THE BOO HAG

What if the thing sitting on your chest in the middle of the night wasn't just a nightmare?

Along the Carolina Lowcountry, an old legend tells of a night creature that slips into homes, rides sleeping victims, and steals their breath and strength. But the Boo Hag has a secret: she can remove her own skin. And according to the stories, there are ways to stop her before sunrise.

In this episode of Local Lore Diaries, we're taking the scenic route into Gullah Geechee folklore to uncover the legend of the Boo Hag, the traditions surrounding her, and the frightening experiences that may have helped keep stories like hers alive.

WE'LL EXPLORE:

• The Carolina Lowcountry and the living traditions of the Gullah Geechee people

• The Boo Hag's skin-shedding abilities and why she rides sleeping victims

• The chilling tale of the salt hidden inside a hag's skin

• The plat-eye and other supernatural warnings from the Lowcountry

• Root work, Dr. Buzzard, and traditional spiritual protection

• The legend of the broom that keeps a hag counting until sunrise

• Haint blue and the beliefs surrounding protective porch ceilings

• Historical accounts of night-riding hags in Drums and Shadows

• Similar night-visitor traditions around the world

FACT OR FOLKLORE

Sleep paralysis is a real experience that can leave someone temporarily unable to move, sometimes accompanied by chest pressure or the feeling that another presence is nearby. Could experiences like these help explain why so many cultures developed stories about night visitors? We'll separate what science can tell us from what belongs to the legend, while respecting the cultural traditions that preserved it.

CLOSING THOUGHT

The Boo Hag is more than a frightening creature in a bedtime story. She's part of a living folklore tradition, passed down through generations. Understanding the legend means looking beyond the monster to the people, history, and beliefs behind the tale.

So tonight, Lorekeepers, remember the old warning: Don't let the hag ride you.

REFERENCES & FURTHER READING

• Drums and Shadows: Survival Studies Among the Georgia Coastal Negroes — Georgia Writers' Project, 1940. A collection documenting folklore, spiritual beliefs, and traditions among coastal Georgia communities.
  https://www.sacred-texts.com/afr/das/

• Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor — Learn about the history and living culture of the Gullah Geechee people.
  https://gullahgeecheecorridor.org/

• Cleveland Clinic: Sleep Paralysis — Medical overview of sleep paralysis, its symptoms, and possible causes.
  https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21974-sleep-paralysis

• University of Georgia Press: Drums and Shadows — Background on this important collection of coastal Georgia folklore.
  https://www.ugapress.org/9780820308517/drums-and-shadows/

HAVE A STORY?

Have a local legend, haunted encounter, strange experience, or unexplained story you'd like to share?

Send it to locallorekeepers@gmail.com

Or visit Local Lore Diaries:
https://locallorediaries.com

Your story could become part of a future episode of Local Lore Diaries.

Telling the stories every town whispers about.

The Great New England Vampire Panic

In the winter of 1892, a family in Exeter, Rhode Island, was running out of time. Consumption had already taken a mother and two daughters. Now the only son was dying, too.

The neighbors believed they knew why. One of the dead wasn't resting peacefully in her grave.

What happened next would turn nineteen-year-old Mercy Brown into one of America's most infamous alleged vampires.

But this isn't a story about Dracula or creatures creeping through the night. It's a true historical account of grief, fear, and the desperate things people did when they believed there was nothing left to try.

Join Becca D as we take the scenic route into the Great New England Vampire Panic, where real history and unsettling folklore meet in a quiet Rhode Island churchyard.

WE'LL EXPLORE:

• The Brown Family: How tuberculosis devastated a family and led their neighbors to suspect the dead.

• The Orchard Legend: The Exeter story of Stukeley Tillinghast and the dream that supposedly foretold his family's tragedy.

• Beyond Rhode Island: Other New England families who exhumed their dead in hopes of stopping consumption.

• The Grave Marked JB 55: The remarkable archaeological discovery that may reveal what people did to a suspected vampire.

• The Morning Mercy's Grave Was Opened: What happened on March 17, 1892, and why the ritual failed to save Edwin Brown.

• Mercy and Dracula: The intriguing, unproven connection between New England vampire accounts and Bram Stoker's famous novel.

• The Quilt and the Legend: The personal keepsake and local folklore that offer a different way to remember Mercy.

FACT OR FOLKLORE

Did Mercy Brown's hair and fingernails grow after death? Was there fresh blood in her heart? And did her story inspire Dracula?

We'll separate the documented accounts from the details added through retelling—and explore how a devastating disease helped create one of New England's most enduring legends.

REFERENCES & FURTHER READING

• Rhode Island Historical Society — “Have Mercy…”
  Historical background on Mercy Lena Brown, the exhumation, and the legend that followed.

• Smithsonian Magazine — “New England's ‘Vampire’ Was Likely a Farmer Named John”
  The discovery and identification of the remains known as JB 55.

• CDC — “History of World TB Day”
  The history of tuberculosis, Robert Koch's discovery, and the disease's connection to New England vampire panics.

• Michael E. Bell — Food for the Dead: On the Trail of New England's Vampires (2001). A deeper look at the historical cases and folklore behind the panic.

HAVE A STORY?

Have a local legend, ghost story, or mysterious place I should explore? I'd love to hear it.

Submit your story using locallorekeepers@gmail.com or on the website locallorediaries.com

Thanks for taking the scenic route with me today.

Local Lore Diaries — Telling the stories every town whispers about.

THE BEAST OF BRAY ROAD

Halloween night, 1991. A young woman is driving along a quiet road outside Elkhorn, Wisconsin, when she thinks she hits something.

She gets out to look.

There’s nothing there.

Then something comes running toward her out of the darkness — large, covered in dark hair, and moving on two legs.

For decades, people around Elkhorn have reported encounters with a strange creature known as the Beast of Bray Road. But the story is more complicated than a simple werewolf legend.

In this episode, we take the scenic route through the sightings, the witnesses, the reporter who helped bring the story into the national spotlight, and the evidence — or lack of it — behind one of Wisconsin’s most enduring mysteries.

We'll explore:

• The 1936 account that later became connected to the Beast legend
• The first modern sightings around Bray Road
• Doristine Gipson’s terrifying Halloween night encounter
• The mysterious animal-control folder labeled “Werewolf”
• Linda Godfrey’s investigation and the article that changed everything
• Why so many reports describe similar movements and appearances
• Theories ranging from misidentified wildlife to the broader Dogman phenomenon
• The difference between documented history and folklore
• What evidence actually exists — and what remains unexplained

FACT OR FOLKLORE

The Beast of Bray Road has never been scientifically confirmed. There is no verified specimen, authenticated DNA, or confirmed photograph establishing the creature’s existence.

What does exist is a documented history of eyewitness reports, newspaper coverage, interviews, and decades of folklore surrounding Bray Road.

The 1936 Mark Shackelman account is particularly intriguing, but it was passed down through his family and connected to the Beast story decades later. It should therefore be treated differently from contemporary reporting.

The mystery remains open.

REFERENCES & FURTHER READING

Linda Godfrey, The Beast of Bray Road: Tailing Wisconsin's Werewolf (2003)

Linda Godfrey, “Tracking Down ‘The Beast of Bray Road’” — The Week, December 29, 1991

Walworth County Community News, “The Mystery of ‘The Beast’” (2006)

Linda Godfrey’s research into the broader Dogman phenomenon

HAVE A STORY?

Have a local legend, haunted encounter, strange experience, or unexplained story you'd like to share?

Send it to locallorekeepers@gmail.com

Or Visit Local Lore Diaries:
https://locallorediaries.com/

Your story could become part of a future episode of Local Lore Diaries.

Telling the stories every town whispers about.