The Cold, Cold Hand: Stories of Ghosts and Haunts from the Appalachian Foothills

I picked this book up from a co-worker one day and read it straight through. One chapter caught my attention the most "The Witch". I soon realized that the Church talked about in the story was in a neighboring town so instantly I assembled a group of friends and we were off. I had heard about "Tilly Ben" a church in Blueridge, GA before however I didn't know all the details. I had heard that the minister of the church had hung himself in the church and thats why it was closed. However the book said that a witch was buried at the churches graveyard and thats why everyone who stepped foot on the grounds would be cursed until they stepped off the property of the church. The first night we stopped at a local grocery store and asked directions and everyone had their own story to tell us about the old church. It seemed that all the locals had ventured up to the church at one point or another. After getting directions (bad directions by the way) we were off travelling down Aska rd. Well me and my friends would spend three futile hours looking for the church, but no luck. The next day we went back with someone who had been there before, and boy it was creepy. Set back way in the mountains across the creepiest one lane bridge you will ever travel on sits the now infamous Church that we had sought out. The church is small and run-down, and the graveyard stretches across the land looking like it doesn't end. The property is surrounded by endless woods and the moon was covered by dark clouds this particular night. We were all pretty excited at first, but soon we all became scared. Two of my friends decided to explore the backside of the church while the rest of us began searching for the grave of the famous witch we had heard about from the book. After about five minutes of searching we heard screams and my two friends were running to the car. Instantly the rest of us freaked and we all ran back into my Jeep Cherokee. It turns out that they had heard rustling in the woods, and then they heard a bang that sounded like it came from inside the church. We then left because everyone was freaked, however I am planning to go back so I can find the witches grave and perform the ritual that this book tells of, and maybe I'll actually see a ghost.So pick up this book because the tales are real and who knows you could end up on a ghost or witch hunt of your own, hopefully yours will be more fruitful then mine!!!!

An excellent book containing many folklore tales. What makes it especially interesting is that the stories are not hearsay, or packaged to make them more palatable. They are written as they were told by the people, and are communicated as if you were sitting on the front porch of a cabin sitting high in the Appalachian mountains. 'The Curse' is one of my favorites.

This book, and its predecessor, Ghosts and Haunts from the Appalachian foothills bring to life the old ghost stories of the Eastern mountain region of North America. As each story is retold, it is invigorated with new life. Sure, the stories have been modified a bit for reading (I know, living around the places of many of the stories all of my life), but they still keep the stories chillingly alive. Kudos to James Burchill, Linda Crider, and Peggy Kendrick for immortalizing these stories for future readers.

I am a college student at Appalachian State and I found this book to be full of very interesting stories. Keep in mind however, that if you are looking for a collection of terror and gruesome descriptions of poltergeists, you don't want this book. The stories in this book are the kind you hear from your grandma, the kind that are real enough to give you the Shivers. I recommend this book to anyone living in the foothills of Appalachia. The stories held my attention...I couldn't put the book down 'til I finished!

This book is filled with chilling tales that don't take a lot of time to read. It is wonderful if you want to take the book along on a camping trip and read the stories by campfire. The scariest aspect of the whole book is that these stories are TRUE. The title story, The Cold, Cold Hand, was my personal favorite. All and all, it is a great read for anyone who wants to be scared. Sincerely, "Happy" Jack Walker