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Description
West Virginia boasts an unusually rich heritage of ghost tales. Originally West Virginians told these hundred stories not for idle amusement but to report supernatural experiences that defied ordinary human explanation. From jealous rivals and ghostly children to murdered kinsmen and omens of death, these tales reflect the inner lives—the hopes, beliefs, and fears—of a people. Like all folklore, these tales reveal much of the history of the region: its isolation and violence, the passions and bloodshed of the Civil War era, the hardships of miners and railroad laborers, and the lingering vitality of Old World traditions.
The variety of subjects in her book is vast. Half the enjoyment comes from searching through the pages, discovering one new ghost after another. It's all good hunting and good haunting. -- Rocky Mountain News
Publication Date
12-31-1965
Publisher
The University Press of Kentucky
Place of Publication
Lexington, KY
ISBN
9780813101361
eISBN
9780813128276
Keywords
Tales, Ghost stories, West Virginia
Disciplines
Folklore
Recommended Citation
Musick, Ruth Ann, "The Telltale Lilac Bush and Other West Virginia Ghost Tales" (1965). Folklore. 12.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_folklore/12
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