Spooky season has arrived, and with it, ghost stories creep back into conversation.
From haunted dolls to La Llorona, the supernatural lingers across campus. While some students laugh at the idea, others swear they’ve seen the unexplainable, and most, me included, fall somewhere in between.
I may not believe every paranormal tale, but my own experiences have left me open to the possibility that some things can’t be explained away.
John Bentancourt, a computer science major, said his strange encounters have left him open to the idea of the supernatural.
“There’s a bunch of stuff we can’t explain, so I couldn’t see why [the supernatural] wouldn’t be one of those things. [I’ve seen] just the normal stuff, like stuff moving, sounds you know, little voices sometimes. But it could just be schizophrenia,” Bentancourt joked.
Not every story shared came with a punchline as Valery Ramirez, a junior psychology major, said her belief in the supernatural stems from movies inspired by true events and one unsettling childhood memory.
“When I was little, I used to have a clown doll. It had a little key on the back of it, so, when you would turn it, it would make a sound. But one time it made the sound on its own,” Ramirez said.
Looking back, Ramirez laughed at the memory and recalled how she hadn’t even hesitated before tossing the potentially haunted doll out of her house.
For some students, the belief in the supernatural comes less from a single scare and more from how they interpret the world around them. Natasha Avalos, a sophomore biomedical sciences major, said she believes in the supernatural.
“I feel like if there’s good in the world, there has to be bad too,” Avalos said.
Avalos added that while she hadn’t experienced any supernatural occurrences herself, many members of her family had.
“In this old house my aunt used to live in, my aunt would tell me all the time how when she would be home alone, cabinets opened by themselves, doors would open,” Avalos said. “There was this one creepy time that she saw one balloon just floating down the hallway, like gliding by itself, no wind, no nothing.”
Folklore and local legends have also kept discussion of the supernatural alive across campus. From the infamous La Llorona to the ever-evolving tales of El Paso High School, Avalos said she loves exploring those stories, especially the ones tied to the high school’s haunted reputation.
“I like going down a rabbit hole, seeing what people have said, the pictures that are posted, like, ‘Update: the ghost in El Paso high is doing this.’ And I think it’s cool.” Avalos said.
Jeremiah Viera, another fan of El Paso High’s ghost stories, said he’s not sure where he falls on the spectrum of belief when it comes to ghosts, but his own beliefs and experiences keep him from ruling out the supernatural entirely.
“I was eight and I was in the living room of my old house, and it was haunted for sure,” Viera said. “I’m asleep, and I just hear something say, ‘Get the f up.’ No one was around, its pitch black, and I just ran to my mom’s room. That was crazy.”
Whether it’s personal stories, faith or folklore, the supernatural keeps finding its way back into conversation each October. Believe it or not, this time of year almost everyone seems to have a ghost story to share to get a few scares.
Jewel Ocampo is a Staff Reporter and may be reached at [email protected].
