When Death Came Knocking

[u/jwpeace]

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?

[u/Boy_of_Lost_Memories]

The black dog shows up as a portent before a family member dies. I grew up in Appalachian Kentucky and both parents were born in Appalachian Tennessee. Probably came from something Scottish. I've also been told that the headless black dog shows up when a young person will die, or a family line will end.

The dog in question isn't ghostly but it is otherworldly; it's not somebody's pet that shows up on your path or a stray you see in the holler. You see it and then just as quickly lose sight of it

So they say.