Spooky Appalachia

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The Lowe Hotel is located just across the street from the Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Originally named the Spencer Hotel in honor of J.S. Spencer, a local judge and steamboat-company operator, the hotel opened in 1901 to cater to those traveling along the Ohio River. Sleeping arrangements for guests occupied the top floors, while the lower floors housed businesses such as a barber shop, bank, and billiards room.

When the Lowe family purchased the hotel in 1929 after the stock market crash, they renamed it the Lowe Hotel. Ruth, Rush, and Marcia Finley, the current owners and managers of the Lowe, purchased it in 1990. The Finleys have been continually upgrading and adding their personal touch to the building. A visit to the Lowe is a step back in time with today's conveniences. The friendly atmosphere and hospitality create a very pleasant and restful experience for any traveler.

Because of the hotel’s longevity, it’s no surprise that it is supposedly haunted. There are several ghosts who call the Lowe Hotel their home. Among them is a young woman in a dress that many have spotted dancing on the first two floors. On the second floor, guests have reported seeing the apparition of a young girl riding a tricycle and have even heard the creepy squeaks of her tricycle in the empty hallways. On the third floor, guests have reported hearing a soft whistling sound, as well as doors opening and closing on their own. Also on the third floor is the ghost of "Captain Jim", who many have reported seeing looking out of the window of room 316 toward the Ohio River. The creepiest part? He has no legs.

I have personally stayed at the Lowe Hotel several times, but one visit stands out above the rest. Around 2:00 a.m. during that stay, I woke up to hear footsteps going up and down the hallway on the third floor. The noise lasted for around half an hour. The next morning, when the lady at the front desk asked how I slept, I mentioned the people walking around in the middle of the night. She asked if I was sure I wasn’t dreaming and informed me that I had been the only guest that night.

Have you had an experience at the Lowe Hotel? We would love to feature it! Email us at [email protected].

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This story is a bit special to me since I grew up very close to Radford. I found out about this haunted location many years ago. I think I was at a cross country meet and someone pointed to the bride and asked if I had heard it was haunted. Flash forward to many years later when I’m on a family walk, and we come upon the bridge. I remembered hearing the story, and after some internet sleuthing, here is what team Spooky Appalachia has come up with.

We found out this bridge is actually a trestle. It was built in the 1940’s to service the American Viscose plant, it would allow easier transport of materials to and from the plant. Ultimately the plant was never built, and the trestle was mostly abandoned save for residents of the community using it to walk across the river. 

Over the years there have been several incidents reported on the trestle, as well as a few deaths. Given this information, it’s no surprise that the trestle is reportedly haunted. Residents report seeing a lady in a white wedding dress or white gown standing on or falling off the trestle. Due to the incidents the trestle was closed off but there have been several reports of people climbing up on it to this day.

While researching this topic I spoke with several individuals. None had a sighting themselves, but some had known someone that had. One individual, who wishes to remain anonymous, informed me that her grandmother lived close to the trestle and had seen a transparent looking young woman in a white gown passing about on it at night.

It’s been very interesting researching this story. I spent some time searching online initially and was unable to find anything about it. It wasn’t until our team started reaching out to the community on local Facebook groups that we found the information for this story. We had a lot of fun doing it.

If you’ve seen anything at this location or had an experience you’d like to share be sure to reach out to us at [email protected].

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This story of a possible bigfoot sighting was sent to us by a fan who requested that we refer to her as “SW”.

Thank you for the story SW! I’m glad you decided to reach out with this fascinating story, and let us use it here. Remember, if you’ve had a paranormal encounter like this and want to send it in, you can email us at [email protected].

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For today’s story we have a possible Mothman encounter story sent in by Natasha. This one is particularly interesting because it’s a very recent Mothman sighting in West Virginia and her friend got a photo! I hope you all enjoy this as much as we did! 

Pretty incredible story, and with a photo! Not many people have gotten them. We feel extremely lucky to have been given permission to use this. Thank you Natasha!!

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The Flatwoods Monster Museum in Sutton, WV is themed after the famed monster that first appeared in the area in 1952. The museum opened in 2018 and is located on Main Street, just two miles from Exit 62 on I-79. It is easy to spot from the road due to its awesome window stickers and displays.

Inside the museum, there are many Flatwoods Monster themed displays, such as costumes, video games, figurines, and even a sword! There is also really cool themed merchandise available for sale, such as shirts, hats, books, and the famous Flatwoods Monster Lantern that can only be found for sale in Sutton.

You can also find maps for the Flatwoods Monster chairs around the area. If you are able to locate and sit in all five chairs, you will be able to stop the Men in Black from covering up Braxxie’s existence! There are also brochures for other awesome attractions in the area. Admission is free of charge, so if you are driving through the area be sure to check it out.

Also, be sure to stop by the new Bigfoot Museum, which is located a few blocks away from the Flatwoods Monster Museum.

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For today we have a story sent in by a fan named Clifton from an encounter he had in Virginia back in 1974. I hope you enjoy it!

Thank you Clifton for sharing this story with me to use on the site. This has been one of my favorite stories I had sent in so far. Remember if you have had a paranormal encounter like this and want to send it in you can email us at [email protected].

A big thank you and shout out to all of the other content creators who have helped us grow!

Appalachian Oddity

Graveyard Coffee Talk

The Best Virginian 

Mystery Girl With Missy

Werewolf Radar Paranormal Comedy Podcast

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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

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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

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