Haint Country: Dark Folktales from the Hills and Hollers
Haint Country: Dark Folktales from the Hills and Hollers
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Abstract
The hills of the Appalachian region hold secrets—dark, deep, varied, and mysterious. These secrets are often told in the form of eerie, hair-raising, and creepy folktales that reveal strange sightings and oddities, and they commonly serve as cautionary tales for eager and curious ears. These spine-tingling stories have been shared among family members and neighbors in eastern Kentucky for generations. Haint Country: Dark Folktales from the Hills and Hollers is a collection of weird, otherworldly, and mystic phenomena—tales that have been recorded and documented for the first time. Collected and adapted by Matthew R. Sparks and Olivia Sizemore, the anthology explores ghosts or “haints,” strange creatures or “boogers,” haunted locations or “stained earth,” uncanny happenings or “high strangeness,” and humorous Appalachian ghost encounters. Contemporary first-person yarns about black panthers, demons, and spectral coal miners reflect the style and dialect of the region. Though comprised of a mixture of claimed accounts and fictional lore, the locations and people woven throughout are very real. Complemented by evocative watercolor illustrations by Olivia Sizemore (who was inspired by the work of Stephen Gammell), Haint Country is a thrilling and bone-chilling excursion to the spooky corner of Appalachia.
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Front Matter
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Introduction
Matthew R. Sparks
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I Haint Tales
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The Last Miner of Hurricane Creek
Scott Melton
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A Harlan County Séance
Anonymous
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The Headlight Haint
Olivia Harris
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The Phantom Playmate
Tracy Banks Shepherd
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“It Was Always On When They Needed It Most”
Keisha Morgan
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The Snowy Night Visitation
Tracy Banks Shepherd
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The Ghost of Fish Creek
Carl “Junior” Fox
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“Robert”
Tracy Banks Shepherd
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The Dance
Carl “Junior” Fox
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The Man in Black
Amanda Jones Smith
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Babies under the Floorboards
Nathan McDaniel
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The Old Owsley County Jail
Deron Mays
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The Ghost Light
Shania Davidson
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The Bloodstained Mother of Bailey Branch
Sharon Shepherd
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The Crying in the Night
Olivia Sizemore
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“Yoo-Hoo, Mary Jane!”: Memoirs about a Haint
Sharon Gibson McIntosh
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The Last Miner of Hurricane Creek
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II Boogers
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That’s How Grandpa Quit Gambling
Rhonda Turner Meade
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“They Could Hear It Scream”
Anonymous
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The Hellacious Beast of Wild Dog Road
Candi Sizemore Crawford
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Boogers of Harvey Bend, Part 1: The Sasquatch of 476
Anonymous
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Boogers of Harvey Bend, Part 2: The Lady in White
Anonymous
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“Cornhusk”
Miryam Jackson
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“Big Redeye”
Destiny Kaplan
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The Fourseam “Thing”
Anonymous
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The Phantom Beast of Cow Creek
Gibson McIntosh
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The Lurker in the Cave
Anonymous
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That’s How Grandpa Quit Gambling
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III Stained Earth
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“I Know There Are Spirits There”
Rosa Couch
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Tales from Bonnyman Coal Camp
Mike Overbee
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The Restless Spirits of Beech Fork Elementary School
Samantha North
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My Haunted Double-Wide
Tracy Banks Shepherd
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The Old Hyden Elementary Gym
Anonymous
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“Sam”
Tonya Moore
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“A Soul Left to Wander”
Haley Wells
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Haunted Antebellum Property in Jackson County
Candi Sizemore Crawford
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“Evil Hanner” and the Legend of Blood Rock
Anonymous
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The Spirit Drums
Candi Sizemore Crawford
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The Wrong Side of the Law
Anonymous
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Chaney’s Knob
Tonya Moore
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“I Know There Are Spirits There”
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IV High Strangeness
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“A Thinness, Where Things Can Bleed Through”
Anonymous
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The Hairy Arm
Anonymous
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“Do You See That?”
Destiny Caldwell
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“You’d Think There’d Be Blood Somewhere”
Keisha Morgan
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Being a Caul Bearer
Anonymous
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“And I Ain’t Been Back Since!”
Nathan McDaniel
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“Witchy” George Joseph
Jamie Leigh Dean
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The Unrest of Octavia Hatcher
Brittany Brock
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How to Become a Witch
Anonymous
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Another Formula for Becoming a Witch
Anonymous
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The Legend of the John Asher’s UFO
Eric Wilder and others
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“A Thinness, Where Things Can Bleed Through”
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V Humorous Haints
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End Matter
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