It's hard to believe, but I wrote that way back in July, 2022. The Michigan Dogman is unique to my state in the US, but we do also have Bigfoot. The Dogman folklore can be easily traced, and is mostly the result of black bears further North, mixed with an overactive imagination. But it's still fun to read the accounts.
My hometown: South Lake Tahoe--- we have Tessie, which is a rip-off of the Loch Ness monster. Some fishermen swear they've seen it, even some reputable people. I even wrote a novella about it lol.
My current home in Shiga, Japan--lots of folklore but one that creeps me out is: a giant demon centipede that was big enough to wrap around a mountain and had fire in its eyes. A samurai killed it after spitting on his arrow (poison to centipedes apparently) and shooting it.
in north east england we have the LAMBTON WORM and THE ALLENDALE WOLF which wolf gets burned ritually at the summer folk festival ... we love burning shit up here....
My mom used to tell a story about the Summerville Light, which was supposedly the spirit of a railroad worker who had been decapitated by a hook. He would grab the bag of mail as the train rolled through town. One day, when he grabbed the bag, the hook caught him around the neck and took his head off. They never found the head. The Light was supposed to be either the worker looking for his head, or his wife searching for it. My mom told me one incident where some drunk sailors from Charleston in a cloth-topped convertible went to the road where the Light could be seen, and they mocked it. The Light touched the top of the convertible, set it on fire, and the sailors burned to death. That image has really stuck with me through the years.
Love folklore, which fueled my love for horror at a young age. My family is from the Caribbean and there’s a ton of horror folklore I grew up hearing (mostly as a way for my parents to scare me into doing what they said lol). For instance, we know to walk into our houses backwards when coming home in the after dark, late hours, as evil spirits can and will follow you home and into your house, so by walking into your house backwards you prevent this.
Growing up in Southern California, folklore wasn't part of my life. This was a place where everything was new, and as soon as it looked dated, it was torn down. My parents barely talked about their families, let alone folklore. But it turns out that we were living in SoCal during the golden age of serial killers. That's scary, right?
I posted this in February, a romance horror based on Greek mythology.
Love this--just subscribed to the publication. Folklore is such a fun topic--here in New England we have plenty to choose from. :) Some of my favorites are skin changers, Bigfoot, giant bats, and of course, the traditional vampire stories.
Folklore shows up in several of my novels, which are all set in Vermont. I loved the research nearly as much as the writing. Glad to have found you/this publication, and looking forward to checking out some of the other commenters' stories.
I love the idea of bringing folklore into the mix. MM does a nice job with blending a little history (you absolutely need this as a writer) with evocative language. I'm here for it.
https://open.substack.com/pub/futurethief/p/the-michigan-dogman
It's hard to believe, but I wrote that way back in July, 2022. The Michigan Dogman is unique to my state in the US, but we do also have Bigfoot. The Dogman folklore can be easily traced, and is mostly the result of black bears further North, mixed with an overactive imagination. But it's still fun to read the accounts.
Scary hiking story! Poor guys...
Thanks for the shoutout!
In my part of the U.S., we have a legend about lights which appear to lead travelers and then disappear, much like will-o-the-wisps.
My hometown: South Lake Tahoe--- we have Tessie, which is a rip-off of the Loch Ness monster. Some fishermen swear they've seen it, even some reputable people. I even wrote a novella about it lol.
My current home in Shiga, Japan--lots of folklore but one that creeps me out is: a giant demon centipede that was big enough to wrap around a mountain and had fire in its eyes. A samurai killed it after spitting on his arrow (poison to centipedes apparently) and shooting it.
in north east england we have the LAMBTON WORM and THE ALLENDALE WOLF which wolf gets burned ritually at the summer folk festival ... we love burning shit up here....
My latest folk horror yarn: 🌲💀
https://automaticwriter.substack.com/p/danel
My mom used to tell a story about the Summerville Light, which was supposedly the spirit of a railroad worker who had been decapitated by a hook. He would grab the bag of mail as the train rolled through town. One day, when he grabbed the bag, the hook caught him around the neck and took his head off. They never found the head. The Light was supposed to be either the worker looking for his head, or his wife searching for it. My mom told me one incident where some drunk sailors from Charleston in a cloth-topped convertible went to the road where the Light could be seen, and they mocked it. The Light touched the top of the convertible, set it on fire, and the sailors burned to death. That image has really stuck with me through the years.
Love folklore, which fueled my love for horror at a young age. My family is from the Caribbean and there’s a ton of horror folklore I grew up hearing (mostly as a way for my parents to scare me into doing what they said lol). For instance, we know to walk into our houses backwards when coming home in the after dark, late hours, as evil spirits can and will follow you home and into your house, so by walking into your house backwards you prevent this.
Growing up in Southern California, folklore wasn't part of my life. This was a place where everything was new, and as soon as it looked dated, it was torn down. My parents barely talked about their families, let alone folklore. But it turns out that we were living in SoCal during the golden age of serial killers. That's scary, right?
I posted this in February, a romance horror based on Greek mythology.
https://jennifermorrow.substack.com/p/hard-to-love
Love this--just subscribed to the publication. Folklore is such a fun topic--here in New England we have plenty to choose from. :) Some of my favorites are skin changers, Bigfoot, giant bats, and of course, the traditional vampire stories.
Folklore shows up in several of my novels, which are all set in Vermont. I loved the research nearly as much as the writing. Glad to have found you/this publication, and looking forward to checking out some of the other commenters' stories.
I love the idea of bringing folklore into the mix. MM does a nice job with blending a little history (you absolutely need this as a writer) with evocative language. I'm here for it.
Over here, our folklore is mostly ghosts 👻
https://www.jacksonville.com/story/entertainment/2021/09/20/haunted-places-jacksonville-paranormal-guide-first-coast/8349582002/