Culture

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 Jim Comstock, the renowned West Virginia storyteller and publisher of the West Virginia … Read more

CLAYTON, W.Va. — Few West Virginia place names come with a tale as improbable or as theatrical as that of Clayton, a quiet Summers County community whose name traces back to the crash of a hot-air balloon nearly two centuries ago.The year was 1835, a time when flight of any kind carried an air of … Read more

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Paranormal tourism is booming across West Virginia, but the increase in ghost tours, haunted history walks, and supernatural-themed events doesn’t necessarily reflect a rise in belief in the paranormal.According to David Sibray, publisher of West Virginia Explorer and a long-time interpreter of Appalachian folklore, the state’s growing ghost-themed tourism sector has much … Read more

MIDDLEWAY, W.Va. — The Wizard Clip haunting, the first documented poltergeist in America, occurred in the late 1700s in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. Though centuries have passed, its legend endures, earning residents the nickname “Clippers” to this day. Referred to as the “truest ghost story ever told” by the late James Cardinal Gibbons, … Read more