--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Folks called this place haunted, felt the…" description: "\"“Folks called this place haunted, felt the emanations of an unspeakable act moving outward like ripples on water.”\" — William Gay" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fd/william-gay-17446_haunted_folks-called-this-place-haunted-felt-the_2357179.jpg" --- # Folks called this place haunted, felt the emanations of an… ![“Folks called this place haunted, felt the emanations of an unspeakable act moving outward like ripples on water.” quote by William Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fd/william-gay-17446_haunted_folks-called-this-place-haunted-felt-the_2357179.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fd/william-gay-17446_haunted_folks-called-this-place-haunted-felt-the_2357179.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fd/william-gay-17446_haunted_folks-called-this-place-haunted-felt-the_2357179.jpg) > ““Folks called this place haunted, felt the emanations of an unspeakable act moving outward like ripples on water.”” [William Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gay/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A location is perceived as haunted because of a terrible, indescribable event that spreads its influence like ripples. **In simple terms:** A place feels haunted due to a hidden, terrible act. Key Takeaway Recognize hidden trauma behind fear. Themes haunting trauma perception Mood eerie reflective Type literary descriptive When to use this quote - investigating family history - writing horror fiction - psychotherapy sessions - community healing Key Concepts psychology memory collective fear Questions to Reflect On - What unseen events shape our fears? - How do rumors amplify dread? A Different Perspective The metaphor may overstate the impact of a single event on a whole area. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [“That's why I call this place the Haunted Bookshop. Haunted by the ghosts of the books I haven't read. 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Tenzing > [“I'm not separate from this world, nor is this world separate from me; time had not taken hold of me yet and distances are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/au-ur-ava-lafsd-ttir/i-m-not-separate-from-this-world-nor-is-this-world-separate-from-me/) Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir > [The foolish are like ripples on water, For whatsoever they do is quickly effaced; But the righteous are like carvings upon stone, For their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/the-foolish-are-like-ripples-on-water-for-whatsoever-they-do-is/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [“Where could you go in Harrisonville?-this smalltime place haunted by by homilies, platitudes, and booshwah.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-eszterhas/where-could-you-go-in-harrisonville-this-smalltime-place-haunted-by/) [Joe Eszterhas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-eszterhas/) > [“Free love,Ayaan knew, is an enchanting place haunted by demented women”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manu-joseph/free-love-ayaan-knew-is-an-enchanting-place-haunted-by-demented-women/) [Manu Joseph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manu-joseph/) > [When you're doing a show on stage, and they show you a red light, that means you have 5 minutes left. At some clubs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-hedberg/when-you-re-doing-a-show-on-stage-and-they-show-you-a-red-light-that/) [Mitch Hedberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-hedberg/) > [It is, alas, chiefly the evil emotions that are able to leave their photographs on surrounding scenes and objects and whoever heard of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-alas-chiefly-the-evil-emotions-that-are-able-to-leave-their/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“i could go if i wanted share the floorboards with someone in a place less haunted but i like it here and i’m happy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/savannah-brown/i-could-go-if-i-wanted-share-the-floorboards-with-someone-in-a-place/) Savannah Brown > [I don't like haunted houses or anything like that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-burrow/i-don-t-like-haunted-houses-or-anything-like-that/) [Joe Burrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-burrow/) > [“...the haunted always take refuge in stillness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-dodd/the-haunted-always-take-refuge-in-stillness/) [Christina Dodd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-dodd/) > [I love ghost stories, I love to read them, and I love the idea of being haunted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micah-perks/i-love-ghost-stories-i-love-to-read-them-and-i-love-the-idea-of-being/) [Micah Perks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/micah-perks/) ## More by William Gay > [“No move is the wrong move, What? Sometimes any move at all is better than nothin. If you're right, you're one up. If you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gay/no-move-is-the-wrong-move-what-sometimes-any-move-at-all-is-better/) [William Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gay/) > [“don't start talkin about books or quotin poems at them. these is good folks but they ain't real crazy about readin books. just do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gay/don-t-start-talkin-about-books-or-quotin-poems-at-them-these-is-good/) [William Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gay/) > [“He stayed out of the house, he was much of the time in the woods, he felt like some animal half domesticated but ultimately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gay/he-stayed-out-of-the-house-he-was-much-of-the-time-in-the-woods-he/) [William Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gay/) > [“Even when he'd arrived he'd had restless eyes, eyes that were always looking about as if he might notice some place he'd rather be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gay/even-when-he-d-arrived-he-d-had-restless-eyes-eyes-that-were-always/) [William Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gay/) > [“Truth had hanged the way the landscape had changed to accommodate progress, altered by each generation to its purpose. He had learned from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gay/truth-had-hanged-the-way-the-landscape-had-changed-to-accommodate/) [William Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gay/) > [“I thought you looked like a man with a bridge on fire, she said.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gay/i-thought-you-looked-like-a-man-with-a-bridge-on-fire-she-said/) [William Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gay/) > [“Julia Bradshaw was part Cherokee Indian. She was small and dark and the inscrutability of her eyes hinted at enigmas a man might unravel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gay/julia-bradshaw-was-part-cherokee-indian-she-was-small-and-dark-and/) [William Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gay/) > [“After a while a three-quarter moon eased up over the treeline and the dusty road went white as milk, Rorshach patches of grass bleeding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gay/after-a-while-a-three-quarter-moon-eased-up-over-the-treeline-and-the/) [William Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gay/) > [“Fleming doubted all this but he listened anyway and thought with a kind of sardonic amusement that before the night was over life itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gay/fleming-doubted-all-this-but-he-listened-anyway-and-thought-with-a/) [William Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gay/) > [“You don't learn that, she said. It's just there. It sounds like he spent his whole life trying to unlearn it. Trying to forget…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gay/you-don-t-learn-that-she-said-it-s-just-there-it-sounds-like-he-spent/) [William Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gay/) > [“He was wishing the past was a place you could backtrack to, take a sideroad you'd walked hurriedly past, wake somebody from a bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gay/he-was-wishing-the-past-was-a-place-you-could-backtrack-to-take-a/) [William Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gay/) > [“Hardin lived in a world he manipulated day to day, you never knew when a piece of information might have a use. Life was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gay/hardin-lived-in-a-world-he-manipulated-day-to-day-you-never-knew-when/) [William Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gay/) > [“Outside in the barnlot he looked up and the pale moon was directly over him and all-encompassing. It appeared to be lowering itself onto…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gay/outside-in-the-barnlot-he-looked-up-and-the-pale-moon-was-directly/) [William Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gay/) > [“He seemed to be drawing inward toward some point at which he would be reduced to the fundamental essence of himself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gay/he-seemed-to-be-drawing-inward-toward-some-point-at-which-he-would-be/) [William Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gay/) > [“He heard footsteps on the ice and just as someone pounded on the door death came swiftly into the trailer like a physical presence.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gay/he-heard-footsteps-on-the-ice-and-just-as-someone-pounded-on-the-door/) [William Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gay/) [Explore all 37 William Gay quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gay/) ## More Haunted quotes > [I love ghost stories, I love to read them, and I love the idea of being haunted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micah-perks/i-love-ghost-stories-i-love-to-read-them-and-i-love-the-idea-of-being/) [Micah Perks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/micah-perks/) > [“...the haunted always take refuge in stillness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-dodd/the-haunted-always-take-refuge-in-stillness/) [Christina Dodd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-dodd/) > [I don't like haunted houses or anything like that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-burrow/i-don-t-like-haunted-houses-or-anything-like-that/) [Joe Burrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-burrow/) > [I keep all my clothes on in House on Haunted Hill, Mary Jane's Last Dance, and The Way of the Gun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taye-diggs/i-keep-all-my-clothes-on-in-house-on-haunted-hill-mary-jane-s-last/) [Taye Diggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taye-diggs/) > [They call them the haunted shores, these stretches of Devonshire and Cornwall and Ireland which rear up against the westward ocean. Mists gather here,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/they-call-them-the-haunted-shores-these-stretches-of-devonshire-and/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [“She herself is a haunted house. She does not possess herself; her ancestors sometimes come and peer out of the window of her eyes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/she-herself-is-a-haunted-house-she-does-not-possess-herself-her/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [...you don't need ghosts to be haunted. Memory does that just fine without any supernatural help at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/you-don-t-need-ghosts-to-be-haunted-memory-does-that-just-fine/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [“She haunted the makeup department until she was bored, then took a look around home furnishings. She wasn't ever going to get another dining…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/she-haunted-the-makeup-department-until-she-was-bored-then-took-a/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“Despite the way she rallied, the haunted look in her eyes was enough to break him, as lost and lonely as an abandoned child’s.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mcintyre/despite-the-way-she-rallied-the-haunted-look-in-her-eyes-was-enough/) [Katherine McIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mcintyre/) > [“Every town has ‘THAT house’: the one that once held dark secrets. You know the house… the one no one will purchase? The one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-caskey/every-town-has-that-house-the-one-that-once-held-dark-secrets-you/) [James Caskey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-caskey/) > [“..., imagine a loamy earth that starts with genocide, then adds a mix of further disease, wars, hurricanes, murder, great fires, dueling, insurrection and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-caskey/imagine-a-loamy-earth-that-starts-with-genocide-then-adds-a-mix-of/) [James Caskey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-caskey/) > [“Darkness lingered in those blue eyes, like ghosts haunted him despite only the two of them standing in this cabin.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-mcintyre/darkness-lingered-in-those-blue-eyes-like-ghosts-haunted-him-despite/) [Katherine McIntyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-mcintyre/) > [“Your eyes remained haunted. Seeing something in the world that your mirth can not dissolve.” I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tillie-cole/your-eyes-remained-haunted-seeing-something-in-the-world-that-your/) [Tillie Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tillie-cole/) > [“The director said he's got a haunted soul and a natural sweetness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miriam-toews/the-director-said-he-s-got-a-haunted-soul-and-a-natural-sweetness/) [Miriam Toews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miriam-toews/) > [Hotels are really scary. There are a lot of haunted ones in L.A. that I want to check out. So many people come in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-peters/hotels-are-really-scary-there-are-a-lot-of-haunted-ones-in-l-a-that-i/) [Evan Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-peters/) Browse all 398 Haunted quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Folks called this place haunted, felt the emanations of an unspeakable act moving outward like ripples on water.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Gay" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gay/folks-called-this-place-haunted-felt-the-emanations-of-an-unspeakable/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Haunted" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gay/folks-called-this-place-haunted-felt-the-emanations-of-an-unspeakable/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fd/william-gay-17446_haunted_folks-called-this-place-haunted-felt-the_2357179.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fd/william-gay-17446_haunted_folks-called-this-place-haunted-felt-the_2357179.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0fd/william-gay-17446_haunted_folks-called-this-place-haunted-felt-the_2357179.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Folks called this place haunted, felt the emanations of an unspeakable act moving outward like ripples on…” — William Gay", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "William Gay", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gay/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Folks called this place haunted, felt...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gay/folks-called-this-place-haunted-felt-the-emanations-of-an-unspeakable/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gay/folks-called-this-place-haunted-felt-the-emanations-of-an-unspeakable/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```