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Southern Gothic

The Death of Lucinda Mills and the Cult of Unknown Tongues

Southern Gothic

Southern Gothic Media LLC

Society & Culture, True Crime, History, Documentary

4.7976 Ratings

🗓️ 6 October 2025

⏱️ 66 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the winter of 1933, a revival took hold deep in the hills of Martin County, Kentucky. What began as a week of prayer and fasting soon slipped past the line between faith and fanaticism. Each night, hymns echoed through the holler—voices crying out in tongues, neighbors whispering that something wasn’t right. By the time the sheriff forced his way into that small farmhouse, the revival had become a nightmare. At the center of it all was a grieving preacher, his family lost in a fever of devotion, and a mother who believed that only through sacrifice could her children be saved. The papers called it the Cult of the Unknown Tongues—a story that would haunt Appalachia for generations and cement the image of mountain religion in the eyes of the world. Want to Listen to Southern Gothic Ad-Free? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon: Ad-Free Episodes, Premium Releases, Bonus Content & More⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Southern Gothic Premium on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Southern Gothic Premium on Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Into History: History Without Interruption⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Connect with Southern Gothic Media: Website:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ SouthernGothicMedia.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Merch Store:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.southerngothicmedia.com/merch⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Pinterest:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @SouthernGothicMedia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @SouthernGothicMedia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @SouthernGothicMedia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ X:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @SoGoPodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Advertise on this podcast: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠press@southerngothicmedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

The Fall Line is a true crime podcast covering the coldest cases in the southeastern United States and occasionally beyond.

0:08.4

We focus on the missing persons, the unsolved murders, and the unidentified doze that don't get media attention.

0:15.7

Empathetic and intensively researched, the fall line will take you on deep dives into unsolved cases that you've never heard of,

0:22.8

and make you wonder why you haven't.

0:25.6

Find us wherever you listen to podcasts.

0:32.5

I'm Rob Kirkup, and I am the host of How Hounded, the podcast where we explore the dark history and terrifying ghost stories of some of the UK's most haunted places, with the occasional trip overseas.

0:47.9

Every other Friday, you'll hear tales of horror, chilling investigations with real audio from ghost hunts, and even the occasional

0:56.4

guest, or polter guest, as I prefer to call them. Every October, we go weekly for spooky season,

1:04.9

with a month of themed episodes building up to a huge Halloween spookacular. And at Christmas, I share your own real-life ghost stories

1:13.9

in the nightmare before Christmas special.

1:17.2

So search for How Haunted, wherever you get your podcasts.

1:21.5

And join me every fortnight as we ask the question.

1:25.7

How Haunted.

1:34.5

Thank you. as we ask the question, how haunted? Southern Gothic is a podcast that explores the history behind some of the American South's darkest days, greatest mysteries, and most chilling ghost stories.

1:49.0

The When most folks picture religion in the hills of Appalachia, they don't imagine quiet pews in orderly sermons.

2:16.6

No. People usually imagine something far more visceral.

2:22.2

A crowded church in an old dilapidated building, voices rising in a tangled chorus of shouts and cries,

2:30.2

worshippers swaying in the heat, speaking in a language, no one can really understand.

2:37.0

Meanwhile, a fast-talking preacher stands before them, dancing on the altar with a worn leather Bible in one hand,

2:46.0

and a rattlesnake in the other.

2:50.0

For more than a century,

2:52.9

images of services like these have made their way out from beyond the mountains,

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