Appalachian History

This is the story of the hainted house down by Mrs. Grundy’s house. Well children, I’ll begin the evening of the quilting bee. When John and me was first married, the married women of the neighborhood all belonged to a club called the Quilting Bee. They met the first week after we’s married and invited [...]

The city of Ringgold, GA sponsors tours of its train depot each Halloween based on ‘The Legend of the Haunted Depot:’ Clem and Will Jackson grew up in Ringgold doing all the things brothers did, swimming in the Chickamauga Creek, hunting in the woods, and generally enjoying the pleasures of young men in the Old [...]

If you have ever tramped around the woods after dark, you may have noticed an erie glowing substance on the forest floor. This is the light from luminescent fungi—foxfire. One of the most common fungi responsible for foxfire is Clitocybe illudens, also known as the Jack ‘o Lantern mushroom. Makes complete sense that it would [...]

KY Death comes in threes in a congregation. A wild bird in the house means someone’s going to die. A dog howling three nights in a row means death is near. If you get shingles all around your body, you’ll die. If you sneeze, cover your mouth and say the Lord’s Prayer, or you’ll lose [...]

In Missouri they call it a Gallywampus; in Arkansas it’s the Whistling Wampus; in Appalachia it’s the just a plain old Wampus (or Wampas) cat. A half-dog, half-cat creature that can run erect or on all fours, it’s rumored to be seen just after dark or right before dawn all throughout the Appalachians. But that’s [...]