Ghost Stories About the Blue Ridge Mountains Are Haunting

On Interstate 77, traveling southward as you go, the Blue Ridge Mountain Range provides a dramatic view along with stories of ghosts that people have told. There's a spooky folklore about the history of these majestic hills, Mountain Ghost Stories.

Inspired by many a tale surrounding, Mountain Ghost Stories by Randy Russell and Janet Barnett, tell of dark secrets and macabre events. The tenth printing was in 2003, John F. Blair, publisher.

Travelers roaming U.S. interstate highway 77 get to see a magnificent panorama of the Blue Ridge Mountains, once far enough south. The view of shrouded mountains and misty valleys intrigues the imagination. Who wanders these mountains, and do people actually live there? What kind of people are they?

Many are hermits who've turned their backs on mainstream life. Some of the inhabitants are ghosts who dwell in other dimensional worlds created by the magic of Native Americans.

The simple renditions of mysterious events including Native American folklore are really fascinating. Mildly spooky events make it a read that adults and children can enjoy together.

Customs and relationships between mountain neighbors

Most of the residents who occupy this remote, mountainous terrain do so to be left alone. Wandering to the edge of the neighbor's yard can be dangerous.

The customary amenity is for the visitor to give a shout before going any farther. Without an announcement, a suspicious inhabitant may wield a rifle, sending the intruder off into the realm of the ghostly.

And there are, indeed, many ghostly entities roaming through these parts according to legend.

The first sentence from "Belinda and the Brown Mountain Lights" is such a chilling statement, it's an automatic must read. It begins with a hook:

"There's nothing scarier than a mountain at night."

Interesting yet simple titles

Other titles in this delightfully spooky short story collection are colorful merely because of the differently named mountain areas. Titles like "Eagle Nest Mountain, Natahala Gorge, Clingman's Dome, Roan Mountain" each having an unique legend of their own.

Mountain Ghost Stories, subtitled "And Curious Tales of Western North Carolina," stays true to form by using descriptions of the residents passed down through folklore. The authors give a bird's eye view and insightful descriptions of surrounding culture.

All of the vignettes address some kind of characteristic of the people, and the differences in culture from area to area of this monolithic blue mountain range. Mountain Ghost Stories is an easy read, but setting it down is difficult as it continues to haunt long after the finish.