Folklore & Phenomena: An introduction

I spent my childhood in Johnson City, TN. With E.T.S.U. as its centerpiece and Jonesborough, what some might call the “storytelling capital of the world”, just a short drive away, I grew up fascinated by legends, tall tales, folklore and the mysteries of East Tennessee and Appalachia.

Some of my fondest memories are of being regaled with ghost stories from local storytellers.

My childhood house was a short drive to a park that, to childhood me, seemed to be in a perpetual state of dusk. I always found it a little ominous, which was thrilling to a child who loved a good scare.

I remember one particularly steep hill in the park that my fellow children and I would climb with clay as red as you’ve ever seen. We would struggle up the hill, dig our hands into the red earth and spin stories about it.

The kids called it “devil’s hill,” and we would tell fellow park-goers that the clay was red from the blood of previous people who had roamed the land.

In reality, the park was renovated farmland, but the mystery and magic of it have stuck with me throughout my life.

Another moment I recall from childhood was when my parents and I traveled into the mountains to find a spot to picnic.

When we got to the spot where we planned to unpack, my mother suddenly insisted we all get back in the car and leave.

When I asked her later what happened, she just said she had a feeling — the kind of feeling that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. She said everything inside was screaming to run.

We live just beside one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world. They are older than life as we know it, older than trees. The Great Smoky Mountains are also incredibly diverse, and many scientists classify them as a temperate rainforest.

Perhaps these reasons are why so many people report strange occurrences in our region of Appalachia.

Before I joined The Daily Times, I wrote for The Highland Echo, Maryville College’s student paper. In the spirit of my childhood self, I maintained a column called Local Legends, where I covered anything from Bigfoot sightings to Greenback Castle.

I regularly reached out to our community to see what they were experiencing. Had they seen a mountain lion? Did they keep bottle trees on their property? And I got a lot of interesting responses that led me to many unique places.

So, I have to put the question out there:

Have you seen strange lights in the sky? Has something been prowling around your property? Think you have spotted an elusive Bigfoot or sure you’ve seen a painter?

Do you have a cool Appalachian legend or ghost story you think should be covered? Contact shanon.adame@thedailytimes.com. You may get a story out of it!