Appalachia Mountain Folklore

by Micheal Rivers

The mountains of the Appalachia abound with tales of ghosts and mysterious places. Covering 16 counties, 40 spine-tingling stories will have you traveling the roads and paths of those who have walked before you and listening to their sorrowful tales. Along the way, visit The Hanging Tree in Cabarrus County, Battle Mansion in Buncombe County, Green River Plantation in Rutherford County, and the House on the Hill in Jackson County. Sit around the campfire and hear stories of lore about the legend of the Bald, the warning of the Hunter's Moon, and the disappearance of an entire hunting party. Superstition, folklore, and the paranormal keep the spirits alive in the Appalachian region. Will you be the next one to visit with the ghosts of Cherohala?

Genres: Mythology, Nonfiction, Research

160 pages, Paperback

First published November 28, 2012

About the author

BESTSELLING SUPERNATURAL THRILLER AUTHOR

I write under my real name Micheal Baugham and use the pen name of Micheal Rivers for my fiction and non-fictional tales of the paranormal. My Cherokee heritage brings me to the spiritual nature of the world around us. Thirty years of experience investigating the paranormal has brought me to the conclusion that there is another world we do not fully understand. I weave many of the experiences into each of my supernatural stories.

Travel Channel asked me to appear as a guest on Mysteries of the Outdoors, Season 2 that originally aired in July 2017.

I'm currently working on a series detailing the lives of people involved with the side of government few have the privilege to witness. First Strike, the first in the series was released in 2018 and written under my real name, Micheal Baugham.
https://www.amazon.com/First-Strike-D...

Authors that have influenced my writing are Edgar Allen Poe, Alexandre Dumas, Henry David Thoreau, W. K. Mashburn, Jr. and Don Pendleton.

My life has been well spent growing up on the inner banks of North Carolina with extensive travel. I am the lead investigator for the Smokey Mountain Ghost Trackers. The passions in my life are my wife, family, Boxer Delilah affectionately known as DeeDee, and the great outdoors. I am a USMC veteran and served during Vietnam.

Contact me to be a guest for your book club, blog, or radio/TV show at mdbaugham@yahoo.com


Visit Micheal's website http://michealrivers.com

Follow him on Twitter https://twitter.com/micheal_rivers

Chat with him on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MichealRiver...

Smokey Mountain Ghost Trackers https://www.facebook.com/SmokeyMtnGho...



What others are saying about Micheal's books:

"...Like Gilman, Hodgson, and Lovecraft, the richness of dialog is not lacking in Rivers's prose...Rivers does not so much stand upon the shoulders of these giants as he rubs elbows with them."
- Amy K. Marshall, Staff Reviewer, Dark River Press

"...well written, completely engrossing..." - Michael Juvinall, Horror Society


"...I couldn't put the story aside..." - Mallory Heart Reviews


"...I loved this tale of undying love and dedicated friendship ... " - Tracy Riva


“Be the host to your ghost” – quote by Micheal Rivers

Reviews

[Violet Holmes]

I should have known by the weird grammar of the title...

I lived on the Tennessee side of the Appalachian Mountains for many years. I grew up there. The culture, history, and folklore are rich and so fascinating! And for paranormal stories, they are a treasure trove!

This book...missed all those. It is so bland and terribly written. (Yes, I know this is a paranormal encounters book and they often have amateur writing. But I've read and own many. This is by far the worst written.) The grammar, sentence structure, and story telling were all bad. Rivers spent so much time on paranormal stories where he went on and on with speculative questions he'd give half-baked, generic ghost hunter answers to. But then he'd give very brief summaries of encounters had at places that have tons of stories and histories around them. Honestly, how are you going to write a paranormal folklore book about the NC Appalachians and spend so little time on The Devil's Staircase?

Some of the terms/language are outdated. And he also felt the need to write a big block paragraph about how "It must be noted here that all slaves were not treated badly, especially in the State of North Carolina" and the ways some former slaves found prosperity on the plantations they chose to remain on, etc [page 115]. This chapter was about a plantation and two of the ghosts briefly mentioned to be haunting the grounds are black, which apparently warrants a paragraph dedicated to this rhetoric. I was very much lost for words at this point.

I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.

[Heather]

The stories seem interesting, but I'm so distracted by the terrible writing that I can't focus on the content. It's very disjointed, like it was translated from another language; and there are glaring elementary-level errors, like switching tenses multiple times in a single paragraph or using the wrong homonym. The editor really dropped the ball here, to the point where it's difficult to enjoy the book.

[Eric]

This is a cool collection of old Appalachian folklore broken up by the counties that they were originally from. Pretty interesting stuff. Worth looking at, for sure.

[Vanessa Wright]

"Now, you are no doubt questioning what this has to do with folklore. It has everything to do with folklore.

I am not a grammar police or a prose person in the least, but this book was bad. I get better writing from my middle school students. The stories themselves were interesting but I just could not finish the book. I desperately need someone to take these stories and rewrite them.

[Reece Carter]

Great topic, but the prose really fell short for me.

[Ella Brush]

The stories were interesting in concept, but I fear the writing was lacking greatly

[Brooke Vollman]

I really couldn’t enjoy this book because the writing is terrible, unfortunately.

[Gail Gentry]

I'm no stranger to the great fiction stories this author weaves, having read all his books, however this is my first time reading him as a non-fiction author. It's not easy when an author is use to writing one type of genre to switch to another without the writing being a little weak but I am happy to say this is not the case with Appalachia Mountain Folklore. You can read and feel the research that went into the stories. The pictures of the scenes, though not needed to visualize, aid in lending even more impact. The folklore is very real and not imagined and each story captivated me. Micheal Rivers brings it in setting the background with each tale beginning with a history of the county or region and what led up to create the disturbance in these souls spirits. Ghosts and the supernatural, the folklore and actual sightings originate from love to revenge. I highly recommend the book to all readers who enjoy history, folklore and ghost stories. Don't be surprised when you lay the book down at the end you are left with compassion for the departed, a curiosity to visit each haunting, and a fear to stay as far away from there as you can.

[Rabid Readers Reviews]

Rivers is a ghost hunter. His work is written in an engaging fashion peppered with tales of encountered spirits. Having traveled in the author’s subject area, there is an otherworldly nature to the Appalachia Mountain Range that sets it apart from other ranges like the Smokies and the Rockies. There’s a feeling of isolation and solitude and something else. That something else is an indefinable feeling of living history and Rivers’ conveys that sense to beautiful effect in Appalachia Mountain Folklore.

I adored Appalachia Mountain Folklore. Rivers’ non-fiction outing is the perfect companion for a cool Halloween on the porch or for reading in front of a roaring fire to fend off the goosebumps that will inevitably rise.