Ghost in the Alley: From Ghost Stories at Americanfolklore.net

Retold by S.E. Schlosser

Rumors were rife about the alleyway behind the tavern. It was haunted, folks said. Haunted by the ghost of a young girl who had been found murdered in that self-same passage. People avoided the small street after dark, for the spirit was said to be a vengeful one. Of course, no one could name anyone whom the ghost had actually killed, but the tales were enough to keep people away from the alley at night.

Fortunately for the owners of the tavern that backed onto the alley, their front door faced a well-lit road and so business was not slack.

Then one night, while the tavern was full of drinkers, a nasty character named O’Hare wandered into the bar. Women and children were not safe in his presence, but especially not women.
After O’Hare had consumed far too much alcohol, he suddenly announced to the bar that he’d seen a pretty young thing in the alley out back of the tavern. The bartender froze in the middle of polishing a glass, and the men around the bar exchanged covert glances. No one said a word, but everyone was thinking about the ghost of the vengeful young girl. Everyone in the bar looked down at their glasses as he stumbled to his feet. No one made a move to stop him, and there was a quiet air of “he deserves what’s coming to him” about the bar as O’Hare left the building. It’s just too bad that there isn’t really a ghost, thought the bartender, setting down the shining glass and picking up another one to polish. O’Hare sorely needed a lesson in human kindness and respect for others.

At that moment, a horrible scream came from the alley. Everyone in the tavern looked up in shock and fear. Had there really been a ghost out there? Or was O’Hare up to his old tricks and even now accosting one of their womenfolk?

The men leapt to their feet and raced to the back door of the tavern. Pouring out into the street, they were met by an unnatural cold, and their eyes were dazzled by a blaze of light.

The bartender thrust his way to the front of the crowd and saw the body of O’Hare lying in a pool of bright white light. His throat had been torn to pieces, and blood was spilling out in gushes. Above him hovered the semitransparent figure of a young girl, her eyes gleaming with red fire, her mouth covered with blood. She glared down at O’Hare and then turned to look at the crowd. The specter licked the blood from her lips thoughtfully, her eyes on the bartender’s neck. Then she vanished, taking the light with her. At their feet, O’Hare gasped out his last breath and died.

The local authorities were summoned to deal with the body of O’Hare. Though skeptical at first, they were finally convinced, since there had been so many eyewitnesses who had seen the ghost hovering over the dying man.

The bartender resigned his position the next morning and took a job across town, the memory of the ghost’s hungry stare at his neck prompting him to look elsewhere for employment.

Read more Canadian folklore and ghost stories in Spooky Canada.

Comments

wow! wat a crazy storie. lol

Posted by: jess | September 27, 2009 04:21 PM

GREAT/SCARY A%@ STORY

Posted by: RONAESHA | September 29, 2009 06:23 PM

Hey this was a great story!!!

Posted by: Ashley | October 1, 2009 10:19 AM

YOU PEOPLE CALL THAT SACRY! my grandma is scaryer then that!

Posted by: Teo | October 3, 2009 04:13 PM

I heard sow many things but I never heard anything like this.....

Posted by: denisse | October 6, 2009 09:09 AM

i liked that storie it was alrite

Posted by: anna | October 6, 2009 06:30 PM

I would like to order at least the campfire stories to arrive by Oct. 13th for a Day Care party
for small children.
I love reading them myself
and have a blind daughter who can have one played on her computer equipped with "Jaws" that reads to her.

Posted by: Ruth Hester | October 7, 2009 09:29 AM

omg that waz .....

Posted by: jennifer | October 14, 2009 07:28 PM

wow that was crazy

Posted by: Anonymous | October 15, 2009 09:45 AM

that was the best story i have ever read in my life

Posted by: Anonymous | October 15, 2009 05:02 PM

hahahaha i agreee with the person tht is talking bout his grandma

Posted by: sam | October 16, 2009 05:53 PM

WOW that was scary when the girl looks @ his freakin' neck!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Jesse | October 17, 2009 12:26 PM

wow this story was scary as heck im happy that i was not in the story.lol

Posted by: vanessa | October 18, 2009 12:53 PM

Woww That Was Attchally Quite Scaryy Mann!

Am A Bit Scared To Go Down Another Alley LOL xx

Posted by: Rachel x | October 19, 2009 12:31 PM

this is a good story but not quite as scary as I was looking for!

Posted by: Olivia | October 19, 2009 12:59 PM

cool but i only read this for my gt homework i liked the part were the bar tender saw the ghost i wonder how the girl/ghost was killed?

Posted by: bettina | October 19, 2009 07:04 PM

Lame

Posted by: Anonymous | October 21, 2009 12:29 AM

OMG that is quite scary & i have not heard anything so scary
oh yeah i almost forgot THAT WAS SCARY

Posted by: alea | October 21, 2009 03:58 PM

that was cool

Posted by: Anonymous | October 21, 2009 05:33 PM

That story was unusual. I've read a lot of scary stories, a lot of regular stories too, but most of them give the person or people involved some kind of closure-like maybe the ghost should've gone to the light or something.

Posted by: Holly | October 22, 2009 06:21 AM

wow..scarey

Posted by: katie | October 22, 2009 06:23 PM

Wow....this is a grusome story....I LIKE IT!!!

Posted by: Katy | October 23, 2009 06:41 PM

THis a great website to read legends long ago

Posted by: Anonymous | October 24, 2009 09:47 AM

wow that was so scary

Posted by: Anonymous | October 29, 2009 10:04 PM

THIS STORY WAZ THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #1

Posted by: DAISY FUENTES | November 1, 2009 10:09 AM

cool! how grumpy do teens get these days? sucking blood indeed! well i never!

Posted by: sumone hoo likes commenting stuff | November 1, 2009 12:40 PM

VAMPIRE!

Posted by: Ashley Tay | December 19, 2009 02:22 AM

WOW IT IS SO SCARY

Posted by: Anonymous | December 21, 2009 11:24 PM

Not very good

Posted by: Anonymous | December 30, 2009 03:14 PM

wow ghosts in a alley so unacspected!!!!!! of course its an alley

Posted by: jessica robinson | January 1, 2010 04:27 PM

boooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

Posted by: jason | January 7, 2010 12:11 PM

hehe

Posted by: Anonymous | January 19, 2010 10:40 PM

holy crap that was awesome!

Posted by: Natasha | January 20, 2010 10:31 AM

Awesome story man good job lol :)

Posted by: Anonymous | January 23, 2010 02:19 PM

WOW!!! SCARY!!!

Posted by: Bobby | February 7, 2010 12:03 PM

THIS STORY SUXX!!

Posted by: marissa | February 13, 2010 01:46 PM

That was freky!! totally vampire....I mean Twilight Zone..do do do do do...

Posted by: OMG! | February 17, 2010 08:05 PM

crap i am so scared i almost got a heart attack super cool OMG

Posted by: Mario | March 6, 2010 11:09 PM

Thiss storryy wass cannyy . im a propaaa horrorr fan i love scary stuff , but i could do betterr than this ,, better look next tym;D xx

Posted by: Lauren | March 11, 2010 03:58 PM

lol that was good. GO CANADA LOL. that was a good story.

Posted by: iwonttellol | March 20, 2010 02:23 PM

a good story i liked it verry much an wish to reed more please

Posted by: danni | March 26, 2010 07:53 AM

that was crap hahahahah lol jk

Posted by: Anonymous | March 28, 2010 04:07 PM

dang!!
that was creepy
it's like totally twilight
VAMPIRE!!
i like it!!

Posted by: Anonymous | April 1, 2010 09:51 PM

WOW

Posted by: Anonymous | May 2, 2010 04:01 PM

hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!! very scary a but ive read scarier and that is a fricken fact.

Posted by: Anonymous | May 3, 2010 05:40 PM

nott scaryy buuttt kuleee storyy doo

Posted by: jennifer | June 5, 2010 06:16 PM

gayyyyy

Posted by: gh | June 5, 2010 08:24 PM

this isn't that scary, but it's creepy.

Posted by: anna | June 18, 2010 12:20 PM

dude i craped my pants after this story

Posted by: frank | June 21, 2010 12:14 PM

Finally! I've been wanting to see this thing!

Posted by: Angelica Nguyen | June 21, 2010 04:47 PM

creepy!!! O.o I'd be freaked out 2 if a ghost girl that just killed somebody was staring at my neck!!!!!!!!

Posted by: jordan | June 23, 2010 09:34 AM

The story is really good if you listen to it because it talks about stuff that's not written.

Posted by: Jessica | July 9, 2010 08:47 PM

Uhhhhhhh............. you know that really happened

Posted by: James | July 15, 2010 04:30 AM

holy cow!that was a scary story!

Posted by: carlos | August 6, 2010 09:42 AM

holy sh**,this was awesome!

Posted by: Anonymous | August 8, 2010 11:43 PM

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH

Posted by: BieberFever | August 14, 2010 07:41 PM

for some reason, my neck hurts

Posted by: audrey | August 21, 2010 03:34 PM

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

I peed in my pants lol just kidding this story is epic

Posted by: Spooky | August 31, 2010 04:32 PM

scary story! I'm just wondering where this story takes place?

Posted by: none of yo beeswax | September 6, 2010 01:44 PM

it is awesome

Posted by: miqdad | September 10, 2010 06:30 AM

i want to read more.........

Posted by: ellie | September 16, 2010 12:32 PM

HOLY #!@$ THAT'S SOME SCARY @#$@

Posted by: derrick | September 20, 2010 05:04 PM

wow creepy i would like it if it was in real life

Posted by: jacqualyn | September 21, 2010 06:13 PM

wow creepy

Posted by: Anonymous | September 25, 2010 01:44 PM

creepy!! lol

Posted by: Taysia | September 26, 2010 09:33 AM

I'M TOTALLY SCARED. NICE STORY
BECAUSE I LIKE READING GHOST STORIES

Posted by: Abhishek | September 29, 2010 05:52 AM

scary story......

Posted by: Anonymous | September 30, 2010 11:15 PM

that was a scary story omg

Posted by: Anonymous | October 13, 2010 04:56 PM

NICE!!! Very Scarey!

Posted by: Vickie | October 18, 2010 03:58 PM

i guess canadian scary stories differ from american ones(real ones)?

Posted by: brad delephon | October 18, 2010 10:37 PM

I really liked this story. It wasn't scary, but it was a good story. Well done.

Posted by: KC | October 19, 2010 05:29 AM

interesting but not scary..

Posted by: kat | October 20, 2010 10:27 AM

Very enlightening and beneficial to someone whose been out of the circuit for a long time.

- Kris

Posted by: mietwagen mallorca | October 22, 2010 03:39 AM

spooky lols this story is very scary lols!♥

Posted by: ashley hoag | October 22, 2010 10:44 AM

Posted by: pedro | October 25, 2010 02:53 PM

lol that was scary

Posted by: Anonymous | October 26, 2010 04:59 AM

My mom asked me to take the trash out last night and it was completely dark, i was so freaked. I brought a headlamp and a knife to walk just 10 yards

Posted by: Anonymous | October 28, 2010 11:36 AM

OMG...that was kind of scary...Lol muhahahahahahhahjahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Posted by: Trickster | October 28, 2010 12:48 PM

They should've revealed at the end that O'hare was accused but never proven that he was the rapist & killer of the girl sometime back in the 1970's. But not enough proof and evidence tampering wasn't enough to convict him so the justice system had no other choice but to let O'hare go free. So when he returned to the scene of the crime 3 years later, the ghost attracted him and lured him to the back alley of the bar so that she could have her revenge. Justice served. Case closed.

Posted by: CampeonDelMundo'sFriend | October 31, 2010 04:01 AM

creepy,scary,cool. totally luv it but my greatgrandma is scarier

Posted by: Anonymous | November 3, 2010 06:21 PM

i think that it was a good scary story

Posted by: Anonymous | November 6, 2010 07:38 AM

Wow That Was A Awesome Ending!!

Posted by: Megan | November 12, 2010 08:20 PM

Brilliant!

Posted by: Anonymous | November 15, 2010 06:58 PM

Ive read this story a couple of times and it still freaks me out!!!!!

Posted by: New Orleans, Louisiana | November 21, 2010 07:54 PM

dat story gave me goosbumps oww >.< im So SCARED ill never go to my grandparents alley never ever again plus the part when O'Hare came it was funny its not that scary but it's a good story i don't get scared of horror movies or scary stories but i hate blood and stuff like that i always try to make effects 4 a short scary movie

Posted by: Anonymous | November 23, 2010 07:41 AM

love this story its so cool and intresting.:D x

Posted by: henna | December 3, 2010 05:11 AM

this is a GREAT story!!!!

Posted by: Anonymous | December 8, 2010 09:36 AM

awsome

Posted by: kiki | December 9, 2010 07:08 PM

ok, that was SCarY!

Posted by: sydnie | December 17, 2010 11:54 AM

This story is wicked i think i wont sleep again:{ HAHAHAHA

Posted by: Leticia Desersa | December 17, 2010 02:05 PM

That was very scary

Posted by: Anonymous | December 19, 2010 08:59 PM

im frekin scared i dont wanna go to sleep LOLZ XD

Posted by: cris | December 24, 2010 04:27 AM

scary! but, maybe she only attcks dudes!!!! i'm soooo lucky!!!!

Posted by: rachel | December 26, 2010 02:50 PM

This story scared me. I could barely sleep last night. I had my head under the covers with my eyes closed trying not to make the slightest move. It's not the ghost it's what happened to ohare was kind of gross and scary

Posted by: Matthew | January 3, 2011 04:43 PM

Wow, creepy ;o

Posted by: Camerin | January 17, 2011 12:36 PM

Wow....she sounds like a vampire

Posted by: Skye | January 19, 2011 10:29 PM

holy cow that is crazzy
thats why you shoulnt drink too much or you could kill your self

Posted by: me | January 29, 2011 11:38 AM

awesome dude and a little scary wicked

Posted by: justice | January 29, 2011 11:10 PM

I read this scary story a few times and the totally crazy thing is, it ended the same lame (but scary!!) way every time!

Posted by: james the alley ripper | January 31, 2011 11:56 PM

weirdddddddddddddddd