An installment in our Appalachian History & Culture series A weather report for Galax, VA, might call for scattered showers, but drive a few miles toward Pipers Gap or down into a Carroll County hollow and you’ll see how quickly that forecast unravels. One ridge catches the rain. The next stays dry. Along the Blue Ridge escarpment in Patrick County, a…
An installment in our Folklore & Legends series Windows as Vulnerable Thresholds When folks talk about old mountain cabins, they usually talk about the solid parts. Thick log walls. A stone chimney. A door you could shut and brace. Those are the features that suggest safety. What gets mentioned less often are the quieter details,…
An installment in our Folklore & Legends series A mist settles along a mountain road. The night is still until the sound of heavy paws keeps pace beside you. Step quicker, and the rhythm follows. Glance back, and a shadow slips into the trees. In the Appalachians, they call it the black dog legend; a…
An installment in our Folklore & Legends series The banks of Chestnut Creek have a way of rearranging themselves when no one’s looking. One year, the bed is gravel. Next, it’s mud and willow roots. Paths vanish. Stones shift. Try to mark a spot on the map, and nature will soon erase it. Maybe that’s…
An installment in our Folklore & Legends series If you walk through downtown Point Pleasant, West Virginia, you’ll find statues, murals, and souvenir shops dedicated to the town’s most famous resident. No, not the mayor. The Point Pleasant Mothman—a seven-foot, red-eyed, winged enigma who first made headlines in 1966. While most small towns claim fame…
An installment in our Folklore & Legends series Imagine solving your own murder—from beyond the grave. According to the Greenbrier Ghost legend, young Zona Heaster Shue returned from the dead to point a spectral finger at her killer. Some dismiss it as folklore, but the facts tell a story stranger than fiction. The Death of…
An installment in our Folklore & Legends series In the heart of Appalachia’s coal country, where few see daylight, a chilling folk tale persists: Tommyknockers. In the dark, cramped tunnels, miners whisper about these mysterious beings who knock on walls and steal tools. Their knocks sometimes serve as warnings—a signal to flee before disaster strikes….
An installment in our Folklore & Legends series Imagine hiking where the Balsam Mountains meet the Blue Ridge. Shadows stretch across the trail as the air grows crisp. Just ahead, a strange figure appears on the ridge—tall, shaggy, and oddly human-like. Is it a bear? A trick of the eye? Or could it be North…
An installment in our Folklore & Legends series It’s a cold, foggy night in the Appalachian mountains, where shadows seem to move just beyond the firelight. You hear the rustling of leaves and a distant scream. Is it a woman in distress? An owl? Or—is it something more fearsome? Old folks whisper of something else…
An installment in our Folklore & Legends series As I wrote a blog post about Jack Tales, I was motivated to try my hand at writing a Jack Tale of my own. Drawing from literary descriptions of Jack, local moonshiner stories, and a neighbor’s tale of a mash-consuming, drunken bear, I put together a short…
An installment in our Folklore & Legends series We’ve all heard the story of Jack and the Beanstalk—an English boy, some magic beans, a giant, and an adventure up a towering beanstalk. But did you know that the English Jack has kinfolk in the Appalachian Mountains? Meet the star of Appalachian Jack Tales, a character…
An installment in our Folklore & Legends series Hungry Mother State Park might seem like just another peaceful Blue Ridge retreat designed to happily engage vacationers. The sparkling lake, the hiking trails, the beach, the cabins, the campsites, and the mountain air are delightful. But behind this serene landscape lies a powerful story of survival…