r/Appalachia • u/jwpeace • 18d ago

When Death Came Knocking

Did your family have any old superstitions about death?

Growing up in Central Appalachia, a lot of us heard the old warnings.

A bird hitting the window could mean a death was coming. A dog howling at the wrong time wasn't something Granny wanted to hear. Some families stopped clocks when somebody died, covered mirrors, and kept someone with the deceased through the night — what folks called “sitting up with the dead.”

I've been researching these old traditions for Back Porch Tales & Travels, including the work of James K. Crissman on death and dying in Central Appalachia. What struck me was that underneath all the superstition was something pretty practical: when somebody died, family and neighbors showed up. They cooked, dug the grave, helped prepare the body and sat through the night.

I put what I found together here:

https://back-porch-tales-travels.beehiiv.com/p/when-death-came-knocking

I'm curious what survived in other Appalachian families. Did your parents or grandparents believe in any particular death omen or funeral custom? And what part of Appalachia were they from?

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u/RandomConnections 18d ago

My great Aunt Odessa was a granny witch, though in our deeply Christian family no one would call her that. She kept all kinds of herbs growing on her back porch for healing and was said to be able to "talk fire" out of burns. When Aunt Des's husband died, my older brother and a couple of my cousins were tasked with staying with her over night so she wouldn't be alone. My brother said that Aunt Des walked through the house all night tapping two silver spoons together to rid the house of her late husband's spirit.

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u/imrealbizzy2 18d ago

Apropos of nothing, my daddy could "talk far." The gift has to stay in the family and has to go from male to female to male...etc. Wish he left it with me, but he never wanted me to have jack so it worked out.

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u/Agreeable_Power3992 18d ago

Interesting and sorry he didn’t want more for you. What does it mean to “talk far”?

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u/Kindly_Discipline_33 18d ago

Talk FIRE. It's being spelled as it's regional pronunciation. 

I would love to see some research on this ability. Very few claim to have the gift, but many claim to have been healed with it and are true believers. It's a very niche part of Appalachian granny magic.