Mountain Mysteries: Investigating the Mystic Traditions of Appalachia

Front Cover
The Overmountain Press, 2006 - History - 226 pages
A near-obsessive pursuit of ghost stories and odd superstitions cranks up this serious study of Appalachian tales of the supernatural and their origin in both old-world customs and real historical events. An effort to preserve and record one aspect of a dying way of life, the book relies on interviews and historic documents to search for the facts behind local lore of murder, witchcraft, and weird hauntings. Several campfire-worthy ghost stories are recounted in their entirety—including "The Swinging Gate of Fern Lake Hollow"—and an unexpectedly large number of stories about aliens and UFOs provide an interesting comparison of three-century-old mysteries and those stirred up in comparatively recent times
 

Contents

UFO Lore
44
Passing on in Appalachia
84
Appalachian Magical Ways
130
Elusive Nature
170
Appalachian Mystery History and Heritage
188
Bibliography
216
Copyright

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About the author (2006)

Larry Thacker is dean of students at Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee and a columnist forCumberland Gap Trading Postand theMiddlesborough Daily News.He lives in Harrogate, Tennessee.

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