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In the early years of this century, miners from nearly every country in Europe and Asia Minor migrated to West Virginia to seek employment in its great collieries. With them they brought many folktales and legends of then homelands. Ruth Ann Musick has collected some of the best and most representative of these stories—never before published in book form—in The Green Hills of Magic. In many instances, these tales were first related in family circles in the native languages of the tellers, later to be translated by their younger English-speaking descendants. Entertaining in themselves, the stories are also excellent examples of the diverse folk beliefs and cultural patterns of the national and ethnic immigrant groups. The tales are attractively illustrated with more than twenty black-and-white drawings.
Mysterious vanishing hitchhikers, travelers beset by headless dogs, and long-dead moonshiners come alive in this collection of ninety-six Appalachian folktales. Set in coal mines and remote farm cabins, in hidden hollows and on mountain tops, some of these stories look back to the days when West Virginia was first settled; others reflect the rancor and brutality of the Civil War. But most of these tales guide us through the recent past of the uncommonly rich folk heritage of West Virginia. This ghostly collection, with source information and bold illustrations, will thrill longtime lovers of supernatural lore.
Much has been written about the songs gathered in North America in the first half of the 20th century. However, there is scant information on those individuals responsible for gathering these songs. The Ballad Collectors of North America: How Gathering Folksongs Transformed Academic Thought and American Identity fills this gap, documenting the efforts of those who transcribed and recorded North American folk songs. Both biographical and topical, this book chronicles not only the most influential of these “song catchers” but also examines the main schools of thought on the collection process, the leading proponents of those schools, and the projects that they shaped. Contributors also con...
"Deliciously eerie.” —Leslie Rule, Bestselling Author From the notorious Lizzie Borden to the innumerable, haunted rooms of Sarah Winchester's mysterious mansion this offbeat, insightful, first-ever book of its kind from the brilliant guides behind “Boroughs of the Dead,” featured on NPR.org, The New York Times, and Jezebel, explores the history behind America’s female ghosts, the stereotypes, myths, and paranormal tales that swirl around them, what their stories reveal about us—and why they haunt us . . . Sorrowful widows, vengeful jezebels, innocent maidens, wronged lovers, former slaves, even the occasional axe-murderess—America’s female ghosts differ widely in background,...
Frank C. Brown organized the North Carolina Folklore Society in 1913. Both Dr. Brown and the Society collected stores from individuals—Brown through his classes at Duke University and through his summer expeditions in the North Carolina mountains, and the Society by interviewing its members—and also levied on the previous collections made by friends and members of the Society. The result was a large mass of texts and notes assembled over a period of nearly forty years and covering every aspect of local tradition. members of the Society. The result was a large mass of texts and notes assembled over a period of nearly forty years and covering every aspect of local tradition.
American history is more than just what you read in your high school textbooks. There's a wild and weird side to America's past, filled with strange creatures, bizarre happenings, and fantastical figures. Researcher and writer Robert Damon Schneck has spent more than a decade devoted to sleuthing out these forgotten weird, grotesque, and mysterious gems of American history, like: • The man who preached good health through blood-drinking. • The California family driven insane by Ouija board séances, and the national panic that they ignited • The West Virginia town named after its resident poltergeist, who was obsessed with cutting everything into crescent shapes. • The Antichrist-obs...
When the Dead Walk in West Virginia By Jannette Quackenbush Bloody Bones. “Where’s My Big Toe?” 22 Mine Road. Indrid Cold. So many eerie West Virginia legends and folk tales to tell—and this little book is packed with them. The Appalachian Mountains have long been a place where folklore and the supernatural intertwine, and in When the Dead Walk in West Virginia, folklorist Jannette Quackenbush gathers the state’s most chilling ghost stories and dark legends passed down through generations. From haunted hollows to lonely backroads, these tales capture the deep-rooted mysteries and fears of the Mountain State’s past—shadowy figures moving through the fog, spirits bound to earth b...