Discover the spookier side of West Virginia with over 85 ghost stories, legends, and haunts from Harpers Ferry, where Screaming Jenny still never outruns the trains, to Hatfield-McCoy Country where Devil Anse Hatfield rises from the grave along with his sons. Explore Moundsville Prison and see the shadow man, then investigate the death and ghostly hereafter of Mamie Thurman, the housewife with a secret life who haunts 22 Mine Road. Follow the Rail Trail to get a glimpse of the ghost of the Silver Run Tunnel and take a thrill-ride through one of the most haunted tunnels-Dingess Tunnel. There's the Headless Ghost Rider of Powell Mountain and a woman who still walks the Ohio River shoreline of Blennerhassett Island long after her death.

Thrilling stories of supernatural occurences in West Virginia, including the restless spirits of Harpers Ferry, the legendary Mothman of Point Pleasant, the ghosts of Twistabout Ridge, the phantom hitchhikers on the West Virginia Turnpike, and many more.

" West Virginia boasts an unusually rich heritage of ghost tales. Originally West Virginians told these hundred stories not for idle amusement but to report supernatural experiences that defied ordinary human explanation. From jealous rivals and ghostly children to murdered kinsmen and omens of death, these tales reflect the inner lives—the hopes, beliefs, and fears—of a people. Like all folklore, these tales reveal much of the history of the region: its isolation and violence, the passions and bloodshed of the Civil War era, the hardships of miners and railroad laborers, and the lingering vitality of Old World traditions.

More than 100 of the best, most thrilling accounts of hauntings from the Mountain State from one of the nation's leading experts, including... • Headless ghosts and wandering soldiers at Droop Mountain • The Weeping Woman tombstone at Riverview Cemetery in Parkersburg • John Brown's restless spirit in Harpers Ferry and Charles Town • The violent ghosts at the Western State Penitentiary in Moundsville • Hauntings of the murdered Mamie Thurman • Tortured spirits of the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston

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.

Ghosts and other supernatural phenomena are widely represented throughout modern culture. They can be found in any number of entertainment, commercial, and other contexts, but popular media or commodified representations of ghosts can be quite different from the beliefs people hold about them, based on tradition or direct experience. Personal belief and cultural tradition on the one hand, and popular and commercial representation on the other, nevertheless continually feed each other. They frequently share space in how people think about the supernatural. In Haunting Experiences, three well-known folklorists seek to broaden the discussion of ghost lore by examining it from a variety of angles in various modern contexts. Diane E. Goldstein, Sylvia Ann Grider, and Jeannie Banks Thomas take ghosts seriously, as they draw on contemporary scholarship that emphasizes both the basis of belief in experience (rather than mere fantasy) and the usefulness of ghost stories. They look closely at the narrative role of such lore in matters such as socialization and gender. And they unravel the complex mix of mass media, commodification, and popular culture that today puts old spirits into new contexts.

Hauntings lurk and spirits linger in the Old Dominion State Reader, beware! Turn these pages and enter the world of the paranormal, where ghosts and ghouls alike creep just out of sight. Author L. B. Taylor shines a light in the dark corners of Virginia and scares those spirits out of hiding in this thrilling collection. From poltergeists that make trouble at Blue Ridge Pottery, to a phantom light on Holston Mountain, to specters haunting the battlefield of Cedar Creek, there’s no shortage of bone-chilling tales to keep you up at night. Around the campfire or tucked away on a dark and stormy night, this big book of ghost stories is a hauntingly good read.