Traditional Legends

There’s a saying in the hills: “If you hear your name called from the woods, don’t answer.”

Traveling through the quiet backroads of Appalachia, it’s not uncommon to stumble across the weathered ruins of old farmhouses.These paired entrances were known as death doors: one reserved for the living, and the other for the dead.

Whispers in the mists. Songs from unseen lips. Footsteps echoing in empty woods. In the highlands of the American Southeast, such signs may mark the presence of the Nunnehi—the Hidden People.

The Appalachian Mountains stretch over 2,000 miles from Alabama to Canada, winding through dense forests, rugged peaks, and some of the oldest terrain in North America. But they also hold darker mysteries—specifically, a pattern of unexplained disappearances that has come to be known as the Missing 411 phenomenon.

West Virginia’s motto has always been Wild and Wonderful. West Virginia’s alleged werewolves live at the blurry edge between folklore and fact.

In the shadowy corners of Appalachian folklore lies a practice that sounds like it was pulled from a horror movie script—but it’s very real.

The Appalachian Mountains are home to a deep and unsettling folklore, whispered from generation to generation.

Folk magic plays an important role in everyday life. While it may seem as though folk magic is a superstitious thing of the past, rest...