Lore and Legend
Colonel Ludington’s legendary giant ox was real, and it weighed 4,450 pounds
FRANKFORD, W.Va. — Long before viral videos and roadside attractions, West Virginia produced a creature so outsized that stories about him drifted into legend. Yet, despite decades of exaggeration, the animal at the center of the tale did exist. According to the late...
How an obscure, mysterious writer in West Virginia invented UFO lore as we know it
RIFFLE, W.Va.— The blockbuster Men in Black film franchise might seem a world away from the hills...
Mysterious Wetzel County worm invasion wreaked havoc in West Virginia in 1918
LITTLETON, W.Va. — In the summer of 1918, a procession of billions of ravenous “worms” passed...
Polemic Run, West Virginia: A roadside journey hidden off the expressway
BIRCH RIVER, W.Va. — Each day, more than 10,000 motorists speed past the turn-offs onto Polemic...
A West Virginia hike with a haunting: Twin Falls trail honors Polk Hollow legend
SAULSVILLE, W.Va. — While reports of the Polk Hollow Monster haven’t reached the frequency they had in the 1970s and ’80s, there’s no doubt in the minds of a few locals that something haunts the vicinity of the hollow in Twin Falls Resort State Park. State officials...
Legend of a lost silver lode in Jackson County, West Virginia, might be more than lore
RAVENSWOOD, W.Va. — Legends of a lost silver lode in Jackson County, in western West Virginia, may hold more truth than rumor—at least according to a former resident who claims not only to have uncovered historical evidence but also a silver nugget of his own. “I’ve...
The forgotten grave of the Pickens leper: isolation in the West Virginia mountains
PICKENS, W.Va. — In a remote section of the Allegheny Mountains of northern West Virginia lies a solitary grave, marked only by two weathered stones. It belongs to an immigrant who died in isolation, far from his homeland. His story opens a haunting window into a...
Mysterious Horse Creek ghost in West Virginia said to foretell the demise of presidents
PAX, W.Va. — Of the many spirits said to haunt the hills of West Virginia, few stir as much unease as those believed to foretell death. Among them, one of the most chilling is the Horse Creek Hollow Ghost, a phantom whose legend has been whispered around campfires in...