Wood Booger is really just another name for Bigfoot used in the Southwest Virginia area, notably in Norton City and Wise County. According to a newspaper from The Old Post on November 24, 1892, the creature was given the name Wood Booger after the Boogeyman, because it was rumored to carry off children who wandered off into the woods at night. 

If you go to Norton, Virginia these days you’ll see many attractions featuring The Wood Booger monster including a restaurant called ‘The Wood Booger Grill’ and a statue (pictured above) located in the Flag Rock Recreation Area. You can also go on a Wood Booger guided search hike and there’s even a Wood Booger Festival!

What started the creature’s popularity? The show Finding Bigfoot did an episode in the area due to a video taken in Wise County. I had seen this video/sighting online in the past (video link below) and did not realize it was in this area. The video is referred to as “The Beast of Gum Hill”. A man was riding an ATV through a river on 4/5/09 when the creature walked out in front of him, he stopped and pointed at it as it slowly walked away. He claims in the video description that it is the second time he had seen the creature.

In Finding Bigfoot they also noted there weren’t a lot of known reports of sightings in the area but while calling a town hall meeting it was discovered that many people had had encounters that were not officially documented. Sightings were usually while hunting, or hiking, or even by kids playing in or near the woods. The creature was always described as a bulky humanoid creature about 7-8 feet tall with brown or black fur.

Eventually, I’ll try to get more of these sightings of Wood Booger posted on the site since they seem difficult to find. I’ll also try to visit this area one day and do some posts for our spooky sightseeing section of the site.

Source(s)

https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Wood_Booger#:~:text=The%20Wood%20Booger%20is%20a%20Bigfoot-like%20creature%20said,Finding%20Bigfoot%20episode%20Virginia%20is%20for%20Bigfoot%20Lovers.

Finding Bigfoot – Season 02 Episode 06: Virginia Is For Lovers

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Given the popularity of our Brown Mountain Lights posting and this phenomena’s location in Mason County, West Virginia (the home of The Mothman), I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to do a story on The Ghost Lights of Sliding Hill in Mason County West Virginia. 

A newspaper article from The Point Pleasant Ledger indicates that the hauntings began around 1810. When this story took place the Ohio and what was then north-western Virginia areas were still in the process of being settled. There weren’t many roads at this point so the primary means of transportation was by the Ohio River. Despite the known dangers of traveling the river with valuables, two men set out with sacks of silver coins in their boats in hopes of purchasing land.

One night while tied to shore the men were murdered by two other men, who took the bags of coins and hid the bodies. Fearing they would get caught carrying the bags of coins around, they went down river and buried the coins on a ledge and planned to come back at a later time.

Unfortunately luck was not with the robbers. They joined a group of natives in a war with the settlers and were killed in battle. Before the last man died he confessed to killing the two men and made a map to where the money was stashed.

No one searched for the money for a while, but lantern lights were reported on the hillside almost immediately after the two thieves died. People in nearby Syracuse across the river reported seeing lights bobbing up and down on the hillside. One boatman reported following the light only to see a headless ghost of a man desperately trying to move a large rock.

Supposedly, you can still see the lights to this very day if you drive from Hartford City to New Haven along West Virginia Route 62. Warning: the roads do get closed often to rock slides, and that’s how it got its name “Sliding Rock Hill”.

Do you have a paranormal story? We would love to feature it. Email us at [email protected].

Source(s)

West Virginia Ghost Stories, Legends and Haunts by Jannette Quackenbush

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you find yourself in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, be sure to check out this beautiful 5.5 mile scenic route: The Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, located on the border of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. On this route not only will you get a great view of the river and the falls during the drive, you’ll also find the Noah Ogle self-guiding nature trail, as well as a few other trails and historic buildings. You may also encounter Lucy, a ghost rumored to roam the park.

As the story goes, Lucy was a young woman who died in the area when her family’s cabin burned down. It is said that after her death a man named Foster came across her, barefooted on the side of the road, one cold winter night. He gave her a ride home on his horse that night. After the event he couldn’t stop thinking about her, and stopped by to ask her parents if he could marry her. After hearing the story of how they met, the parents looked pretty surprised. They explained it couldn’t have been their daughter as she had died the year before and pointed in the direction of her headstone. 

To this very day travelers of this road have been reporting seeing Lucy on the side of the road on the Roaring Fork Motor Trail. People have reported seeing a young woman standing on the side of the road and offering her a ride, then note that during the ride she vanishes.

Stories of phantom hitchhikers can be found all over the world dating back to before the motor vehicle was even invented. It’s of no surprise that these types of stories exist in Appalachia. Have you ever picked up a phantom hitchhiker? Contact us and let us know about it or any other paranormal stories you have. You can email us at [email protected].

Source(s)

My Smoky Mountain Park

Check out some of our other ghost stories!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this week’s story, given the popularity of Mothman, I decided to reach out to our friends at The Mothman Museum. This story is the first of about 22 sighting stories sent to us by the museum. The encounter happened in Arkansas, but I decided to go ahead and use it since Mothman is well known to be primarily an Appalachian cryptid, and because everyone loves him so much!

Another great possible Mothman sighting! Remember if you have a story you would like to submit, be sure to email us at [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you ever visit the Cherokee County Historical Museum in Murphy, North Carolina, you’ll find tons of Cherokee artifacts, tools, and dolls. If you head to the museum’s basement, you’ll notice a strange statue inside of a glass box. Two strange conjoined figures, standing at about 3 feet tall and with alien-looking faces, will stare back at you through the glass. Unearthed sometime in the 1940s, this statue is apparently of a local legend: the moon-eyed people.

Most believe that the Cherokee moved into the area around Murphy, North Carolina, sometime around 1100 or 1200 AD. According to local Cherokee folklore, there was already a race of people living in a village in the area where the Hiwassee and Valley Rivers converge. These people were short, with very pale/white skin and blue eyes. Their eyes were so blue that they couldn’t see during the day, so they only came out at night. The Cherokee called them the moon-eyed people.

When I first heard about this story, I found it fascinating! A lot of people say that these moon-eyed people are aliens. The description does seem very similar to those given by many people in alien encounter stories. Looking at the statue, who wouldn’t think of aliens at first glance?

One similar encounter I thought of was the Kelly-Hopkinsville Encounter in 1955. Reports described these creatures as silvery-skinned and between two and four feet tall. However, these creatures had large yellow eyes with a sensitivity to light. I’ll likely cover that story another day in another post.

One popular theory is that the moon-eyed people were Welsh settlers that landed in Alabama in 1170 and eventually settled in the Murphy area where they were seen by the Cherokee. They had never seen people with pale skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes, so it makes sense that they may have thought these people were very strange looking!

What do you think these moon-eyed people really were—Welsh settlers, aliens, or something else entirely? Let us know in the comments!

Do you have a paranormal story? We would love to feature it. Email us at [email protected].

Source(s)

https://www.strangecarolinas.com/2019/10/the-moon-eyed-people-effigy-murphy-nc.html

https://northcarolinaghosts.com/mountains/moon-eyed-people/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A fan from Christiansburg, Virginia, reached out to me recently and said that he believes his garage is haunted. He told me that when he bought the house in 2020, it had been on the market for a while. After buying it, a neighbor informed him that the lady who previously lived in the home had died there.

He began hearing banging sounds coming from the garage at night and the motion lights would just go off when nothing was there. He hoped it was just some type of animal. When he couldn’t find any evidence of that, he put up a security camera in the garage. It wasn’t long before he started seeing recordings such as the ones included in this post. Several times a month, the camera alerts him to movement that ends up being these mysterious orbs.

Lastly, he mentioned that whatever is moving in the garage has not bothered anyone or harmed anything. Sometimes, shelves fall off, and he feels like something is watching him. Whatever it is has not stopped.

Kind of a weird one! I’m no expert on hauntings, but I think long as it’s not bothering anyone, maybe it’s best to leave it alone. What do you all think?

Do you have a Paranormal story? Let us know we would love to feature it! Email us at [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For today’s story I am revisiting the Black Eyed Kids given how much everyone seems to enjoy the subject. What is it that makes the Black Eyed Kids so intriguing? Is it the mystery of them? Or is it just how downright creepy they are? In my case I would say it’s both! Today’s story takes place in Glade Spring, West Virginia back in 2014. 

I’ll try and keep an eye out for more like this in the future. If anyone has had or knows someone who’s had an encounter please send it to us at [email protected].

Source(s): Reddit user Kaine1212

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s story was sent in by a fan who had an interesting experience at the Former West Virginia State Penitentiary Moundsville, West Virginia. The facility officially opened in 1876 and during its 119-year life as a penitentiary the facility held some of the most violent killers, rapists, and other criminals. Many never left the institution alive. It comes as no surprise that this type of environment would leave behind more than a few wandering spirits.

After the prison closed, the Moundsville Economic Development Council leased the complex for 25 years. Today it serves a dual purpose as a training facility and a tourist attraction. Today’s story takes place during a tour of the facility.

Thanks to the fan who sent this in!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a sighting that stood out to me for two reasons. One, this is an area I have visited before, it is a common and popular hiking destination for folks who are not looking for paranormal experiences. Two, the sighting was not by a lone hiker. In the video you see a large group of people looking at something in the woods. Seeing multiple people looking at something like this makes it seem more legit to me. 

From what I heard of this story is about a family on vacation hiking in Clingmans Dome, Tennessee. As they climbed the mountain it was very foggy and cold. While walking on a trail someone heard something walking along the trees, so they stopped to take a look. They all spot something in the distance and begin filming as it walks off behind a corner.

As you can see in the video, the creature stays in the area and a crowd begins to gather. Uphill among the trees you can see a figure, much larger than the local bears, with large hands and more fur. It stands still in the trees like it’s trying to hide, or perhaps observe the crowd. Then, it vanishes.

I believe I’ve heard in the past that this area is a Bigfoot hotspot. I’ve actually seen a different video of Bigfoot in the same area, but I was unable to find it again. I did discuss this video with my brother-in-law and we both noticed that as the potential Bigfoot walks around the corner that the fur looks a little funny and flares up around its ankles, perhaps casting doubts on the legitimacy of the sighting, but nonetheless this is an interesting video!

Source(s)

The video from YouTube

Paranormal Caught on Camera TV Show

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of North Carolina’s most haunted locations is located in Chatham County. If you follow Devil’s Tramping Ground Road, you will come to a strange clearing. It is perfectly round, measuring 40-foot in diameter, and completely barren. Here, nothing seems to grow. Not grass, not trees… nothing. Even animals seem to avoid the area.

Beyond its strange appearance, many report that the area is haunted. People have described leaving objects in the circle, only to come back the next day and find it on the outside of the clearing. This leads me to wonder: what is going on here?

Local legends say the Devil himself spends his nights in this very spot pacing around in the circle, thinking of ways to bring more human souls down to hell. The heat from his hooves kills all vegetation and causes the soil to remain barren. If he finds anything in his path—no matter the weight or size—he uses his immense strength to toss it out of his way.

Residents have passed down this story through the generations since the founding of Chatham County in 1771. To this day, no one has been able to present a logical explanation for the phenomenon.

Folks brave enough to attempt spending the night at this location have reported hearing howling sounds and footsteps. They have even reported seeing apparitions. Youtuber Kevin The Custodian Ghost Hunter unknowingly caught an apparition on camera in October 2019. In the video you can see what appears to be a blue, transparent woman walking by.

Thanks to Kevin for allowing me to share his evidence here. Please be sure to check out his YouTube channel. After looking into it, I found stories of a massive battle between Native American tribes in this exact spot. Could that explain the hauntings? Unfortunately, the area is now fenced in with no trespassing signs posted. Even though I had hoped to check this place out myself, but it doesn’t look like I will be able to—at least for now.

Do you have a Paranormal story? Let us know we would love to feature it! Email us at [email protected]

Source(s)

Kevin The Custodian Ghost Hunter

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.