Traditional Legends

Before the name "hurricane" entered our everyday vocabulary, before weather apps and Doppler radar, the indigenous Taíno people of the Caribbean had their own way of explaining the violent storms that ripped through their islands. They feared and respected a force of nature embodied not as a storm system, but as a wrathful, commanding deity: Guabancex The Furious Goddess of Storms.

Along the quiet coast of South Carolina, where Spanish moss drapes from old oaks and sea breezes carry the scent of salt and sand, a ghost is said to walk.They call him the Gray Man of Pawleys Island, and locals know that when he shows up, trouble isn’t far behind.

When we think of witch trials in America, the infamous Salem witch trials of 1692 often come to mind. However, lesser-known episodes of witch hysteria also unfolded in other corners of the early United States, including the rural heart of South Carolina.

Lizard people may sound like a recent internet-fueled conspiracy, but the belief in reptilian humanoids goes back centuries and spans cultures around the world.

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

During the 1800s, vampire panics gripped communities. West Virginia, too, has its own lesser-known tales of vampires.

Deep in the North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains lies the Devil's Courthouse. It’s not subtle. It warns you.

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

Hidden in the shadows of literary history is Uriah Derick D’Arcy’s The Black Vampyre: A Legend of St. Domingo.