True Ghost Stories From Elkview High School

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For its Wednesday, August 16th, 1961 edition of the Hinton Daily News, the Summers County newspaper ran an interesting column. Noting how popular ghost stories were with their readers, they printed a collection of true ghost stories that were submitted by students from Elkview High School in Kanawha County, West Virginia. The school ceased being a ‘high school’ a few years later and undoubtedly some of those who sent in their stories have either moved far from the area or are no longer with us entirely. But, their legacy is alive and well, thanks to the spooky tales that were recorded in the newspaper and which will now be shared on Theresa’s Haunted History! If you recognize yourself or a family member as one of these authors, please drop by and say hi!

About two years ago we lived in a house that everyone said was haunted. They said that a girl who had lived in the house before we did had died, and that a person could hear her making noises every night. After we moved there, we found the upstairs of the house, the part the girl had died in, was locked. 

Every night about the same time, we could hear noises that sounded like someone walking. One night I decided to sleep at the bottom of the stairs. I went to sleep. Later I was awakened by something. I looked around the room and saw standing before me a vapory mist shaped like a woman. So I covered my head with quilts. When I finally got nerve enough to look again, it was gone. The next morning I told Mom about it, and she said she had seen it too.

My brother Jim was born one month after my father died. Jim never asked about his father. He did not recognize his pictures. One night Jim awoke my mother and told he that he had seen his daddy. Mother looked amazed and she questioned him further. Jim said his father told him nothing. He said he had brown eyes, was tall, had wavy black hair, and wore glasses. Mother told him to go back to sleep. Mom knew that Jim had not seen any color pictures of his father, but he had described him as if he were right in the room. 

One night a month later, Jim awoke and said that his father had talked with him. Jim just walks away when he is asked about the conversation.

One time in Ritchie County, West Virginia, there was certain haunted grave. Close to the grave, a boy lived alone with his mother. One night his mother became sick. There were two routes to the doctor’s home. The boy could go the long way by-passing the grave, or short cut past the grave. Since he was in a hurry he chose the shorter route. As he was riding by the grave, something screamed and jumped on the horse’s back. The boy had a large knife and immediately made a stab in the dark at the creature behind him. As the knife sank into the creature, the boy gave a long hard pull. The creature fell to the path and the boy rode on.

The next day the boy and some men returned to the grave. There in the path lay a large panther, the terrifying haunt of the graveyard. 

My great-grandfather was a jack-a-leg lawyer; and as the tales go, he was fair to midland. On one incident he was attending a church service. There was very little response in the form of “Amens” and the like, from the congregation. So the preacher asked why some one did not say “Amen.” No one said a word. About five or ten minutes later a drunk rose and said “Amen.” This made the preacher and the congregation so angry that they threw him out of the church.

For some reason, my great grandfather took the drunk’s case to court and won it. Of course this made a lot of friends for him.

One time my great-grandfather got in an argument with some poor man who read in his Bible about the ‘publican and the sinner.’ He thought this meant he was supposed to vote Republican. My great-grandfather was evidently a strong Democrat. As a result, there was a big argument and my great-grandfather lost a friend.

My great-grandfather was never a man to back down. He once commented, in the presence of some people, that one of his neighbors was the biggest liar in the county. Word got back to the neighbor’s husband. My great-grandfather and the husband met. The husband said, ‘I hear you said my wife was the biggest liar in the county.’ My great-grandfather promptly said, ‘ I don’t recollect whether I said county or state.’ That ended it all.

On one occasion, my great-grandfather found himself traveling through a town that had a notorious graveyard. People had seen ghosts in it. One evening after dark, my great-grandfather was riding his mule by the graveyard. He came upon a white clad figure sitting on a tombstone, but he was not about to back down from the ghost which he did not believe in. He got off his mule, pulled a pistol and thought, “By gum, I’ll shoot it.” He started to move up before he shot.

Upon investigation he found an old woman in a white dress waiting on a ride.