The Appalachian Mountains run deep with lore.

At around 480 million years of age, they are among the oldest ranges in the

world. At their peak, some scientists believed that they were taller even than the Himalayan mountains,

and thanks to continental drift, these mountains have cousins in both the Scottish Highlands and

Morocco. This range, once jagged and towering, now rolls gently, worn down by millions of years,

and stretches from Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada all the way down to the northern parts

of Georgia and Alabama in the south.

The region, known as Appalachiaia runs from southern New York State into Alabama.

And it's into this region that early white settlers brought their religion and many superstitions,

immigrating them into the isolated wilderness where they grew and shifted over generations.

The struggle of farming in the rocky soil, as well as the later battles of the Civil

War, ravaged the land and took many young men with it.

The poverty that ensued helped to further shape those superstitions, superstitions that

added to the strange mystique of the place, with dense old-growth forests and winding

roads through mountains that

only slowly reveal themselves to the weary traveler.

Honestly, you could lose yourself in there, and many, it turns out, actually have.

You see, folklore in Appalachia serves as a sort of cultural compass, taking the region's various

histories, hardships, and natural wonders

to create a shared narrative that both comforts and warns its listeners.

Together, the legends pass down give voice to the mountains, making them active participants

in the storytelling, preserving the memories of those who live and die in Appalachia,

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