Halloween Story Archives - Page 3 of 5 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Mountain Lions, Bison & Scares, Oh My! W.Va. State Wildlife Center Serves Up Family-Friendly Spooks

On a recent Friday in October, hundreds of children and their families are excitedly milling about the West Virginia State Wildlife Center.

Clutching flashlights, glow sticks and steaming cups of hot chocolate, visitors have come to the state-run zoological center — which houses wildlife native and introduced to West Virginia — for the ninth annual Spooky Night Tours.

This story is part of a Halloween episode of Inside Appalachia, which features ghost tales and legends from across Appalachia.

While many enjoy the scare factor and spooky monsters, ghouls and ghosts associated with Halloween, heart-pounding scares are not for everyone.

Before taking the evening tour, visitors to Spooky Night Tours can take a hayride.

“We are honored to provide a family-friendly Halloween event,” said Judy Channell, secretary for the state wildlife center and organizer of the Spooky Night Tours. “We’re just spooky. We don’t do anything really bloody or gory or anything like that.”

The event began almost a decade ago – inspired by the nocturnal nature of most of the center’s creatures.

“The initial premise was … the animals are nocturnal and they’re actually kind of more active [at night],” Channell said. “And so it was just going to be interesting to walk through the woods with a mountain lion and wolves and black bears and everything, and we just built on it every year.”

These days, Channell and others at the center begin thinking up new Halloween-themed tableaus months in advance.

“Usually in the spring, we really sit down and try to think about, ‘What are we going to do? What are we going to do different?’” Channell said. “And then usually in July and August, we go around and start talking about the placement.”

The 1.25-mile paved trail that winds through the center is decorated with different spooky motifs, mostly funny, including a graveyard and giant dancing spider.

Decorations along the trail at the West Virginia State Wildlife Center.

For the cost of admission — $4 for adults and $2 for kids — visitors can partake in all of the evening’s events, including an open air hayride through the wildlife center and visiting a spooky maze.

Jayden Straley-Smith, 9 years old, is vibrating with excitement as he waits to get on the next hayride. He is unequivocal that the Spooky Night Tours are not too scary.

“Nope,” he said. “Not scary at all.”

Outside the maze — a tarp-covered building located past a herd of grazing elk — a cobweb-covered headstone warns visitors: Enter at your own risk. Spooky skeletons hang from the walls and orange fairy lights cast a ghoulish glow.

Buckhannon resident Adrienne Tucker and her family are standing outside the maze. She jokes that her kids have been through it dozens of times and cannot get enough.

Tucker said she enjoys the Spooky Night Tours because it is not heavy on the horror.

“It’s just good simple fun,” she said. “Not too scary.”

The highlight of the center’s Halloween-themed festivities begins when the sun goes down.

As night falls, excitement mounts. In small groups, families are unleashed onto the trail to interact with the spooky decorations and center’s animal exhibits. One volunteer actor, dressed as a fortune teller, predicts, “You will be very tired when you get to the end of the trail.”

Wolves are one of many creatures at the West Virginia State Wildlife Center.

The highlight for many are the animals. The kids are especially impressed by three mountain lions, one of which is standing right up against the chain link fence.

“Those are huge!” exclaims one excited child.

The kids stalk past the huge cats, waving their glow sticks and flashlights.

To help keep the scare factor low, many of the actors participating in the tour are kids. At a newly-installed staged scene, which is supposed to be Area 51, a crashed UFO is shrouded in green, glowing lights. Gavin Marsh, 11 years old, is dressed head to toe in white plastic, as he is playing a hazmat worker on cleanup duty.

One of his brothers is dressed in a suit — he is playing a government worker. Another brother is dressed as an invisible alien; even though he is really in plain sight, the group is supposed to imagine the government workers cannot see him.

Tucker Marsh, 8, and his brother, Gavin Marsh, 11, play an alien and hazmat worker at the center’s Area 51 site.

And while none of the actors jump out or grab people, some may induce a bit of a fright. During one particularly dark stretch of trail, one actor, face painted white like an evil clown, clicks on his flashlight and says “boo.”

After the tour, attendee Krystal Bevans recalls her experience.

“Very exciting, very good. Very, very nice decorations,” she said. “We had a good time as always. It’s very worth the trip to come to it if you’ve never been.”

This story is part of an upcoming Halloween episode of Inside Appalachia, which features ghost tales and legends from across Appalachia.

The W.Va. Monster That Crept Into International Pop Culture

West Virginia folklore includes many alien and monster-like characters, such as Mothman, Big Foot and the Yeti. One such monster has made a big resurgence in the past few years, becoming a part of the state’s pop culture.

This story is part of a Halloween episode of Inside Appalachia, which features ghost tales and legends from across Appalachia.

The story of the Flatwoods Monster began September 12, 1952, in the small town of Flatwoods, West Virginia. It was 7 o’clock at night, and some schoolboys were playing football. They saw an object falling from the sky that looked to be on fire, said Andrew Smith, executive director of the Braxton County Visitors Center and founder of Flatwoods Monster Museum.

“Something, something bright, maybe a fireball, appeared to fly overhead and land on a nearby hilltop,” he said.

A copy of the original drawing of the Flatwoods Monster. An illustrator was hired to interpret what the mom and children described they saw September 12, 1952.

The boys and two adults hiked up the hill to check out this “fireball.” Apparently, there was an overwhelming rotten-egg smell in the air that burned their eyes.

“They see movement from their left coming from the woods,” Andrew said.

They shined a flashlight and saw a 10-foot tall monster hovering above the ground, spewing smoke and gas. Its head was red, and spade-shaped, with a distinct point at the top. It had glowing eyes, with spindly arms and claws. Its body was covered in what looked to be green armor.

“Even though it was floating quietly, it was emitting a shrieking sound,” Andrew said.

The group ran home and reported the incident to the police. Other than a lingering smell, there was not much evidence left behind.

That is the basic origin story of the Flatwoods Monster. It was 67 years ago, but the legend lives on.

The telling of the story has varied over the years. For example, some people think there was a government conspiracy involved. Other versions mention a dog that died from the gas that poured out of the monster. Even more, the actual look of the monster is constantly changing.

The Flatwoods Monster Museum has become an epicenter of all the different interpretations of the monster. It is in an old pharmacy building, in the small downtown of Sutton, West Virginia. The storefront windows advertise the museum in different languages, for that international appeal.

Andrew Smith is the executive director of the Braxton County Visitor’s Center. He founded the museum too, although he says originally the Flatwoods Monster collection could fit on one small shelf.

It was originally supposed to just be the Braxton County Visitor Center, but what started as one, small shelf of Flatwoods Monster paraphernalia turned into an entire museum.

“I would say easily, over 95 percent of our traffic is because we’re a Flatwoods Monster Museum, not because we’re a visitor’s center,” Andrew said.

A menacing interpretation of the monster on a T-shirt. Some of the monster have a friendlier look than others.

The museum is one large room. At the entrance, people are greeted by a life-sized Flatwoods Monster costume. The walls are lined with tall shelves displaying many interpretations of the monster, like drawings, figurines, lanterns, stickers, T-shirts and video games. Some look cute and inviting, while others have evil eyes and bulging muscles.

At the back of the room is another life-sized Flatwoods Monster, made from a green graduation gown, PVC pipe and a red, circular pizza pan. Another one sits on top of a shelf – it is just the head of the monster. Its menacing eyes peer down at guests. It has a bony, dark red face, hollowed out cheekbones and a grim reaper-like cloak.

“I have no idea where that came from,” Andrew said, accompanied with a nervous laugh.

Three different handmade interpretations of the monster in the museum. The one on the far left is made out of a graduation gown, PVC pipe and a red pizza pan.

He said that a lot of the collection has been donated by artists and collectors. The museum has also become a hub for all things spooky in West Virginia. It is a place for people to swap not just Flatwoods Monster knowledge, but ghost stories and UFO sightings.

Colby White, a Morgantown-based musician, has some merchandise from his band on display. Captain Catfeesh is a punk band with an Appalachian-folk music flare. A lot of their tunes are based on regional folklore, such as Bigfoot, the Yeti and of course, the Flatwoods Monster.

One of the Flatwoods Monster inspired songs is called ‘The Phantom of Flatwoods.’ It is a traditional West Virginian folk song written at the time of the sighting by a local named Don Lamb; however, Colby arranged the music to it.

A verse from the song reads, “Oh Phantom of Flatwoods from moon or from Mars, maybe from God, not from the stars. Please tell us why you fly over our trees – the end of the world or an omen of peace?”

phantomsong_mp3.mp3

Listen to the song here.

Colby has a tattoo of the monster on his forearm. Most people interpret the tale as scary or evil, but he sees it differently. He thinks the Flatwoods Monster was just taking in its surroundings, when a group of kids and their mom approached from behind.

Colby White’s Flatwood Monster tattoo. It is actually a tattoo of a lamp made to look like the monster – which can be found in the museum.

“Here comes a bunch of kids, a woman shining a flashlight in this dude’s eyes or this creature’s eyes,” Colby says. “Next thing he knows he’s getting blinded and freaks out and starts vibrating and basically throws up some weird oil on them. So, I think they startled him. That’s my theory, I think they startled the Flatwoods Monster.”

The monster surprisingly has a Japanese following that Andrew thinks began between the 60s and 80s. The character is featured in some older Japanese video games and was also made into figurines. They have an anime, cartoon look — with bright colors and a large, toothy mouth.

Andrew has used the Flatwoods Monster to try to boost tourism in the area. He even runs online ads in Japanese, which have proven to be fruitful. Andrew said a Japanese woman visited the museum last year after seeing the ad.

“She had seen this drawing her whole life, but she had no idea it was based in America or based in West Virginia. But learning that it was, she did this deep dive into West Virginia,” he said.

A Japanese interpretation of the Flatwoods Monster. Andrew says there is a large Japanese following of the monster.

There are also different names associated with the monster like, the Phantom of Flatwoods, Braxton County Monster and the Flatwoods Green Monster. Andrew said in a board game it is referred to as “Braxxie.”

“Braxxie has been a word for maybe three years and how often I hear people using it is amazing,” he said. “And they use it like it’s old.”

There are even handmade wooden chairs painted to look like the monster. All five were built by a local carpenter and are placed throughout Braxton County. They are 10 feet tall with built-in stairs to reach the seat – they look more like a throne.

Recently, Andrew also launched a social media campaign using the chairs.

“You’re actually preserving the history and memory of the Flatwoods Monster and taking these pictures and putting them on the internet,” Andrew said.

Andrew wearing part of the Flatwoods Monster costume. More than likely, he says if you see someone in the costume it is him.

Andrew said he believes the group saw something that September night in 1952. As to whether it was the Flatwoods Monster, Andrew said he will leave it up to the imagination.

And Colby, the musician, said a part of him would love to spot the monster in the wild, but he also likes the mystery of it all – the unknown. It gives him something to believe in.

This story is part of an upcoming Halloween episode of Inside Appalachia, which features ghost tales and legends across Appalachia.

This story is part of the Inside Appalachia Folkways Reporting Project. Subscribe to the podcast to hear more stories of Appalachian folklife, arts, and culture.

Hauntings From The Civil War, A Snapshot Of The Ghost Tours Of Harpers Ferry

Harpers Ferry, Jefferson County is well known for its American Civil War history. The town was the site of John Brown’s Raid, the Battle of Harpers Ferry, and the town changed hands from Union to Confederate several times.

Harpers Ferry saw so much destruction during the war that many now say it’s a town home to ghosts and hauntings.

This story is part of a Halloween episode of Inside Appalachia, which features ghost tales and legends from across Appalachia.

Up a series of steep, stone steps and just beyond a screeching gate is the entrance to the historic St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church in Harpers Ferry.

Built in 1833, it still holds mass on Sunday, and is open for special occasions like Christmas. But at night, and year-round, its courtyard is the meeting place for the Ghost Tours of Harpers Ferry – said to be the oldest ghost tour in America at nearly 50 years old.

On a recent night, about 50 people have gathered to attend the two-hour tour. There are parents with young children, older couples, and a handful of teenagers. Many tour attendees are from out of town, like Melanie Ray, from Baltimore, Maryland. Ray said she and her boyfriend were visiting the area and looking for something to do.

“I love anything that has anything to do with history, and Harpers Ferry has a lot of pretty bad history, like a lot of bad things happened,” Ray said.

That history is what makes Harpers Ferry a pretty cool backdrop for spooky tales, and tourists like Ray are intrigued by that.

Not everyone believes in the stories, but some do.

Rick Garland took over the Ghost Tours of Harpers Ferry 10 years ago. He’s a local historian and tour guide. During the day, he runs a four-hour historical tour in Harpers Ferry, but at night he tells tales of hauntings.

The Ghost Tours of Harpers Ferry was originally run by a woman named Shirley Dougherty, who started the tour in 1970. She has since passed away. Garland continues Dougherty’s legacy because her family asked him to, and because he loves history. Garland also believes in ghosts, but he has a sense of humor about it.

“Is there anybody here who does not believe in ghosts? What are you doing here? I’m only kidding,” Garland said to the laughing crowd.

Garland telling one of his ghost stories to a large crowd in Harpers Ferry, W.Va.

With his lantern in hand, Rick takes the large group around the town, highlighting spots that are known for ghostly sightings. He encourages folks to take photos – just in case they might catch something paranormal.

Rick tells many ghost stories on the tour. One of them describes how in the 1980s, a man and his three children moved into an apartment in town, but every night, the father heard a crying baby in his bedroom.

“A few minutes later, the crying sound started up for a third time,” Garland said to the crowd. “It was louder this time, and he’s getting very fed up with this. So, now [he] says louder, ‘I told you, you have to shut up,’ and the moment that got out of his mouth, he saw something flash across his bedroom.”

But when the father goes to check it out, there’s nothing there. Later, the crying starts again, but this time, when the father yells, there’s a crashing sound almost like an explosion of bricks.

Rick describes a possible explanation for the haunting. Apparently, a diary was discovered, written by a little girl named Anne, who lived in that building during the Battle of Harpers Ferry in 1862.

“Anne continues to write, ‘when the Confederates are bombing our town there’s a woman upstairs in this house on the top floor with a newborn baby, a little infant in her arms, rocking the baby back and forth,” Garland tells the crowd.

Garland said the diary entry describes how a cannonball smashed into the house killing the baby and severely injuring the mother.

The crowd is silent.

A section of the town of Harpers Ferry, W.Va. as seen during a recent ghost tour.

A lot of the ghost stories Rick tells are connected in some way to the Civil War.

By the end of the tour, many who came out, chat with Rick, ask questions and share photos of what they captured, including one woman, Cindy Rhodes from Charlotte, North Carolina.

Rhodes and her husband travel all over the country to check out ghost tours like the one in Harpers Ferry. The history, for them, is the biggest draw.

“That’s what they’re more fun for, you know what I mean?” Rhodes said. “There’s a ghost here and there, but they’re more fun for the history, I think.”

And for some who come out to tours like this one, like Brandon Schaefer of Baltimore, they like to be scared and to run into something spooky.

“I like the haunting stuff, and I always hope to see a ghost, so that’s mainly why we came out here,” Schaefer said.

Being a tour guide is Rick Garland’s full-time job, and though he does other historical tours, the ghost tour, is his favorite.

“It’s great to see how this affects other people,” he noted. “So, if you can entertain them, whether it’s with the history part of it, or with the ghost tour part of it, or the spooky part of it, or with a joke, the fact is, that they want to be entertained; they came out to be entertained, and if you can do that for them, they feel good, you feel good, everybody has a good time.”

Child's Halloween Treat was Marijuana Derivative, Not Heroin

Updated on Friday, November 3 at 2:39 p.m.

West Virginia police say lab results on a substance found in a child’s trick-or-treat bag came back as a derivative of marijuana, not heroin as originally thought.

WSAZ-TV reports the substance was field-tested on Tuesday night in Oak Hill and had tested as heroin. No one was injured, including the 3-year-old girl whose bag it was found in.

The substance was then tested by the West Virginia State Police lab.

Oak Hill Police Chief Mike Whisman says the discovery doesn’t change the severity of the offense.

Whisman says the girl’s mother had called police after finding a dark substance wrapped in a glove.

No arrests have been made in the case.

Original Post:

Police say heroin was found in a child’s trick-or-treat bag in West Virginia.

Oak Hill Police Chief Mike Whisman told news outlets that the 3-year-old girl’s mother found a dark substance wrapped in a glove, and called police. Preliminary results from a field test revealed it was heroin.

No one was hurt. The mother, Stacey Norris, told WOAY-TV she initially thought the glove was the result of someone playing a joke.

Police say they will send the substance to the State Police Crime Lab in Charleston for official confirmation. There are no suspects at this time.

The chief said the substance likely came from Hidden Valley, an area where hundreds of children go trick-or-treating each Halloween.

Jack-o-Lanterns with PBS KIDS Favorites

Planning your Halloween decor? Carve your favorite PBS Kids characters on that pumpkin.

Check out the possibilities: Print out your favorite and begin to create a work of art!

A Very Merry Public Radio Halloween Playlist

Between ghosts and ghouls and Grace (Potter), last night’s Spooktacular edition of ‘A Change of Tune’ was a real (skeleton) body of work.

Minus the devilish ACDC / Van Halen mashup and the thrilling Imogen Heap finale, you can hear last night’s wicked playlist in the Spotify box below.

Have a song in mind for our next monster mash? Dying to hear a song on next Saturday’s show? Let us know! Send us a tweet @achangeoftune. You can also leave a rating/review for the show on our Facebook and email comments to feedback @ wvpublic dot org.