Children’s Folklore Recent Titles in Greenwood Folklore Handbooks Myth: a handbook

Every Birthday Morning
Okay, someone has to lay on the floor. Now you rub their temples and say in a scary voice, 
“Every birthday morning since she can remember, a little girl goes up to her mom’s room 
to check for presents. No one is in the room or the house and it’s very dark.”
There’s a note on a picture that says, “We killed your mom and dad on your birthday 
and we’re coming to get you.” The note is written in blood and there’s a knife hanging 
from the picture. She tries to run out of the house but hears footsteps chasing her. The 
man catches and kills the little girl.
Jerri, age 13, told this story in Garden City, New York, in the spring of 1980. 
Her story describes a trance session: a storytelling event during which children 
make each other the central characters in truly frightening scenarios. After the 
listener lies down on the floor, the storyteller rubs the listener’s temples while 
explaining that the listener has just lost her parents and will soon die a violent 
death herself. If the listener cries or screams, the storyteller succeeds in her 
objective.

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Examples and Texts 91
This story highlights the ritual of receiving birthday presents. Inversion of the 
expectation of birthday happiness turns the day into a tragedy. Few horror stories 
could be worse than this one, which seems guaranteed to make the young listener 
scream or cry. Scholarship on this subject is discussed in chapter 4.
Ouija Board
I was at Becky’s house, and we decided to try out her Ouija board. Katie and another girl 
were also there. Katie and I decided not to take part, so we sat on the couch to watch while 
Becky and the other girl sat on the floor with the board. They asked if there was a spirit 
in the room, and the, um, thing that you put your hands on went to yes. I wasn’t taking it 
seriously, and Katie was giggling, so I guess she didn’t either. But Becky and the other girl 
were very nervous, and they didn’t know what to ask next.
I suggested they ask “the spirit” what nickname I’d been calling Katie. Since I only 
used it when we were talking on the phone, nobody else would know it. They asked 
the spirit, and it began to spell out a name: “W-I-N-S-T-O-N.” Winston! That’s what 
I called Katie! I called her Winston because I’d read somewhere that Winston Churchill 
was famous for saying clever, witty things. Katie was constantly saying stupid things, so 
I called her Winston as a joke. Anyway, it was really creepy.
Before we had a chance to think of another question, “the spirit” began to talk again. It 
was spelling out “lamp” over and over again, and then it started moving in a fi gure eight. 
It was very fast and seemed very aggressive. Then Rachel and I noticed the huge lamp on 
the end table. We screamed and ran out of the room, followed by the other two. We were 
afraid that “the spirit” would throw the lamp at us. Well, that was it for me and Ouija 
boards. It wasn’t that scary now that I think about it. I’m not anxious to try it again, but 
I’m sure I could be pressured into it.
Shannon, a 24-year-old of Irish American descent, described this frightening 
experience in Endicott, New York, in November 1998. Although she shows some 
skepticism about “the spirit,” she seems to believe that something uncanny is tak-
ing place. How can the Ouija board possibly know about a nickname that only 
she and Katie have shared with each other? After finishing her story, Shannon 
explains that although she has no desire to use a Ouija board again, others could 
probably make her do it. For young adults as well as for kids, peer pressure exerts 
a powerful influence.