Homespun Haints: True Ghost Stories

On the lonely streets of one small Appalachian town, Old Joe wanders with his knife, looking for his next victim. About 100 miles away, strange lights hover over Brown Mountain, taunting the locals and puzzling skeptics for nearly a century. Are these stories merely urban legends, or would recent photographic evidence suggest there’s some truth behind the mystery?

Episode photo by Michael Mouritz on Unsplash

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Debra knew a massive tornado was on its way--the air had felt "troubled" that morning. But as she got in her car to race the storm home, a ghostly whisper held her back, and possibly saved her life.

About the guest

After years of practicing witchcraft while simultaneously studying astrophysics and teaching meteorology, Dr. Debra Burris is a delightful sparkling prism of unexpected juxtapositions. She is an author, a physicist, and a professor at the University of Central Arkansas. Beyond her academic prowess, Debra also practices as a witch, a farmer, a master naturalist, a bone artist, and a Reiki healer.

Debra Burris’ recent book, “Weather Magic: Witchery, Science, Lore,” explores the connection between ancient weather folklore and modern meteorological science. Keep up with Debra on YouTube, TikTok, IG, or FB, and try to catch her live at the following events: Harmony in the Hollow, Austin Witchfest, Mystic South. You might catch her speaking or signing books at Strange Brew Occult Shop in Fort Smith, AR, or Nature’s Treasures in Oklahoma City, OK.

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Brandon Weston, Ozark folklorist and healer, has seen some very strange things when called on by the community to take care of hauntings. However, the strange light-absorbing spirit creatures known in these parts as "boogers" are a special kind of weird--and Brandon has seen a lot of them.

Brandon Weston is a guardian of Ozark traditions in three dimensions: he’s a folklorist, an author, and a spirit worker. His books, including the recent “Granny Thorneapple’s Book of Charms,” delve into Ozark folk magic. His writings can be explored further on his official website or through his Twitter and Facebook profiles.

Tired of websites that have been Frankensteined together using subpar body parts? Check out Becky and Diana's digital media and web design company, The Concept Spot, and let's make some digital spookiness together! theconceptspot.com

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Becky isn't sure if she saw an apparition that late foggy night as she wearily drove home, but many others have seen strange things wandering the windy roads through the Smoky Mountains. Barefoot hitchhiking ghosts, vengeful coal miners, and ghosts with warnings to drivers still haunt unsuspecting motorists along these strange roads. And we'll tell you where and how to find them. Today, on Homespun Haints.

Legends include:

• The Ghost of Lucy of Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail
• The Ghost of Dick Drummond on Drummond Bridge
• The Ghost of Hugh Hamblen on Netherland Inn Road

Image is of the Bales Cabin on the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail in the Smoky Mountains.

Need a website? Check out Becky and Diana's digital media and web design company, The Concept Spot, and let's make some digital spookiness together! theconceptspot.com

When Miranda Young and Kristy Sumner, PhD, decided to take over the Historic Scott County Jail, they discovered it was full of spirits who were genuinely excited to meet them.

We first interviewed Kristy Sumner in 2020, in one of our best paranormal podcast episodes about haunted jailhouses in the South. Back then, she was doing paranormal investigations in and around Ocala, FL. While she is still a part of Soul Sisters Paranormal, she has relocated to East Tennessee. Follow Soul Sisters Paranormal on their Instagram or Facebook page, and don't miss their YouTube coverage of investigations.

Kristy now works with with Ghost Biker Miranda, another paranormal investigator we previously interviewed about the phantom monk of East Tennessee. Visit her website at ghostbikerexplorations.com. Then follow her on YouTube for coverage of her investigations and interviews (she even interviewed us), and Facebook of Instagram for updates and events.

Since we last interviewed them, Kristy and Miranda have started leading public overnight paranormal investigations at the historic Scott County Jail in East Tennessee. They also do daytime tours, focused on historical preservation. Find more details on their collaborations through History, Highways, and Haunts, LLC here. Book a tour of the jail here, and don't miss the escape room in a genuine maximum security prison wing!

They also host the nighttime ghost walks in Rugby together now. Check Facebook for Rugby ghost tour information and special events.

Need a website? Check out Becky and Diana's digital media and web design company, The Concept Spot, and let's make some digital spookiness together! theconceptspot.com

Byron grew up in a haunted area surrounded by haunted houses and ghosts, but she never feared the messages she received from those that had passed. Now as an adult, she serves her community by cleansing and blessing homes and writing books to help others learn the field magic that has been passed down for generations in her family.

H. Byron Ballard MFA, is a teacher, folklorist and writer. A Western NC native, Byron is renowned as the Asheville Village Witch.

Byron has studied and practiced Appalachian folk magic for half a century. She's a senior priestess at and a founder of Mother Grove Goddess Temple, and also a pastor. She also knows a lot of stories about Asheville hauntings, as she's guided ghost tours there.

Her books on traditional Appalachian craft are published by Llewellyn Press. Order her books from Byron's local indie bookstore at malaprops.com, and she'll sign it for you before it is shipped. Also visit her website myvillagewitch.com or follow her on Facebook as H. Byron Ballard, author, Witch About Town, for events and more info.

For full episode show notes, visit homespunhaints.com/asheville-ghost-stories

Need a website? Check out Becky and Diana's digital media and web design company, The Concept Spot, and let's make some digital spookiness together! theconceptspot.com

Sean and Jennifer Bowman of Bump in the Night Society have experienced some things that will make your skin crawl, but they keep going back for more.

Check out Bump in the Night's videos and links at linktr.ee/bumpinthenightsociety

Photo by Josh jfisher on Unsplash

Need a website? Check out Becky and Diana's digital media and web design company, The Concept Spot, and let's make some digital spookiness together! theconceptspot.com

When psychic medium Dr. Ronda Caudill purchased the historic Nickerson Snead house, she planned on moving in. However, after starting renovations, she realized that this old house was too haunted even for her.

Ronda L. Caudill, PhD is a writer, publisher, psychic medium, tasseographer, Reiki Master, witch and owner of the haunted Nickerson Snead House in Glade Spring, VA. She is the owner of Full Moon Publishing, LLC, Co-Owner and Executive Producer of Shadow Work Productions, LLC and Lead Psychic Medium with SRS Paranormal. She recently starred in Season of the Witch, produced by Sword & Stone Entertainment and T. Lee Films. Ronda comes from a long line of psychically gifted women and healers whose lineage comes from Ireland and Scotland, having Cherokee roots in the Appalachian Mountains as well as having an ancestor who was tried as a witch during the Salem Witch Trials. Ronda is also a sensitive, having had paranormal experiences her entire life. She began communing with the dead at the age of 18 and began tea leaf reading at the age of 19. Ronda has also practiced mirror scrying, table tipping, using dowsing rods, pendulums and spirit boards for over thirty years.

Follow Ronda on her social media:
Facebook: @rondacaudillphd
Instagram: @caudillronda

Learn more about Ronda L. Caudill, PhD at homespunhaints.com

Need a website? Check out Becky and Diana's digital media and web design company, The Concept Spot, and let's make some digital spookiness together! theconceptspot.com

You begged us to reveal more spooky secrets about incredibly haunted Appalachia, so enjoy this true story about the hauntings of Jonesborough, Tennessee. Today, we speak with Anne, program Director of the McKinney Center and also an author and playwright, to talk about her experiences at the heritage alliance and with SRS paranormal. Join us on this journey to Tennessee’s oldest European settled town, and and hear about the 1840s Duncan house, the 1797 Chester Inn, and a house that comes with a rocking chair that you absolutely must not move, today, on Homespun Haints!

Lower-half body apparitions are more common than you think, fast food restaurants have secret sauces and some haunted castles can kill you. We learned a lot from our Season 5, and we want to ensure you go forth this winter with the same valuable knowledge that will keep you safe from the lure of the picture-perfect lifestyle. Life is messy, ghosts are messier, and we may have the messiest morals of all.