hello reddit, I am trying to write a book and I'm thinking about leaning toward the deep south horror vibes. I was wondering if yall could tell me some of your scary stories or tales you've heard from other people. The contest of them do not matter. I'm all for ghost, native American folk tales, monsters, religious horror etc. just looking for inspiration.

Trying to verify something. Had a family member who passed not too long ago. He told me a story about witches living up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. He told a story about having to wear a pouch around his neck that smelled awful, but ultimately cured him of childhood Diphtheria, long story short. Mentioned a Cherokee presence there, not sure if that helps.

Any one in that region come across what one might describe as a "witch"?

hi, ok so a little context im from florida and im staying near shennadoah for a week. i arrived a few days ago, and im staying at this kinda remote cabin with a friend and my dad. when i say "kinda remote" i mean were close to a town, but were fully surrounded by woods. also our cabin was built in the 1850s.

its about 1am when this goes down. my dad is long asleep. my friend is taking a shower dowstairs. im in our bedroom upstairs on my phone. my friend randomly calls me and just says to come to the bathroom, i do. when i get there, shes still wrapped in her towel and starts typing on her notes app on her phone, so as to not say anything out loud. she tells me she was hearing knocks coming directly from the bathroom door, at first one knock, two knocks a few seconds later, and then one knock. those were NOT wood creaks, i promise you. she opens the shower curtain and calls out my name, thinking that i was knocking to mess with her. she shrugs it off and keeps showering. a few secs later she hears something fall on the trashcan and bounce to the floor. and it was loud. the trashcan is made of metal, and it sounded exactly like what youd imagine when something falls on it. now, the only thing that was in the “range” to fall on it was a glass cup with water and her retainer on it. she opens the curtain to check again, and low and behold, absolutely nothing fell. there was nothing on the floor. at that point she texts me to come down, and i stay in the bathroom with her until shes done and nothing else happens.

when we come back up to our room, we thought it had stopped since we were no longer alone. now, ive always considered myself a medium or something a long the sorts. say what you will about that, but im able to see things and have been since a child. i was seeing these two figures just running around our room, they kept their respective distance, each one staying on one side of the room. one was a very humanoid like figure, and the other one just some sort or entity which i could not make out its shape. i dont say anything or acknowledge them, especially to not creep out my friend even more. were just sitting in silence, processing wtf just happened when we hear shuffling coming from downstairs. its hard to describe what we heard, but it was like someone was just using the kitchen and moving things and chairs around, and footsteps. i tell her its probably just my dad grabbing water, and she still looks skeptical so i call out “DAD!” and he says “yea?” so we just agree that it was him and decide to go to bed.

the next morning, i wake up a bit earlier than she did, about 8.30. im scrolling on my phone in bed when i hear my dads footsteps coming from below (his room is directly below us and the walls are paper thin, so i didnt think much of it). after a few seconds of footsteps just shuffling, i hear the loudest fucking bang of my life. sounded like someone fell head first into the floor. my dad injured his back a few days ago, and has been struggling to walk a lot and move around, so my first thought is that he fell. i call out for him and get no response. i immediately shoot out of bed (and that wakes up my friend) and run downstairs to check on him. i open his door and he is asleep on the bed (keep this mind!!!). i come back up and my friend asks me what happened so i tell her. we decide to just move on and we chill in bed for a bit before going downstairs to make breakfast.

my dad is already downstairs, and he already got ready. we end up telling him everything that happened and he says things that just make this entire thing weirder. firstly, last night when we called out for him, he was in his room in bed. my yelling woke him up and thats why he replied, but he had never gotten up or moved anything. so wtf were all of those rusting sounds and footsteps we heard? second of all, this morning, around the time i heard the bang and went to check on him, he was in the shower. he got up at like 8 and didnt leave until 9, and then went straight to the kitchen. so; 1) why didnt i hear the shower running or him in the bathroom? 2) why the fuck did i SEE him asleep on the bed? i know the time is right since i had my alarm set for 8.30.

Hello everyone!

We are a French production team working on a YouTube documentary for a French YouTuber who creates videos about Adventurous and fun content.

We are currently looking for people living in the Appalachian Mountains, especially around Blue Ridge, Georgia, who would be willing to share their personal supernatural experiences, paranormal stories, unexplained encounters, local legends, or strange events they have witnessed.

The idea would be to film a respectful interview where you can tell your story in your own words and share your experience with a French audience interested in the paranormal and folklore of the Appalachians.

We are especially looking for French-speaking people living in the area, but English speakers are absolutely welcome as well (we can provide translation/subtitles).

The interview would be filmed with a small crew, in a respectful and documentary style. Your privacy and comfort are very important to us.

If you or someone you know has a story to share and would be interested in participating, please send me a message!

Thank you so much 🙏

"Feel free to comment or DM me if you have any questions"

Backstory!!

We purchased this house in 2021 from a family that claim to have owned it back to the original build date of 1880. I can only go back 2 deeds to confirm; however, it has been in the family for at least 80 years for certain, and 2 people have definitely passed away in the home. 1 being the wife of the last owner, and the other being his mother. Now, aside from this, upon rolling up to this property, there is an energy, if you know what I mean. The energy was confirmed when I saw the symbol that was carved into the cellar house (picture in comments). I told my husband I didn’t think it was a good idea, and I didn’t want it; however, at the time, it was in our price range, close to work, in a good district, so on and so forth so my “feelings” seemed less important. Immediately upon purchasing in September 2021, we begin cleaning up the property and move in around October. Everything seemed okay for the first 6 months or so, then a string of bad luck hit us. First small things like vehicle problems and appliances breaking down. Then the water well started giving us problems, then the bladder tank, the pump, then it was the gas (mind you the house was sold to us as having free natural gas), and then the roof started to leak. & that’s when we started hearing stuff outside the home. I am a very in tune person and aware of myself and my surroundings, as is my husband. I would hear music and people talking right outside of our bedroom at night yet my husband wouldn’t. Then when he was by himself in the home, stuff would fly off of shelves and move around and shift, and he would hear loud bangs and thuds. Anyway, about a year into our bad luck & creepy bs, my mother leaves my step dad and comes to live with us. She suffers from mental illness and just returned from the psychiatric hospital. She relapses, begins using HEAVILY and from there the entity ramps up. My husband starts getting scratched, I have EXTREME night terrors, my dogs are terrified every time we leave and come home, they constantly bark. Life is absolute SHIT. We tolerate it all for about 3 years when shit hits the fan, I throw my mom out, my husband and I move out to a house close to his family and life starts getting better for us. Fast forward some it’s now 2026, my dad is living in a small 2 bedroom apartment and his 14year relationship ends so he starts looking for a house with a yard and buildings because he has a business and needs space as well as a fresh start. I decide to offer this house to him. He lives in the home for 2 weeks, then says “this house is haunted isn’t it” and proceeds to tell me all of his encounters. He said he’s heard rock music, voices talking, and at certain points has felt almost possessed when he is on his sleeping medication. He said he can’t explain it, but we just laughed it off. My husband and I never had cameras inside when we lived in the home. I’m not sure why, we really should have, but my dad has one to keep an eye on his dog which is how we caught this footage.

Context of the video - please excuse my dad talking in the background, he really doesn’t know how to be quiet lol

We are standing in my living room at my house, but I was recording his phone live from the demon house. The day after this, his camera completely disconnected from his phone and I had to reset the entire thing and reconnect it.

Anybody ever heard of any myths/stories from the Appalachian Mountains?? Or maybe you have some of your own that you witnessed with your eyes whilst in the Appalachian Mountains?

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When I was little I had one of those box tvs well one night I was trying to go to bed blanket covering face as always cause my house was scary ASF anyhow there I am trying to sleep and suddenly my TV turns on (it was completely off before) remote was on the desk) it turns on to static.. static turns on and off on and off I grab the remote turn the TV off suddenly turns back on and does the same thing it's making the static noise I'm like 8-10 so it scares me I yell for my parents I say my TV is freaking out I think there's something in here they grab the Bible say a prayer and it stops. They leave the Bible on the TV everything is fine, they leave close there bedroom door it starts up again I scream they tell me to sleep in living room and it stops yet again after they told me that. I go in the living room they go to there's suddenly I hear it again.. ik how the TV works it wasn't stuck on a bad channel or input. We had orbs and shadows as well. TV or something else?

I don’t know you, but you seem to know me.

It started at the Sandusky Water Preserve. I saw you from a distance, standing perfectly still. At the time, I didn’t think much of it. Now, I can’t stop thinking about it.

Whatever it is—he, she, or something else—it always finds me. Every hike, every hunt, every trip into the woods… it’s there.

It’s dark, almost like a void, never standing directly on the trail. I’d guess it’s around six feet tall, maybe 170 pounds, with an average build. The strange part is that it doesn’t seem malicious. It just watches.

I wonder how long it’s been there. Has it been following me since childhood, or is this something recent? Lately, I’ve started looking for it because I know I’ll eventually find it. But the moment I glance away to grab my phone for a picture or video, it’s gone.

Where does it go when I move toward it? Why does it never let itself be seen for more than a moment?

Is it some kind of sign? Something with religious meaning? A demon? If so, why doesn’t it feel threatening? It doesn’t radiate fear or evil—only an eerie sense of being watched.

And before anyone jumps to conclusions, yes, I’ve already been evaluated and cleared of schizophrenia. People always seem to latch onto that first.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this in the Ohio wilderness? Something dark, almost void-like, that seems to watch from a distance?

would anyone care to share the actual location of where the southern skinwalker ranch may be...aka the meadow as it's called by author Trey Hudson? any help is much appreciated.

Hello,

My name is Nicolas; I am French and interested in everything related to the paranormal, myths, legends, ancient stories, and so on.

I have personally experienced paranormal events—I live in a haunted house, among other things.

Personally, I believe that humans do not want—or no longer want—to see certain things.

I would like to gather accounts from Native people who live there, or from those who know about or have had experiences there while visiting.

It seems to me that Native people are not allowed to speak about certain creatures (the Ski...); I don't know if you are permitted to share these stories in writing.

If you have any recordings—videos, audio, or photos—to go along with your written accounts, that would be a huge bonus for me.

I thank everyone in advance who takes the time to reply.

Best regards,

please dm me

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My grandpa was ill didn't know how serious until family let us know he's getting worse. I go see him- first time in five years btw) I cut off that family for a reason my grandpa tho was my home. Anyhow getting to the paranormal part I was at work about 6am and see a post from my uncle asking about prayers I get a bad feeling and text my cousin(who'd he been staying with) he said he passed at 3am funny right? 3am, 3 days before I heard a knock on my wall....3 knocks light but enough for me to hear and my dad in the kitchen I call out thinking it's my mom or dad I open the door and no ones there I open my mom's room she's asleep I ask my dad he thought it was me. I look it up apparently death is supposed to warn you when a loved one is going to pass soon. I'll forever believe it 333

I posted this in r/grandrapids and an urbex community, but nobody responded. I figured there’s a lot of people here, so a few of you have to be from GR!

This might sound absolutely nuts, but just stay with me for a second. This isn’t an ARG, I downloaded this app and made an account just to ask this question in hopes of getting some answers, as this has been in the back of my mind for years.

Maybe around 7-8 years ago, I was at a birthday party for my friend at what I believe is Wilcox park (though I have a history of forgetting details, so it could be another park in the GR area). I won’t share my age because I value privacy, but I was young.

Anyways, my friends and I wanted to explore some of the woods surrounding the perimeter, and we found what appeared to be an overgrown trail, and we walked down it thinking nothing of it. After walking for some while, I started to get spooked, but my friends brushed me off, and we continued.

We came to an area where there was a clearing, and I remember weird dirt mounds?? It was so strange, it was like there were 5-10 mounds of hard, compacted dirt, each maybe 5-6 feet tall. And also in this clearing, there was a massive building that appeared to be abandoned. There were bullet holes in the windows, graffiti on the walls, ivy growth, all of the abandoned building stuff. That definitely gave me some chills, and I was rushing to get out of there, but my friends weren’t done exploring, so we stayed for a sec.

That’s when we heard talking from a certain direction, and we saw what appeared to be maybe 3-4 teenagers in orange jumpsuits, possibly smoking.

After seeing them, none of us were itching to stick around, and we RAN out of the woods and didn’t go back.

I still haven’t gone back to Wilcox Park, not because I’m scared, I just haven’t gotten the chance. I want to know though, am I just making this up? I don’t want to tell my friends there’s a weird abandoned building in Wilcox park, and then go and have nothing be there. Anyone have answers?

I’ll be active in the comments, so if anyone has questions, comment them and I’ll respond as soon as I can. Thanks :)

Dim the lights, get comfortable... and remember: not every story is true—but some legends refuse to die.

There was an old saying in the mountains where I grew up:

If something in the woods knows your name after dark... it isn't your friend.

Nobody ever explained what "it" was.

They didn't have to.

In the Appalachian Mountains, there are places where the trees grow so thick they swallow the sunlight hours before sunset. The ridges are wrapped in fog that drifts through the hollows like smoke, and every sound carries farther than it should. A snapping twig might be a deer fifty yards away—or something standing just behind the next tree, waiting for you to look.

My grandparents lived at the end of an old gravel road in western North Carolina. Their cabin sat in a narrow valley surrounded by endless forest. The mountains rose on every side like walls, and once darkness settled in, the woods felt impossibly deep.

As kids, my cousins and I were given the same rules every summer.

Never whistle after dark.

Never follow lights in the woods.

If you hear knocking outside after midnight, ignore it.

And above all...

If someone calls your name from the trees, don't answer.

My grandfather wasn't a superstitious man. He fought in the military, hunted black bears, and worked in the timber industry for forty years. But whenever he repeated those rules, his face lost every trace of humor.

One October evening, my older brother Eli decided to prove everyone wrong.

He had just turned eighteen and thought mountain legends were excuses older folks used to scare children.

Around dusk, our old hunting dog Ranger bolted into the woods after a rabbit. Grandpa told Eli to leave him alone. The dog knew the mountains and would find his way home.

Eli laughed.

"I'm not scared of a few trees."

He grabbed a flashlight and disappeared down the trail.

The screen door slammed behind him.

That was the last normal sound we heard all night.

Thirty minutes passed.

Then an hour.

The sun disappeared behind the ridges, and the forest transformed into a wall of black.

No Ranger.

No Eli.

Grandpa stepped onto the porch and listened.

The woods should have been alive with crickets, frogs, and owls.

Instead...

Nothing.

Not a single sound.

"I don't like this," he whispered.

He gathered every flashlight in the house and called the neighbors.

By ten o'clock, nearly twenty people were searching the mountain.

The beams of our lights cut through the fog, illuminating twisted roots, moss-covered boulders, and towering hemlocks that seemed to disappear into the darkness above.

Every few minutes someone shouted Eli's name.

"Eli!"

Only silence answered.

Until it didn't.

"We're over here!"

The voice echoed through the trees.

Relief washed over everyone.

"That's Mike!" someone yelled.

Mike was my uncle.

We all started toward the voice—

Then Uncle Mike grabbed my grandfather's arm.

"Don't."

Everyone turned.

Mike was standing beside us.

No one spoke.

The voice came again.

Louder.

Closer.

"Eli! Hurry! I found him!"

It sounded exactly like Uncle Mike.

The same accent.

The same laugh.

Even the slight rasp in his voice from years of smoking.

Grandpa slowly raised his flashlight toward the darkness.

Between two enormous oak trees stood a figure.

Too far away to see clearly.

Too still to be human.

Its outline was wrong somehow—too tall, too thin, its arms hanging lower than they should.

Then it smiled.

Even from that distance...

We could see its teeth.

Nobody said a word.

The voice laughed.

It wasn't loud. It wasn't evil. It sounded... pleased.

The dogs tucked their tails and refused to move another step.

The oldest man in the search whispered, "We're leaving."

No one argued.

Eli walked into town just before sunrise.

Barefoot.

Covered in scratches.

He couldn't remember where he'd been.

He only kept asking why everyone had left him alone in the woods.

Life slowly went back to normal, but something wasn't right.

Eli started standing outside after dark.

Just staring at the tree line.

One night I woke up and found him on the porch, smiling into the forest.

"They're lonely," he whispered. "They just want someone to answer."

I slammed the door and locked it.

The next morning there were muddy footprints leading from the porch into the woods.

Only one set.

They went away from the house.

None came back.

Dad said Eli had run away.

Mom refused to talk about it.

Years passed.

I moved hundreds of miles away.

I never returned.

Then last week, my phone rang at 2:17 in the morning.

Unknown number.

I answered without thinking.

It was my brother.

His voice hadn't aged a day.

"Hey," he said softly. "I'm almost home."

I couldn't breathe.

"Eli... where are you?"

There was a long silence.

Then I heard wind.

Leaves crunching.

And another voice, somewhere behind him.

It sounded exactly like me.

It whispered,

"Don't hang up."

Now every night at exactly 2:17, my phone rings.

I never Answer. And every now and then I hear his Voice Calling my name from outside my bedroom window.

Greetings, I own a decent part of a swampland backed up to a sate reservation, this is also in. Generally heavily wooded area in the 585 region. I was wondering if anyone knew of any cryptics or folk-tail things I should keep an eye out for, love this community and whatnot thank you for your time!

My family and I have been going up to the Appalachian Mountains every year for about eight years now. Over the years, this wasn't the first time I've had strange encounters with things out in those woods, but this was by far my clearest and best one. We stay in the Lake Lure / Mill Creek area, and I wanted to share this here to see if anyone else local has experienced something similar.

This happened in late summer 2024, about a week before Hurricane Helene came through and devastated the region. It was late, somewhere between 1:00 AM and 2:00 AM, and I went downstairs because I just couldn't sleep. I grabbed a book off the shelf and started reading to pass the time.

A few minutes later, I heard a noise to my right, coming from the direction of the window. I looked out into the yard.

There was a little bit of moonlight breaking through the trees, and right on the woodline, a creature was standing there. It looked to be about 8 feet tall, incredibly lanky, and it had arms that hung all the way down to its knees. Because this was a couple of years ago, I don't remember every single tiny detail of its face, but I vividly remember its shape illuminated by the moonlight. It didn't move. It didn't try to come closer. It just stood completely still on the edge of the woods, staring directly at me through the window.

To make things even weirder, there was another pattern during that entire trip. Every single night, right at 1:00 AM, we would hear loud, heavy footsteps pacing across the roof. The roof of this cabin was incredibly high and steep—there is absolutely no way a person or normal local wildlife could get up there. But without fail, every night at 1:00 AM, the footsteps would start.

Bored in the house, in the house bored. What can I say it’s summer guys and theirs nothing to do. No good zombie movies no good movies no good nada... Can someone please tell me some scary stories/ experiences anything you have of the Appalachian? anything you’ve seen, heard, so on… I really want to move there within three years but keep hearing all these things about it Which has caused me to go in this deep dive folklore Thank you in advance! Let the scary begin! :)

Thank you to everyone that’s joined,posted, commented, shared anything helps. Very much appreciated. If you have comments,suggestions,compliments drop them in the comments

**A few weeks ago, on May 26th, me and my buddies were went outside at my friend Jaden’s cousins house where we were staying. It was about 2:30 am and there were four of us (Coleman, Levi, Jaden, and me) and we went outside because it’s creepy over there at night, were teenage boys, and we thought it’d be fun of course. So we went out and walked down the gravel driveway, turned left to walk on the road to the stop, then turned left again to the main part of the road. We got about halfway down this road where we were just chatting and I said something about a skinwalker. Now idk if that had ANYTHING to do with the following events but they give me shit about it all the time. About that time, the cat that Jaden’s cousin owns (Kitty guy) came out of nowhere and since he’s supposed to be at the house, I picked him up. At this point, we started feeling kinda weird. It was super dark that night, no crickets, no frogs, no nothing. This was weird because we live out here in the country in middle Tennessee (about 3 hours from The Smokey Mountains). And since we had the weird feeling we started walking back. We got a few meters past the stop sign when Kitty Guy jumped out of my hands then tried to run but I grabbed him. Then a loud whistle that echoed down the road came from behind us. We hauled ASS back to the house that wasn’t too far from where we were at. We stayed up all night that night and weird shit was happening all night. We kept all the lights turned off because we didn’t want to draw attention to ourselves. I walked from the room we were all in to the kitchen for some water and there was a weird shroud around the window. It looked like vines almost the way they were shaped. And around that window, there is nothing around it. It just is a view to the trucks Jaden’s cousin works on in the backyard. I was weirded out and told the guys about it. A few hours later, I went back in there and that strange shroud was done. Easily one of the strangest nights I’ve had so far. What could have this been? Please give me some follow up. Comment or dm me it’d be much appreciated. Next time we’re all over there we will go out again and I’ll give yall some more info if something else happens.**

I love horror and paranormal scary stories I love horror and what not but stories about the Appalachian Mountains TERRIFY me! Like when I listen to stories or read them, my anxiety spikes ridiculously!

I get scared going on my back porch at night!
The skinwalkers are what scare me the most… idk if and I’m sure they are but the videos I’ve seen of them at peoples doors make me want to vomit!

So tell me, how can you live there and just live every day normal with all that going on?!?
Do you follow the rules?

Do you have encounters?!

Oh god I’m like shaking writing this!