Hauntings of the Mountains

Part of the October Frights Blog Hop celebrating all things that go bump in the night. Join Paranormal & Horror Authors in this 5-Day Event

I’m a mountain girl, born and raised. I lived in the Catskill Mountains and the Adirondacks. Stories of ghosts and strange hauntings permeated my childhood.

From Sleepy Hollow to the Montrepose Cemetery to Spook Rock Road, ghosts have lived and died in the cradle of the Hudson Valley. Apparitions stride through the lanes and whispered woods as if it were perfectly natural.

But now I live in North Carolina and the mountains here hold just as many wonderful tales of brown lights and demon dogs. Clay and I travel at least once a year up to the Blue Ridge Mountains and one can’t help but be haunted by the strange happenings there.

We’ve been lucky enough to stay at the wonderful Grove Park Inn where the Pink Lady resides. The hotel was built around 1913 and the story goes that a young woman fell to her death from the fifth floor balcony of her room. She manifests as pink mist, though sometimes the faint view of a pink ball gown can be seen. Generally she’s a good natured spirit that appears mainly to children, sometimes even caring for them while they are sick. Though there’s a mischievous side to her as well, including the tickling of feet. Scary to be sure.

However, the town of Valle Crucis hosts a strange demon dog that wanders a churchyard cemetery road along Highway 194. Covered in black fur with burning red eyes and as large as a full grown man. It guards the territory between two streams that meet at right angles in the mist covered valley. Be sure to make it across the bridge or the beast will take you!

Then the Phantom Choir of Roan Mountain sings a sad tale, though none can tell if the voices are angelic in nature or tormented screams. One story goes of a man back in the 19th century heard terribly howls in the midst of a rainstorm and took shelter in a cave. Suddenly spirits manifested beside him covered with the marks of torture, screaming their lament. The man passed out in fear and when he roused his clothes were bleached white.

And lastly, there are the famous Brown Mountain Lights. In the evening autumn hour, mysterious orbs rise from a low ridge. They levitate for a few moments before falling again into the darkness of the mountain. No one knows their origin though plenty are surmised. The Cherokee have long known of the strange lights and claim they are the souls of women looking their husbands who died during the war between the Cherokee and the Catawba.

To me every mountain remains steeped in mystery. Dark ancient ground that still defies civilization. I will forever walk the mountain trails knowing there’s always a chance that I will meet something or someone unexpected.