Haint Country : Dark Folktales from the Hills and Hollers / edited by Matthew R. Sparks ; illustrated by Olivia Sizemore ; foreword by Jordan Lovejoy.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Sparks, Matthew R., editor.

Sizemore, Olivia, illustrator.

Lovejoy, Jordan, writer of foreword.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ghost stories, American.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (214 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Lexington, Kentucky : The University Press of Kentucky, [2024]

Summary:

The hills of the Appalachian region hold secrets-dark, deep, varied, and mysterious. These secrets are often told in the form of eerie, hair-raising, and creepy folktales that reveal strange sightings and oddities, and they commonly serve as cautionary tales for eager and curious ears. These spine-tingling stories have been shared among family members and neighbors in eastern Kentucky for generations. Haint Country: Dark Folktales from the Hills and Hollers is a collection of weird, otherworldly, and mystic phenomena-tales that have been recorded and documented for the first time. Collected and adapted by Matthew R. Sparks and Olivia Sizemore, the anthology explores ghosts or "haints, " strange creatures or "boogers, " haunted locations or "stained earth, " uncanny happenings or "high strangeness, " and humorous Appalachian ghost encounters. Contemporary first-person yarns about black panthers, demons, and spectral coal miners reflect the style and dialect of the region. Though comprised of a mixture of claimed accounts and fictional lore, the locations and people woven throughout are very real. Complemented by evocative watercolor illustrations by Olivia Sizemore (who was inspired by the work of Stephen Gammell), Haint Country is a thrilling and bone-chilling excursion to the spooky corner of Appalachia.

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Foreword by Jordan Lovejoy

Introduction by Matthew R. Sparks

I. Haint Tales

The Last Miner of Hurricane Creek

A Harlan County Séance

The Headlight Haint

The Phantom Playmate

"It Was Always On When They Needed It Most"

The Snowy Night Visitation

The Ghost of Fish Creek

"Robert"

The Dance

The Man in Black

Babies under the Floorboards

The Old Owsley County Jail

The Ghost Light

The Bloodstained Mother of Bailey Branch

The Crying in the Night

"Yoo-Hoo, Mary Jane!": Memoirs about a Haint

II. Boogers

That's How Grandpa Quit Gambling

"They Could Hear It Scream"

The Hellacious Beast of Wild Dog Road

Boogers of Harvey Bend, Part 1: The Sasquatch of 476

Boogers of Harvey Bend, Part 2: The Lady in White

"Cornhusk"

"Big Redeye"

The Fourseam "Thing"

The Phantom Beast of Cow Creek

The Lurker in the Cave

III. Stained Earth

"I Know There Are Spirits There"

Tales from Bonnyman Coal Camp

The Restless Spirits of Beech Fork Elementary School

My Haunted Double-Wide

The Old Hyden Elementary Gym

"Sam"

"A Soul Left to Wander"

Haunted Antebellum Property in Jackson County

"Evil Hanner" and the Legend of Blood Rock

The Spirit Drums

The Wrong Side of the Law

Chaney's Knob

IV. High Strangeness

"A Thinness, Where Things Can Bleed Through"

The Hairy Arm

"Do You See That?"

"You'd Think There'd Be Blood Somewhere"

Being a Caul Bearer

"And I Ain't Been Back Since!"

"Witchy" George Joseph

The Unrest of Octavia Hatcher

How to Become a Witch

Another Formula for Becoming a Witch

The Legend of the John Asher's UFO

V. Humorous Haints

A Successful "Haint Hunt"

The Pack Peddler's Bones

"That's the Closest I've Come to an Encounter with a Haint!".

Paw Hensley and the Naked Haint Woman of Squabble Creek

Afterword by Olivia Sizemore

Acknowledgments

Compendium

About the Authors.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781985900998

1985900998

OCLC:

1442328001