LEWISBURG, W.Va. — Whether you believe in ghosts, it’s a fact that a ghost enters the lawbooks in West Virginia. The account of the “Greenbrier Ghost,” as the specter of the late Zona Heaster Shue came to be known, has been retold time and again, but, as is the case in most such tales, the … Read more
FAIRMONT, W.Va. — Far from the city lights that shimmer about its mouth at the Golden Triangle at Pittsburgh, the Monongahela River rises more than 200 miles away in some of the most remote reaches in the Appalachian Mountains. Many of its tributaries descend from forests so old and large that only the most intrepid … Read more
CANVAS, W.Va. — Mountainous and often remote, West Virginia may enjoy more than its fair share of strange stories. Still, the tale of the woman whose feet never touched the ground is undoubtedly among the most remarkable. This tale comes from the highlands along the Gauley River in central West Virginia. Though the matter has … Read more
POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. — Some of the most chilling tales of hauntings in West Virginia are based on actual events, and one of the most horrific is that of the Screaming Lady of Mason County. Her ghost is said to haunt or to have haunted the woods south of the Great Bend in the Ohio … Read more
NEW MANCHESTER, W.Va. — Some say that the ghost of Judge John Hoke Reddick still haunts his grave, and that’s not hard to believe, given its remarkable nature. The judge had himself buried in two states—half in Virginia (now West Virginia) and half in Pennsylvania. Though the state boundary has shifted slightly west since he … Read more
MASONTOWN, W.Va. — The strange story of “the day they knocked a hole in the Cheat River” has been passed down for more than a century and is one of northern West Virginia’s obscure but enduring legends. Some historians have questioned whether the tale out of Preston County is historical or just astonishingly good. The … Read more
COTTAGEVILLE, W.Va. — Tales of legendary lumberjack Paul Bunyon might seem far removed from West Virginia, but it turns out there’s a long-established link between the folk hero of the American-Canadian border country and the Ohio Valley in West Virginia. As to when Paul Bunyon left his mark in West Virginia, none now know, but … Read more
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — For pioneers in western Virginia, life was complicated enough without talk of “witches.” Any interruption in the business of avoiding hunger and disease might prove deadly. A blighted harvest, a twisted gun, or a broken limb could swiftly doom a settlement. But then there were witches. According to superstitious settlers, they lurked … Read more
BASIN, W.Va. — Sharp-eyed motorists traveling Barkers Ridge in southern West Virginia may have noticed a faded sign that commemorates the burial of what appears to have been three children. But the origins of “The Little Graves,” now a local historic landmark, is a mystery yet to be recorded, according to two historians searching for … Read more
LEWISBURG, W.Va. — Windy nights such as those that sweep through the hollows in West Virginia may put residents of Lewisburg in mind of the legend of Sam Hart. It was here that the proud youth raced the Devil through the streets. Most have heard similar tales, often with a similarly unsettling outcome, though that … Read more
