Red Dog Road is in Harlan County, Kentucky, and is located on Black Mountain. This area is renowned for its numerous ghost stories and legends over the years. Another legend that dates back to the same time period as Headless Annie involves a coal miner who lost his mind after he believed his wife was…
Headless Annie of Black Mountain
Headless Annie is one of Harlan County’s most famous ghost stories in southeastern Kentucky. The legend dates back to the 1930s, when the coal mining industry was filled with violence and conflict. During this time, mining companies began intimidating and attacking employees who voiced support for better working conditions and unionization. The story goes that…
The Ghost Bride of Cumberland Falls
Cumberland Falls is a beautiful area in southeastern Kentucky, near Corbin, but it also has a reported ghostly bride that’s said to still walk the trails. In the 1950s, a young couple, recently married, honeymooned at Cumberland Falls State Park. Since the night was still young, they decided to take a stroll after checking into…
Tobacco Brides of Virginia
Tobacco brides or wives is a descriptive name for young, single English women whom the Virginia Company of London recruited in the early 1600s. They would emigrate to Colonial Virginia to marry a settler, where a significant gender imbalance existed between men and women. The expense to find the perfect companion fell upon the men…
Strange Occurrences at WWDR / WDLZ
Murfreesboro, NC, gained its own radio station in 1965 when Don Burnett founded the Murfreesboro Broadcasting Company, and WWDR went on the air. Don owned and managed the station until his death in the 1970s. The AM station played top forty pop music, and the FM played “beautiful music”, a.k.a. “elevator music”. In the late 1970s, the AM…
The 5 Most Terrifying Places in Eastern Tennessee
Eastern Tennessee has many ghostly legends. I have written many of them through the years. If you have followed The Lantern and our website, there’s a good chance you have read them, as we grew from serving just the Carolinas to include eastern Georgia, Tennessee, and southern Virginia. 1: The Bell Witch: Some legends are…
The Legend of Stonepile Gap
Stonepile Gap in Lumpkin County, Georgia, in Dahlonega, is home to a popular legend. The legend says that Cherokee Trahlyta was told by the Witch of Cedar Mountain of a natural spring that would keep the young woman beautiful and young. Word quickly traveled about her growing beauty, and soon men came across the land…
The Blue Ridge Witch
The Tilley Bend Church was established in 1858 on top of a small hill on Old Dial Road in Blue Ridge, Georgia. Across from the church is a fellowship hall, and tucked behind both buildings is an old graveyard. Many believe the Witch of Blue Ridge is buried there. It should be added that the…
The Ghostly Carriage of Bristol, Tennessee
During the 1850s, streets in Bristol were filled with horses, wagons, and buggies. But, only one man owned a beautiful carriage, and it belonged to the Reverand James King, the pastor of Paperville Presbyterian Church. The carriage was pulled by four horses and driven by an enslaved man named Shadrack Wisdom. Typically, the Reverand would…
The Headless Hobo of Bristol
The Headless Hobo is a ghostly tale in Bristol, Tennessee, and Virginia that has been passed down through generations. The Great Depression hit every family extremely hard, but areas of Appalachia were hit the hardest, which meant living without, and in some cases, starving to death. It was indeed a time when people had to…