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Witches, Ghosts, and Signs: Folklore of the Southern Appalachians
Book by Gainer, Patrick W.
177 pages, Paperback
First published March 25, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
August 25, 2011
Okay - I'm a little biased! This was written by my grandfather. He used to tell us these stories, and I feel so blessed to have this book so I can pass the stories down. I remember one summer night when we were visiting him in his Tanner, West Virginia, home, he was telling us ghost stories, and I was so scared that I went up to bed. The walls were thin, and I could still hear the sound of his voice, though I couldn't hear what he was saying. Even the sound of his voice scared me! I finally fell asleep, but woke up in the night to a God-awful noise. I looked at my little glow-in-the-dark watch, and it was 1am. I was afraid the noise was a ghost, and then I remembered Grandpa saying that roosters crow at midnight, and I thought that might be it, except that it was 1am. Then I remembered about daylight-savings time and realized that the roosters thought it was midnight, so I went back to sleep!
I also love his folk songs. I wish "Folk Songs of the West Virginia Hills" would come back in print. I think my uncle was working on it. I am also blessed that we have recordings of him singing and telling stories.
I also love his folk songs. I wish "Folk Songs of the West Virginia Hills" would come back in print. I think my uncle was working on it. I am also blessed that we have recordings of him singing and telling stories.
September 23, 2010
It wasn’t until I opened this book that I realized I had read it before, a good 15 years prior. I had a flashback to sitting in Big Boy, reading passages out loud to my none-too-interested mom.
Witches, Ghosts, and Signs collects rural versions of the ghost and witch tales that seem so ingrained in human culture. Here you’ll find the typical ghosts: phantom hitchhikers, headless horsemen, tragic lovers. Often, the familiar stories have a regional twist: I was especially amused by the idea of people becoming witches by firing their rifles at the rising sun while taking oaths against God.
This book is structured a bit differently from most other ghost story collections. It reads more like a Foxfire collection, tallying folk medicines, superstitions, and even Appalachian speaking patterns. Witches, Ghosts, and Signs will be enjoyed by fans of folklore and traditional mountain culture.
I read this for my book group.
Witches, Ghosts, and Signs collects rural versions of the ghost and witch tales that seem so ingrained in human culture. Here you’ll find the typical ghosts: phantom hitchhikers, headless horsemen, tragic lovers. Often, the familiar stories have a regional twist: I was especially amused by the idea of people becoming witches by firing their rifles at the rising sun while taking oaths against God.
This book is structured a bit differently from most other ghost story collections. It reads more like a Foxfire collection, tallying folk medicines, superstitions, and even Appalachian speaking patterns. Witches, Ghosts, and Signs will be enjoyed by fans of folklore and traditional mountain culture.
I read this for my book group.
March 25, 2018
Interesting look at some of the folktales and superstitions of Appalachia in the early 20th century. Gainer captures some interesting tales and pieces of mythos, but this book doesn't do much to tie those pieces together.
Read "A Telltale Lilac Bush" if you want a better look at West Virginia ghost stories.
Read "A Telltale Lilac Bush" if you want a better look at West Virginia ghost stories.
October 22, 2016
A study of West Virginia folklore. The collection includes ghost stories, superstitions, folk cures, etc. A great read for a true West Virginia historian.
May 26, 2021
I didn’t exactly read every page of text in this, given my purpose for reading it and the way it’s organized (which is to say, I’m using this a reference for some fictional world-building rather than as research for a personal practice or academic paper), but I still think this is a very interesting and worthwhile book if you’re interested in Appalachian folklore. This book has six main sections which begin with an overview and then provide a series of examples. So the first section on speech gives an overview of how people speak in the region and etiquette/customs around language, and then gives a legitimate list of phrases and pronunciations. The section on ghostlore provides an introduction to what this means, and then includes a series of related folktales and stories. The same for the witchcraft section. The chapter on folk cures is a literal list of items and uses. This means the book may not serve as something you read straight through (I tended to read the chapter overview and then skim through the examples), but is still very insightful and useful for learning more about folk customs in this part of the country.
October 3, 2011
Great book. I really loved it. I has some pretty good ghost and witch stories in it, and superstitions and other great stuff.
January 24, 2016
One of my favorites.
June 17, 2013
Interesting read, if very outdated (if you plan on using any of the folk cures he lists, PLEASE google them beforehand.)
September 25, 2022
I'm obsessed with collecting folklore and ghost stories, so naturally when I stopped at the New River Gorge two weeks ago in West Virginia, I had to by this. I've acquired quite the collection over the years and didn't have anything from the Mountaineer State, so I figured why the heck not.
Patrick W. Gainer was a professor who collected stories of folklore, witchcraft, and superstitions across the state of West Virginia in the middle part of the last century. This book is essentially divided into several parts: the introduction, folk traditions of West Virginia, ghost stories, superstitions, and witchcraft.
Overall, this was a good read. Gainer collected these stories and tales at an opportune time, as many alive could recall the more superstitious and pre-industrial days of West Virginia. It's interesting to note that West Virginia was mostly settled by people from the British Isles and Germany, so many of the stories come from there and have been "rebranded" with a West Virginia theme if you will. There's also a decent amount of Native American influence in this book, as once upon of time European and pre-Columbian American cultures mixed.
Folklore is oral traditions that are passed down by word of mouth, which these stories were. I personally enjoy folklore because it tells an indirect story of the people telling it. Again, it's important that Gainer and others recorded and published many of these tales as otherwise they would now be long forgotten now.
The ghost stories were pretty repetitive to be fair. Only one or two jumped out and grabbed my interest. I mostly skimmed through the witchcraft section (which is not a guide to witchcraft, but stories of witches from West Virginia). The sections on traditions, tales, and superstitions are a great reference for future use, as words like "allus" (always), folk medicine, and corn shucking are now mostly lost on the present day.
Patrick W. Gainer was a professor who collected stories of folklore, witchcraft, and superstitions across the state of West Virginia in the middle part of the last century. This book is essentially divided into several parts: the introduction, folk traditions of West Virginia, ghost stories, superstitions, and witchcraft.
Overall, this was a good read. Gainer collected these stories and tales at an opportune time, as many alive could recall the more superstitious and pre-industrial days of West Virginia. It's interesting to note that West Virginia was mostly settled by people from the British Isles and Germany, so many of the stories come from there and have been "rebranded" with a West Virginia theme if you will. There's also a decent amount of Native American influence in this book, as once upon of time European and pre-Columbian American cultures mixed.
Folklore is oral traditions that are passed down by word of mouth, which these stories were. I personally enjoy folklore because it tells an indirect story of the people telling it. Again, it's important that Gainer and others recorded and published many of these tales as otherwise they would now be long forgotten now.
The ghost stories were pretty repetitive to be fair. Only one or two jumped out and grabbed my interest. I mostly skimmed through the witchcraft section (which is not a guide to witchcraft, but stories of witches from West Virginia). The sections on traditions, tales, and superstitions are a great reference for future use, as words like "allus" (always), folk medicine, and corn shucking are now mostly lost on the present day.
June 2, 2021
I began looking at books by James Gay Jones on Appalachian folklore and ghost stories and in the process I found a book by Professor Patrick W. Gainer of West Virginia titled Witches Ghosts and Signs that I continue to return to because of his decisive stand against negative stereotyping that has been directed toward Appalachia and the disassociation that it has caused internally. Appalachia remains in many respects a region regaining a lost identity. The work that Patrick W. Gainer did as a scholar in Witches Ghosts and Signs has helped to redirect more positively the perception of the culture within itself and at large.
August 31, 2020
If you're curious about ghost stories, folk cures, local superstitions, dialect, and/or Appalachian culture, you'll find this text great fun and helpful to your research! Gainer includes extensive lists of phrases heard while living in the Southern Appalachian region, such as folk cures and superstitions ("tie a string around your thumb and your warts will disappear"). The ghost stories are also wonderful fun--perfect for campfires and Halloween gatherings. Come by the Hocking College Library and check it out!
February 19, 2020
This is a genuinely interesting and informative book about the culture and beliefs of the Appalachian region by a person who was well steeped in it himself and educated others on the subject for many years. Not a bad go-to for understanding the area and getting a better feel for the atmosphere.
April 27, 2020
I found the book an entertaining collection of West Virginian folk tales of ghosts and witchcraft, but also containing good lists of folk life and folk cures of the area in times past. More an ethnography than a book of scary stories, many of the ghost tales are surprisingly mild and evocative.
December 29, 2019
Excellent resource on the folklore of West Virginia. I especially liked the section on the speech of the Mountaineers.
The manner of sharing the folktales is very accessible and enjoyable.
The manner of sharing the folktales is very accessible and enjoyable.
September 7, 2023
I wanted so much more than what this gave. I want to go research and find the origin of half of these. That said, it was a fantastic collection of folklore.
February 6, 2024
Didn't get to read the whole thing because I had to turn it in but I enjoyed what I got to read!
December 7, 2020
I thoroughly loved these old West Virginia folk tales. It's wonderful that Dr Gainer had the foresight to record and preserve them, or they would have been lost otherwise.
February 16, 2023
I stumbled upon this book while searching for a book to supplement my Appalachian folklore studies. This little books is a GEM. I've recommended it to so many people and will continue to.
May 24, 2014
Dr. Patrick W. Gainer was a professor of folklore, and this book is the result of his time spent cataloguing oral folklore from the Southern Appalachians (West Virginia). The "mountaineer" communities of this area used to be very isolated, giving them a distinct culture within America. This distinctive subculture interested me, so I decided to read this on a whim.
Viewed as a project to protect a cultural heritage, this book deserves a lot of praise. It catalogues superstitions, folk medicine, and stories of the supernatural, most of which will likely be lost to the area's more modern generations.
That does not, however always make for entertaining reading. I was hoping for a lot of well-crafted yarns and local mythology, but instead many of the stories are repetitious or frustratingly brief. Here's a summary of a typical story:
That's not a direct quote, but it's only slightly shorter than the actual story. This is of course no fault of the author, since he was merely recording these stories as he was told them, but it makes this book's value more academic than entertaining.
Viewed as a project to protect a cultural heritage, this book deserves a lot of praise. It catalogues superstitions, folk medicine, and stories of the supernatural, most of which will likely be lost to the area's more modern generations.
That does not, however always make for entertaining reading. I was hoping for a lot of well-crafted yarns and local mythology, but instead many of the stories are repetitious or frustratingly brief. Here's a summary of a typical story:
A man recounted having seen a ghost one night while walking near a graveyard. Their dog and horses got spooked, and he never went there again. His mother said it was the ghost of a man killed in an accident, but he may have been murdered.
That's not a direct quote, but it's only slightly shorter than the actual story. This is of course no fault of the author, since he was merely recording these stories as he was told them, but it makes this book's value more academic than entertaining.
March 4, 2016
I purchased this book in hopes it would be mostly folklore about witches, but in all actuality there was only a chapter on witches. The tales were good, but they weren't anything I haven't read elsewhere (witches shapeshifting into animals, killed/injured by silver bullets, putting spells on livestock, etc.) A good read, but not quite what I was hoping for. The writing was okay, but the stories could have been elaborated on.
July 16, 2020
Excellent resource! Great entertainment.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews