il Clemsen in 1941. The st@ry abeut the laundrymat epis@de (tale 11) was teld t@ Chloe by her c1msin, Shar@n Spearman wh is frll}m Simps@nville, Kenneth G@rd@n Bickers was btnY1 in Atlanta, Gellirgia llin July 28, 1951, He lived here years and then mved t Birmingham, Alab@.ma where he lived f@r nine years, During this time, he attended public and private sch@ls and spent his summers in Eur@pe, Gerd@n's family lS qui weal thy ::,,nd her father was presieemt f a local business, At thirteen, he m@ved t M.:mtgmery, Alabama and lived there a little i,wer a yeil.r, Finally, he m"ved back te A tlil.nta where he is rn,w @. seni@r at Ge@rgia State University" He .married Pam Themas @n .August; 19, 1972. I met G!ird@n through his wife Piim, whe is in @ne @f my classes at Gergi:,. State University, H tld me his tals ane night '2lfter dinner aur house, and later he called and d me h had a c@uple more fer me te rec0rd, Sc, h came back during the week and t0ld me tales, numbers :f@urteen and fifteen~ The Hatchett Lady ( 2) stery he heard at Lake Le1.nier as a camp direct@r, The baby sitting st@ry (tale J) he read in the: newspaper, The Cadavre Arm Stery (tale 15) he heard in Birmingham by a teacher, ':rhe parking stery (tale 5) he heard at a party in M1mtgemery, Tale numbr feurteen, ( the Butcher Man), G made up while he was a camp director at Camp Winmateska which is just Birmingham, This tale varriant is the @ne which G whe.n he went back to the camp t" visit, ide &f he la Thomas Bickers was b@rn in Charlotte 1 Nq,C,, @:n July 4, 1953. She d there three years and then m ved t Liberty, S.C. where she resided fur sev n years, Th n, Pam m ved back te Charl t feir five mere years, Then, she m@ved t Greenville, S.C. fr tw@ years, T'he reasn f@r all th@se m@ves was that P!l.m's father was a Baptist minister whG, was transferred every few years, Pam then attended Winthr p C llege in R ckhill, S,C, far a year, She married Garden Bickers en August 19, 1972, m ved t Atlanta and attends Ge@rgia State University, I met her in an English class this quarter '73) @.nd she tc,ld me s@me stillries while at dinner at @ur hiPuse one night., Pam s fi1.ther {Harry Lee Th11mas) tfl!ld her the Gray Man St@ry (talfl! 1), wh@n she was a little girl. She heard Alice (tale?) at a Church retreat Bt GBrden City BeBch, S.C. during 1969, Tale number f ur (The Erskine Cellege Sto!)ry) was t@ld t@ Pam in 1969 by Jenny Redding, a student then at Erskine, 'Ehc Grey Man Story told by Bickers Tale 1 'I'he Grey Nian story happens in Merles Inlet-- It.~ s not SCARY! Interruption, conversation between her husband Gordon, and Pam about not turning off the lights, Gordon, "Oh well, then go ahelil.d:' Lights are turned out, Pam, "I really can't see now! Gordon, turn that one Story Resumes~ Now this, it happens-happened in Merles Inlet, And it's just about after the Civil war, It's not like in about in about 1870's or so, and this doctor, he's very well, you knoiv, i0.nd he's you know, uh, you know," He went to i",i(;w York to Study and all this kind of thing, And he's just ,,: ::a.n;, and he's had .tll these job offers, .tnd he could just work anywhere he wants to, but he goes back toto the- you know- to Merles Inlet to live, and pause there are so many poor people who live there and need his help so badly, that he just stays,,, And he doesn't receive any pa.y for what he does, and the people pay him with- youknow: food- and staples - and thiii.t kind o:f thing rather than money, Interruption: Gordon is lliimmicking Pam, and at this point the audiencl!' laughs, as well i,,s the storyteller, Story Rermmes 1 He, um - he has a serv:..nt, and a um, just a g.i,teman, he has, He lives in a kind of plantation house, but there's not much to it, you know, and he's not married or anything, but he just hlil.S, you know, very few servants, And um, so he goes, he has a horse, you know, and he rides back and forth to these people's houses, Interruption1 Gordon1 "'.!s it the headless horseman?" Pam1 " No, it's not the headless horseman, Story Resumes1 S9, and so, whenever he comes to the gate, you know at night, It's real lat!ll.and.Ji~ ring the bell at the gate for the gateman to com let him in, and the gateman, you know, then, he'll just CLOMP on up to his house, and you know, and the horse and the man, The man putl!l the horse away, Well um, ( d'you say it was a tornado or hurricane? Hurricane? Right?) Okay, it's a hurricane, and it comes, .-.nd it juet, you know, kills, just many, many people, all the people are just, you know, killed from the hurricane, Interruption: Gordon is Mirnmicking P;;.m again. Pam: "Gordon, SHUT UP! and stop doing stuff like th;;.t, Gordon: " You were s:aying?" Pam: " I've forgotten, 'fhe hurricane kills the people, kills Lots and lots of people,,," Story Resumes: And it kills his, one of his sl.i,ves, ( he's away when all this happens), So he com,;s back and then just, you know, half the townspeople are dead, And um, on top of all this, some sort of epidemic breaks out, and so he's saving all these people who eren' t alre;;,.dy dead, And he finally goes back to his house. and nobody lets him in the gate, and you know, he can't understand why, There's just nobody there, And so, he uh, finds out that his slave is dead, and he can't, he---- Interruption: Audience, "He had a slave?' Pam1 "Well, not a slave, his servant, I'm using the wrong word, Right,,, His servant's dead,,," Gordon, " What's the difference?" Pam, " A lot of difference. It's a.ft er the Civil War, DUMMY!" Gordon," I don't care, You can still beat 'em,,,Keep goi.n g, " OJ <ti Pam, "He's a nice man, He doesn't do stuff like that," Story Resumes: So uh, he uh, after awhile, you know, hi!> just gets older and older, and he just can't do anything anymore, and he, he dies, and knowbody ever knows that he's dea.d because- you know, they, he would go to them rather tha.lll them coming to him, And so one day, several people come to bring him things that they owe him, and they find him dead, And so whenev<:1r a tornado or hurricane ( Whatever you call 'em) strikes around fvlerles inlet, if you see the Grey Man walkin' on the beach, it protects ya, And a girl who went to school with me, Jan Anderson, the Grey Man,., Interruption: Audience: "What the heck is the Grey Man?" Pam 1 " He wore a grey suit. He wore a gney suit, " Gordon, " That's important!" Pam: " Well, that s just why they call himm the Grey Man, Gordon, "Well, if he wore a red suit, you know, it wouldn't have fit th,;; story," r Audience breaks into laughter., 0 Pam; " He wore a grey suit 111 Gordon, " Okay," Pam I : "FOR CHRIST 's SAKE l " Audience, "But how did he die? Just got older and older?" Pam," Just uh, I guess uh," Audience, "What does that have to do with the hurricane?" Pam, "Well uh, he uh, you know, bec;;i.use he, he was just so kind to all the - I DON "T KNOW WHA'r 'rHA'.l' HAS TO DO WITH THE HURRICANE!l" Story Resumes: But anyway,, it's just, like Jan's grandmother owns a house, a beach house, and that a hurricane struck, and sh;; claims she saw. the Grey Lla.n, and her, he.r house was the only one on that stretch of beach that did not get hit, It:s true, Imean I - I heard, heard her gra.ndmother tell it with my own ears! You lmow, I - it's ridiculous! I about diedl Gordon: "Her grandmother wrote "Little Red Riding Hood" too," The Hatchet Lady by Gordon Bickers Tale 2 Um ' u.u around Lake Laneir, there's a whole bunch of like, dirt roads, that are still there, They've been there a long time. They're just starting now to p<il.ve 'em over, and they run around into the inlets of Lak Lanier, Interruption, Gordon, "Hm? and uh, Lake Laneir,.," Story Resumes, And uh, so a couple of years ago, there were these two kids, and they were like, going, they'd been out on one of the penninsulas out theri,1 and parking one night, And they were goin,' back in ( th"' boy was taking the girl home ,) and uh, his car broke down, And so, he told the girl to stay in the car, and he was going to get some help; and it w.i.s kinda l;ate at night, The - the like, on these roads, there aren"t like any houses.You have to walk a pretty good ways, at a main intersection before you'll get to a house, t to And so, he turned to leave, nad he thought he saw somebody, like at the top of the hill, And so he told the girl to locl{ aJ.l the doors, So he uh, pause. so - he - uh - takes off, and uh, and so he takes off,. And uh, he goes over ( the girl's watching him), and she he:a.r, she's watching him goes-go over the :d1J., uh, then all she her-heard a sudden, she hears 'em sc,r,~@.ml And so she gets out of the hill, and goes, I mean, out of the cara Interruption: Audience laughs, Gordon: "And uh, I get ahead of myself," Story Resumes: She gets out of the car, and she goes running to the uh, top of the hill! And uh, h!!!'s down, like - uhh - and off to the side of the road in kind of a gully, And there's him and somebody else, and they're fightin'I And he's scre:iil!llin' at her to runt So she takes off down the road just as hard as she can go, and uh, finally she comes to this house, and she runs up, and she beats on the door, And this uh,farmer, or somebody, this old man came to the door, And uh, she tells him th.tt somebody was beatin' up her boyfriend and to get the sheriff, And so the guy didn't have a phone, so he had to, they had to get irY his truck and go, go in and get the sheriff up there, And uh, so they all rode back out there, And when they got there, they could see like where the fight had bEl!en, And there was blood all over the place, but t'uh,there wasn't any body, And so they uh went back, and they got some dogs, and uh a few more men, and got some lights, and started trying to follow thetrail through the woods, And it kinda winds aroun', around the edge of the lake, And uh, they cams, one of the, two of the, they split up into groups, and two of the men kinda.came to this little gorge, And uh, they saw this light shinin' down in it, So they walked down there, and uh, there's a little cabin, ( It's just, you know, like about the size of ya'lls living room, It's uh, like, ons room, that's all,) And they hear this grinding insid, And uh, the-they, ree3,l quietly they go up to this one window, and the:li[ look in, And there's this old lady sittin' at this grinding wheel, sharpenin' this axe, And this boy, that it,had been with the girl was hanging on thewall with his back on a meat hook, And uh, so they decided that one of 'em would go through the window, and one of 'em would kick the door, ( That way, They'd be comin' in at her from two sides,, Th-th-that way she can't get away from 'em,) And so uh, the boy, one of 'em goes around to the door, and they kick the door in and about that time the other guy comes through the window, Well, the one who kicked the door in, went in first, and she just picked up the hatchet and threw it straight in his skull and killed him, And the other guy comes in, starts fightin' with her, They wants to take, he wants to take her alive, He doesn't want to kill her, And now she's not armed, And uh, they start scrapping and scr:athing and :fighting and everything, And uh, she took off runnin' and he took off a:fter her, And uh , them he loist her trail. And uh, went back, ,md uh, his buddy was dead, And he went b;i.ck and got a couple of more men, and they camli' back down there, And uh, they took off again on her trail, trying to track her down now, Ans somehow he got separated from the other two men, and was later found. His body was just torn to shreds, and the old lady was never found, The Baby-Sitting Story by Gordon Bickers Tale 3 This girl was baby sitting over in Docatcur one time, she ahd um, uh, thor wore those, there wore those two children, and it was like, you know, uh, the upstairs and down!'ltli.irs and everything. And she was downstairs, and uh, the phone rang, And he said,uh,, It was this man, He said, "I'm gonna kill you and tho children cause I know you're alone in the house," And tho girl just thought that it was a crank call, and she hung it up, So sh~ went ahead and put the kids to bed, She was downstairs studying, And uh, the guy called again, Ho said, "In a couple I'm going to kill tho children, and then I'm going to Kill you," And so the girl called upto the children, She said, "Are ya'll alright?" Interruption, Gordon explains the cnmk phone call, Gordon, "What? She didn't think anything about it, I mean, shP figured she was safe in the house," Story Re:3umes: She called up to the kids, and one of them said they were okay, And so, she went back to studying, And uh, so in a :few minutes, the phone rang ae;ain, And uh, he said, um, "You can count on it that the children will be dead in just a few minutes, and then so will you," And so the girl called the operator and said uh,"I've been gettin' all these weird calls, and this guy says he gonna kill the children that are at this house with me, :..nd he's gonna kill me too," The operator says, "Alright, hang the phone back up, but I'll stayed tied into your line, and I'll call the police, And uh, when he calls back, I'll be able to listen too," So the phone rings again, and the guy says," I've killed the children, Now I'm gonna kill you,,," And the Operator says, "He's on the upstairs phone, Get out of that housel" And she went running out of that house, and thi..t guy was right on her tail, She went out the froni; door about the time the police pulled up, And they grabbed him just as he was about to get her, and went upstairs, and the two children were dead, Audi~nce1 "You mean that's true'?" When Erskine know even when it many years ago, 'l'he Erskine College Story by Pam Bickers 'l'ale L, was just started, you know, was started, but it was, you like - I don't know, like, And um, there was only one girls 1 dorm\t And they all closed up on the weekends, Everybody went home because they were like, local students, you know, And so, for this, f0r some reason, several girls in this one dorm couldn't go home :for Easter vacation because they lived too :far away and had no way to get home, And so, there was this crazy man, just, you know, in Due West (or Due East, or whatever the city is called. I think it is Due West), And um, just was craz.y, you know, And he somehow found out that the girls were gonna be there* in one room,) (There were three o:f them, and they were staying two o:f 'em are eitaying in the room, and one rl goes out, and she's gonna go do something, you know, And they keep hearin' thiei noise after she's been gone several hours, and it goes, you know, like, somebody trying to come up steps and just can't make it, you know, And they didn't, they don't, so one of 'em goes out and look:;; down the steps and there's nothing there, You know, and so they come b21.ck and um, just sit around the room and there's nothin' to do, You know, so they're gettin' ready to go out to eat at somebody's house, whose invited them over :for the night or somethln', And they get ready to walk down the steps, and the glrl, who had them and had gone someplace, um, was dead and both of her legs had been chopped off and both of her arms, And she had been trying to get up to the steps to em, 'ralei 5 by Gordon Bickers Yea, there's another story about um, this guy and this girl, (it's about the same -xxx- type thing), 'rhey were out parking, and they, uh, um, uh, started to go back and the boy's car broke down and so, uh, He told her to stay in the car and get down below the seat and not to move, um, till he came back, And so, um, uh, he ge, he started and he left, Well, she heard this scream, but she didn't get up, She was scared to death, and she didn't know what to do, And uh, she heard this thumping sound on the trunk tho car, and like, it was crawling up the car or something, And then she hoard something beating against the glass, but she was afraid, you know, to get up to look up to see what it was, She stayed down, And uh, the next morning, uh, this car stopped, and came over and looked in the car and tapped on the glass, And she looked up, and uh, this man was at the gla,ss and he said, "Get out of that ca.r 11 " And uh, uh, she unlocked the door, and uh, got outside it, And her boyfriend was on the back of the car dead, and he'd been pounding against the gla.ss trying to get her attention, He'd been out to shreds, 'rale 6 by Mary Kubler This is like, it's in Charleston, a long time ago, maybe in the 1800's, And anyway they're you know, you know, like, two weal thy gentlemen, you know, gentlemen around town, that ldnd of thing, And um, one of these guys, you know, oh, that was like a club, and you know they used to mleet every so often. And one of these guys made a bet with the other guy, And there w:..s some grave, you know, And um, there Wil.S a legend about it that said that you know, on iii. full moon, if you went out there, and you stabbed a, um, a dagger into the, grave, you know, the heart of the grave, that the spirit would pull you into the grave with it, And uh, you know, the guy goes, "Oh, man, thats a bunch of malarky," you know and everything, And they bet him so much money that he wouldn't do it, you know, and he g0es, "I'm not afraid 0f anything you know, I'm gonna do it. " So, it's ill full moon .i.nd everything, and it w&s like, way out in the boondocks, And they took him like, to this certain bridge, you know. And they would only take him that far, He went off walkin' down the road, and he just wasn't afraid at all, you know, And he started thinkin' about it on the way, you know. And he started kinda gettin' the creeps cause it was really out in nowhere, And so he finally got out there, and he found the grave and everything, And he was really gettin' scared by this time, you know, cause it was so late at night and everything, So he takes his, he takes his, h' his, um, dagger and ha just stabs it, in the, you know, heart of the grave and he just starts to run away real fast a,nd he felt some thin' tuggin' at his coat, And they found him there th next morning, dead, right where he was, And what haid happend, they had these long c.ipes, and it had c.iught on the dagger, and he thought the thing was, was pulling him in the grave, and he just died of fright, Alice by Pam Bickers Tale 7 Alice is, was a very prom-, you know, her family was very prominent, and they evidently, This happened around, you know, Merles Inlet, that area also, And, um: INTERRUPTION, Yea1 they have lots of ghost stories around there, AUDIENCE, So does Charleston, PAM: And, um, her parents when she was like, you know, whatever, whatever age, whatever age they send girls to finishing school, You know, she went aw;ay to Charleston to finishing school, GORDON: " Fourteen?" PAM:''Well, I imagine it w.as around that age, fourteen or fifteen," GORDON:" Three and a half?" PAM,"Gordon, SHUT UP! " GORDON, " And um, she goes away to school, and she comes back for her debutante party (for her coming out party), And her brother's best friend comes home with him for the party, And she, you know, that hs is to be her escort. AUDIENCE: "ls this Alice? " Thil'!l is Alice, Right, this is Alice and her brother's escort, Her brother's friend is her escort, Okay, well, they fall in love, and he's like six mr seven years older than she .is, and nobody likes the idea of the two tog@ther, because she's 130 young and s0 innocent and all this kind of thing and he's. so, you know, he s already been out in the world and he has, you know, he's a doctor and all this kind of junk., And SOe.,11111" lN'IERRUPTION. -/'ii'- PAM,"Gordon, what is this with you'? (Silence) I don't think it's funny anymore!" GORDON, " s, dear, " So, um, I"ve forgotten what I was tellin' them now, (Audience fills in} Well, they, you know, they have the party and all this crud, But the guy doesn't go ho-, go back to where he came from up North, He's from up North, And he falls in love with her, yeu know, and she falls in love with him, And the pa.rents are just TOTALLY against (Alice's parents). And the brother doesn't, they, you know, they are seeing each other secretly. And Alice's brother finds out, because Alice .has, you know the boy gave Alice the ring, What? AUDIENCE, " rle 's a friend of Alice's brother? " Right, but yea, but see since the whole family is against it, they don't want each, they don't want anybody to know that they're in love, you know. So um, he gives her a ring, It's supposed, you know, her engagement ring supposedly, And it's, but she can't wear it on her finger so she puts it around a long chain and wears it, you know, instead of, you know, um, you know, underneath her clothes instead of out. And t;h, she takes it off s- and sleeps with it, you know, at night, And her brother finds it, It drops out 0f her, her you know, of something, and he sees it, INTERRUPTION: "What's he doing in her bednlom?" Wh0 knows? But anyway, um, he tells his father, you kn<:Dw, Alice's father just has a fit, just goes into a rage, and he says he'll, you know, she, he swears up and down that h"''ll never see the boy he sends him ;;;_w,,y, The father sends the fri"'nd away~ And um, Al is, Alice's heart is just broken, you know really broken, And she comes down with some sort of, something that's really, you know, just deadly. Whatever it is, And they still,,, INTERRUP'rION," It's called love disease, " AUDIENCE: "Melancholy?" PAM, "Like typhoid or something that's really, really will kill ya, you knov, ~ '' GORDON: "Love disease will kill ya," GORDON: "I'm serious l ll PAM, "What's it ca.lled'? " GORDON: "rhere s a disease ca.lled love disease, and it can actually kill you~ n PAM 1 "Okay, but that's not what she had," GORDON, "---- sister died from that," OKAY! I believe you, Um, Alice, you know her whole family lives in this big thing, Her uncle is the, you know, community doct0r or whatever, And uh, he's trying to tal<:o care of her, and she never, she just doesn't respond t'o any treatment, Nothing they can do helps her, And she goes in, you know, she goes into a coma, and so she's kind;a in a semi-c0ma, And when she, she's in a st;ate where can just barely talk and all she' r~ doing is asking for her ring, And nobody will give it to her, Nobody wants to give her the ring, And finally she's just is so, sh-, she is crazed, you know, she s really w2tcked in the mind by all this, And so, they, they figure the only way they can, ycu know, the only way they'll save her is to give her the ring, So they give her the ring back, and she really rec0vers, y0u know, She overcomes it, but they still won't let her see the boy, And, they um, when she's all well again, you know, and she's by this time she's eighteen, She's been, you know, sick several years, you know, So, she um, they take the ring iiiway ag.ain, and she just is, you know, she, she goes in, insane! And they throw the ring inte the se-, in the ocean, They throw it off the peer, And the da.y they thro-, they throw, threw, they threw the ring into the ocean, she died, I mean you know, they don't know whether it was just a broken heart or just, just what it w.i.s she died from, But they buried her under the floorb0ards in their heuse, Yeu know, like they buried all their, you know, all their fa.mily in their house, And um, people say, you know, the leg,,md is that if you g@ out you can see Alice calling for her ring or if y0u go n0w, since then, you know, the h0use has been torn down and they've moved Alice's grave to the cemetary, you know, at Merle's Inlet, Tale 8 by Dcdge P, Lewis 'rhere was once an @ld black man named Long John, He's a very respectable @ld man, a big weight in his community, and a big weight in his church. And 0ne day Long John passed away, But Long John was unique in that h,;, was lit least seven feet tall, @r maybe tli.ller. And this presented a problem t@ the members @f the church because they @nly had a six f111ot clllffin, S@ they decided the best thing te de waste cram seven feet Leng John into a six feet coffin, So they buckled his knel!!s, and, crammed him d@wn in, so that the fr@nt half would be lying decently, and people could pay their last respects to him, And the rear half was, sort of folded t0gether under the, under the rear cover of the c0ffin. You understand? Yeah, the bottom half, I'm sorry. Right, Okay. Now, the night before the funen,.1 they, held a wake for him, And they were going till sit up all night in tho church, S@ th,;,y @pened the front half of the ceffin Sil that, so that the members of the church c@uld pay their respects till Long J<:1hn. Kept the, the, rear half of the, bottom hmlf closed, m, that no one could Sile his knees were buckled, And .i.bout, b0ut midnight after they'd been sitting up f@r a l@mg time, the cli.ndles had burned down, all the talking had died out, someone <l.ccidently jostled the coffin, And p(~or ,i,ld Lemg J0hn became inbalanced, His knees started straightening out, which immediately caused his back t0 start, arching up the side of the coffin, And Leng John just slowly sat up, right in the middle ef his coffin, Good enough? (11,umbling in the background by audience,) Ha ha, Okay! Needless t0 say, the church was immediately vacat:!!d, Tale 9 by Dodge P, Lewis All right, This is, this is a true story, Once upon a time, I was on the way home from Atlanta, CHLOE, "He'd beon dating a girl down hore," MARY: "Oh, I theught he w,us going to see Chloe, Ha ha," (Every@ ne laughs,) DODGE, "Ne, I'm afraid not," CHLOE, And I'd made it all the way back I-85, It was 1w.beut three in the morning, it had finally stopped raining, It had been raining for several days, so the mist was rising on the roads, Or at least en the back r0iitds, it didn't have a chance to rise on the highways, c1w.rried away by trucks and se f0rth. Ha ha, (Audience laughs and some mumbling by Dale about putting in extra werds to make the story harder t0 copy,) S0, so I pulled @ff en this back rtllad, It was a sherter way home than going the long way around, And uh, being three in the m@rning I was very tt' red and I could hardly keep my eyes @pen and w.i.tch the road, Well, 1w.fter a while these mists on the road start@d taking 0n these strange shapes, It's true, N@tice it next time you're driving at three in the m@rning, And I was coming, back by this @ld graveyard at three in the morning, and I saw just what I tek to be an@ther shape. And it was, leoked like a, a pers@n, w1w.lking fr<ilm the edge cf the reiad, out int the road, Well fr0m a distance I c@uldn't tell whether it's really a person @r just a, a fluke @f the, fluk,;; @f the vapor, The closer I g@t the more real it le0ked, And, it l0oked t0 me like, some old person in a very long r@be, A robe that reached all the way te the ground, I couldn't see any feet at all, And a very broad hat, sort of a d0me, uh, with a very, very wide brim, I'd never seen an <cmtfit like that bef@re, And it didn't seem t10 eeee even frem a different uh, peint ef view, a different perspective, It didn't seem tc, to change shape as, as vap@r will if yeu, if it m@mentarily makes a figure, And finally it @ccurred t0 me that it was actually a person walking lfJUt in fremt ef me, And se I slammed @n, well I, I slewed d@wn, I didn't slam en the brakes actually, I started slowing d,:;wn, And, this, this figure actually walked Ut in front ll>f the car in ths middle of ths r@ad, without heeding me at all. And uh, ths strange thing was, I Cll)uld see, the backgr:rnnd, the r<:lad, the trees, the grass !iln the side f the read, right through this figure, And yet, it, it was, it was really a c@mpleto figure, it was, actually the eiutline @fa pers@n dressed in a robe, DALE: "How cl0se did yeu get?" Uh, well snce I rn,ticed, that I could see thnmgh it, I, I uh, wasn't much cencerned a.bout running ll)Ver it, S!il I went right thre;mgh it, (Audience breaks irrt laughter,) It's true, The thing came right up threugh my, my left frcnt fender and I went right through ------ ---- the thing, And I saw the front, the top torso of it pass right up through the windshield, and right by me, (Audience says something in the background,) No, I was a little tired, I didn't feel much @f anything. But I didn't slew d@wn and stp, DALE: "lfoly Ceiwl" Tale 10 by Dodge P, Lewis I h.i,d a friend wh shall remain nameless wh@ used to c@mrnute fr@m Clems@n te Furman University. (His name was ancmy, Mr. An@nym@us. The university is in Greenville, &nd that's thirty miles,) He used tw drive thirty miles every morning, and his first class w&s at eight o'cl@ck, S!li he had t@ be there, wh, maybe quarter tw eight, which means he had to leave, say, by quarter @Ster sven in the mrning, And he used t drive V<llr @n the backn,ads, And on cme particular day, ne different fr@m any Gther, he was late te class as usual, and he was driving very fast on this back r@ad. On the same day out in outer Applachia, there was a sch@@l play to be staged, c,mcerning Re bin H@@d, I suppose, and Sherw@@d Fllirests, er whatever it is, And the principle character (namely Rebin H@@d) was also late for schcrnl. Had in fact missed the bus and was walking down this same ceuntry r@ad t schcol in his green leotards and his red dunce hat, And he was ;,,b11mt, oh, five feet tall, very steckely built, And the later my friend get, the faster he went, And it was just abut sunrise, In fact, the sun was just ready te cut acress the h@rizen, And he was driving up this, this small incline which after t@pping the hill cut vi@lently t@ the left, (Aside t his wife Chl@!H "You remember that?"} And he was dilling I supp<ilse, ab0ut sixty, and g0t right up cm top ef the hill, just as the sun cut the herizon, And it just expl0ded in his face. And he cculdn't see NOTHING! Except brilliant light, So he slammed en his brakes and as he sl@wed d@wn, he n0ticed the curve, the n,ad was curving to th<!! left, se he swerved vielently to the left and started - - weaving dewn the nc>ad, This kinda unnerved him se he slammed @n his brakes and came t a st0p, And walking d0wn the r@ad was this little green .and red midget, walking cm his way te sch@ol, as red was his dunce hat, green leotards, acting as though nothing in the w@rld had happened er matt0red, And then was his c@nclusi@n ( the driver's ccnclushm) that he had passed into the Twilight Zone, Audience laughsj Varient ending to the Grey Man by Chloe Lewis Um, the only thing different is that the grey man, instead ,;:,f his helping you or showing you that y@u were g@ing to be safe, If he came to yur door and knecked on y0ur d@Elr, it meant that YU had tter vacate the h@use, because your heuse was g@nna t1i be hit by a hurrieane, AUDIENCE, "Well, he was really pr@tecting yu because he let you know that your - " CHLOE, "Yea, he let y0u h~now that y@ur house was going te be hit sa you'd better get out quick."' by Chloe Lewis It was about two girls who lived in an apartment, and the laundry mat, where the laundry things were, was dewnstairs in the basement, And so they'd, they'd been having tr(iuble with things lurking in the shadows down in the basement, And so, they had heard that very day that cme of tho girls had been attacked down in the basement when she was trying te d@ her clothes, S@, they started, c,ne of the girls decided she would g0 d@ her cl0thes, Well, the other girl tried to talk her out of it, But she decided she'd g0 ahead, anyway, She teok her clothes d<:Dwn and they say that whatever it was, h@.d claws because whenever they'd hear it, they could hear it scratching across the fl@or whenevr they'd hear it down in the basement, So they said that um, she'd better net g@ down, but she went down anyway, And um, later @n that afterrn,on @r evening, it w;;;_s, it was night, the girl locked the do@r behind her, the ether girl l@cked the de0r of the apartmil!nt behind her, She heard this scratching @n the d@@r, like claws, y0u knew, So she th@ught well, the thing has come up here, S@ she wouldn't open the deer, And it just scr;._tched and scratched, And her r@0mate never did c@me back, S she waited until the next morning bef@re she d even go @ut @f the doi;r, And when she went ,;,ut @f the d@or, the whele d@or was scratched all the way down, and there was her roomat@, lying cm the floGr with her threat slit, And she'd been scratching on the d@@r trying te get in, by Dodge P. Lewis There was this man that had escaped fren this mental ward, and uh, among th-, many characteristics <l)f him, ene was that he had his right hand amput@.ted in the war, And in place cf it, was this metal h@ok, And he was supposed to be ,mt in the area, and they were breadcasting over the radio that he was in the area, but Sim@ oi' these b@ld souls went out to park in the Wlileds anyway. Or lil.t least in this particular inst<l.nce, the boy had convinced the girl t(l) ge, and she w,i.s st.ill reluctant t@ be there, INTERRUPTION1 DODGE: "Do they?" AUDIENCE: "Yea, the girl's are always reluctant like hell, t@@," DODGE, "Well she was reluctant primarily because th.is m:il.n was in the weods, For n1, other reas@n." (Audience laughs) Anyw&y, .it kept, it kept knawing @n her mind that, that there may be some danger there, 'rhere was, was danger in being there, and she really didn't want to be there, And the boy was trying t convince her that it was safe, th;;i.t, the, the area in which he had escaped was large, It was very impr@bab.le that he was ar<llund there, But he w0.s homicidal and uh, yes, in other w@rds he was a murderer. And they just sat in the car arguing for quite a while, and she wanted to go, She thought it w,}uld be better .if they came another night. And sci, she finally made the boy extremely mad, and S he put the oar in gear, revved up the metor, and just stemped @n the a.ccelerater. And, and they just flew eff dwn the r!lladl really put cmt, ) (He was S he drove up in fr!llnt f her h@use t l!!t her Ut and went around to her side, and there was the h@ok hanging in the d@or handle . Tale 13 by Ddge P. Lewis This @ld ceuple was driving d111wn the r@ad, ch, I guess abll!ut ten :..t night, and this was @utside Celumbia, And it was threugh a swamp regi@n, Of c@urse the r@ad was ge@d, but it w,u, thr@ugh ;._ swamp, And there is, was n@,.alm@st traffic at all, They hadn't seen a car in mmmm, many, many minutes, (Audience laughs,) And it was fairly late at night, and it was very dark d@vm this read, And all ef a sudden @n the right they saw this, thiz figure in white, walking al@ng the zide ef the r@ad, driving, @n the right,) (On the same side thii;y werii, And the cl@zer they ge,t, uh, they rn:1ticed that when they, when they g@t cl@zer, they n<i!ticed it was a girl walking al<ilne down the read, And they thught it was awfully dangenms fer her t" be Jut at that time if night, espechtlly in, in a swamp, W@ndering what she W:ilS d@ing there, and pulled @ver and @ffered her a ride, She accepted, and she gllit in the back, And there aut@mbile had emly tw,r, d@@rs, S@ they had t@ pull up the fr@nt seat, and let her get in the b:.,ck, And th@n the eld w@m:lin was in the front right, and the old man was in th@ left fnmt seat driving, and th;,,y lecked b@th And uh, th!ily asked her where she was g@ing, She gave them an ;i,ddress, said she was trying tc; get h@me, S, they dr@ve @n, and they finally came int lumbia priper, And they were trying te l0cate the address, And st@pped at the red light, and g@t Clilnfused which way t they turned ar@und t9 ask her, and there was n11b@dy there, but there was a sweater, just a swe"'-ter sitting in the back INTERRUPTION: AUDIENCE i '~It was t:;etting? 11 DODGE, "Well, lying in the back seat, rry~ 11 S@ they, they finally g@t t the address and went up t@ the de<ii>r :1.nd knecked, It was fairly late ,tt night, It was ab@ut eleven @r twelve <il'cl@ck, and they, they g@t this, this @ld man Ut f bed, And he came te the dGor :..nd he said uh, "Yeu dt:m t need t tell me, I kn@w why y@u're here," Hs siaid, "Yeu picked up my daughter @ut @n the r@acl, and she was trying t@ get lrnme, " I said, "Yes, that's right, and I br<:Jught this sweater," And he said, "This happens every year at this time," He said, "Ab1mt seven year!! ag@, she was killed en the highway, and ever sines then en the aniversary @f her death, Tale 14 by G rd n Bickers This is the st11ry about the butcher man at Winnataska, Oh, a few years , I was camp directe;r up at Camp Win..nlil.taska, and that is in, .,,h, Alabam.,., And ah, they have a legend up there-that, well, it's a legend now, ab ut this man who had lived quite a leng time , and had been caught f@r murdering quite iil. few pe@ple and had escaped in the W@@ds, and he was never f@und, H@wever, the ah, the thing abcmt it was, whenever s11meb@dy wa:s by the ms elves r maybe just tw pe@ple w@uld g@ f'f in the w @ds together in th.,.t area, they weuld never be heard frem again, And ens day this little girl was ut playing, and she happened t0 wander @ff in the Wds where she wasn't supp@sed t0 g@, And uh, they went all through the woeds and c@uldn't find her, and went back and rganized search parties, And the search parties went eut int@ the W@@ds, and f@r many days lc ked f@r the little girl, and they c@uldn't find her anywhere, And the father didn't want to give up hope, :and he still felt she had t0 be scmewhere ar,mnd, There wasn't a trace @f her anywlu,re, Sc, he; kept going deeper and deeper back int@ the w@@ds, and fimi.lly, he was never heard fr,,m again, S@, they decided there was s@mething in there which was killing these pe@ple @ff, and they were geing te find out what it was, Se, they called the State P@lice in, and they erganized search parties, and they went back inte the W@ds, and the further back they got, the m@re traces of like-they'd find a shee here, !lr a tern piece @f cleth that had been there f@r maybe a c@uple @f years, And finally, what happened late @ne aftern@@n, twe @fficers were walking thr@ugh the we@ds, and they heard a semnd behind them. 'rhey turned and they l@@ked and they didn't see anything, s, they kept @n walking. And s@meWl,ere ef'f to the side behind them, they c@uld hear s@mething breaking thro>ugh the brush and the leaves, And they still didn't kn@w what it was, It kept l@@king aniund, didn't see anything I And they maybe it was a wild d"g, And they walked @n and @n, And finiil.lly, they heard this big crash right behind them, and they swung ar0und, And this huge man was standing there with a big knife in his hand, And they beith went f,n their guns at the same time, and bef@re either <llne @f them c@uld m@ve, he was u1 tep and had knecked b@th ef 'um t@ the gr@und, One of them g@t cut in the arm and in the leg and g@t up, while he turned and slashed the ether cne t pieces, And the ene that had been cut in the arm and @n the leg t@@k @ff running just as fast il.S he pessibly c@uld g@, and managed sGmeh@w t get awe.y f'r@m the man, (Apparantly, he just didn't f@ll@w him) He got back, and he tEJld everyb<lldy what had happemid. S@ they decided they'd g@ back t where the incident had taken place, and see what they c@uld find, S@ they went back as far as they c@uld int@ the Weds that afterne@n, ceuldn' t find any trace of the man, and decided they'd wait until the f@ll@wing day, S@, early the, next morning, they all went @ut and l@ked, and they ceuld tell then where signs sf the fight had taken place, but there wasn't any sign f the man, St, they kept en g@ing further and further and futh!ff back into the w@@ds, And finally, d@wn in the we@ds they sp@tted this lean-t@ setting against a set, a gr@up f trees, And they decided that they"/1 better call in f@r seme extra help and g@ in and see if' they ceuld find the @ld man, S@ thy called f@r help and they wait and the help arrives, And they surnmnd the lean-t@, And a c@uple @f the men g0 d@wn, &nd just as they get t@ the outside @f the lean-to, this man cemes crashing thr@ugh, And bef@re either @i' them can m@ve, he's killed bwth ef them, and takes And they start openin', they start sho<lting at him, and uh, hit 'im a couple of times, but he gets right up n ,i ceuple @f 'em, S@mehcw, they seem tqi be at peint blank range, firing, and they still don't kill him, And he kills them and breaks thrugh the line and t2.. ke taiff run, and he takes running, S@ uh, they follow after him as fast as they ciin, and they csme t the river, a just ab@ve Winnataska, and they get in a fight with the man, and ab@ixt three i;,f the State Patreilmen and the ma.n ge r@lling d11wn int@ the river, and he's got his knife just slashing away at them, And they're all fighting and scuffling, and he's bleeding, And they roll down int the riv-, in the river, and go under the water, And they d@n't ever c@me back up, And they uh, take uh scuba gear a.nd they ge dewn in the water and they l@@k and they den' t see any signs ef 'em and none ef 'em were ever seen again, But at certain times ef the year, the river runs a bright red and the water, @.nd they say that when the red is running in the water that it's the man's bl@d and it's c@ming up te, in the river and, and washing dewn, The Cadowre Arm 'Iale 15 by G rd n Bickers When I vras living in Birmingham, there was a, um, high schEJ 1 where this kinda y@ung teacher lived, and she was like a real bitch t all the students, y@u kn@w, She really gave them all a hard time deliberately. And uh, she went <!lut @f her way, ycm krniw, t@ cause tr<lluble and uh, y<llu lm@w, fail them and everything, you kn@w, and get them in truble with the sch@l, get em thr6wn llmt wf sch @l and ma-, rep-, make bad reputati@ns filir.them and everything, um, (pause) they uh, tw@ beys, there were tw@ b<llys and they decided they were g@nna t@ get even with her, And ene @f the b@y's father Wfl.-, wius a m;,rtician, And th&y went d@wn there ,me, uh, Rftern@e1,n and were they were l@ldn ar@und, And there wii.s a uh, body that had ceme in that had been in an aut@mebile accident, And like, it had been like, just tern t@ shreds, Y'i!)u km,w lik@, the arms were cut it and everything, The wh@le thing was there, And apparently the b@y wh@se father w@rked there he-, he'd seen the b@d-, dead b@dies bef11vre, and they just didn't b@ther him that much, 'l'hey didn't frighten him !lr anything, And uh, he pickll!d up !lne f the arms and dr@pped it in a sack, and teillk it eff, and they w:1.lked, ywu knlilw, just walked ut with it, Appi,r-, nb@dy was in the r@@m, Just didn't realize wh,it they were d@ing, And they walked @ut with the arm, And they fcmnd iil>ut where the yimng teacher lived, and they went @ver t her h@use when she wasn't there cme night, and breke in, And as yu went the, like light the fr@nt ef the ht>US<!e there was @. string t the fyer, and they tied the arm t@ the string, when she came int@ reach up to turn the light @n they'd, she 'cl grab the arm, And uh, s,l they t@@k @ff, and the next day at sch@@l eih-, the teacher didn't sh@w up, And uh, S they called her and called her and she didn't answer, S" finally, 5@meene in the 5ch@@l, (I d@n't kn@w whe it Wll.s, principal @r semeb@dy) decided that they'd, they knew that she lived by herself, that they'd just g,:, by and see what, wa-, what the matter was, And uh, they went by the huse about middle f the day, and kncked en the d11rnr, and nlll ome answered it, And he checked it, and it was <3ipen, And he pened the d@r and walked in the h@use and he l@ked anmnd, and didn't see anything and walked back t a rm, juet the f@yer, And the girl was setting in a c@rner, cnmched dwn, just white as a sheet, and the arm was lying right in fr@nt ef her and had been practically gnawed in twe, 1ra1e number one - The Grey Man In.formant: Nirs .. Pamela. Bickers if number E363, 2 Ghost returns t pretec-t; the living, England U.S. Wales, Baughman; India, Thems<rm-Balys Chloe Lewis - her end tc The Grey Man Mtif number, E575 Ghst as <l>rnen @f calamity rill fCllrtune, England U t SQ : Baughman Tale nun1ber tw@ - The Hatchet Lady Informant, G@rdcn Bickers M@tif number: S139.I+ Murder by mangling with axe, 'J'ale number three - 'J'he Baby Sitting Stry Inf@rmant, G@rdcn Bickers I cimldn't find any information @n this sts1r:,r at all, G@rden said he read it in the Atlanta newspaper several years ag@, but my husband and I have heard the st@ry in other areas thr@ugh @ral traditiim, Tale number f@ur - The Erskine C@llege St@rv Infermant, Pam Bickers I couldn't find any available inf@rmatien en this talc @r n the ,:,ther tw variants @fit which I recerded, One m@tif S118 Murder by cutting, 'l'@.le number five Inf@rmant: G@rd@n Bickers Variant of tale f<llur, I c@uldn't find any inf@rmation nit except one related m@tif S118 Murder by cutting, Talc number six Inf@rmant, f\1ary Kubler Metif number: N )84,2 Death in the graveyard; persn's cl@thing is caught; the pe1s@n thinks s@mething awful is hlding him; he dies @f fright~ Tale number seven - Alice Informant: Pam Bickers M@tif number, F1041,8,2 Madness fr@m grief, (cf, F1041.21.5,) Child V487 s * v. "l@ver11 ....... - M11tif number, E415 .1 Chest returns to hunt l@st article, Finish - Sweedish, Wessman J mi. 24 U.S. Tale number eight Infermant, D@dge P, L@wis Baughman (EJ28) I persenall c@uldn't find any m@tif numbers @r tal@ types fwr this st@ry, Hewever Richard M, D@rsllm in his American Negr@ F@lktales has a secti@n called "On the Ce@ling B@ard," Tale eight is a variant ef the tales in this se,ctien, and Ders@n has Baughman's m@tif number as J1769,2 "Dead man is th@ught t@ be alive." Tale number nine Infermant, D@dge P, Lewis Metif number, EJ32 N@n-malev@lsnt n:,ad gh@sts E422,4,2 Gh@st with b@nnst pulled d@wn @vsr her face, N@rth Car@lina: Brewn Cl!lllextiem I681f, is ef the msmerat categ@ry, '.rale number ten Infmrmant, D@dge P, Lewis I wasn't really p@si tive if this st@ry c@uld be catageJrized as a tale 1F,r n@t, but I decided t@ include it anyway, at least f@r it's interest value;, 1'ale number eleven Inf@rmant: Chl@e Lewis This tale is the third variant cf tales number three and f@ur, all @f which I have nl!l infeirmati@n en except M@tif S118,2 Murder by cutting thr@at, Africa, Mansfield 228, Tale number twelve Inf<l)rmant, D@dg P, Lewis This is the h&@k st@ry which I'm sure has a m@tif number, but in the St.i th ~1hemss1n M@tif Index @f F&lk Li tsra ture I culd not find the infermatien, 'J'ale number thirteen - The Vanishi n<0 Hitchhiker Inf@rrnant, DCDdge P, Lewis Motif numbers, EJ32,J,3,1 The Vlilnishing Hitchhiker E422.4.J Gh@st in white. Ncrth c@.ro1ina, Brewn C@llectiem I681f. Reverant as lady in white Tale number fe:mrteen - Butcher Man Inf@rmant, Gorden Bickers M,}tif number: S118 Murder by cutting Tale number fifteen - The Cadavre Arm Informant, Gcrd@n Bickers M@tif number: NJBl+,0,1.1 The Cadavre Arm Stry COMMEN'l'S A cl9ser look at The Hatchett Lady and The Butcher lllan St@,ry tc,ld by G@rdcm Bickers reveals a similarity in structure, G@rd!'.ln claims he made up the Butcher lllan St@ry, and this versi@n it is the @me he heard tw@ years later at the same camp where he was a direct@r, The murderer uses similar weap@ns in these stories, a hatchet ,:,_nd a butcher knife, In b@th cases, the murderer cuts the persc,n up and is never f@und in the end, Also, there are similar thrill scenes where somebGdy- gets it and the ther pe;rs@n "takes @ff running" n The Butcher Man story is more localized and is legendary by the use of the ge@logic phenomenm if the river near the camp, However, I feel that the st@ry,The Butcher Man, is basically a variant ef The Hatchett Lady which Gerdon heard and which he used as a basis for a st@ry in a different setting, Here are three versions the st0ry 0f s@meG,ne slain trying to get attenti@n, I could n0t find a motif number f@r these stories, but I f0und the variati0ns rather interesting anyway, The first 0ne is tcld by Pam Bickers and is situated @n the Erskine College campus, It has a very definate setting in time and space, and in it, the victim was killed by amputati@n @f the arms and the legs. She is trying t@ get up the steps. 1rhe sec@md varia ticn is tcld by Gcrdcn Bickers, wh0 upen hearing Pam's story, remembered a similar one which he had been t0ld, It ei.ls0 has a definite lecati@n, Lake Lane er, and it is given the ld parking setup which is cemmn tw many ef the st~iries I have hell.rd. 'rhis vll.riaticm has a rather different st@ry behind it, but it still has the idea @f the victim trying tl!l get attenti@n, In this caee, the b,,y wh was "cut t@ shreds" was bumping and beating en the car to got attenti@n, Finally, the last variati@n @f this st@ry was teld t@ me by Chl0e Lewis, Her setting is an apartment anywhere where the. tnwuble is lecated in a laundry mat, This time the victim (a girl) has her thr@a.t slit and is scratching at the d00r, COMMENTS I femnd it quite interesting hew G@rd@n changed this stwry @r else heard it in the f@rm f a by 's father wning a mertuary, :,md it being a scho1l teacher, rather than medical students, H@wever, it still is basically the same "Cadavre Arm" st@ry, even thimgh the characters and setting are changed, ---.,_,, -RELEASEBy letting us collect your traditions-stories, fJngs, music, remembrances, or beliefs of earlier days--you have mad; a valuable contribution to preserving and understanding Southern ; :!.story, and especially the way of life of your community. Becaus~ you have given unselfishly of your time to do this, the Georgia colklore Archives, whose representatives are dedicated to preserr~ng these traditions, wants to protect your rights to this material by guaranteeing that it will not be used for unscrupulous commercial profits. By signing this sheet, you are giving us permission to use this material for educational purposes so that people who are interested can understand how life was in the old-timey days. If you don't want your name to be used, say so--we respect your right to privacy. Thank you for the time you have given to help us record a heritage that is an im:portant part of American life. "I hereby grant permission to the Georgia Folklore Archives and its Director, John Burrison, to publish, or otherwise make use of, the material recorded from me by the agent of the Georgia Folklore Archives whose name appears on this sheet," s~!ilned llv/W_L/ t?. 1&~'cJ::.t1c..P Agent of Georgia Folklore Archives Additional Witness Georgia Folklore Archives c/o Professor John Burrison Georgia State University 33 Gilmer Street South East Atlanta, Georgia 30303 Address o2 9 Ro &~ d MPf! t A/.E Uf?a,;J:,,??(_[d p -RELEASEBy letting us collect your traditions--storief:, songs, music, remembrances, or beliefs of earlie1 days--you have ;lade a valuable contribution to preserving and understanding Southern history, and especially the way of life of your cO!llllll.ll1ity. Because you have given unselfishly of your time to do this, the Georgia Folklore Archives, whose representatives are dedicated to preserving these traditions, wants to protect your rights to this material by guaranteeing that it will not be used for unscrupulous commercial profits. By signing this sheet, you are giv:tng us permission to use this material for educational purposes so that people who are interes~ed can understand how life was in the old-timey days. If you don t want your name to be used, say so--we respect your right to pri.vacy. Thank you for the time you have given to help us record a heritage that is an important part of American life. "I hereby grant permission to the Georgia Folklore Arch:i.ves and its Director, Jobn Burrison, to publish, or otherwise make u;;e o::", the material. recorded from me by the a.gent of the Georgia Foll,lore Archives whose name appears on this sheet." , 0 Georgia Folklore Archives c/o Professor John Burrison Georgia State University 33 Gilmer Street South Ea.st Atlanta, Georgia 30303 RELEASEBY letting us collect your traditions--stories, songs, music, remembrances, or beliefs of earlier days--you have ma1.e a valuable contribution to preserving and understanding Southern history, and especial:ty the way of life of your community. Because you have given unselfishly of your time to do this, the Georgia Folklore Archives, whose representatives are dedicated to preserving these traditions, wants to protect your rights to this material by guaranteeing that it will not be used for unscrupuJ.ous commercial profits. By signing this sheet, you are giving us permission to use this material for educational purposes so that people who are interested can understand how life was in the old-timey days. If you don't want your name to be used, say so--we respect your right to privacy. Thank you for the time you have given to help us record a heritage that is an important part of American life. "I hereby grant permission to the Georgia Folklore Archives and its Director, John Burrison, to publish, or otherwise make use of, the material recorded from me by the agent of the Georgia Folklore Archives whose name appears on this sheet." Signed . ,/1 {' t Cr /J\ (;r: i Address i/ Additional Witness ------~c~/~~l~-1~u*f:~--w~"'-....i:U~'.~.) ~. ...Q/f~--~~i~~<-~f~~~<~i------- ) I 'I Georgia FoDrlore Archives c/o Professor John Burrison Georgia State University 33 Gilmer Street South East Atlanta, Georgia 30303 -RELF.ASEBy letting us collect your traditions--storits, songs, music, remembrances, or beliefs of earlier days--you have 11113-de a valuable contribution to preserving and understanding south m history, and especially the way of life of yom c00Jmm1i ty. Bee, use you have given unselfishly of your time to do this, the Georgia Folklore Archives, whose representatives are dedicated to preserving these traditions, wants to protect your rights to this material by guaranteeing that it will not be used for unscrupulous commercial profits. By signing this sheet, you are givi.".lg us permission to use this material for educational purposes so that people who are interested can understand how life was in the old-timey days. If you don't want your name to be used, say so--we respect your right to prjvacy, Thank you for the time you have given to help us record a heritage that is an important part of American life. "I hereby grant permission to the Georgia Folklore Archives and its Director, John Burrison, to publish, or otherwise make use of, the material recorded from me by the agent of the Georgia Foll,lore Ar()hives whose name appears on this sheet," Georgia Folklore Archives c/o Professor John Burrison Georgia State University 33 Gilmer Street South East Atlanta, Georgia 30303 Address A PDF transcript exists for this recording. Please contact an archivist for access. Professor John Burrison founded the Atlanta Folklore Archive Project in 1967 at Georgia State University. He trained undergraduates and graduate students enrolled in his folklore curriculum to conduct oral history interviews. Students interviewed men, women, and children of various demographics in Georgia and across the southeast on crafts, storytelling, music, religion, rural life, and traditions. As archivists, we acknowledge our role as stewards of information, which places us inaposition to choose how individuals and organizations are represented and described in our archives. We are not neutral, andbias isreflected in our descriptions, whichmay not convey the racist or offensive aspects of collection materialsaccurately.Archivists make mistakes and might use poor judgment.We often re-use language used by the former owners and creators, which provides context but also includes bias and prejudices of the time it was created.Additionally,our work to use reparative languagewhereLibrary of Congress subject termsareinaccurate and obsolete isongoing. Kenan Research Center welcomes feedback and questions regarding our archival descriptions. If you encounter harmful, offensive, or insensitive terminology or description please let us know by emailingreference@atlantahistorycenter.com. Your comments are essential to our work to create inclusive and thoughtful description.