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West Virginia culture is a captivating blend of rich Appalachian traditions and vibrant high culture infused with the jazz of surrounding U.S. cities like Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C. The state is renowned for its deep-rooted Appalachian heritage, which is showcased through folk music, storytelling, and traditional crafts such as quilting and woodcarving. Visitors can experience this authentic culture at local festivals and heritage museums throughout the Mountain State. At the same time, West Virginia also embraces high culture, with world-class performances at the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, acclaimed theater productions at the Greenbrier Valley Theatre, and art exhibitions at the Huntington Museum of Art. This unique mix of mountain traditions and refined artistic offerings makes West Virginia a true cultural gem in the heart of Appalachia.

June Schreiner stars in Dark Hollow, an Appalachian horror film written and directed by West Virginia-raised filmmaker Daniel Byers. Byers said his father trained Schreiner to handle the pump-action shotgun used in the film. (Courtesy Brainstorm Media)
Culture

West Virginia filmmaker turns state’s history of extraction into monster movie ‘Dark Hollow’

by David Sibray

ELKINS, W.Va. — Filmmaker Daniel Byers grew up in West Virginia, repeatedly transformed by industries seeking the value of its mountains. In his new horror movie, Dark Hollow, that history becomes more literal: a monster emerges from a coal mine. The Elkins-raised writer and director is bringing the movie back to West Virginia for a series … Read more

Chillers, the 1988 cult horror film by West Virginia filmmaker Danny Boyd, is returning to theaters as a series of screenings celebrates Boyd’s filmmaking legacy.
Culture

Nearly 40 years later, a cult horror film made in West Virginia is returning to theaters

by David Sibray

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Nearly 40 years ago, a college professor gathered actors and filmmakers in West Virginia and made a strange little horror movie about five people waiting for an overdue bus. Chillers, released in 1988, went far beyond West Virginia. The independently produced anthology horror film found international distribution and became the first feature … Read more

Crowds fill downtown Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, during the annual Apple Butter Festival, which returns Oct. 9–11 for its 51st year despite spring freezes that damaged the region’s apple crop.
Culture

Despite damaging spring freezes, apple butter will simmer again in Berkeley Springs

by Clyde Craig

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. — Spring freezes devastated apple crops across parts of the Mid-Atlantic this year, but organizers of a 51-year-old West Virginia festival say its giant copper kettles will still be bubbling in October. The Apple Butter Festival will return to Berkeley Springs, in Morgan County, Oct. 9–11, preserving a tradition in which volunteers … Read more

Low clouds spread across an Appalachian landscape in autumn. As summer fades, towering convective clouds become less common while broad layers of stratus and stratocumulus become more conspicuous during colder-season weather.
Culture

Why the sky changes when summer ends in Appalachia

by David Sibray

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Changing leaves may get most of the attention, but another seasonal change happens overhead as summer gives way to fall. The towering cumulus clouds and afternoon thunderstorms common during the warmest months become less frequent. As the year progresses toward winter, larger weather systems play a greater role, bringing broad cloud decks, … Read more

An artist’s interpretation of the “Panther Killer” legend associated with Ephraim “Big Eaf” Hatfield, father of William Anderson “Devil Anse” Hatfield. A 1952 Logan County history related a tradition that Hatfield killed a panther with a hunting knife near present-day Red Jacket, West Virginia. Contemporary evidence establishing the episode as fact has not been found.
Culture

Before Devil Anse Hatfield, there was a giant

by David Sibray

RED JACKET, W.Va. — Long before William Anderson “Devil Anse” Hatfield became one of the most famous figures in Appalachian history, another Hatfield was remembered as a mountain giant along the Tug Fork. His name was Ephraim Hatfield, though generations knew him better as “Big Eaf.” He was the father of Devil Anse and several … Read more

Rafters descend the Gauley River in West Virginia, one of the world’s celebrated whitewater runs. A form of the river’s unusual name appears in records dating to at least 1774, though its origin remains uncertain. (Photo courtesy ACE Adventure Resort)
Culture

How did West Virginia’s Gauley River get its unusual name?

by David Sibray

SUMMERSVILLE, W.Va. — Every autumn, thousands of paddlers descend into West Virginia’s mountains to run the Gauley River, one of the world’s celebrated whitewater runs. They come for rapids named Pillow Rock, Lost Paddle, and Sweet’s Falls, as scheduled releases from Summersville Dam send enormous volumes of water through the river’s rugged gorge. But the … Read more

Civil War soldiers are depicted as apparitions near the observation tower at Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park, where stories of soldiers, cannon fire and other unexplained encounters have circulated for generations. The Pocahontas County battlefield has been added to the West Virginia Paranormal Trail for 2026. (WVExplorer illustration)
Culture

West Virginia Civil War battlefield known for ghost stories joins paranormal trail

by David Sibray

HILLSBORO, W.Va. — Visitors to a West Virginia Civil War battlefield have reported hearing galloping horses and cannon fire and seeing soldiers who seemingly disappear. Now Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park in Pocahontas County is joining the West Virginia Paranormal Trail, a statewide tourism route devoted to places associated with ghosts, cryptids and other unexplained … Read more

Black bears are featured in the 2027 West Virginia Wildlife Calendar in a painting by West Virginia wildlife artist Misty Murray-Walkup. The annual calendar features original artwork depicting wildlife native to the Mountain State. (WVDNR image)
Culture

Bears, bats and a comeback species star in West Virginia’s 2027 wildlife calendar

by Will Reedy

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Black bears, brown bats, flying squirrels and a forest predator once eradicated from West Virginia are among the animals featured in the state’s 2027 wildlife calendar. The W.Va. Division of Natural Resources has released its annual West Virginia Wildlife Calendar, pairing original paintings by wildlife artists with hunting and fishing dates, moon … Read more