Arts
Beloved story of “Frosty the Snowman” was born in snowy highlands of West Virginia
KEYSER, W.Va. — One of America’s most enduring holiday songs—and the animated television specials it inspired—has roots that trace back to the snowy Allegheny Mountains in West Virginia. Though its lyrics never name a place, “Frosty the Snowman” was co-written by a...
Horror film shot in West Virginia, ‘Self Help’ to hit theaters nationwide on Halloween
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — A horror-thriller filmed in Huntington in 2024, “Self Help” is set for a...
Friday Night frights and delights light up West Virginia this Halloween season
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Film fans across West Virginia are in for a frightfully fun weekend as...
Fayetteville Creates turns town into a living arts studio for the New River Gorge
FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. — This winter, the small mountain town of Fayetteville, perched at the edge of...
Here’s how West Virginia has contributed to American Country Music
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — On a typical Saturday night in the 1930s, when coal dust and church bells marked the rhythm of daily life, radios across the Ohio Valley crackled with music that echoes like the hills themselves. The signal came from WWVA in Wheeling, a small but...
From Greenbrier Valley to global fame, the defiant jazz legacy of Ada “Bricktop” Smith
ALDERSON, W.Va. — Perhaps few people could have predicted that one of the most electrifying figures of the Jazz Age would emerge in a quiet valley in West Virginia, a seeming world away from the glitz and glamor of Paris and New York City. But that’s exactly what...
The writer who captured Appalachian tragedy—and couldn’t escape it
MILTON, W.Va. — Breece D’J Pancake soared like a meteor through the American literary universe in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Kurt Vonnegut wrote of him, “I give you my word of honor that he is merely the best writer—the most sincere writer I’ve ever read.” Who...
West Virginia Film Office marks thrilling anniversary with Hollywood momentum
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Film Office quietly turned three years old in 2025, but the celebration is far from low-key. Since its relaunch in 2022, the office has emerged as a powerhouse of opportunity in West Virginia filmmaking, helping turn the Mountain...