Legend of Banshees in Maryland

Banshees in Maryland

Late one night, during a much needed trip home for the weekend, the topic of ghosts entered a conversation I was having with some of my family and friends. One person, claiming to know many true ghost stories, began a long chain of stories about the local area where we live in Maryland. She is a middle aged white woman, who has lived in a rural area for much of her life. Some of her stories sounded ridiculously absurd, but then there were some that seemed eerily possible. One of these stories concerned a type of ghost not often talked about, the banshee. The following is the story of a night in the mid 1920s, when the teller’s relatives were gathered at the house of their dying grandfather.

My grandmother and her sisters were visiting their ailing grandfather one night during the winter. Everyone was sitting inside of the living room, just waiting nervously, just waiting for anything positive to happen with their grandfather’s condition. Not much can be said when death seems imminent to someone who you love. So as they sat there in silence, as their grandfather was dying in the room adjacent to the living room, an eerie sound started coming from the outside. The sound wasn’t a shriek and wasn’t a scream, but was instead a constant almost moaning sound. Not sure if this sound was the wind or an animal they continued to sit there, but now they tried talking in order to drown out the noise from outdoors, which relieved some of the stress of the moment. Yet as time went by, the sound grew louder and louder, and then for no apparent reason, a shelf in the china cabinet in the dining room broke, causing all of the china to break.

Now very scared, my grandmother and her sisters began to run into the room whe...

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... area in order to explain some strange occurrence. In Ireland, the banshee was created to provide a sense of security to families who had a family member dying. Through oral tradition, stories of the banshee have passed through many families through many regions, and this creature is now a well-known figure in supernatural lore. Although the banshee is not supposed to be feared, the way stories are told about it and its connection with death cause it to be disturbingly mysterious. Do not fear though, for the banshees will leave and do no harm. But if you are in a situation where a family member is dying, listen, for the banshees may come to visit.

Works Cited

“Ghost Hunting Definitions.” Ghost Hunting Definitions. 2004. 16 Oct 2004.

http://ghost2ghost.org/definitions.htm.

Mark Twain Quotations. "Pause." 16 Oct. 2004. http://www.twainquotes.com/Pause.html.