WHEELING, W.Va. — To the average motorist hurtling through the City of Wheeling on Interstate 70, nothing about the place might seem particularly nefarious. An old rust-belt city, one might suppose its name, “Wheeling,” is associated with the wheel. The city is inextricably tied to the history of American travel and has always been a … Read more
RODES, W.Va. — Tales of a shadow alleged to haunt part of the Grey Flats Trail area near Beckley, West Virginia, could be tied to the ruins of an old farmstead there, say trail builders who have noticed an uptick in hikers in the woods. “I began seeing more hikers there once the story went … Read more
CENTRALIA, W.Va. — While there are many remote campgrounds in West Virginia, few are as remote as Baker’s Run Campground and boast their own ghost. Though only 30 minutes from Interstate 79, this forest campground near Sutton, West Virginia, may feel remote due to how it tucks into the hills on the Elk River at … Read more
PAX, W.Va. — Tales of roadside ghosts account for many of the most famous ghost stories in West Virginia, according to the publisher of the Mountain State’s popular website for the paranormal, West Virginia Ghosts. Jonathan Moore, who has been publishing first-hand tales of the supernatural submitted to the website by visitors since 1999, says … Read more
SUTTON, W.Va. — Many West Virginians have heard of a mysterious incident in Braxton County that involved a possibly celestial creature known as the Flatwoods Monster. It was alleged to have appeared in the darkened woods behind the local grade school in 1952, only moments after a “flying saucer” had been sighted scooting over the … Read more
LIBERTY, W.Va. — Eighteenmile Creek wanders quietly through the low hills of northern Putnam County, revealing not in the least any potential for tragedy along its banks. Yet, tragedy visited a group of hunters camping one night in a cave in the early 1800s. Where precisely this horrific incident occurred is not widely known, though … Read more
GRANT TOWN, W.Va. — If you’ve had the opportunity to descend into a West Virginia coal mine, you might have come away with a new sense of the absolute darkness. The coal itself absorbs what little light might reach into the deep. Though the darkness can inspire dread, the nature of mining can lead the … Read more
GRANTSVILLE, W.Va. — Nights in rural Calhoun County are counted among the darkest in West Virginia, so it’s little wonder that the tale of one of the state’s strangest hauntings comes out of its hills. The phantom, which supposedly manifested in the valley of the Little Kanawha River in the late 1800s, is still a … Read more
MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. — The iconic LOVE-HATE tattoos that adorn many thuggish fists in the U.S. are tied to one of the most horrific events in West Virginia history and a blockbuster movie based on it. A murderous preacher, a lonely-hearts serial killer, and the infamous state penitentiary at Moundsville all figure into the twisted tale, … Read more
FLATWOODS, W.Va. — In the annals of West Virginia lore, the Flatwoods Monster sighting of September 12, 1952, remains one of the most captivating and controversial reports of an extraterrestrial encounter—or does it? Descriptions of the event have led some to speculate that what a group of young boys encountered one night on the edge … Read more
