The work of several Tri-Cities writers is included in a new anthology that resonates with the spirit of the Halloween season, “23 Tales: Appalachian Ghost Stories, Legends & Other Mysteries,” from Howling Hills Publishing.
Several stories in “23 Tales” focus on haunted historic sites in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, including Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia.; Deery Inn in Blountville, Tennessee; Bent Creek Cemetery in Bulls Gap, Tennessee; and Exchange Place Living History Farm in Kingsport, Tennessee. Howling Hills, which focuses on nonfiction books from Greater Appalachia, releases “23 Tales” at Exchange Place’s Fall Folk Arts Festival, Sept. 23-24 – the same weekend it releases the book in Knoxville with a Sept. 24 reading and author signing at Union Ave Books.
Based in Kingsport, Howling Hills accepted submissions from writers with one overarching restriction: The hauntings, mysteries and ghosts in the stories could not be fiction.
Matthew Sorge, for one, did not believe in ghosts – until he experienced an unnerving encounter at an abandoned house in the Johnson City countryside. A ghostly woman vanished before his eyes, and his life changed completely. He started a paranormal investigation group, Southern Research Society, and the experience that altered his thinking and an encounter with a shadowy figure in the historic Deery Inn birthed his story “A Shadow in the Attic of Deery Inn.”
“I enjoy compelling stories that people can connect with,” Sorge said. “The kind of stories that inspire us to learn and grow from the real-life experiences of others; the kind that keep history alive and bring it to a bigger audience, that separates the fact from the folklore. This has always inspired me and is a big part of what drives me to do my paranormal research.”
Brad Lifford, a cofounder of Howling Hills, wrote about the ghost who has long haunted Roseland, a historic home at Exchange Place. “Aunt El” is an accepted presence for volunteers, who greet the unseen spirit when entering Roseland – and also accept the fact that doors will sometimes close by themselves, the way down from the attic may be shut, and keys may go missing.
Other stories are a blend of personal experiences and investigations into history.
Well-known storyteller Donnamarie Emmert of Abingdon finds the humor in her struggles as a lightning technician at Barter Theatre, and though she doesn’t find her way as a tech, she does find herself alone with a ghost at the historic theatre, which led to her writing “Barter Theatre Performance a Fright.”
Michael Sobiech, a professor at Carson-Newman University, relies on regional newspapers from the 1950s to unearth the weeks in Bulls Gap when a mysterious orb lit a graveyard and the night skies, and shook the town in “A Haunting in Bent Creek Cemetery.”
Bristol writer and poet Chrissie Anderson Peters recounts an indelible family story, about a mysterious passenger who was along for the ride with her grandfather in “West Virginia Turnpike Hitchhiker.”
And Daniel Peacock of Johnson City delivers a sweet childhood story of a boy who gets unexpected help when struggling to deal with the loss of his beloved pet in “Getting My Mojo Back.”
“23 Tales” will be available at Exchange Place’s Fall Festival and at several other events in September and October. The book is also available at www.howlinghillspublishing.com, and visitors can learn more about the company and its books.
