As the young woman walks away, Tim points to my beer, “You’re almost done with that. I’ll get you another. You’ll want it for what I am about to tell you.” “Great. Thanks!” I holler as I throw back my first gooey cheese stick. I’m enjoying the conversation and wonderingContinue Reading

I like watching birds in the rain. I’ve a good view of some crows now as a steady patter falls and splatters over the Appalachian Mountains on a chilly, wet, dreary, mid-October afternoon. The rain fell heavy in the early morning, but, now the water lingers as a cool, constantContinue Reading

George Washington Harris was born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, on March 20, 1814. In 1819, Harris moved to Knoxville, Tennessee with his half-brother Samuel Bell, who was considerably older than Harris and to whom the latter eventually served as an apprenticed metalworker. Harris’s formal education was scant. Never settling intoContinue Reading

Welcome, readers. We have now come to the end of our journey. I hope everyone has avoided our creatures thus far. Hopefully, this series has better prepared readers for any future encounters. Let’s explore and investigate the following creatures together. XVI. Tennessee Wildman   First Encounter: 1800s in McNairy County,Continue Reading

In part two of our series, we examine creatures from the Kentucky Hellhound to the dreaded Snarly Yow. Our journey takes us into moonshine country and skyward, then makes a daring turn toward the woods and on thoroughfares. Take care on this trek, lest you get lost and are foundContinue Reading

In your long hikes and woodland quests, have you ever heard some noise you can’t quite place? A growl, perhaps, or even a howl? Have you shuddered when leaves rustled or a twig snapped? Walking on your way home in dark hollers, did you have a creepy feeling that youContinue Reading

The Dancing Fiddle was going to close down. It had stood at the corner of the main street since most anyone could remember. Bill bought it off the old man who had it before him, and now, as he was old in turn, he had no one to leave itContinue Reading

Grace put the top down on the old Miata and we burned the open road, our hair spinning wild as Medusa in the crisp late spring. We should travel to Monrovia, California to see Upton Sinclair’s house, she had said, and take one of those cross-country road trips on ourContinue Reading