americanfolklore.net

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# American Folklore

Folktales, ghost stories, myths and legends from the fifty United States and Canada.

## Sitemaps

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## Posts

- [Eavesdropper](https://www.americanfolklore.net/eavesdropper/) - There is an old tale which claims that at midnight, on Christmas Eve, the cattle will kneel in the barn and speak with one another. Once an old Maryland man decided to test the tale by hiding in the barn at midnight to listen. So he climbed a rope to the window in the hayloft. He lay down on the rough gray boards, covered himself with hay and waited...
- [A Gift from Saint Nicholas](https://www.americanfolklore.net/a-gift-from-saint-nicholas/) - Claas Schlaschenschlinger was a wealthy cobbler living on New Street in New Amsterdam. He was a contented bachelor who could afford eight - eight mind you! - pairs of breeches and he had a little side business selling geese. He cut quite a figure in New Amsterdam society, and was happy being single, until he met the fair Anitje! She was as pretty as a picture, and Claas fell head over heels for her. He was not her only suitor, by any means. The local burgomaster was also courting the fair Anitje. But the burgomaster was a stingy, hard man, and in the end, Anitje gave her heart and hand to Claas...
- [Der Belznickel](https://www.americanfolklore.net/der-belznickel/) - My sisters and my baby brother danced about the house, whispering to each other excitedly about the coming of der Belznickel on that snowy December 5th evening, the day before the Feast of Saint Nicholas. According to the stories, the good Saint Nicholas chains up the Devil on the eve of his Birthday – December 6th -- and makes him visit all of the children in the village to see if they have been behaving themselves and deserved the attention of Kirstkindel.
- [The Black Veil](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-black-veil/) - In 1770 the Reverend Joseph Moody died at York, Maine, where he had long held the pastorate of a church, and where in his later years his face was never seen by friend or relative. At home, when any one was by, on the street, and in the pulpit his visage was concealed by a
- [Death Light](https://www.americanfolklore.net/death-light/) - Pond Cove, Maine, is haunted by a light that on a certain evening, every summer, rises a mile out at sea, drifts to a spot on shore, then whirls with a buzz and a glare to an old house, where it vanishes. Its first appearance was simultaneous with the departure of Jack Welch, a fisherman.
- [The Dead Ship of Harpswell](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-dead-ship-of-harpswell/) - At times the fisher-folk of Maine are startled to see the form of a ship, with gaunt timbers showing through the planks, like lean limbs through rents in a pauper's garb, float shoreward in the sunset. She is a ship of ancient build, with tall masts and sails of majestic spread, all torn; but what
- [Wendigo](https://www.americanfolklore.net/windigo/) - The storm lasted so long that they thought they would starve. Finally, when the wind and swirling snow had died away to just a memory, the father, who was a brave warrior, ventured outside. The next storm was already on the horizon, but if food was not found soon, the family would starve.
- [Holiday Ghost Stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/what-are-some-holiday-ghost-stories/) - Come celebrate the spooky side of the holidays. Ghosts, Saint Nicholas, Der Belznickel and other characters haunt these stories that take place around the holidays. We've also included a couple of ghost stories from the African-American tradition for folks to read during Kwanzaa! Christmas StoriesHaunted ChristmasThe soft thud of following footsteps echoed behind him as he hurried
- [Bloody Mary Returns](https://www.americanfolklore.net/bloody-mary-returns/) - My stepmother was vile. I guess most kids think that when their father remarries. But in this case, it was true. She only married Father because he was rich, and she hated children. There were three of us – me (Marie), my middle brother Richard and my youngest brother Charles. We were the price my stepmother Gerta paid for being rich. And we were all that stood between her and inheriting Father’s money when he died. So she took steps against us.
- [Sifty Sifty San](https://www.americanfolklore.net/sifty-sifty-san/) - There was once a beautiful old house right on the edge of a lake, surrounded by woods. But no one would live there because a spirit calling itself Sifty-Sifty-San drove everyone away.
- [Pray for your Soul](https://www.americanfolklore.net/pray/) - He was a jolly, round little man with a cherry red face and a button for a nose. He sat every day in the front window with a bottle of whiskey at his side...
- [The Handshake](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-handshake/) - Polly was the sweetest, prettiest girl in Goldsboro, yes sir. All the local boys were chasing her, and quite a number of the fellows from the surrounding countryside were too. All the girls were jealous of Polly ‘cause they didn’t have no sweethearts to take them to the local dances. They all wanted Polly to choose her man so things could go back to normal. But Polly was picky. None of the local boys suited her, and neither did the fellows from the back country.
- [Churning Butter](https://www.americanfolklore.net/churning-butter/) - Excerpted from Spooky Tennessee by S.E. Schlosser Back in the old days, before electric lights and such, a man named Harold lived with his pretty wife, Mary Ann, on a small farm way back in the mountains of Tennessee. They were a happy couple, with two grown children and nice neighbors and livestock enough
- [The Soldier's Ghost](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-soldier-hant/) - I'd just reached the old the hunting trail that led to the other side of the low gap. It was a short cut that sliced nearly two miles off my trip, which sounded good to me. But I never used the trail at night, because it was reputed to be haunted.
- [I Know Moonrise](https://www.americanfolklore.net/i-know-moonrise/) - Mama told me I should never to walk along the marsh shortcut that led from our plantation to the town of Brunswick. She said it was dangerous and I’d get myself killed if I didn't listen to her. That didn't make any sense. The march shortcut was a wide, sandy path that my buddies used all the time when they went to the store in town. None of them ever got hurt. And at the age of thirteen, I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself.
- [The Cursing of Colonel Buck](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-cursing-of-colonel-buck/) - Now Colonel Buck was not what you'd call the most virtuous man in town. No sir! He had an eye for the ladies, did Colonel Buck, and he would chase them 'til he got what he wanted. Then he would drop them like a hot brick...
- [The Cussing Quilt](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-cussing-quilt/) - A man ignores a promise he made to his dying wife, with dire consequences.
- [Bleeding Sink](https://www.americanfolklore.net/bleeding-sink/) - I found it extremely annoying that one of the bathrooms on my dorm was permanently closed. Especially since the cause was an urban legend. An urban legend, I tell you!
- [Lady in Lace](https://www.americanfolklore.net/lady-in-lace/) - There is a ghost that walks along the Seventeen Mile Drive on foggy nights. She is called the Lady in Lace. People say she is the ghost of Dona Maria del Carmen Barreto, the woman who used to own much of the land on that stretch of the California coast, returned to keep watch over her land. Others disagree...
- [Drowned Man](https://www.americanfolklore.net/drowned-man/) - My supervisor radioed me just after sunrise on a warm summer morning in 1929 to report another incident aboard the shipwrecked E.C. Waters out on Stevenson Island. “A bunch of drunks were boozing and brawling on the boat last night,” he said in a grumpy tone that clearly indicated his lack of morning coffee. I sighed. Again! I had no idea why so many summer visitors flocked to the wreck of the old steamboat on Stevenson Island, which lay partially submerged beside a sandy beach...
- [Olde Fort Mifflin](https://www.americanfolklore.net/olde-fort-mifflin/) - There is only one word for Fort Mifflin during a reenactment. LOUD! My ears were ringing as I hurried inside the ammunition mound, according to my assigned role. The mound muffled the sound of canons a little bit. But I still reckoned I'd be deaf all day tomorrow!
- [McLoughlin's Ghost](https://www.americanfolklore.net/mcloughlins-ghost/) - Dr. John McLoughlin came to the Pacific Northwest with the Hudson Bay Company and fell in love with the area. After losing his job (he was fired for giving supplies to settlers), he bought land in the Willamette Valley and founded the town now known as Oregon City.
- [Crow Brings the Daylight](https://www.americanfolklore.net/crow-brings-the-daylight/) - Long, long ago, when the world was still new, the Inuit lived in darkness in their home in the fastness of the north. They had never heard of daylight, and when it was first explained to them by Crow, who traveled back and forth between the northlands and the south, they did not believe him.
- [How Selfishness was Rewarded](https://www.americanfolklore.net/how-selfishness-was-rewarded/) - A young warrior came to the coast with his wife and mother one summer and settled in the place where Sitka now stands. It was a summer of hardship for the family because the fish stayed away from the coast and the game had moved far away over the mountains. The warrior set traps and laid nets in the water and wandered many miles hunting for food, but he found nothing. The family had to eat berries and green sprouts and dig for roots to eat. Even so, there was barely enough each day to keep the family going.
- [Ogopogo the Lake Monster](https://www.americanfolklore.net/ogopogo-the-lake-monster/) - His mind was full of dark thoughts and the demons spoke to him. His wild eyes and words frightened his people, and he became an outcast, shunned by all. One day in a fury of rage and pain, he attacked old Kan-He-Kan, a local wise man.
- [The Headless Sentry](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-headless-sentry/) - A wealthy businessman who worked behind the political scenes both in Georgetown and Charleston owned a large plantation just outside Charleston. He often entertained business and political associates at the manor house, influential men who came from other colonies and abroad. When war broke out between America and England, the owner was reluctant to take sides, for his business was primarily supported by England...
- [Phantom Diner](https://www.americanfolklore.net/phantom-diner/) - A couple were driving through Spokane, Washington one evening. They were hungry and tired and needed a break. Unfortunately, they were also broke. The wife went through her purse and the glove department and under the seats of the car, trying to drum up enough spare change to get them some kind of meal. She’d collect about eight dollars in quarters, dimes, nickels and a few dollar bills when her husband called her attention to a sign post reading: Steak and Eggs - $3.85. It was attached to a motel-diner combination in downtown Spokane.
- [Haunted Classroom](https://www.americanfolklore.net/first-day-of-school/) - She was brand-new history teacher to the school and had been preparing her first lesson in her mind for weeks. This was her very first teaching job, and she wanted it to go well. The night before classes began, she couldn't eat and tossed and turned restlessly all night. Up early, she was in her new classroom, sweeping the floor, tidying the desks, and putting up welcome signs just after dawn.
- [Adventure On the Rogue](https://www.americanfolklore.net/adventure-on-the-rogue/) - We were up-river with a tour group looking at all the natural beauties here on the Rogue River when I spied a young sasquatch hiding in the shadow of a tree near a gravel bank. I swung the tour-boat around so we could get a better look, and all the tourists exclaimed and took pictures. It’s not too unusual to see a sasquatch in the spring. That’s the time they migrate through here to their summer stomping grounds up North...
- [Pickled!](https://www.americanfolklore.net/pickled/) - Dr. William Kiel, a radical preacher who broke from the Methodist church, formed his own church and decided to emigrate with his followers to the Pacific Northwest. He promised his nineteen year old son Willie that he could lead the wagon train, but his son died of malaria four days before the departure date. Determined to keep his word to his son, the doctor had his son's coffin lined with lead and filled with One Hundred Proof Golden Rule Whiskey.
- [The First Tears](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-first-tears/) - Once long ago, Man went hunting along the water's edge for seals. To Man's delight, many seals were crowded together along the seashore. He would certainly bring home a great feast for Woman and Son.
- [Bunko Kelly and the Funeral Parlor](https://www.americanfolklore.net/bunko-kelly-and-the-funeral-parlor/) - It seems the infamous crimper Bunko Kelly was commissioned one night by a ship's captain to find him - by hook or by crook - 17 men to sail his ship to Shanghai and back. Kelly went on his usual rounds of the local inns and taverns, looking for drunkards to kidnap and send to sea. But he wasn't having any luck.
- [Last Darning Needle](https://www.americanfolklore.net/last-darning-needle/) - Folks traveling the Oregon Trail looking for a new life left almost everything behind them when they made the 2000 mile journey in their covered wagons. As the trail grew harder, the valleys steeper, the mountains more treacherous, they started abandoning furniture and luxuries of all sorts by the wayside to make it easier to move the wagons. Many of their horses and cattle died on the trail. And many lost family members to sickness or accident.
- [Why Crow's Feathers are Black](https://www.americanfolklore.net/why-crows-feathers-are-black/) - Long ago, when crows were white, a crow and an owl sat on a log, talking together. The crow said he did not like his color, and the owl said, “I wish I had some pretty spots on my back.” “So do I,” said the crow. “Let us paint each other with black oil from the lamp.”
- [Storm Man Brings the Summer](https://www.americanfolklore.net/storm-man-brings-the-summer/) - Long, long ago, on St. Lawrence Island in Alaska, there lived an old woman with her little grandson. They were very poor, so poor that the old woman had a hard time to feed and care for the boy. It was always cold and stormy, and sometimes they had almost nothing to eat for days at a time, because the wind blew so hard that the little boy could not stay out to catch tom-cods.
- [The Grocer](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-grocer/) - It was a very hard time for the newly wed couple. The Depression had hit hard, and the young husband was desperately seeking a job to support his new wife, without success. She had no training herself, and all the entry-level jobs for which she might qualify were snatched up as soon as they opened.
- [Underground](https://www.americanfolklore.net/underground/) - We timed our visit to Pendleton to coincide with the Roundup, and managed to snag one of the very last hotel rooms in town. My husband was a big rodeo fan and was as excited as a little kid to be attending the famous Pendleton Roundup. I myself was looking forward to the rodeo, and very much enjoyed the Wild West feel of the town, but my biggest wish for this trip was to visit the famous, or should I say infamous, Pendleton Underground.
- [Muriel](https://www.americanfolklore.net/muriel/) - She climbed the sand dune swiftly, giggling nervously at her daring, as the soft mist of an early evening fog swirled around her. Around her, her friends were scrambling their way through the sand and long grass, heading steadily upward toward the haunted lighthouse on the summit.
- [The Ghost Land](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-ghost-land/) - The young wife of a chief’s son died, and the young man was so sorrowful he could not sleep. Early one morning he put on his fine clothes and started off. He walked all day and all night. He went through the woods a long distance, and then to a valley. The trees were very
- [The Giant's Drum](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-giants-drum/) - Long ago, in a village in Alaska, there lived a man with his wife and five sons, of whom they were very proud. One day the oldest son came to his father and said, “Father we have always been in the same place, and seen the same kind of people. I think it is time for me to go in search of another village and see something of the world.”
- [Sasquatch and the Bear](https://www.americanfolklore.net/sasquatch-and-the-bear/) - Take a look over at this gravel bar on our left. It's called Bony Point, and we saw something here the other day that I thought was kind of interesting so I thought I’d mention it. You see where the gravel bar meets the tree line up there and how it forms those shadows? Well, standing back there in those shadows was a big old Sasquatch. And, this isn’t unusual, because we have a lot of Sasquatches down here. But, we had some people on board who had never seen one, so we idled down to watch.
- [Gollywhopper's Eggs](https://www.americanfolklore.net/gollywhoppers-eggs/) - Well now, when old Johnson came to town, I knew there'd be trouble. That Yankee Peddler was a scoundrel if ever I saw one. But I was laid up with my rheumatism when he arrived, so I couldn't do anything about it.
- [Legend of the Corn](https://www.americanfolklore.net/legend-of-the-corn/) - The Arikara were the first to find the maize. A young man went out hunting. He came to a high hill. Looking down a valley, he saw a buffalo bull near where two rivers joined. When the young man looked to see how he could kill the buffalo, he saw how beautiful the country was.
- [Lincoln Death Train](https://www.americanfolklore.net/lincoln-death-train/) - I'd been transferred to the Hudson Division of the New York Central system, and was working the rails on the main line between New York and Albany. I was on the late shift to start with, since I was a bit of a night owl. After six weeks of stomping the tracks and mending the rails, I was feeling right at home in my new job...
- [Haunted Christmas](https://www.americanfolklore.net/haunted-christmas/) - The soft thud of following footsteps echoed behind him as he hurried through the snowflakes toward home. They kept pace with him, quickening when he quickened and slowing when he slowed. It was creepy. His flesh crawled at the sound and he sped up, cursing himself for walking home alone from the midnight Christmas Mass.
- [The First Christmas Tree](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-first-christmas-tree/) - At the time when the Christ Child was born all the people, the animals, and the trees, and plants were very happy. The Child was born to bring peace and happiness to the whole world. People came daily to see the little One, and they always brought gifts with them.
- [Don't Turn on the Light](https://www.americanfolklore.net/dont-turn-on-the-light/) - She commandeered the room in the basement of her dorm as soon as she realized she would have to pull an all-nighter in order to prepare for tomorrow’s final exam. Her roommate, Jenna, liked to get to bed early, so she packed up everything she thought she would need and went downstairs to study . . . and study . . . and study some more.
- [Dispatched](https://www.americanfolklore.net/dispatched/) - There was something odd in the tone of the dispatcher’s voice when he called to tell me a person needed picking up at Bramlett Road late one summer night in 1947. I shuddered when I heard the name of the street. I did not want to go anywhere near that area, especially at midnight. But I drove a Yellow Cab, and it was my job to pick up a call when it came. So I swallowed and headed toward Bramlett Road and the slaughter yards.
- [Burnt Church](https://www.americanfolklore.net/burnt-church/) - She was sophisticated, poised, and cultured. In retrospect, this should have made them suspicious. A teacher like her should be presiding over a girl’s school in London or New York, not seeking a position in a small town in Georgia. But at the time, they were too delighted by her application to ask any questions.
- [Ghost in the Alley](https://www.americanfolklore.net/ghost-in-the-alley/) - Rumors were rife about the alleyway behind the tavern. It was haunted, folks said. Haunted by the ghost of a young girl who had been found murdered in that self-same passage. People avoided the small street after dark, for the spirit was said to be a vengeful one. Of course, no one could name anyone whom the ghost had actually killed, but the tales were enough to keep people away from the alley at night.
- [Big Liz](https://www.americanfolklore.net/big-liz/) - The owner of the plantation was a firm supporter of the War Between the States and had committed to send as much food as he could to the Southern army. Things were going well at first, until Northern soldiers began attacking the supply lines. The owner suspected a traitor among his staff, and soon discovered that the spy was a servant named Big Liz.
- [Axe Murder Hollow](https://www.americanfolklore.net/axe-murder-hollow/) - Susan and Ned were driving through a wooded empty section of highway. Lightning flashed, thunder roared, the sky went dark in the torrential downpour. “We’d better stop.” Said Susan. Ned nodded his head in agreement. When he stepped on the brake, the car started to slide on the slick pavement. They went off the road and slid to a halt at the bottom of an incline.
- [La Corriveau](https://www.americanfolklore.net/la-corriveau/) - Marie-Josephte Corriveau was a beautiful but ruthless woman. She married a good-looking man but soon grew bored with him. So late one evening, she stunned her husband with a blow to the head, then took a whip to his horse, which trampled him to death. The death was ruled an accident and La Corriveau was free to marry again.
- [Pink](https://www.americanfolklore.net/pink/) - She was always in the garden. Day after day after day. It drove him crazy. Supper never came when he wanted it and he had to go outside and kneel down in the dirt every dad-blame time he wanted to have a conversation with his wife. When he complained, she told him to get his own supper. Ha! She knew he couldn't boil water without burning it.
- [Shadow Train](https://www.americanfolklore.net/shadow-train/) - A miner was on his way to Dos Cabezas, where here heard there was good prospecting, when he found himself lost and alone in the flats just north of the Dragoon Mountains. In the blistering sun of midday, his burro dropped dead from heatstroke and the prospector knew that he would shortly follow if he did not find shelter and something to drink.
- [Milk Bottles](https://www.americanfolklore.net/milk-bottles/) - She was just another poor, bedraggled woman, struggling to feed her family. He saw them all the time, their faces careworn, and blank. The Depression had created hundreds of them. He was one of the lucky ones who still had his grocery and money coming in to feed his family...
- [Wild Goose Island](https://www.americanfolklore.net/wild-goose-island/) - In the middle of St. Mary Lake in Glacier National Park is a small island halfway between two shores. Many moons ago now, there were two tribes living on either side of the lake. While there was no direct warfare between them, the two tribes avoided one another and had no dealings one with the other.
- [The Last of the Thunderbirds](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-last-of-the-thunderbirds/) - Long ago there were many thunderbirds living in the mountains, but at last there were only two left in the area. These birds made their home on the round top of a mountain overlooking the river.
- [The House that Jack Built](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-house-that-jack-built/) - This is the Cow with the crumpled horn, That tossed the Dog, That worried the Cat, That killed the Rat, That ate the Malt, That lay in the House that Jack built.
- [The Dog and His Reflection](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-dog-and-his-reflection/) - A Dog, to whom the butcher had thrown a bone, was hurrying home with his prize as fast as he could go.
- [The Lark and her Chicks](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-lark-and-her-chicks/) - A Lark made her nest in a field of young wheat. As the days passed, the wheat stalks grew tall and the chicks, too, grew in strength.
- [The Crow and the Pitcher](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-crow-and-the-pitcher/) - In a spell of dry weather, when the Birds could find very little to drink, a thirsty Crow found a pitcher with a little water in it.
- [The Goose That Laid Golden Eggs](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-goose-who-laid-golden-eggs/) - There was once a countryman who possessed the most wonderful goose you can imagine, for every day when he visited the nest, the goose had laid a beautiful, glittering egg of pure gold.
- [The Fox and the Grapes](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-fox-and-the-grapes/) - A Fox one day spied a beautiful bunch of ripe grapes hanging from a vine trained along the branches of a tree. The grapes seemed ready to burst with juice, and the Fox's mouth watered as he gazed longingly at them.
- [The Lion and the Mouse](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-lion-and-the-mouse/) - A Lion lay asleep in the forest, his great head resting on his paws. A timid little Mouse came upon him unexpectedly, and in her fright and haste to get away, ran across the Lion's nose.
- [The Ants and the Grasshopper](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-ants-and-the-grasshopper/) - One bright day in late autumn a family of Ants were bustling about in the warm sunshine, drying out the grain they had stored up during the summer, when a starving Grasshopper, his fiddle under his arm, came up and begged for a bite to eat.
- [The Boy Who Cried Wolf](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-boy-who-cried-wolf/) - A Shepherd Boy tended his master's Sheep near a dark forest not far from the village. Soon he found life in the pasture very dull. One day as he sat watching the Sheep and the quiet forest, and thinking what he would do should he see a Wolf, he thought of a plan to amuse himself.
- [The Rooster and the Pearl](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-rooster-and-the-pearl/) - Scratch. Scratch. Peck. Cock was strutting around the yard, busily looking for good things to eat. Peck, peck scratch. He gobbled down a piece of barley-corn with greedy satisfaction. Yum!
- [The Tortoise and the Hare](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-tortoise-and-the-hare/) - A Hare was making fun of the Tortoise one day for being so slow. "Do you ever get anywhere?" he asked with a mocking laugh.
- [No Room](https://www.americanfolklore.net/no-room/) - Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, on the night before Christmas, a little child was wandering all alone through the streets of a great city. There were many people on the street, fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers, uncles and aunts, and even gray-haired grandfathers and grandmothers, all of whom were hurrying home with bundles of presents for each other and for their little ones. Fine carriages rolled by, express wagons rattled past, even old carts were pressed into service, and all things seemed in a hurry and glad with expectation of the coming Christmas morning
- [The Street of the Jewel](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-street-of-the-jewel/) - What this street was called, in very old times, Señor, no one knows: because the dreadful thing that gave to it the name of the Street of the Jewel happened on a long ago Christmas Eve.
- [I'm All Right](https://www.americanfolklore.net/im-all-right/) - We knew right from the start that Johnny was going to be a soldier. Even as a child, all his concentration was on the military. So we weren't surprised when he joined the Marines right out of high school...
- [Wait Until Emmett Comes](https://www.americanfolklore.net/wait-until-emmet-comes/) - A preacher was riding to one of the churches on his circuit when darkness fell. It was about to storm, and the only house nearby was an old mansion which was reputed to be haunted. The preacher clutched his Bible and said: "The Lawd will take care o' me"...
- [The Brothers' Revenge](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-brothers-revenge/) - The blizzard was raging fiercely around them as the brothers stumbled down the long road. they were miles from any farm, and knew they had to seek shelter or freeze to death. So it was with gratitude that the two brothers spotted a saloon and pushed their way through the door.
- [Thanksgiving Stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/what-are-some-thanksgiving-stories/) - In the United States, the modern Thanksgiving holiday tradition traces its origins to a 1621 celebration at Plymouth in present-day Massachusetts. The thanksgiving observance at Plymouth was prompted by a good harvest. Initially, the Plymouth colony did not have enough food to feed the colonists, but the Wampanoag Native Americans helped the settlers by providing seeds and teaching them to fish.
- [Christmas Stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/what-are-some-christmas-stories/) - December 25–Christmas Day–has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1870. Christmas is both a sacred religious holiday and a worldwide cultural and commercial phenomenon. For more than two thousand years, people have been observing Christmas Day with traditions and practices that are both religious and secular in nature. Christians celebrate Christmas Day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, a spiritual leader whose teachings form the basis of their religion. Popular customs include exchanging gifts, decorating Christmas trees, sharing meals with family and friends and waiting for Santa Claus to arrive.
- [Hanukkah Stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/what-are-some-hanukkah-stories/) - Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday that starts on the 25th of the Jewish month of Kislev, which coincides with late November-late December on the secular calendar. It is celebrated for eight days and nights. In Hebrew, the word "hanukkah" means “dedication.” The holiday commemorates the re-dedication of the holy Temple in Jerusalem following the Jewish victory over the Syrian-Greeks in 165 B.C.E.
- [Kwanzaa Stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/what-are-some-kwanzaa-stories/) - Kwanzaa is a seven day festival which celebrates the African American culture and history. It is a time of community gathering and reflection. Kwanzaa begins on December 26th, the day after Christmas, and continues until New Years Day, January 1st.
- [New Years Day stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/what-are-some-new-years-day-stories/) - New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar. Since most countries use the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is a truly global public holiday, often celebrated with fireworks at the stroke of midnight as the New Year starts.
- [Saint Nicholas Day](https://www.americanfolklore.net/what-is-saint-nicholas-day/) - December 6 is the Feast of Saint Nicholas of Myra, a bishop from the fourth century. He is the model for our modern-day Santa Claus, because Saint Nicholas's generosity was legendary. The night before Saint Nicholas Day, children place their shoes in a prominent location-- by a fireplace, or outside their bedroom door. The next morning--usually very early--the children find their shoes filled with little presents from the great saint.
- [Davy Crockett and the Frozen Dawn](https://www.americanfolklore.net/davy-crockett-and-the-frozen-dawn/) - One winter, it was so cold that the dawn froze solid. The sun got caught between two ice blocks, and the earth iced up so much that it couldn't turn. The first rays of sunlight froze halfway over the mountain tops. They looked like yellow icicles dripping towards the ground.
- [The Devil's Christmas Gift](https://www.americanfolklore.net/christmas-gift/) - Away down South, an old custom dictates that if someone comes up to you on Christmas Day and says "Christmas gift" before y'all do, why y'all are obliged to give that person a present. Mind you, the custom does not say what sort of present y'all should give! But those of us who hail from the South consider ourselves to be gentlefolk. The gifts given and received in this manner are good enough to keep the custom alive and well...
- [Cow's Head](https://www.americanfolklore.net/cows-head/) - Oksana lived in a small house on the edge of town with her father, her stepmother and her stepsister. Oksana’s stepmother disliked Oksana, favoring her true daughter, Olena. Soon after her father’s remarriage, Oksana found that all the housework fell to her while Olena idled her days away
- [The Rising of Gouverneur Morris](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-rising-of-gouverneur-morris/) - Gouverneur Morris, American minister to the court of Louis XVI, was considerably enriched, at the close of the reign of terror, by plate, jewels, furniture, paintings, coaches, and so on, left in his charge by members of the French nobility, that they might not be confiscated in the sack of the city.
- [A Baker's Dozen](https://www.americanfolklore.net/a-bakers-dozen/) - Back in the old days, I had a successful bake-shop in Albany. I had a good business, a plump wife, and a big family. I was a happy man. But trouble came to my shop one year in the guise of an ugly old woman. She entered my shop a few minutes before closing and said: “I wish to have a dozen cookies.” She pointed to my special Saint Nicholas cookies that were sitting out on a tray. So I counted out twelve cookies for her...
- [The Ghosts of Red Creek](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-ghosts-of-red-creek/) - A small party of gentlemen on the day before a crisp, cold Christmas, started from Gulfport in a large four-wheeled wagon for a thirty-mile drive into the wilderness of pine and a week’s sport after the deer. The tract of pine forest extended for miles with only a few habitations scattered through it. Red Creek drained this region into the Pascagoula River to the eastward.
- [St. Nicholas and the Children](https://www.americanfolklore.net/st-nicolas-and-the-children/) - Two little children lived with their old grandmother in a remote place in the Canadian forest. They were twin children—a boy and a girl, Pierre and Estelle by name—and except for their dress it was not easy to tell them apart. Their father and mother had died in the springtime, and in the summer, they had left their old home because of its many sad memories and had gone to live with their old grandmother in a new home elsewhere.
- [The Legend of Babouscka](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-legend-of-babouscka/) - It was the night the dear Christ-Child came to Bethlehem. In a country far away from Him, an old, old woman named Babouscka sat in her snug little house by her warm fire. The wind was drifting the snow outside and howling down the chimney, but it only made Babouscka's fire burn more brightly.
- [Racing a Ghost](https://www.americanfolklore.net/racing-a-ghost/) - It was early on Christmas morning when John Reilly wheeled away from a picturesque little village where he had passed the previous night, to continue his cycling tour through eastern Pennsylvania. To-day his intention was to stop at Valley Forge, and then to ride on up the Schuylkill Valley, visiting in turn the many points of historical interest that lay along his route.
- [The Ice King](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-ice-king/) - Once upon a time there was a village built on the bank of a wide river. During the spring, summer, and autumn the people were very happy. There was plenty of fuel and game in the deep woods; the river afforded excellent fish. But the Passamaquoddy dreaded the months when the Ice King reigned.
- [The Snow Maiden](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-snow-maiden/) - Once upon a time there lived a peasant named Ivan and his wife, Marie. They were very sad because they had no children. One cold winter day the peasant and his wife sat near a window in their cottage and watched the village children playing in the snow. The little ones were busily at work making a beautiful snow maiden.
- [No Fear](https://www.americanfolklore.net/no-fear/) - He had just passed an abandoned missionary Baptist church when the forest grew quiet around him. The cicadas stopped singing, the night creatures went silent, and the breeze died to a whisper. In the silence, he heard something sliding through the trees on his right.
- [Bloody Mary](https://www.americanfolklore.net/bloody-mary/) - She lived deep in the forest in a tiny cottage and sold herbal remedies for a living. Folks living in the town nearby called her Bloody Mary, and said she was a witch. None dared cross the old crone for fear that their cows would go dry, their food-stores rot away before winter, their children take sick of fever, or any number of terrible things that an angry witch could do to her neighbors.
- [Raw Head and Bloody Bones](https://www.americanfolklore.net/raw-head-and-bloody-bones/) - Way back in the deep woods there lived a scrawny old woman who had a reputation for being the best conjuring woman in the Ozarks. With her bedraggled black-and-gray hair, funny eyes - one yellow and one green - and her crooked nose, Old Betty was not a pretty picture, but she was the best there was at fixing what ailed a man, and that was all that counted.
- [Maco Ghost Light](https://www.americanfolklore.net/maco-ghost-light/) - There was once a railroad conductor named Joe Baldwin who was working for the newly rebuilt Atlantic Coast line. The year was 1867, and the railroad had expanded to include a small station in Maco, North Carolina. Joe was assigned to the very last car in the train, and he executed his conductor duties to the best of his abilities aboard his assigned car. Then one night, something went wrong. Terribly wrong.
- [Goblin of Easton](https://www.americanfolklore.net/goblin-of-easton/) - There was once a monk at the mission who loved money and power more than he loved God. He would hear the confession of the good folk who attended the mission, and then would blackmail them into giving him gold and silver to keep their darkest secrets.
- [La Mala Hora](https://www.americanfolklore.net/la-mala-hora/) - My friend Isabela called me one evening before dinner. She was sobbing as she told me that she and her husband Enrique were getting divorced. He had moved out of the house earlier that day and Isabela was distraught...
- [Phantom Lovers of Dismal Swamp](https://www.americanfolklore.net/phantom-lovers-of-dismal-swamp/) - He couldn't believe it when she fell ill just a few short weeks before their marriage. His betrothed was beautiful, strong, and healthy, but she just faded away before his eyes. He held her in his arms as she gasped out her last breathe, and was inconsolable long after her body lay buried beside the Dismal Swamp...
- [Really Hard Tongue Twisters](https://www.americanfolklore.net/what-are-some-hard-tongue-twisters/) - A big bug bit a bold bald bear and the bold bald bear bled blood badly.
- [Old Chestnuts and Dad Jokes](https://www.americanfolklore.net/old-chestnuts-and-dad-jokes/) - In folklore, "chestnuts" are old jokes that everyone seems to know.
- [Halloween Tongue Twisters](https://www.americanfolklore.net/halloween-tongue-twisters/) - Try out some tricky tongue twisters with a Halloween theme!
- [What are some Funny Tongue Twisters?](https://www.americanfolklore.net/what-are-some-funny-tongue-twisters/) - Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers How many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?
- [What are some Spooky Tongue Twisters?](https://www.americanfolklore.net/what-are-some-spooky-tongue-twisters/) - I wish to wish the wish you wish to wish, But if you wish the wish the witch wishes, I won't wish the wish you wish to wish.
- [More Halloween Jokes](https://www.americanfolklore.net/more-halloween-jokes/) - What do you call a skeleton who won't work? How do witches keep their hair in place while flying? What was the witch's favorite subject in school? Find the spooky answers on our More Halloween Jokes page.
- [Halloween Jokes](https://www.americanfolklore.net/halloween-jokes/) - What do you call a fat Jack-O-Lantern? What’s a vampire’s favorite fast food? Why didn’t the skeleton go to the ball?
- [The Future](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-future/) - She was nervous and excited as she approached the psychic's store. Normally, she didn't go in for fortune telling. But her best friend had visited the psychic a few months ago, and everything the woman had predicted came true. Everything!
- [Death Waltz](https://www.americanfolklore.net/death-waltz/) - Within an hour of my arrival at Fort Union, my new post, my best friend Johnny came to the barracks with a broad grin and a friendly clout on the shoulder. He'd hurried over as soon as he heard I had come, and we talked 'til sunset and beyond.
- [The Fox's Tail](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-foxs-tail/) - A Man caught a Fox, and asked her: "Who has taught you Foxes how to cheat the dogs?"
- [Madrone Monkeys](https://www.americanfolklore.net/madrone-monkeys/) - Something people often ask about, and you might be curious also, are the trees you see along the river with the kind of yellowish orange trunk, skin-like bark. They look like someone has been peeling the bark off of them. Those are called Madrone trees, and what gives them that appearance is that’s actually what happens to those trees. The brittle outer bark of the Madrone tree is deftly peeled away, on a regular basis, by the Madrone monkeys that live along the river.
- [The Water Sprite](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-water-sprite/) - Once upon a time, a man lost his favorite axe in the river. After much searching, he sat down on the bank in grief and began to weep. The Water-sprite heard the man crying and took pity on him. He brought a gold axe out of the river, and said: "Is this your axe?"
- [The Canary and the Wasp](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-canary-and-the-wasp/) - “Why do people not treat me as they treat you?” said a Wasp to a Canary on bright summer morning. "What do you mean?" asked the Canary as he preened his bright feathers.
- [The Peaches](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-peaches/) - A Farmer went to town, on a market day, and bought five peaches. He gave one to his wife, and one to each of his four sons. The next day he said to his sons, “Well, what have you done with your peaches?”
- [Don't You Fish on Sunday](https://www.americanfolklore.net/dont-you-fish-on-sunday/) - Jonah was a big strong man who worked as a carpenter. Most everyone in town liked him, but they all knew that his weakness was fishing. Jonah would go fishing every chance he got; even on Sundays when everyone else was in church. And that got folks in town riled up. There was a rumor – started so long ago no one could remember the details - that bad luck would come to anyone who fished that part of the river on a Sunday. For decades, pious folks had avoided the river on the Lord’s Day, just to be safe.
- [Scraping the Clouds](https://www.americanfolklore.net/scraping-the-clouds/) - Long ago, on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, two Inuit boys were walking from their own home to a far-away village. While they were going along, a terrible storm overtook them, and they had to hold each other by the hand to keep from falling.
- [The Ghost of Sunrise Rock](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-ghost-of-sunrise-rock/) - Some years before the outbreak of the Civil War, a man with his wife and daughter took up their residence in a log cabin at the foot of Sunrise Rock, near Chattanooga, Tennessee. It seemed probable that they had known better days, for the head of the household was believed to get his living through “writin' or book-larnin',” but was fairly useless at hunting and farming.
- [Strangers](https://www.americanfolklore.net/strangers/) - Wallen's Ridge, a rough eminence about a dozen miles from Chattanooga, Tennessee, was once an abiding place of Cherokee Indians, among whom lived Arinook, their medicine-man, and his daughter. The girl was pure and fair, and when a passing hunter from another tribe saw her one day at the door of her father's home he was so struck with her charm of person and her engaging manner that he resolved not to return to his people until he had won her for his wife.
- [The Giant's Cave](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-giants-cave/) - Long ago, near the mouth of the Copper Mine River, which flows into the Arctic River, there lived an enormous giant. His cave was not far from an Inuit village, and he kept the people of that village in constant terror because when he could not get enough whale meat, or seal to eat, he would capture the little children and eat them up.
- [Why Sis Pig Can See the Wind](https://www.americanfolklore.net/why-sis-pig-can-see-the-wind/) - Did you hear how come that old Sis Pig can see the wind? You never heard that? Well, maybe you have noticed, many and many a time, how unrestful, and distracted-like the pigs are, when the wind blows, and how they squeal, and run this way and that way? Well, sir, all that is going on because pigs can see the wind.
- [A Cave of Skulls](https://www.americanfolklore.net/a-cave-of-skulls/) - Near the upper Hiawassee is a cave where a pile of human skulls was found by a man who had put up his cabin near the entrance. For some reason, which he says he never understood, this farmer gathered up the old, bleached bones and dumped them into his shed.
- [Brer Rabbit Falls Down the Well](https://www.americanfolklore.net/brer-rabbit-falls-down-the-well/) - One day, Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox and Brer Coon and Brer Bear and a lot of other animals decided to work together to plant a garden full of corn for roasting. They started early in the morning and raked and dug and raked some more, breaking up the hard ground so it would be ready for planting. It was a hot day, and Brer Rabbit got tired mighty quick. But he kept toting off the brush and clearing away the debris 'cause he didn't want no one to call him lazy.
- [How Brother Terrapin Rode in the Clouds](https://www.americanfolklore.net/how-brother-terrapin-rode-in-the-clouds/) - One day, old Brother Terrapin was a-grumbling and a-fussing, because he had to creep on the ground. When he met Brother Rabbit, he grumbled because he can’t run like Brother Rabbit, and when he met Brother Buzzard, he grumbled because he can’t fly in the clouds like Brother Buzzard, and so on. Grumble, grumble, grumble. That was Brother Terrapin.
- [How Mr. Coon’s Daughter Came to Marry Brother Terrapin](https://www.americanfolklore.net/how-mr-coons-daughter-came-to-marry-brother-terrapin/) - Well now, Brother Deer and Brother Terrapin were both courting of Mr. Coon’s daughter. Brother Deer was right sure enough a gentleman, that he was, while old Brother Terrapin was a poor, slow, old man. All the creatures wondered how the girl could smile on Brother Terrapin with Brother Deer around, but I tell you old man Terrapin had a real taking way with the girls when he put his mind to it.
- [Brer Rabbit Earns a Dollar-A-Minute](https://www.americanfolklore.net/brer-rabbit-earns-a-dollar-a-minute/) - One fine morning, Brer Fox decided to plant him a patch of goober peas. He set to with a will and before you know it, he had raked and hoed out a beautiful patch of ground and he put in a fine planting of peas. It didn't take too long before those goober vines grew tall and long and the peas ripened up good and smart.
- [Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby](https://www.americanfolklore.net/brer-rabbit-and-the-tar-baby/) - Well now, that rascal Brer Fox hated Brer Rabbit on account of he was always cutting capers and bossing everyone around. So, Brer Fox decided to capture and kill Brer Rabbit if it was the last thing he ever did! He thought and he thought until he came up with a plan. He would make a tar baby!
- [Why Dogs Chase Cats](https://www.americanfolklore.net/why-dogs-chase-cats/) - Once long ago, Dog was married to Cat. They were happy together, but every night when Dog came home from work, Cat said she was too sick to make him dinner...
- [Never Mind Them Watermelons](https://www.americanfolklore.net/never-mind-them-watermelons/) - Well now, old Sam Gibb, he didn't believe in ghosts. Not one bit. Everyone in town knew the old log cabin back in the woods was haunted, but Sam Gibb just laughed whenever folks talked about it. Finally, the blacksmith dared Sam Gibb to spend the night in the haunted log cabin...
- [The Black Cat's Message](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-black-cats-message/) - I came home late one night after work and found my wife Ethel puttering about the kitchen with a big yellow cat at her heels. “And who is this?” I asked jovially. “This is our new cat,” said Ethel, giving me a hug and a kiss to welcome me home. “She just appeared at the kitchen door and wanted to come in. None of the neighbors know where she came from, so I guess she’s ours. It will be nice to have some company around the house.”
- [Why Lizards Can’t Sit](https://www.americanfolklore.net/why-lizards-cant-sit/) - Back in the old days, Brother Lizard was an awful lot like Brother Frog, meaning he could sit upright like a dog. Things were like this for quite a spell. Then one day when they were walking down the road by their swamp, Brother Lizard and Brother Frog spotted some real nice pastureland with a great big pond that was on the far side of a great big fence.
- [Jack O'Lantern](https://www.americanfolklore.net/jack-olantern/) - After a long day of unlucky hunting, I found myself stuck in the middle of the marshlands for the night, without a flashlight or a lantern to guide my stumbling steps. So I settled beside a fallen log to rest until daylight. As I tossed and turned, I recalled the story my great-uncle told me about a ghost that haunted the marshlands.
- [Hold Him, Tabb](https://www.americanfolklore.net/hold-him-tabb/) - Yep, I remember what it was like before the railroad came through these parts. I used to earn my living by carting supplies from town to town on horse-drawn wagons. Not easy work, no sir. Especially in winter. One cold December day, I was traveling with my buddy Tabb, when it began to snow. Gee wilikers, it was cold! We needed to find shelter quick, and I was delighted when I spotted an abandoned house.
- [Brother Bear’s House](https://www.americanfolklore.net/brer-bears-house/) - Well now, out of all the animals that live in the woods, Brother Bear had the biggest house. The house was warm and cozy on the inside, but it was also very crowded on account of Brother Bear having him a plump wife and two plump young ‘uns named Simon and Susannah.
- [The Shrouded Horseman](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-shrouded-horseman/) - When the Civil War ended, Jeremiah Jones, found himself a free man. Eager to make a new life for himself, he made his way north to Milwaukee. For several years, he worked odd jobs until he earned enough money to buy himself a big white horse and a dray—a low, flatbed wagon without sides. Shortly thereafter, he was hired on as a drayman with the Phillip Best Brewing Company.
- [Boo Hag](https://www.americanfolklore.net/boo-hag/) - You know how they say some folks are lucky at cards and some are lucky at love? Well, that fit Bobby Hansen to a ‘T’. He was the best poker player in the county, but somehow he couldn’t find himself a bride. Oh, he proposed to several girls, and even got accepted by a few. But they always got cold feet a day or two before the wedding, and it was bye-bye Bobby.
- [I'm Coming Down Now!](https://www.americanfolklore.net/im-coming-down-now/) - There was an abandoned house sitting in the middle of a fancy neighborhood in Calgary that nobody would go near. And I mean nobody! Now , my pal Albert was the agent in charge of selling that haunted house and he tried everything in his power to close a deal. But folks were too plumb scared to make an offer, even at rock-bottom prices.
- [Brother Fox Catches Old Man Tarrypin](https://www.americanfolklore.net/brer-fox-catches-old-man-tarrypin/) - Well now, Brother Rabbit had made friends with Old Man Tarrypin, a big turtle that lived in the pond near his house. Brother Rabbit and Old Man Tarrypin liked to pull tricks on Brother Fox, and that rascally fellow got pretty mad about it.
- [Brother Fox Goes Hunting](https://www.americanfolklore.net/brer-fox-goes-hunting/) - Well, it was a crisp autumn day, don't ya know, and Brother Fox, he decided he wanted to go hunting. He'd made his peace with Brother Rabbit a few months back, and he thought it would be a fine thing if they went hunting together. So, Brother Fox stopped by Brother Rabbit's place and invited him to come along.
- [Dunkelberger Gravel Bar](https://www.americanfolklore.net/dunkelberger-gravel-bar/) - The gravel bar on our left is called, Dunkelberger gravel bar. The reason I mention it to you, is because it is one of the finest places on the whole Rogue River to fish from the bank. If you have a boat you can fish most anywhere, but if you’re consigned to the bank – and I know a lot of people who prefer it – then this is where you want to go.
- [Babe the Blue Ox](https://www.americanfolklore.net/babe-the-blue-ox/) - Well now, one winter it was so cold that all the geese flew backward and all the fish moved south and even the snow turned blue. Late at night, it got so frigid that all spoken words froze solid afore they could be heard. People had to wait until sunup to find out what folks were talking about the night before...
- [Mrs. Crockett Saves the Day](https://www.americanfolklore.net/mrs-crockett-saves-the-day/) - Shortly after I got married, I went to settle on the north side of the Big Muddy with my new wife, Mrs. Davy Crockett. Now a cousin of my wife's packed his bags and came along with us. He had been to Cincinnati and had got a great education for them days. He could grammar-itize and geography-itize and philosophize.
- [Old Stormalong](https://www.americanfolklore.net/old-stormalong/) - Now everyone knows that Alfred Bulltop Stormalong was the ultimate sailor. He was the captain of a mighty ship known as the Courser, which was so wide that she couldn't sail into Boston Harbor and so tall that the mast was hinged into the middle so it could be taken down to avoid the sun and the moon whenever they passed by.
- [The Little Red Hen](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-little-red-hen/) - Little Red Hen found a Wheat Seed that, if planted, would grow up and when ripe it could be made into flour and then into bread. But what should she do with it?
- [The Lady in the Veil](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-lady-in-the-veil/) - He had not expected to meet the woman of his dreams, but there she was strolling along in the moonlight beside the cemetery. Carlos quickened his pace until he was level with her, hoping for a glimpse of her face under her veil.
- [White Wolf](https://www.americanfolklore.net/white-wolf/) - She snapped awake out of a deep sleep, screaming aloud in terror. In her nightmare, a large white wolf had been chasing her around and around the house, gaining on her with every step until it finally pounced on her and ripped out her throat. She lay shaking for hours, unable to sleep after such a terrifying dream.
- [Vengeance](https://www.americanfolklore.net/vengeance/) - When the samurai warrior Kane first came to California from Tokyo, be brought his new wife, the beautiful Ishi. She was an ideal wife: gentle, attentive, and a wonderful cook. Kane was the envy of his new neighbors. But he was a proud man. When a wealthy family moved into the neighborhood, Kane cast his eye upon their lovely daughter, Aiko, and desired her...
- [The Hook](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-hook/) - Excerpted from Spooky Campfire Tales The reports had been on the radio all day, though she hadn't paid much attention to them. Some crazy man had escaped from the state asylum. They were calling him the Hook Man since he had lost his right arm and had it replaced with a hook. He was a
- [Hairy Toe](https://www.americanfolklore.net/hairy-toe/) - Once there was an old woman who went out in the woods to dig up some roots to cook for dinner. She spotted something funny sticking out of the leaves and dug around until she uncovered a great big hairy toe. There was some good meat on that toe which would make a real tasty dinner, so the old woman put it in her basket and took it home.
- [Playin' Piano](https://www.americanfolklore.net/playin-piano/) - Dah-dah-dum-dum-BLAT! Charlie winced when his wife hit the wrong note on the piano for the thirty-second time that day. He knew it was the thirty-second time because he’d kept count as he went about his daily chores, cleaning the lighthouse, checking the supplies, mending the rowboat. Charlie blamed himself for his wife's latest obsession. He should never have taken Myrtle to attend the concert when that high-flutin’ concert pianist came to town...
- [Shooting the Moon](https://www.americanfolklore.net/shooting-the-moon/) - Long ages ago, when the first people roamed the land, a little yellow moon floated across the sky in the wake of the bigger one that is still shining. Melgasoway, a boy who - like other boys his age - would rather practice with his bow and arrows, go fishing and swimming, climb trees and pick berries than gather firewood and do errands, was sent by his mother to fetch a pumpkin out of a cornfield, for supper.
- [Davy Crockett and the Coonskin](https://www.americanfolklore.net/davy-crockett-and-the-coonskin/) - Well, they say that Davy Crockett, the most famous bear hunter in the U.S. of A, once ran for election in Congress. He was campaigning in town one day, standing on a big ol' stump an talking to a big ol' crowd, when one of the men complained, saying he was mighty thirsty. 'Course, that set the whole crowd off, don't ya know. They said they wanted free drinks, and they wanted Davy to pay fer 'em out of his own pocket. If he didn't pay, he wouldn't get elected.
- [Black Magic](https://www.americanfolklore.net/black-magic/) - Mad Henry was a hermit who lived alone in a decrepit mansion at the edge of town. Rumors were rife about the wild-eyed man. Some folks said that he was a magician who called upon the powers of darkness to wreck havoc upon his neighbors. Others called him a mad doctor who could restore life to foul corpses from the local cemetery. No respectable citizen in town had anything to do with Mad Henry
- [Black Aggie](https://www.americanfolklore.net/black-aggie/) - When Felix Agnus put up the life-sized shrouded bronze statue of a grieving angel, seated on a pedestal, in the Agnus family plot in the Druid Ridge Cemetery, he had no idea what he had started. The statue was a rather eerie figure by day, frozen in a moment of grief and terrible pain. At night, the figure was almost unbelievably creepy; the shroud over its head obscuring the face until you were up close to it. There was a living air about the grieving angel, as if its arms could really reach out and grab you if you weren't careful.
- [Storm Hag](https://www.americanfolklore.net/storm-hag/) - She lurks below the surface of the lake near Presque Isle, her lithe form forever swimming through the weeds and the mire. Pale and green of skin, her yellow eyes shine luminously in the dark, and her thin long arms wrap themselves around the unwary, while foul-green pointed teeth sink into soft flesh and sharp nails at the end of long bony fingers stroke you into the deepest sleep there is. She is called by many names, but to sailors of Lake Erie, she is known as the Storm Hag.
- [Werewolf's Bride](https://www.americanfolklore.net/werewolfs-bride/) - There once was a beautiful girl engaged to a soldier who caught the eye of an evil woodsman who had sold his soul for the ability to turn himself into a wolf at will. He lay in wait for the girl when she was walking home one day and accosted her, begging her to elope with him. The maiden refused, spurning his love and crying out to her love to save her from his advances.
- [Black Dog of Hanging Hills](https://www.americanfolklore.net/black-dog-of-hanging-hills/) - He smiled as he sipped at his coffee. It had been an excellent hike. He was glad his friend had recommended coming to the Hanging Hills in Connecticut; not the first place that had come to his mind when considering a vacation. But it was beautiful here. When his friend arrived tomorrow they would tackle some of the more challenging terrain.
- [Dem Bones](https://www.americanfolklore.net/dem-bones/) - My granny was told as a child that Captain Kidd, knowing the law was on his trail, traveled up the Jersey coast looking for the perfect spot to bury his stolen booty. And he found it near a grove of gnarled, wind-swept pines on Sandy Hook. One moonless dark night, the Adventure Galley slid silently into harbor at Sandy Hook...
- [Invisible Hands](https://www.americanfolklore.net/invisible-hands/) - A couple of Welsh miners came to Nevada to help mine the Comstock Load. They were quite a pair of tricksters, yes sir! It got so bad that no one would believe anything they said, 'cause if'n they did, the Welshman would make them look like a fool. But they were popular. The miners dearly loved a laugh after a hard day working in the mine...
- [Birth of the Jersey Devil](https://www.americanfolklore.net/birth-of-the-jersey-devil/) - A storm was raging that night in 1735, when Mother Leeds was brought to bed in childbirth. The room was full of woman folk gathered to help her, more out of curiosity than good will. They had all heard the rumors that Mother Leeds was involved in witchcraft, and had sworn she would give birth to a devil.
- [The Jersey Devil and the Dog](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-jersey-devil-and-the-dog/) - It was a week of pandemonium! In January of 1909, the Jersey Devil emerged from the Pine Barrens and began terrorizing the local communities, both in New Jersey and in Pennsylvania. Devil hunts failed to catch the flying creature, which danced on rooftops, stalked small animals, and frightened the good people of the area with its unexpected appearances in their yards and businesses. The newspapers carried the reports along with sketches of the unusual creature.
- [Red Dwarf of Detroit](https://www.americanfolklore.net/red-dwarf-of-detroit/) - The infamous Red Dwarf (Nain Rouge) of Detroit was reputed to be the foul offspring of the Stone God, who only appeared when there was to be trouble. The Red Dwarf was called "The Demon of the Strait" and its appearance heralded disaster. Cadillac, founder of Detroit, encountered the Nain Rouge while sitting on the bank of the Detroit River.
- [Tommy Knockers](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tommy-knockers/) - Tommy Knockers are the spirits of departed miners that help miners find ore. They also knock on the walls of the mines right before a cave-in. When you hear a Tommy Knocker knocking, it's best to depart the area right quick. They have saved the life of many a miner who has been in a danger. Some folks say that the very first man to hear the sound is jinxed, but that is not always the case...
- [Bear Lake Monster](https://www.americanfolklore.net/bear-lake-monster/) - If you travel to Bear Lake in Utah on a quiet day, you just might catch a glimpse of the Bear Lake Monster. The monster looks like a huge brown snake and is nearly 90 feet long. It has ears that stick out from the side of its skinny head and a mouth big enough to eat a man. According to some, it has small legs and it kind of scurries when it ventures out on land. But in the water - watch out!...
- [Sasquatch](https://www.americanfolklore.net/sasquatch/) - I got up at the crack of dawn and drove to Larry's place to pick him up. We were going hiking along our favorite trail in the back of beyond. It was a sunny day, but not too hot; a perfect day for hiking. Larry and I walked along the rugged path leading into the woods, chatting off and on as the mood struck us...
- [Coyote and Wishpoosh](https://www.americanfolklore.net/coyote-and-wishpoosh/) - Now Wishpoosh the monster beaver lived in the beautiful Lake Cle-el-lum which was full of fish. Every day, the animal people would come to the lake, wanting to catch some fish, but Wishpoosh the giant beaver drove them away with many threats and great splashing. If they refused to leave, Wishpoosh would kill the animal people by dragging them deep into the lake so that they drowned.
- [Aunty Greenleaf and the White Deer](https://www.americanfolklore.net/aunty-greenleaf-and-the-white-deer/) - Aunty Greenleaf was a scrawny old woman with a wild thatch of gray hair and a crooked nose. She lived in a hut surrounded by pines just outside Brookhaven, and she sold herbal remedies to the folks in town. Mostly, people avoided her, except when someone got sick because it was said that Aunty Greenleaf was a witch. Her home remedies worked too well to be natural. Folks figured she had to have help from the devil or one of his familiars...
- [The Wampus Cat](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-wampus-cat/) - They say that the Wampus cat used to be a beautiful Indian woman. The men of her tribe were always going on hunting trips, but the women had to stay home. The Indian woman secretly followed her husband one day when he went hunting with the other men. She hid herself behind a rock, clutching the hide of a mountain cat around her, and spied on the men as they sat around their campfires telling sacred stories and doing magic...
- [Fur-Bearing Trout](https://www.americanfolklore.net/fur-bearing-trout/) - Now it happened that there was a mining camp in Colorado where more than an average number of the miners were bald. An enterprising hair tonic salesman from Kentucky decided to take advantage of this golden opportunity, so he made the trip north. It was a rainy summer evening. The salesman was headed towards the mining camp with four bottles of hair tonic under his arm. As he was crossing one of the trout streams which lead to the Arkansas River, the salesman slipped and dropped two bottles of hair tonic into the water. The bottles broke, and the hair tonic spilled into the stream...
- [Hoop Snakes](https://www.americanfolklore.net/hoop-snakes/) - Now the Pennsylvania hoop snake is something to be reckoned with. It is long, and its colors vary with the type of whisky you've been drinking. But everyone agrees that you can tell a hoop snake from a regular snake by the way it moves. When a hoop snake travels around, it grabs its tail (with the poison stinger at the end) in its mouth and rolls along until it sees something it wants to sting. Then it whips the stinger out of its mouth quick enough and lashes out with its tail...
- [Mississippi Mosquitoes](https://www.americanfolklore.net/mississippi-mosquitoes/) - A visitor to Mississippi decided to take a walk along the river in the cool of the evening. His host warned him that the mosquitoes in the area had been acting up lately, tormenting the alligators until they moved down the river. But the visitor just laughed and told his host he wasn't to be put off from his evening constitutional by a few mosquitoes...
- [The Jersey Devil and the Hat](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-jersey-devil-and-the-hat/) - I was putting the finishing touches on a nice big dinner - meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, pumpkin pie - when Charlie blew in the back door. He'd spent the day ice-fishing in the quarry, and I expected him to be in a jolly mood. But he stood there with his gray hair standing on end, his cheeks bright red with rage and his coat and pants covered with snow.
- [The White Dog](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-white-dog/) - A traveling salesman came to Goshen Hill for a few days, selling his wares from door to door. He was a friendly man with a warm grin and a joke for everyone. He was accompanied by a large white dog that rode on the wagon beside him; companion, friend, and guardian of his wares.
- [Wraith of the Creek](https://www.americanfolklore.net/wraith-of-the-creek/) - When he left his tribe to work with the white lumbermen, he changed his name to William Cloud, and the lumberjacks started calling him “Cloudy.” They liked to hear Cloudy tell the story of the wraith that lived in the creek that powered the local log chute. The wraith was an evil creature that desired nothing more than to wrap its long arms around humans or animals and pull them down into the water to drown.
- [Vampire Hermit](https://www.americanfolklore.net/vampire-hermit/) - She was nervous when her husband said they were to stay in the abandoned house, for it contained the corpse of the hermit who once lived there, enshrined in a coffin in the loft. It was an old custom and one no longer popular among the Iroquois people, but the hermit had insisted upon it before his death. There was good hunting in this place, her man had declared, and so they moved in and she unpacked their few belongings in the front room, refusing to go up into the loft where the hermit’s body lay.
- [Frogs of Windham](https://www.americanfolklore.net/frogs-of-windham/) - Lawyer Elderkin stood on the porch looking up at the night sky. Clouds were rolling in, obscuring the stars, but for a few moments the moon still shone on the sleepy town of Windham. Elderkin fervently hoped that the clouds meant rain. There was a severe drought in the county, and if it didn't rain soon, the farmers would be in trouble...
- [The Salt Witch](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-salt-witch/) - A pillar of snowy salt once stood on the Nebraska plain, about forty miles above the point where the Saline flows into the Platte, and people used to call it the Salt Witch.
- [Banshee of the Bad Lands](https://www.americanfolklore.net/banshee-of-the-bad-lands/) - “Hell, with the fires out,” is what the Bad Lands of Dakota have been called. The fearless nomenclature fits the place.
- [The Heart of the Monster](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-heart-of-the-monster/) - There was during the time of the Watetash a monster living in the country of Kamiah in Central Idaho. This monster had the peculiar property of an irresistible breath, so that when it inhaled, the winds and grass and trees and even different animals would be sucked into its devouring maw.
- [Paul Bunyan and the Mosquitoes](https://www.americanfolklore.net/paul-bunyan-and-the-mosquitos/) - Have you ever encountered the Mosquito of the North Country? You thought they were pretty well-developed animals with keen appetites, didn't you? Then you can appreciate what Paul Bunyan was up against when he was surrounded by the vast swarms of the giant ancestors of the present race of mosquitoes, getting their first taste of human victims.
- [Benny the Little Blue Ox](https://www.americanfolklore.net/benny-the-little-blue-ox/) - Because he was so much younger than Babe and was brought to camp when a small calf, Benny was always called the Little Blue Ox although he was quite a chunk of an animal. Benny could not, or rather, would not haul as much as Babe nor was he as tractable but he could eat more.
- [Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crockett](https://www.americanfolklore.net/sally-ann-thunder-ann-whirlwind-crockett-bests-mike-fink/) - Davy Crockett done married the prettiest, the sassiest, the toughest gal in the West, don't ya know! Her name was Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind and she was all that and then some! She was tougher than a grumpy she-bear and faster than a wildcat with his tail on fire and sweeter than honey, so that even hornets would let her use their nest for a Sunday-go-to-Meeting hat.
- [Dueling Fiddlers](https://www.americanfolklore.net/dueling-fiddlers/) - There was once a man named Joost who was plodding home on Saturday night, his fiddle under his arm. He had been playing for a wedding in Flatbush and had been drinking schnapps until he saw stars on the ground and fences in the sky; in fact, the universe seemed so out of order that he seated himself rather heavily on this rock to think about it.
- [The Bloodstain](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-bloodstain/) - The Phelps place was an old, abandoned property with a monstrous, decrepit Victorian house that was supposed to be haunted. It should have been a good resting place for the local deer hunters, but they would not go near it. A few that tried came away before midnight with tales of ghostly thumping noises, gasps, moans, and a terrible wet bloodstain that appeared on the floor of the front porch and could not be wiped away.
- [The Grave](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-grave/) - A young woman lay suffering on her deathbed, her stillborn baby lying against her chest. Her young husband crouched close, stricken with grief. His beautiful wife crooned a lullaby to her dead baby, her voice growing fainter as death drew near. Finally, she looked at her husband and asked him to bury her back East, beside her dead mother. Choked with grief, the young husband agreed...
- [Blackbeard's Ghost](https://www.americanfolklore.net/blackbeards-ghost/) - The nefarious pirate Blackbeard (who's real name was Edward Teach) was a tall man with a very long black beard that covered most of his face and extended down to his waist. He tied his beard up in pigtails adorned with black ribbons...
- [First Things First](https://www.americanfolklore.net/first-things-first/) - Well, the spring floods here in Vermont are mighty fierce, doncha know. One young farmer named Tom got trapped one year when the river started rising near his place. He watched the water creep up to his front porch, and then through the front door, and then on up the steps until he and his wife were trapped in their upstairs bedroom.
- [One Short](https://www.americanfolklore.net/one-short/) - There is a tale once told of a Mississippi riverboat captain who called all of the passengers to the top deck in the middle of the night. When the announcement was made, everyone hurried topside, wondering fearfully what had occasioned the disruption in their sleep.
- [Saving Time](https://www.americanfolklore.net/saving-time/) - Shmul was on his way to the market in Chelm one afternoon when he saw his good friend Bein on the street. “Sholom aleichem,” called Shmul to his friend. “Go to blazes,” Bein said without missing a beat.
- [Armadillo's Song](https://www.americanfolklore.net/armadillos-song/) - There once lived an armadillo who loved music more than anything else in the world. After every rainfall, the armadillo would drag his shell over to the large pond filled with frogs and he would listen to the big green frogs singing back and forth, back and forth to each other in the most amazing voices.
- [La Llorona](https://www.americanfolklore.net/la-llorona/) - Once there was a widow who wished to marry a rich nobleman. However, the nobleman did not want to raise another man's children and he dismissed her. The widow was determined to have the nobleman for her own, so the widow drowned her children to be free of them...
- [Llorona, Omen of Death](https://www.americanfolklore.net/llorona-omen-of-death-2/) - They say that the Llorona was once a poor young girl who loved a rich nobleman, and together they had three children. The girl wished to marry the nobleman, but he refused her. He told her that he might have considered marrying her if she had not born the three out-of-wedlock children, which he considered a disgrace.
- [Buried Treasure](https://www.americanfolklore.net/buried-treasure/) - There once was an evil priest who did not fear God or man. His duties for the church included counting the offerings and ringing the bells to summon people to Mass. But his heart was filled with greed, and he began to take advantage of the good people of his parish. The priest stole money out of the offerings to keep for himself, and when he had filled a chest full of gold, he killed a man and buried him with the chest so the murdered man’s ghost would guard it.
- [Girl in White](https://www.americanfolklore.net/girl-in-white/) - He was sulking a little, standing at the sidelines while all the other men danced with their pretty partners. His girl had not come to the dance that night. Her mother was ill, and so his girl had remained at her side. A fine pious act, he thought sourly, but it left him at loose ends.
- [El Muerto](https://www.americanfolklore.net/el-muerto/) - After getting the lay of the land, so to speak, frontier man Bigfoot Wallace moved from Austin to San Antonio, which was considered the extreme edge of the frontier, to sign up as a Texas Ranger under Jack Hayes. In them days, Texas was as wild as the west could get. There was danger from the south from the Mexicans, danger to the wet and north from the wild frontier filled with Indians and desperados, and to the east the settlements still had problems with the Cherokee Nation...
- [The Wailing Woman](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-wailing-woman/) - Once a Spanish soldier married a beautiful native woman and they had two children whom the soldier loved very much. However, the soldier came from a rich family. His parents and relations disapproved of his wife and threatened to disown him unless he married a Spanish woman...
- [Joaquin Murietta: Bandit of the Goldfields](https://www.americanfolklore.net/joaquin-murietta-bandit-of-the-goldfields/) - Joaquin Murietta and wife Rosita lived with his older brother Carlos in California. The three Mexican immigrants were living on a small, successful farm and the men were also working a claim near Hangtown. However, the other miners living nearby tried to run them off, telling them that it was illegal for Mexicans to pan for gold or hold a claim. The Murietta brother's ignored their threats and continued to live peacefully on their farm and work in the gold-fields.
- [Bigfoot Wallace and the Gray Bean](https://www.americanfolklore.net/bigfoot-wallace-and-the-gray-bean/) - Turns out, the rough and tumble life of a Texas Ranger wasn’t enough to satisfy Bigfoot Wallace. No sir! He hungered for adventure, and he found it. First he fought against Mexican General Adrian Woll's invasion of Texas in 1842, then he volunteered for the retaliatory raid across the Rio Grande...
- [John Henry: The Steel Driving Man](https://www.americanfolklore.net/john-henry-the-steel-driving-man/) - Now John Henry was a mighty man, yes sir. He was born a slave in the 1840's but was freed after the war. He went to work as a steel-driver for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, don't ya know. And John Henry was the strongest, the most powerful man working the rails.
- [The Trickster Tricked](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-trickster-tricked/) - Rabbit and Terrapin met near the stream one morning. It was a lovely clear day, and they both basked in the warm sunshine and swapped some stories. Rabbit started boasting that he was the fastest runner in the world. Terrapin wasn't having any of that! No sir!
- [Why the Possum Plays Dead](https://www.americanfolklore.net/why-the-possum-plays-dead/) - Rabbit and Possum each wanted a wife, but no one would marry either of them. They talked over the matter and Rabbit said, “We can’t get wives here. Let’s go to the next village. I’ll say I’m messenger for the council and that everybody must marry at once, and then we’ll be sure to get wives.”
- [The Eagle's Revenge](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-eagles-revenge/) - Once a hunter in the mountains heard a noise at night like a rushing wind. He went outside his tepee, and found an eagle was sitting on the drying pole, feasting at the deer he had shot. So, he shot the eagle.
- [The Man Who Shot a Ghost](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-man-who-shot-a-ghost/) - In the olden time, a man was traveling alone, and in a forest, he killed several rabbits. After sunset he was in the midst of the forest. He had to spend the night there, so he made a fire. He thought this: “Should I meet any danger by and by, I will shoot. I am a man who ought not to regard anything.”
- [Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies](https://www.americanfolklore.net/old-woman-who-never-dies/) - In the sun lives the Lord of Life. In the moon lives Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies. She has six children, three sons and three daughters. These live in the sky. The eldest son is the Day; another is the Sun; another is Night.
- [Origin of the Wind](https://www.americanfolklore.net/origin-of-the-wind-blackfoot-nation/) - Napioa, the Old Man who made the earth, is determined to have the bags that hold the summer and winter, so he asks prairie chicken to take them from the lodge where they are kept by man and woman.
- [The Catskill Witch](https://www.americanfolklore.net/catskill-witch-ny-folktale/) - At the peak of this mountain lived the Catskill witch who managed the weather for the whole of the Hudson Valley.
- [The Thunderers](https://www.americanfolklore.net/thunderers-tale-of-iroquois/) - Three men set out on a hunting expedition, but when one breaks his leg, the others abandon him in a pit rather than risk their lives carrying him home. The wounded hunter is rescued instead by a mysterious hermit who is not what he seems...
- [Storm Ship of the Hudson](https://www.americanfolklore.net/storm-ship-of-the-hudson/) - It was noised about New Amsterdam, two hundred years ago, that a round and bulky ghost ship flying Dutch colors from her lofty quarter was careering up the harbor in the teeth of a north wind, through the swift waters of an ebbing tide, and making for the Hudson.
- [The Phantom Soldier](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-phantom-dragoon/) - The height that rises a mile or so to the south of Newark, Delaware, is called Iron Hill, because it is rich in hematite ore, but about the time of General Howe's advance to the Brandywine it might well have won its name because of the panoply of war—the sullen guns, the flashing swords, and
- [Kayuta and Waneta](https://www.americanfolklore.net/kayuta-and-waneta/) - Waneta, daughter of a chief, had plighted her troth to Kayuta, a hunter of a neighboring tribe with which her people were at war. Their trysts were held at twilight on the farther shore of the lake from her village....
- [The House Accursed](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-house-accursed/) - The house was called the Isle of Pines, after a buccaneers' rendezvous in the West Indies, and the owner made no attempt to conceal the strange plunder and curious weapons that he had brought home with him.
- [Resurrection Mary](https://www.americanfolklore.net/resurrection-mary/) - There was a dance that night at the Oh Henry Ballroom, so he slicked back his hair, jumped into his red convertible and cruised down Archer Street, hoping he'd meet a pretty girl. He was a shy fellow who found it hard to talk to girls. Bolder men always danced away with the prettiest girls
- [Bloody Mary Whales](https://www.americanfolklore.net/bloody-mary-whales/) - Old Man Whales was an evil man who loved money more than anything in the world, except his wife.
- [The Haunted Grove](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-haunted-grove/) - A certain man called Angus lived near the stage road that connected two large villages, which were about fourteen miles apart. His home was situated nearly midway between them, and about a mile from a grove of trees that was reputed to be haunted.
- [Blue Denim](https://www.americanfolklore.net/a-case-of-blue-denim/) - I asked my friend to come to my seaside cottage with me one weekend in early spring. I wanted to have it set in order for the summer, but I felt a trifle nervous at the idea of entering it alone.
- [Blow in the Dark](https://www.americanfolklore.net/a-blow-in-the-dark/) - Farmer Manheim sat brooding in his farmhouse near Valley Forge, as his daughter, with a hectic flush on her cheek, looked out into the twilight at the falling snow. She was worn and ill with a fever brought on by exposure incurred that very day in a secret journey to the American camp, made to warn her lover of another attempt on the life of General George Washington, who must pass her father's house on his return from a distant settlement.
- [The Ghost of Misery Hill](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-ghost-of-misery-hill/) - Tom Bowers, who mined on Misery Hill, near Pike City, California, never had a partner, and he never took kindly to the rough crowd about the place. One day he was missing. They traced his steps through the snow from his cabin to the brink of a great slope where he had been prospecting, but there they vanished, for a landslide had blotted them out.
- [Bloody Mary, Quite Contrary](https://www.americanfolklore.net/bloody-mary-quite-contrary/) - “Mary, Mary…” the half-heard whisper woke her in the darkness before dawn. Darkness. How appropriate. These days, it seemed as if her whole life was in darkness.
- [Mark of The Spirit Hand](https://www.americanfolklore.net/mark-of-the-spirit-hand/) - Andover, New Jersey, was quaint and quiet in the days before the American Revolution. It offered few social advantages there was more gathering in taprooms and more drinking of spirits than there should have been. Among those who were not averse to a cheering cup were three boon companions, Bailey, Hill, and Evans, farmers of
- [One Last Revel](https://www.americanfolklore.net/one-last-revel/) - “Young man, I'll give you five dollars a week to be caretaker in Printz Hall,” Mr. Quidd said angrily to fiddler Peter Matthews, on an autumn evening.
- [Tug of War](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tug-of-war/) - A young ghost buster spends several nights in a row playing tug-of-war with an unseen presence in his cousin's house.
- [The Trapper's Revenge](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-trappers-revenge/) - About a mile back from the river stood the cabin of Nick Wolsey, who, in the 1800s, was known to the river settlements as a hunter and trapper of correct aim, shrewdness, endurance, and taciturn habit. For many years he lived in this cabin alone, except for the company of his dog; but while visiting a small settlement in the wilderness he was struck with the engaging manner of one of the girls. He repeated the visit; and thereafter he found cause to go to the settlement frequently. At length won the maid's consent to be his wife.
- [Night Riders](https://www.americanfolklore.net/night-riders/) - Among the Berkshire Hills, more than a century ago, lived Francis Woolcott, a dark, tall man, with protruding teeth, whose sinister laugh used to give his neighbors a creep along their spines. He had no obvious trade or calling, but the farmers feared him so that he had no trouble in making levies: pork, flour, meal, cider, he could have what he chose for the asking.
- [The Old Clock](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-old-clock/) - She lived alone in a rickety house in White Plains, and the only thing of value she possessed was a tall clock, such as relic hunters prize, that ticked solemnly in a landing on the stairs. The neighbors avoided her, for she was eccentric and not fond of company. But Polly was not always a recluse. The old clock, if it could speak, had a sad tale to tell of its owner. A tale of love...and despair.
- [Two Ghosts](https://www.americanfolklore.net/two-ghosts/) - There lived a hunter in the north who had a wife and one child. His lodge stood far off in the forest, several days' journey from any other. He spent his days in hunting, and his evenings in relating to his wife the incidents that had befallen him. As game was very abundant, he found no difficulty in killing as much as they wanted. Just in all his acts, he lived a peaceful and happy life.
- [Osseo, Son of the Evening Star](https://www.americanfolklore.net/osseo-son-of-the-evening-star/) - There once lived a man in the north, who had ten daughters, all of whom grew up to womanhood. They were noted for their beauty, but especially Oweenee, the youngest, who was very independent in her way of thinking. She was a great admirer of romantic places, and paid very little attention to the numerous young men who came to her father's lodge for the purpose of seeing her. Her elder sisters were all solicited in marriage from their parents, and one after another, went off to dwell in the lodges of their husbands, or mothers-in-law, but she would listen to no proposals of the kind. At last she married an old man called Osseo, who was scarcely able to walk, and was too poor to have things like others. They jeered and laughed at her, on all sides, but she seemed to be quite happy, and said to them, "It is my choice, and you will see in the end, who has acted the wisest."
- [The Origin of Corn](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-origin-of-corn/) - In times past, a poor man was living with his wife and children in a beautiful part of the country. He was not only poor, but inexpert in procuring food for his family, and his children were all too young to give him assistance. Although poor, he was a man of a kind and contented disposition. He was always thankful to the Great Spirit for everything he received. The same disposition was inherited by his eldest son, who had now arrived at the proper age to undertake the ceremony of the Ke-ig-uish-im-o-win, or fast, to see what kind of a spirit would guide him through life
- [Cherokee Rose](https://www.americanfolklore.net/cherokee-rose/) - We lost everything after the treaty was signed. The white men wanted the Indian's removed, and so we were Removed. We lost our homes, our sacred lands, our way of life. We were thrust out by greed, and our hearts broke on the long, long journey west. We only had the few precious belongings we could carry, and many of us were not even given time to fetch that much from our homes before we were forced into camps and then marched west.
- [Rabbit Plays Tug-of-War](https://www.americanfolklore.net/rabbit-plays-tug-of-war/) - Now Rabbit had a favorite place on the river where he always went to drink water. It was on a bend in the river, and two Snakes lived there, one on the upper side of the bend and one on the lower. Rabbit soon learned that neither of the Snakes knew that the other Snake lived there.
- [Rainbow Crow](https://www.americanfolklore.net/rainbow-crow/) - It was so cold. Snow fell constantly, and ice formed over all the waters. The animals had never seen snow before. At first, it was a novelty, something to play in. But the cold increased tenfold, and they began to worry. The little animals were being buried in the snow drifts and the larger animals could hardly walk because the snow was so deep. Soon, all would perish if something were not done.
- [Heron and the Hummingbird](https://www.americanfolklore.net/heron-and-the-hummingbird/) - Heron and Hummingbird were very good friends, even though one was tall and gangly and awkward and one was small and sleek and fast. They both loved to eat fish. The Hummingbird preferred small fish like minnows and Heron liked the large ones.
- [Pele's Revenge](https://www.americanfolklore.net/peles-revenge/) - Ohi'a and Lehua loved each other from the moment they first saw each other at a village dance. Ohi'a was a tall strong man with a handsome face and lithe form. He was something of a trickster and was first in all the sports played by all the young men. Lehua was gentle and sweet and as fragile as a flower. Her beauty was the talk of the island, and her father was quite protective of his only child.
- [How the Rainbow Was Made](https://www.americanfolklore.net/how-the-rainbow-was-made/) - One day when the earth was new, Nanabozho looked out the window of his house beside the wide waterfall and realized that all of the flowers in his meadow were exactly the same off-white color. How boring! He decided to make a change, so he gathered up his paints and his paintbrushes and went out to the meadow.
- [Guardian of Yosemite](https://www.americanfolklore.net/guardian-of-yosemite/) - For many nights and many days, the guardian spirit of Tisayac watched over the beautiful valley of Yosemite. Often, the gentle spirit would drift invisibly among the good folk of the valley, and it was during one of these visits that she noticed a tall, proud man named Tutokanula. He was a strong leader who greatly enhanced the lot of his people, and Tisayac came more often to the valley so that she could watch him.
- [Spirit Lodge](https://www.americanfolklore.net/spirit-lodge/) - The great chief Quaquahela lived in peace with his people on the banks of the River Styx where it entered the lake waters. Their lives were busy and full. The warriors hunted and fished, the women cooked and cared for the old and the young, and all lived in peace with the natural world around them.
- [The Maid of the Mist](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-maid-of-the-mist/) - She lost her husband and her hope at a young age, and the beautiful girl could not find her way through the sorrow upon sorrow that was her lot in life. So she stepped one day into her canoe, singing a death song softly to herself, and paddle out into the current. Soon the canoe was caught by the rough waves and hurtled toward the falls. But as it pitched over and she fell, Heno, the god of thunder who lived in the falls, caught the maiden gently in his arms and carried her to his home beneath the thundering veil of water.
- [The Skeleton](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-skeleton/) - The boy had been out looking for work all day with no luck. When night fell, he was far from home. He decided to spend the night in an empty, rundown house. The minute he laid down he fell into a sound sleep. The boy was awakened quite suddenly by a thump on the roof. With a pounding heart, he sat up and lit a candle. A voice called out, “I’m falling down!”
- [The King of Sharks](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-king-of-sharks/) - One day, the King of Sharks saw a beautiful girl swimming near the shore. He immediately fell in love with the girl. Transforming himself into a handsome man, he dressed himself in the feathered cape of a chief and followed her to her village...
- [Why Opossum has a Pouch](https://www.americanfolklore.net/why-opossum-has-a-pouch/) - One evening, Opossum was playing in a field with her babies when Big Bat came swooping down and grabbed all of the little ones and carried them away. Opossum shouted and begged for Bat to bring her babies back to her, but he would not. Bat put the little opossums into a deep hole in the rock and watched over them there.
- [Why Opossum Has A Bare Tail](https://www.americanfolklore.net/why-opossum-has-a-bare-tail/) - One day, Opossum was walking in the woods around sunset when he spied Raccoon. Now Opossum had always admired Raccoon because he had a beautiful tail with rings all around it. So Opossum went up to Raccoon and said: "How did you get those pretty rings on your tail?"
- [White Lady of Durand Eastman](https://www.americanfolklore.net/white-lady/) - In the early 1800s, the White Lady and her daughter were supposed to have lived on the land where the Durand Eastman Park -- part of Irondequoit and Rochester -- now stands. One day, the daughter disappeared. Convinced that the girl had been raped and murdered by a local farmer, the mother searched the marshy lands day after day, trying to discover where her child's body was buried...
- [Turnabout is Fairplay](https://www.americanfolklore.net/turnabout-is-fairplay/) - Everyone laughed at jumpy Uncle Phil, who believed the world was largely populated with monsters and ghosts and spooks and witches and werewolves. But he was considered harmless, and no one much bothered about the poor fellow. Until one summer when a new family moved to town with two naughty sons.
- [Piece By Piece](https://www.americanfolklore.net/piece-by-piece/) - There once was a crazy ghost over Poughkeepsie way that got folks so plumb scared that nobody would stay more than one night in its house. It was a nice old place, or was, until the ghost began making its presence known. It got so no one would enter the house, not even kids on a dare, and you know what they are like!...
- [You Can't Get Out](https://www.americanfolklore.net/you-cant-get-out/) - One dark, windy night, the town drunk was meandering his way home after the bar closed. Somehow he got turned around and ended up walking through the churchyard instead of taking the road home...
- [Ghost on the Tracks](https://www.americanfolklore.net/ghost-on-the-tracks/) - The train rumbled around him as he adjusted the throttle. The night shift was always the toughest, in the engineer's mind. He had rumbled through Timpas a few minutes ago and was on his way to Thatcher. Not a bad stretch of road, and there was no better train in the entire Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad.
- [Going Courting](https://www.americanfolklore.net/going-courting/) - J. Dawson had two goals in life: to find a rich vein of gold and to find a bride. So far, he hadn’t had any luck either with the gold or the ladies. His smooth, eastern manners seemed rather sissy and irritating among the rough miners and rowdy residents of a wild western town. He’d courted the schoolteacher, the local farmers’ daughters, and even took to visiting a few of the other entertainers at the saloon. All to no avail.
- [Golden Hand](https://www.americanfolklore.net/golden-hand/) - He never paid much attention to the neighbors living on his city block until the day the pretty middle-aged widow moved in two doors down from him. She was plump and dark with sparkling eyes, and she always wore dark gloves on her hands, even indoors.
- [Fifty-Cent Piece](https://www.americanfolklore.net/fifty-cent-piece/) - There is a story told in Troy and Albany about a couple returning home from a trip to New England. They were driving home in a carriage, and were somewhere near Spiegletown when the light failed and they knew they would have to seek shelter for the night...
- [Yellow Ribbon](https://www.americanfolklore.net/yellow-ribbon/) - Jane wore a yellow ribbon around her neck everyday. And I mean everyday, rain or shine, whether it matched her outfit or not. It annoyed her best friend Johnny after awhile. He was her next door neighbor and had known Jane since she was three. When he was young, he had barely noticed the yellow ribbon, but now they were in high school together, it bothered him.
- [Ghost Ship of Captain Sandovate](https://www.americanfolklore.net/ghost-ship-of-captain-sandovate/) - When Captain Don Sandovate voyaged from Spain to the New World in search of treasure, he found gold in abundance. But among his crew there were many sailors who did not wish to share the new-found wealth with the monarchs of Spain...
- [Pecos Bill Rides a Tornado](https://www.americanfolklore.net/pecos-bill-rides-a-tornado/) - Now everyone in the West knows that Pecos Bill could ride anything. No bronco could throw him, no sir! Fact is, I only heard of Bill getting' throwed once in his whole career as a cowboy. Yep, it was that time he was up Kansas way and decided to ride him a tornado.
- [The Birth of Pecos Bill](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-birth-of-pecos-bill/) - Well now Pecos Bill was born in the usual way to a real nice cowpoke and his wife who were journeying west with their eighteen children. Bill's Ma knew right from the start that he was something else. He started talkin' before he was a month old, did his teething on his Pa's bowie knife and rode his first horse jest as soon as he learned to sit up on his own. When he started to crawl, Pecos Bill would slither out of the wagon while his Mama was cookin' supper and wrestle with the bear cubs and other wild animals that roamed the prairies....
- [Pecos Bill finds a Hard Outfit](https://www.americanfolklore.net/pecos-bill-finds-a-hard-outfit/) - Well now, Texas jest became too tame for Pecos Bill once he killed off all the bad men, so he struck out for New Mexico, looking for a hard outfit. He asked an old trapper he met on the way where he could find a hard outfit, and the trapper directed Bill to a place where the fellers bit nails in half for fun. It sounded like a promisin' place to Bill, so he set off. But his durned fool hoss got its neck broke on the way, and Bill found himself afoot...
- [Pecos Bill and Slue-foot Sue](https://www.americanfolklore.net/pecos-bill-and-slue-foot-sue/) - Now, Pecos Bill had a way with wimmen. No doubt. He had dozens of wives during his time. But his one true love was Slue-foot Sue. She was his first wife - and she could ride almost as good as Bill himself...
- [The Death of Pecos Bill](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-death-of-pecos-bill/) - Now, Pecos Bill didn't live forever. Nope, not even Bill could figure out how to do that. Here's how he died...
- [Amber](https://www.americanfolklore.net/amber/) - Oh, you hear the stories about how dangerous Ouija boards are, but hey—it’s just a game. Mary waited until midnight to begin our little game, and the four of us—Sarah, Jessie, me, and, Mary, started by asking all kinds of silly questions.
- [The Headless Horseman](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-headless-horseman/) - One cold winter night, early in the New Year, a certain Dutchman left the tavern in Tarrytown and started walking to his home in the hollow nearby. His path led next to the old Sleepy Hollow cemetery where a headless Hessian soldier was buried. At midnight, the Dutchman came within site of the graveyard...
- [Green Lantern](https://www.americanfolklore.net/green-lantern/) - There once was a lighthouse keeper who had lived on St. Martin's Island with his children, whom he loved dearly. They were all alone there, for the mother had died long before. Wanting the best for his daughter and son, the keeper had insisted that they continue their education, and for this purpose had purchased a small dory for them, which they rowed across to the mainland each day to attend school.
- [The Skeleton's Lantern](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-skeletons-lantern/) - We were on our way back to Yuma following a futile attempt to find Pegleg's lost gold mine out in the heat and dust of the desert. We stopped to make camp for the night between a rock and a hard place, and soon my friend Eddie was snoring loud enough to wake the dead. I drifted off myself, and started dreaming about the pretty girl I was engaged to marry...
- [Serving of Witch's Stew: A Halloween Game](https://www.americanfolklore.net/a-serving-of-witchs-stew/) - Serve yourself a bowl of witch's stew with this fun Halloween game. Great for parties.
- [The Withered Corpse: A Body Parts Guessing Game](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-withered-corpse-a-body-parts-guessing-game/) - In a darkened room, pass around the prepared cups described below while you recite the spooky poem. Each person playing the game must FEEL what's inside the cups. When you turn on the lights, hand each person a list of the body parts and have them write down what they think was really in each cup.
- [The Skeleton Thief: A Halloween Treasure Hunt](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-skeleton-thief/) - In this Halloween Treasure Hunt, a rascally skeleton steals a cauldron of candy right out of the hall and takes it to his Skeleton Ball. Can you find the cauldron of candy before the Skeletons eat it all up?
- [Halloween Guessing Game](https://www.americanfolklore.net/halloween-guessing-game/) - As each party-guest arrives, pin a card with a Halloween word or phrase onto their back. The guest must try to guess the word or phrase by asking ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions. No peeking in a mirror or asking someone else to tell you what it says. Correct guesses get a small prize like a miniature candy bar.
- [What is Halloween?](https://www.americanfolklore.net/what-is-halloween/) - Halloween or “All Hallows Even” is a yearly celebration observed on October 31st which combines traditions from festivals of the dead such as the Celtic Samhain (Summer’s End) with medieval Catholic observances on the eve of All Saints Day; a day of pray which commemorates saint and martyrs.
- [Halloween Superstitions](https://www.americanfolklore.net/what-are-some-halloween-superstitions/) - Halloween is a time when common superstitions, folklore, myths and omens seem to carry more weight, due to a thinning of the wall between the physical and supernatural worlds. A superstition is a belief or way of behaving that is based on fear of the unknown and faith in magic or luck.
- [The Barn Dance](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-barn-dance/) - As I drove down the seemingly endless dark road, I cursed my friends. “A quaint little bar in the middle of nowhere,” they said. Well they got that right, there was not one blessed sign of civilization anywhere to be seen. Just then, I caught a glimpse of a lighted barn on down the road. Civilization at last!
- [Hatchet Man](https://www.americanfolklore.net/hatchet-man/) - There were warnings all over campus about a Hatchet Man who was supposedly abused and killed a woman in Bloomington. All the girls were warned to walk in pairs and to stay in brightly lit areas if they had to go out at night.
- [The Face](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-face/) - The medical student toppled into love as soon as he set eyes on Sheila, the beautiful new transfer student. She had masses of long black hair and eyelashes so long they got tangled in her curls when she leaned over her desk. The medical student had a withdrawn nature, though not by inclination. He’d learned the hard way that people avoided him when they heard about his insane father; locked away in an asylum.
- [No Trespassing](https://www.americanfolklore.net/no-trespassing/) - Peggy and her boyfriend Tommy were driving down a lonely stretch of highway at dusk when a thunderstorm came crashing down on them. Tommy slowed the car and they crept their way past a formidable abandoned house. Plastered all over the fences and trees were NO TRESPASSING signs.
- [Heartbeat](https://www.americanfolklore.net/heartbeat/) - Something was going on. Jason felt it in his bones. Polly was too happy, too cheerful. No woman could be that upbeat and still be faithful to her husband. Jason sat down to a delicious, warm meal every night, and Polly sang to herself as she washed up. What kind of woman could be cheerful doing dishes? Try as he might, Jason never heard anything that hinted of a secret romance. It drove him crazy. Life was not this perfect.
- [The Bloody Mary Ritual](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-bloody-mary-ritual/) - We were having a sleepover at my house that Saturday night. Me and my four best friends; Alex, Bianca, Sabrina, and Lacey. We made cookies and watched movies and did our hair and makeup. By midnight, we’d run out of planned activities. It was time to improvise. “Let’s try that Bloody Mary thing,” Lacey suggested.
- [Prison Break](https://www.americanfolklore.net/prison-break/) - Callahan was huddled in a cavern near the Pacific Ocean when the Feds closed in. There were still shreds of human flesh under his fingernails when the serial killer surrendered to the inevitable capture. They could put him behind bars, he vowed as they dragged him down the narrow path toward the waiting cars, but he would escape. And then they'd be sorry
- [Don't Sell My House](https://www.americanfolklore.net/dont-sell-my-house/) - Life seemed perfect to Mark when the widower brought his new bride Lisa home to the lovely two-story cottage he had build for his deceased first wife Things were very happy for about a year, and Mark was ecstatic when he learned Lisa was expecting twins. The house was rather small for a double addition to the family, so Mark and Lisa put the cottage up for sale and started searching for a bigger house. That’s when the problems began.
- [Where's My Liver](https://www.americanfolklore.net/wheres-my-liver/) - “Go straight to the store and don’t fool around,” his mother said sternly as she handed over the money. “Your father’s boss is coming to dinner tonight and we’re having his favorite meal of liver and onions. It’s important that we make a good impression, so get the best liver they’ve got.”
- [Dancing with the Devil](https://www.americanfolklore.net/dancing-with-the-devil/) - The girl hurried through her schoolwork as fast as she could. It was the night of the high school dance, along about 70 years ago in the town of Kingsville, Texas. The girl was so excited about the dance. She had bought a brand new, sparkly red dress for the dance. She knew she looked smashing in it. It was going to be the best evening of her life. Then her mother came in the house, looking pale and determined.
- [The Headless Bride](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-headless-bride/) - Once there was a lovely young woman growing up in a wealthy shipping family in New York. In those days, wealthy young women were expected to make their debut in society and to marry a wealthy young man from a good family. But our young lady was a bit of a rebel. When she grew old enough to marry, she scorned the wealthy young society men in favor of an older man who was working as a servant in her house.
- [The Crystal Mountain](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-crystal-mountain/) - According to the latest reports, there is a crystal mountain residing somewhere in Wyoming. You can't see nothing of it, it being clear straight through. But folks hereabouts reckon its about three miles around at the base, on account of all the bones of birds which killed themselves crashing into the danged thing...
- [Yancey's Ghost](https://www.americanfolklore.net/yanceys-ghost/) - Yancey was a quirky old-time pioneer, gold prospector and Civil War veteran —perhaps the last of that breed—who came to Yellowstone in the 1870s and built a hotel in “Yancey’s Hole”; current day Pleasant Valley near Roosevelt Lodge.
- [Paul Bunyan and the Log Jam](https://www.americanfolklore.net/paul-bunyan-and-the-log-jam/) - One spring day, the loggers on the Wisconsin River discovered a huge log jam, the biggest they'd ever seen. The logs were piled about two hundred feet high and the jam went upriver for a mile or more. Those loggers chopped and hauled at the jam, but it wouldn't budge an inch. So they called for Paul Bunyan to give them a hand.
- [Round River Drive](https://www.americanfolklore.net/round-river-drive/) - Well now Paul Bunyan scouted around the north woods of Wisconsin for quite a while afore he found the perfect spot for his winter lumber camp. It was right next to a fast river, and Paul figured they could pile the logs up right next to it and come spring time it would be mighty easy to tumble the logs into the river and float ‘em down to the mill.
- [Screaming Jenny](https://www.americanfolklore.net/screaming-jenny/) - The old storage sheds along the tracks were abandoned shortly after the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was built, and it wasn't long before the poor folk of the area moved in. The sheds provided shelter - of a sort - although the winter wind still pierced through every crevice, and the small fireplaces that the poor constructed did little to keep the cold at bay.
- [Army of the Dead](https://www.americanfolklore.net/army-of-the-dead/) - A laundress, newly moved to Charleston following the Civil War, found herself awakened at the stroke of twelve each night by the rumble of heavy wheels passing in the street. But she lived on a dead end street, and had no explanation for the noise.
- [The Doctor and the Ghost](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-doctor-and-the-ghost/) - Little Simeon came running into the surgery. He bent over, winded, and gasped desperately several times before he could speak. "Doc. Doc! My paw got strychnine poison in his thumb. We amputated it right away, but the poison is still moving up his arm. You gotta come quick!"...
- [The Gulls](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-gulls/) - In the year of our Lord 1848, vast swarms of crickets descended upon our settlement. Twas a judgment upon us, yea certain, for how else could you explain the desecration of our crops, the dimming hope of survival for the coming winter?
- [Ghost Handprints](https://www.americanfolklore.net/ghost-handprints/) - My wife Jill and I were driving home from a friend's party late one evening in early May. It was a beautiful night with a full moon. We were laughing and discussing the party when the engine started to cough and the emergency light went on. We had just reached the railroad crossing where Villamain Road becomes Shane Road...
- [How Bigfoot Wallace Got his Nickname](https://www.americanfolklore.net/how-bigfoot-wallace-got-his-nickname/) - Well now, Bigfoot Wallace was jest about the roughest, toughest Texas Ranger that ever rode west of the Pecos. Came to Texas bent on avenging the death of a brother and cousin who’d been massacred at Goliad by Santa Ana’s army, but by the time he got here the Revolution was won and Texas was a Republic. He might’ve gone home then, but Wallace discovered Texas was a hunter’s paradise, so he made his way to the extreme edge of the frontier, where he hunted the abundant game that he sold to the settlements.
- [Bigfoot Wallace Runs the Mail](https://www.americanfolklore.net/bigfoot-wallace-runs-the-mail/) - Bigfoot Wallace – that wild and wacky Texas Ranger -- returned to the wilds of frontier life once the United States won the war with Mexico, and it suited him as nothing else could do. Soon he was freighting mail six hundred miles from San Antonio to El Paso, and it was the wildest stretch in the Wild West! Wallace was the only man who could do it. Anyone else who tried was scared off by attacking Comanche and Apache warriors or killed outright...
- [Bigfoot Wallace and the Hickory Nuts](https://www.americanfolklore.net/bigfoot-wallace-and-the-hickory-nuts/) - Bigfoot Wallace was as crazy an individual as they come. He could spin a yarn better than anyone, and while he was a dangerous foe to his enemies, he was also a jovial giant, who was always on the lookout for a good laugh. What with hunting and fishing and fighting Comanches and avoiding rattlesnakes, Wallace had the time of his life in Texas. Said he wouldn’t swap Texas for the whole shooting match that was the rest of the United States.
- [Cowboys in Heaven](https://www.americanfolklore.net/cowboys-in-heaven/) - After cow punching for nigh on fifty years, a Texas cowboy went on to his reward. There was considerable excitement in heaven when he reached the pearly gates...
- [Rattlesnake Ridge](https://www.americanfolklore.net/rattlesnake-ridge/) - Adam Gimble was the very best fiddler in Texas. Folks came from miles around to the weekly barn dance, just to hear Adam play. Adam was right proud of his reputation. He liked to boast of his prowess with the fiddle and often said that he could charm rattlesnakes out of their dens. One evening, upon hearing this boast, a dark stranger spoke up from the far end of the bar.
- [Old Granny Tucker](https://www.americanfolklore.net/old-granny-tucker/) - There were just the two of us—Mama and me. The only other relative we had was a cousin -- old Granny Tucker. Mama never talked about Granny Tucker, and we never visited her, though, because Granny Tucker was a witch
- [The Old Bridge](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-old-bridge/) - Old Man McManor was the foulest-tempered fellow you ever did see; but he owned and operated the only sawmill over in Camden, so folks had to deal with him. Whenever anyone didn’t pay on time or crossed him, he’d take out his horsewhip and flail at them until they ran away cussing or broke down crying.
- [Casey Jones](https://www.americanfolklore.net/casey-jones/) - Casey Jones, that heroic railroad engineer of the Cannonball, was known as the man who always brought the train in on time. He would blow the whistle so it started off soft but would increase to a wail louder than a banshee before dying off. Got so as people would recognize that whistle and know when Casey was driving past.
- [The Talking Mule](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-talking-mule/) - A farmer owned a mule which he used for work all week. But being a Church-going man, he let the mule rest on Sunday. One Sunday, the farmer had to go to a funeral. So he sent his son to saddle the mule. "Since when do I have to work on Sunday?" asked the mule...
- [Palatine](https://www.americanfolklore.net/palatine/) - The Palatine gleamed in the sunlight as she set out with a full crew, a long list of passengers, and a hull full of merchandise for the American Colonies the winter of 1750-1751. Certainly, there was no indication that morning of the destiny fate had in store for her...
- [Old Stormalong and the Octopus](https://www.americanfolklore.net/old-stormalong-and-the-octopus/) - One day Old Stormalong, the ultimate sailor, was sailing the Courser through the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean when a particularly large wave knocked the anchor loose. The anchor plunged right down to the bottom before the sailors could reel her in, and it got caught on something.
- [Vision of War](https://www.americanfolklore.net/vision-of-war/) - I don't do battlefields. Oh, it's not because I am against history. Nope, the truth is I'm psychic and I find battlefields...overwhelming is the best word I can come up with. The fact of the matter is, I don't deal at all well with being psychic, having been raised in a family of scientists and "seeing is believing" kind of people. I was the only one on either side of my family who had any sort of ESP, and it made things rather difficult growing up. For instance, when my high school class took a trip to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, I fainted as soon as I stepped out of the bus, overhelmed by the smells and sounds of the Civil War battle which I saw raging before my eyes. It was freaky. And embarassing. Pretty much the story of my life. Anyway, after that, I decided to avoid battlefields.
- [The Melt Shop](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-melt-shop/) - All the men working in the Melt Shop of the steel mill soon learned to be very careful around the furnace and the ladles full of molten steel. Every worker feared what would happen if the chains holding the ladles full of hot liquid ever broke while they passed overhead. Burning to death in molten steel might be a quick demise, but it would be agonizing.
- [Ghost in the Stacks](https://www.americanfolklore.net/ghost-in-the-stacks/) - I saw her out of the corner of my eye while I was studying in a remote corner of the second-level stacks in the library. She was pretty, with reddish hair and pensive, wide eyes in an intelligent face. I straightened up, patted my hair to make sure it was smooth, and took another look. She was gone...
- [Phantom Drummer](https://www.americanfolklore.net/phantom-drummer/) - Now when Colonel Howell of the British Army chanced to meet the daughter of the wealthy farmer Jarrett, who owned land near Valley Forge, he fell head-over-heels in love. Howell had a bit of a reputation as a womanizer, but it faded away after he met Ruth. The girl had a brother serving under Washington and none of her family liked the red coats, but so overwhelming was Howell's love for her that it conquered the reluctant maiden's heart...
- [Jumbo Reilly](https://www.americanfolklore.net/jumbo-reilly/) - Jumbo Reilly was a giant of a fellow with the build and strength of a grizzly bear and a ferocious nature to boot. He was the roughest, toughest fellow in Portland back in the Wild West days of the 1800s and he soon found himself a job as a bouncer at Gus Erickson’s saloon, which was famed both for its nightly fist fights and for having the longest bar in the world.
- [Paul Bunyan's Kitchen](https://www.americanfolklore.net/paul-bunyans-kitchen/) - One winter, Paul Bunyan came to log along the Little Gimlet in Oregon. Ask any old timer who was logging that winter, and they'll tell you I ain't lying when I say his kitchen covered about ten miles of territory.
- [Oklahoma Weather](https://www.americanfolklore.net/oklahoma-weather/) - To say that the weather in Oklahoma is subject to extremes is an understatement. Instead of rain storms, we get dust storms. On the same day, one man can die of sunstroke at noon while his neighbor freezes to death that night.
- [Phantom Hiker of Grandfather Mountain](https://www.americanfolklore.net/phantom-hiker-of-grandfather-mountain/) - When the guys proposed we take a day-hike on Grandfather Mountain, I agreed with enthusiasm. Grandfather Mountain looms craggily over the scenery just a few miles from my hometown. It is 5,946 feet in elevation, has a mile-high swinging bridge, fantastic views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the best day-hikes in the region. It was some place!
- [Phantom Train Wreck](https://www.americanfolklore.net/phantom-train-wreck/) - The passengers were grumpy and heavy-eyed as they boarded the train in Salisbury during the early morning of August 27, 1891. The train was headed to Asheville, and the riders settled into their seats and tried to catch a few more minutes of sleep...
- [Daniel Boone's Dear](https://www.americanfolklore.net/daniel-boones-dear/) - Late one night, Daniel Boone and a friend went out fire hunting. Fire hunting involves the shining of the light from a fire pan (a pan full of blazing pine knots) into the woods. The light reflects in the eyes of the deer, which is too dazzled to run and the hunters can shoot it.
- [Death Coach](https://www.americanfolklore.net/death-coach/) - It is midnight. The streets of Cohoes grow silent as the citizens turn off their lights one by one and go to their well-earned rest. The night is dark, and the wind whispers softly, touching the trees and houses, rattling a window pane here and there...
- [Ghost Pilots of Times Square](https://www.americanfolklore.net/ghost-pilots-of-times-square/) - He had just graduated from Harvard University and was living in Manhattan. He loved the city and was beginning to feel at home on its streets. World War II was raging in Europe, and like all other good citizens, he followed the headlines daily and did his part for the boys overseas...
- [Spuyten Duyvil](https://www.americanfolklore.net/spuyten-duyvil/) - Once in old New Amsterdam, there was a brave trumpeter named Anthony Van Corlaer who would blow his trumpet when Peter Stuyvesant wanted to call the people together...
- [Satin Dress](https://www.americanfolklore.net/satin-dress/) - She worked in a box factory, and her salary was not large. She made just enough to cover the cost of food, shelter, and the clothes on her back. So when she received an invitation to a fancy-dress party from an old friend, she did not know what she should do. Here was her chance at last to shine a little, to experience how the other half lived, but she had no money to buy a dress, or even the material to make one.
- [Express Train to Hell](https://www.americanfolklore.net/express-train-to-hell/) - For days, a ragged old man had hung around the Newark Central Station. The stationmaster kept running him off, but night after night he would return. He kept accosting people, shouting: "It's coming for me! It's coming!"...
- [Ghosts of Ringwood Manor](https://www.americanfolklore.net/ghosts-of-ringwood-manor/) - Ringwood Manor you say? A lovely old house. But no place, my child, to go on a dark night with no moon. Built in the 1700's, the original house was a collection of smaller buildings patched together to create a Manor. The current Manor House was built by Martin Ryerson in 1807...
- [Moll DeGrow](https://www.americanfolklore.net/moll-degrow/) - Moll DeGrow was a wicked witch who once lived on Gully Road in what is now Newark, New Jersey. She took delight in the misery of others, and made things miserable for the folks living near her. If a neighbor slighted her, she would sour their milk. If anyone called her a witch, she made their dogs turn vicious. People were very cautious around Moll De Grow...
- [Enchanted](https://www.americanfolklore.net/enchanted/) - I roam alone in the woods, listening to the enchanted children's voices calling to me. "Little girl, come and play," they sing over and over in my ears. Sometimes I hear them from the window of my room. They giggle and whisper words that I cannot make out. They sound like so much fun that I run outside my house as fast as I can to try to catch them. I plunge into the woods, calling back to the children, but no one answers. So I stand still as a mouse, trying to hear where they are hiding.
- [Joseph Bonaparte and the Jersey Devil](https://www.americanfolklore.net/joseph-bonaparte-and-the-jersey-devil/) - Joseph Bonaparte, the brother of Napoleon, was the King of Spain. Unsuccessful in defending Spain against England during the Peninsular Wars, he was forced to abdicate his throne in 1813. Following Napoleon's defeat, he went into exile in America. Joseph purchased eight-hundred acres at Bordentown, New Jersey because it was between the two great sea ports of New York and Philadelphia. From this place, he could obtain the very latest news from France and Spain.
- [Ocean-Born Mary](https://www.americanfolklore.net/ocean-born-mary/) - Elizabeth and James Wilson were Irish immigrants from Londonderry, Ireland. In 1720 they set sail for America. They had been granted some land in Londonderry, New Hampshire, and were hoping to start a new life there...
- [Old Man Moses](https://www.americanfolklore.net/old-man-moses/) - It's not hard to catch a meal in New Hampshire, no sir. Take my neighbor, Old Man Moses, who lives down a piece from me. One morning, Old Man Moses went out his kitchen door and found twelve turkeys on his fence...
- [Lady in Red](https://www.americanfolklore.net/lady-in-red/) - We didn't believe in ghosts, so when the fellow checking us in warned us that our room on the sixth floor was haunted, we just laughed. There were a lot of crazy people out there who believed in ghosts and wanted to stay in a haunted hotel, but Marie and I weren't two of them. I'd chosen the Mizpah for our weekend getaway because I'd like the description of the hotel and it amenities, not because it had a phantom.
- [Sinks](https://www.americanfolklore.net/sinks/) - Nevada rivers empty into a series of small lakes which have no visible outlets. These lakes are called sinks because the water just sinks away...
- [Drought Buster](https://www.americanfolklore.net/drought-buster/) - Back in the early days, the Plains folk were often in need of a good drought buster during the hot summer months. The sun would shine and shine, and the clouds would scuttle right quick over the Plains without dropping rain. One year, it got so bad that Febold Feboldson, that legendary Swede who could bust the driest drought in a day, got annoyed.
- [Three Billy Goats Gruff](https://www.americanfolklore.net/three-billy-goats-gruff/) - Snippity-snip, snap and swill, The tale begins upon a hill… The air was crisp and cool. The sky was an endless blue. The green meadow grass swayed in a gentle breeze. And Big Billy Goat Gruff was bored.
- [Fire](https://www.americanfolklore.net/fire/) - In the beginning of the world, it was Bear who owned Fire. It warmed them on cold nights and gave them light when it was dark. Bear and his people carried fire with them wherever they went.
- [Alicia](https://www.americanfolklore.net/alicia/) - It was the sound of laughter and children’s voices that caught my attention. Curious, I materialized in my old bedroom and went out into the hallway to peer over the railing by the grand staircase. The voices had come from the Great Hall, where the house tours gathered. Yes, there were two children scampering about, to the distraction of their parents. An older boy and a tousled haired little toddler who reminded me of my own daughter at that age.
- [Sheep Herder's Lawsuit](https://www.americanfolklore.net/sheep-herders-lawsuit/) - A sheep herder from Montana fell afoul of the law and hired a lawyer to get him off if he could. The lawyer realized that it was an open and shut case, and advised the sheep herder to pretend that he had a bit of Sheep Herder's Complaint.
- [Jesse James and the Widow](https://www.americanfolklore.net/jesse-james-and-the-widow/) - One day, as Jesse James and his gang were riding through Missouri, they saw a farmhouse and stopped to ask for something to eat. A widow lived there with three small children. She didn't have much in the house, but shared with them what she had.
- [Callin' the Dog](https://www.americanfolklore.net/callin-the-dog/) - Tall talkin' in Mississippi has been termed "Callin' the dog" ever since that famous tall-tale session when one man offered a hound dog pup to the person who could tell the biggest lie.
- [Paul Bunyan Tames the Whistling River](https://www.americanfolklore.net/paul-bunyan-tames-the-whistling-river/) - The Whistling River - so named because twice a day, it reared up to a height of two hundred feet and let loose a whistle that could be heard for over six hundred miles - was the most ornery river in the U.S. of A. It took a fiendish delight in plaguing the life out of the loggers who worked it.
- [Echoes](https://www.americanfolklore.net/echoes/) - Following the Homestead Act of 1862, many Scandinavians pioneered the lands of the mid-West. These frontier settlers worked hard, and were justly proud of their new home in America. They were not above boasting about their new country, especially to settlers who came from the old...
- [Paul Bunyan and the Frozen Flames](https://www.americanfolklore.net/paul-bunyan-and-the-frozen-flames/) - One winter, shortly after Paul Bunyan dug Lake Michigan as a drinking hole for his blue ox, Babe, he decided to camp out in the Upper Peninsula. It was so cold in that there logging camp, that...
- [The Golden One](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-golden-one/) - He was a bright, sunny child from birth, with blond curls and a sweet smile and fabulous, shining blue eyes. Everyone who met him loved him. The whole church and farming community watch with joy as he took his first steps, said his first words, became a mischievous toddler and then a bright and lovable schoolboy.
- [Michigan Winds](https://www.americanfolklore.net/michigan-winds/) - Michigan winds are fiercest in the spring. Why, just last year, the wind knocked one of our mountains over into a valley. Folks woke up the next day to find themselves living on a plain.
- [Fatal Glass Eye](https://www.americanfolklore.net/fatal-glass-eye/) - My friend Liverpool Jarge was a small man, wiry and tough, but soft-spoken. Jarge had one glass eye that was an ugly shade of blue which clashed something terrible with his real eye, which was brown. Then one day Jarge met up with a glassblower, a real artist, who make him a special red eye with a star.
- [Telltale Seaweed](https://www.americanfolklore.net/telltale-seaweed/) - Two sisters were motoring through Cape Cod late one stormy night in the early 1900's when their car broke down in an unpopulated area. Seeing an old, neglected house nearby, they went to the door and tugged on the bell-pull. When no one answered, they looked through a nearby window whose shutter was banging in the bitter wind. The window was broken. Through the window, they could see a library. The dust lay heavy over everything...
- [The Shaggy Dog](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-shaggy-dog/) - There once was a woman traveling home from England who lost her pooch somewhere between Salem and Springfield. He was just about the shaggiest dog in the entire world; so shaggy you couldn't tell which end was which until his tail started wagging...
- [The Twist-Mouth Family](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-twist-mouth-family/) - A while back there was a family I know of - a mother, a father, and several children. Four of them had mouths that were twisted into strange shapes. The mother's mouth twisted up while the father's mouth twisted down. The sister's mouth twisted left while the younger brother's mouth twisted right. The eldest son John's mouth was perfectly normal...
- [The Blue Rocks](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-blue-rocks/) - The story was told furtively, in lowered voices. Buried treasure. Near the blue rock. A long time ago, an unknown ship dropped anchor in the surf near Wasque Bluff. A small boat carrying a mysterious figure, six sailors, and a large box landed on the beach. The sailors dug a deep hole inland near the blue rock, and the box was lowered into it. As the sailors stepped back, their leader threw a small green package onto the box. With a huge crash and a flash of blinding green light, the hole disappeared!
- [The Hitchhiker](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-hitchhiker/) - Our friends Josh and Sandy were firm believers in ghosts and claimed to have seen the mysterious red-haired phantom that haunted Route 44. My wife and I were sitting with them at dinner one night, and we started kidding them about it.
- [The Brick Wall](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-brick-wall/) - Massey was a soldier unfortunate enough to cross me, his commanding officer. He did not live to regret it. There was something very satisfying in the moment when I thrust the tip of my sword into the soldier’s heart during our duel. I watched him fall to the ground with the satisfaction of a job well done.
- [Sam Hyde](https://www.americanfolklore.net/sam-hyde/) - Many years before the American Revolution, there was an old man named Sam Hyde who became famous throughout New England as a jester. He told so many tall tales that he was called the greatest of all liars. In fact, people were apt to say: "You lie like Sam Hyde" when they didn't believe a friend's tall tale.
- [Birth of Paul Bunyan](https://www.americanfolklore.net/birth-of-paul-bunyan/) - Now I hear tell that Paul Bunyan was born in Bangor, Maine. It took five giant storks to deliver Paul to his parents. His first bed was a lumber wagon pulled by a team of horses. His father had to drive the wagon up to the top of Maine and back whenever he wanted to rock the baby to sleep...
- [Fog](https://www.americanfolklore.net/fog/) - You can talk 'til you're blue in the face about the thickest of fogs in ye merry olde England, but I'm tellin' you now, sure as I'm standing here, that England's fogs don't hold nothing over them thick fogs which roll in over the Bay of Fundy here in Maine.
- [The Fisherman and the Bear](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-fisherman-and-the-bear/) - One fine day an old Maine man was fishing and fishing on his favorite lake and catching nary a thing. Finally, he gave up and walked back along the shore to his fishing shack. When he got close to the front door, he saw it was open. Being of a suspicious nature, he walked to the door quietly and looked inside. There was a big black bear. It was just pulling the cork out of his molasses jug with its teeth. The molasses spilled all over the floor and the bear rubbed his paw in it, smearing it all over.
- [The Cut-off](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-cut-off/) - The devil was in the Mississippi River that night. You could feel it with every eddy swirling against the helm of the boat. You could hear it in every jangle of the bell. You could see it in the dim light of the lantern as it tried to pierce the swirling fog...
- [Jean Sot Guards the Door](https://www.americanfolklore.net/jean-sot-guards-the-door/) - One day, Jean Sot's mother wanted to go to town. "Now Jean," she said, "I want you to guard the door. "Yes, Mama," Jean Sot agreed.
- [The Greenhorn and the Mule Egg](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-greenhorn-and-the-mule-egg/) - Well now, there was a chap that got real sick of working in the big city. One day, he quit his job, packed up his wife and kiddies, and hi-tailed it out to Kansas to become a farmer. Bought a big parcel of land with a grand old barn and some fields just ready to plow and plant...
- [Jack and the Corn Stalk](https://www.americanfolklore.net/jack-and-the-corn-stalk/) - Once, a Kansas farmer sent his son Jack to check on the growth of the corn in the field. Now Jack was not a tall lad, so he decided to take a ladder with him. When he found a nice big stalk of corn, he leaned the ladder against it and climbed up until he could reach the first joint. From there, he proceeded to the top of the cornstalk, and looked out over the field. There was enough corn there for a rich harvest...
- [Kate Shelley Saves the Train](https://www.americanfolklore.net/kate-shelley-saves-the-train/) - One night, in 1881, a fierce storm broke over the Des Moines river valley. The storm raged through the night, flooding the river and the nearby creeks. Along about 11 p.m., a "pusher" train was sent to search for any wash-outs along the track. After it passed the home of the Shelley family, a railroad widow raising five children, the family heard a terrible crashing sound. The bridge over Honey Creek had collapsed, taking the pusher train with it.
- [Hoosiers](https://www.americanfolklore.net/hoosiers/) - There's an ongoing debate here in the great state of Indiana over the origins of the word "Hoosiers". My Granddad, he falls into the first camp, and me, I fall into the second...
- [Coyote and the Columbia](https://www.americanfolklore.net/coyote-and-the-columbia/) - One day, Coyote was walking along. The sun was shining brightly, and Coyote felt very hot. "I would like a cloud," Coyote said. So a cloud came and made some shade for Coyote. Coyote was not satisfied.
- [Idaho Potatoes](https://www.americanfolklore.net/idaho-potatoes/) - We here in Idaho are right proud of our potatoes. Our fields are so chock full of potatoes that you can hear them grumbling when you stick your ear on the ground. "Roll over, yer crowding me," they say...
- [The Crows are in the Corn](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-crows-are-in-the-corn/) - It happened in Georgia not long ago, that a farmer and his wife decided to sleep late, like the rich folk do. It was a beautiful Sunday morning, the kind that brings all God's creatures out to play. But not these farm folk. No, they just slept and slept and slept...
- [Brer Rabbit Fools Sis Cow](https://www.americanfolklore.net/brer-rabbit-fools-sis-cow/) - Now Brer Rabbit was skipping down the road one day heading for his home in the briar patch when he spotted Sis Cow grazing in the field. It was a mighty hot day and Brer Rabbit was thirsty. Some milk would be real fine on such a warm afternoon, but Sis Cow always refused to let Brer Rabbit milk her when he asked. So Brer Rabbit thought up a plan.
- [Whirlwind](https://www.americanfolklore.net/whirlwind/) - In hindsight, I suppose it wasn't a good idea to go ancestor-hunting in the local cemetery at dusk, but that's when my friends and I got the notion, so off we went as soon as we thought of it. My mother had told me we had kin in the cemetery, but I'd never visited there before. We got on our bikes and skimmed expertly through the tourists who thronged the streets of Key West in the winter. It was getting dark when we skidded to a halt and parked our bikes by the gate.
- [Blue Hen's Chicks](https://www.americanfolklore.net/blue-hens-chicks/) - A Delaware man went to war during the American Revolution. For entertainment, he brought with him two fighting cocks. When asked about these chickens, the soldier said slyly: "They are the chick's of a blue hen I have at home." ...
- [Connecticut Yankee](https://www.americanfolklore.net/connecticut-yankee/) - Now, here in the South, we all do not approve of your so-called Connecticut Yankee peddlers. So when one appeared in the yard of my tavern, I was not of a mind to give him room for the night. He was a scrawny fellow with a mop of white hair and a withered face. He did not seem like a crafty Yankee peddler.
- [Slide-Rock Bolters](https://www.americanfolklore.net/slide-rock-bolters/) - Way up in the mountains of Colorado lurks the slide-rock bolter. This creature has a huge head, slits where its eyes should be and a wide mouth with long, sharp teeth...
- [Healthy Climate](https://www.americanfolklore.net/healthy-climate/) - California must be the healthiest state in the union, yes sir! I know of one chap who's grandfather lived to be 200 years old. The old man got awful tired of living after awhile, but couldn't seem to sicken and die.
- [Arkansas Traveler](https://www.americanfolklore.net/arkansas-traveler/) - One rainy autumn, a traveler got lost in the mountains of Arkansas. He was tired and hungry, and so was his horse. Night was approaching. All at once, he saw a cabin. A squatter sat on the porch fiddling the same tune over and over...
- [White Riders](https://www.americanfolklore.net/white-riders/) - They were not even close to the main camp when the sandstorm storm hit, blasting hot sand into their eyes, hair, and skin. The wind whirled above, around, and under the hasty shelter the two cowboys had set up, offering no protection at all. They took small sips of water every hour or so to relieve the dryness of their throats and to shift about to keep from being buried completely under the sand.
- [Arizona Weather](https://www.americanfolklore.net/arizona-weather/) - Well, some folks don't like the weather in Arizona, but I ain't one of 'em. Why, the air in Arizona is so fine, tourists stop over the state line just to fill their tires with it. Course, Arizona does get rather hot. But since we started shippin' in ice from California, our hens don't lay hard boiled eggs no more.
- [Yellowhammer](https://www.americanfolklore.net/yellowhammer/) - Once long ago, Sam, a young slave from Alabama, was sent to the market in Georgia with his master's cattle. After delivering the cattle to market, Sam was given some free time as a reward for good service. Sam decided to explore the city...
- [Swept Over: Ghosts of the Lower Falls](https://www.americanfolklore.net/swept-over-ghosts-of-the-lower-falls/) - Today the water drums of the Lower Falls in Yellowstone beat strongly, just as they did back in 1870 when the story which became a legend first took place. In those days, a group of five militia men and their Crow guide who decided to explore the little known Canyon of the Yellowstone. The explorers penetrate deep into the canyon region, keeping an eye out for signs of gold while they explored...
- [Higher Mathmatics](https://www.americanfolklore.net/higher-mathmatics/) - Shmul and Benin, two of the wisest men in the town of Chelm, went one day to take a steam bath. As they relaxed in the luxury of steamy heat, they idly began discussing Benin's upcoming trip to Dvimsk, debating how long it would take for him to drive to the distant town in his buggy...
- [Ethan Allen](https://www.americanfolklore.net/ethan-allen/) - Ethan Allen, the leader of the Green Mountain Boys, who defeated the British at Fort Ticonderoga, was known as a gruff-mannered, hard-drinking man. But Ethan Allen had a gallant streak which would exhibit itself in unexpected ways.
- [Johnny Appleseed](https://www.americanfolklore.net/johnny-appleseed/) - Johnny Appleseed was a hermit and a wanderer who was welcomed wherever he went in the Ohio territory. Everyone loved him, in spite of his unkempt appearance. He always carried a sack full of apple seeds to plant, and walked barefoot all year round. He knew the frontier woods better than anyone. Even the Indians respected Johnny Appleseed for his courage.
- [Teething Toy](https://www.americanfolklore.net/teething-toy/) - Well now, you've probably heard it rumored that here in Deadwood we have such a tough neighborhood that our babies teeth on guns. And the fact of the matter is, this is the very truth. I happen to know the lady who was responsible for the start of this rumor...
- [Jack and the Devil](https://www.americanfolklore.net/jack-and-the-devil/) - Jack was a nasty fellow who beat his wife and kids and was an all around bad chap. So the Devil came and hauled the poor fellow away with him. On their way to hell, Jack asked the Devil if he was thirsty, and ol' Lucifer said he was. So Jack somehow persuaded the Devil to turn himself into a coin so Jack could buy them both a drink from a handy tavern.
- [Wrong Side Up](https://www.americanfolklore.net/wrong-side-up/) - One spring in the early 1880s, a North Dakota pioneer was plowing his land. As he broke through the long prairie grass and turned it under in preparation for planting a crop of wheat, he noticed an old Dakota man watching him. When the pioneer stopped to rest, the old man approached him. The old man examined the plowed ground and finally picked up a clod of prairie grass which had been turned over by the plow.
- [Riverboat Racing](https://www.americanfolklore.net/riverboat-racing/) - An old lady from Kentucky was going to New Orleans with a load of lard to sell. It was her first time traveling by riverboat, and she was nervous because her friends had told her a number of stories about the dangers of riverboat travel--snags, collisions, racing with other riverboats. Before she got on the boat, the old lady made the Captain promise that he would not race the riverboat during her trip. The Captain agreed to her request.
- [Sangamon County](https://www.americanfolklore.net/sangamon-county/) - One of the old timers who lives here in Sangamon County, Illinois is always saying that Sangamon County is the only place on Earth which is more beautiful than heaven. Once, I asked him why. I mean, Sangamon County is beautiful.
- [The Fighting Roosters and the Eagle](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-fighting-roosters-and-the-eagle/) - “That’s it!” Black Rooster crowed to himself when he spotted Red Rooster flirting with the hens again. “I’ve had it with that impudent Rooster. This is my farmyard, not his!”
- [The Phantom Bellman](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-phantom-bellman/) - I gasped a bit as I wheeled my heavy bag toward the white-trimmed double doors leading to the hotel lobby. I was having some trouble adjusting to the altitude in Yellowstone after living my whole life at sea level. My husband Frank, on the other hand, took to the elevation as one mountain-born, much to my annoyance. He'd already dragged the rest of our luggage inside the hotel and was checking in at the front desk as I doddered my way into the lobby and collapsed in a chair near the fireplace.
- [Jean Sot Goes Fishing](https://www.americanfolklore.net/jean-sot-goes-fishing/) - Jean Sot was sitting gloomily on the dock of the marina casting a fishing line into the Bayou when his friend Boudreaux (Boo-dro) walked by. "Why are you so gloomy, mon ami?" Boudreaux asked his friend. "Oh Boudreaux, I had a terrible dream," Jean Sot said, waving the tip of his fishing pole for emphasis...
- [Why is a Black Cat bad luck?](https://www.americanfolklore.net/why-is-a-black-cat-bad-luck/) - Black Cats weren’t always considered bad luck. In early Egyptian times, dating back as far as 3000 BC, the domesticated cat became a symbol of grace and poise and was praised for its ability to kill cobras and other vermin.
- [What are some winter ghost stories?](https://www.americanfolklore.net/what-are-some-winter-ghost-stories/) - Winter plays a major part in these ghost stories from the United States and Canada.
- [What are some Winter Folktales?](https://www.americanfolklore.net/what-are-some-winter-folktales/) - The cold of winter creeps into these folktales from the United States and Canada.
- [Who are some famous Women in American Folklore?](https://www.americanfolklore.net/who-are-some-famous-women-in-american-folklore/) - Read folktales about strong women, witches, legendary heroines, female ghosts and spooks, and some curious girls who get themselves in trouble! These are the women of American Folklore.
- [What are some American Folksongs?](https://www.americanfolklore.net/what-are-some-american-folksongs/) - Oh a chipmunk, chipmunk sitting on a limb/And he winked at me and I at him/So I picked up a chip and I hit him on the chin/And he said: "Young man, don't you try that again!"
- [More Folklore Resources](https://www.americanfolklore.net/more-folklore-resources/) - Here is a list of folklore books recommended for teachers. These collections contain a variety of folktales, from Native American Myths and Legends to Ghost stories. There are also Urban Legends and some really funny Tall Tales.
- [What are some Folklore Definitions?](https://www.americanfolklore.net/what-are-some-folklore-definitions/) - So, what is folklore, anyway? What exactly is the difference between a myth and a legend? A folktale and a tall tale? Where do you draw the line between a fable and a fairytale? What is the difference between a normal legend and an urban one? For those of you who have spent many a sleepless night pondering such mysteries, I have written up a quick folklore vocabulary list to help solve the murky intricacies of folklore and allow you to sleep at night.
- [What is folklore?](https://www.americanfolklore.net/what-is-folklore/) - The term folklore is generally used to refer to the traditional beliefs, myths, tales, and practices of a people which have beem disseminated in an informal manner...
- [Writing: A Lesson Plan on Beginnings](https://www.americanfolklore.net/writing-a-lesson-plan-on-beginnings/) - A lesson plan on writing for grades 3-5 which introduces different types of story beginnings to students, allows students to write different beginnings, and engages students in the process of revision.
- [What are Some Folklore Web Resources for Teachers?](https://www.americanfolklore.net/what-are-some-folklore-web-resources-for-teachers/) - Here is a list of folklore resources available to teachers on a variety of topics, from folktales to life histories, and from folklife to legends.
- [Storytelling Lesson Plan](https://www.americanfolklore.net/storytelling-lesson-plan/) - A lesson plan for grades 4 and 5 which engages children in the art of storytelling and develops public speaking skills.
- [What are some Folklore Lesson Plans?](https://www.americanfolklore.net/what-are-some-folklore-lesson-plans/) - Here is a list of lesson plans that have been created using stories from the American Folklore site or appropriate for use with the Spooky Series by .
- [Do you have any more Nursery Rhymes about People?](https://www.americanfolklore.net/do-you-have-any-more-nursery-rhymes-about-people/) - There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile. He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile. He had a crooked cat which caught a crooked mouse And they all lived together in a little crooked house.
- [What are some Nursery Rhymes about Things?](https://www.americanfolklore.net/what-are-some-nursery-rhymes-about-things/) - Hot-cross buns! Hot-cross buns! One a penny, two a penny, Hot-cross buns!
- [What are some Nursery Rhymes about People?](https://www.americanfolklore.net/what-are-some-nursery-rhymes-about-people/) - Do you know the muffin man, The muffin man, the muffin man, Do you know the muffin man, That lives in Drury Lane?
- [Do You Have Any More Animal Nursery Rhymes?](https://www.americanfolklore.net/do-you-have-any-more-animal-nursery-rhymes/) - Oh where, oh where has my little dog gone? Oh where, oh where can he be? With his ears cut short and his tail cut long, Oh where, oh where can he be?
- [What are some Animal Nursery Rhymes?](https://www.americanfolklore.net/what-are-some-animal-nursery-rhymes/) - Baa, baa, black sheep, Have you any wool? Yes sir, yes sir, Three bags full. One for the master, And one for the dame, And one for the little boy Who lives down the lane.
- [What are some Rain Proverbs & Sayings?](https://www.americanfolklore.net/what-are-some-rain-proverbs-sayings/) - Looking to do a little weather forcasting? These old proverbs claim to predict stormy weather. If after a rain you can see enough blue sky to make a man a pair of pants, it will clear, at least according to some weather predictors. Read them all and see which ones work for you.
- [What is the Jersey Devil?](https://www.americanfolklore.net/what-is-the-jersey-devil/) - The legendary Jersey Devil is a dragon-like creature, with a head like a horse, a snake-like body and bat's wings. The Jersey Devil is rumored to inhabit the Pine Barrens in southern New Jersey, and has been known to cause chaos and panic whenever it rears its unattractive head; though there are some who consider its appearance as the herald of good luck.
- [What are some stories featuring supernatural romance?](https://www.americanfolklore.net/what-are-some-stories-featuring-supernatural-romance/) - Folklore is full of tales of true love and loss, and of not-so-true love and its aftermath. And of course, in some stories, love goes terribly awry.... If you're looking for a happy ending, you may want to go to the Disney channel. But if you want something thought-provoking (and sometimes downright chilling,) these stories are for you!
- [What is the Nature of Legend?](https://www.americanfolklore.net/what-is-the-nature-of-legend/) - From the Yakama Nation Museum The world of Giants prepared the way for the world we know today.The world of Giants is the subject of legend. The legends tell the history of our People, andTeach us by example how to live and die. Legends teach that mastery in the art of living takes time,

## Pages

- [Home](https://www.americanfolklore.net/) - "Hey there folks! Welcome to the American Folklore site, which features retold folktales from all 50 states. We answer those pesky folklore questions that keep you up at night, such as: "Why is a black cat bad luck?" and "Who the heck is Paul Bunyan?" So, grab a cup of coffee, pull up a comfy chair, and stay awhile."
- [The Spooky Series](https://www.americanfolklore.net/the-spooky-series/) - by S.E. Schlosser, illustrated by Paul Hoffman The Spooky Series is a 35-book ghost stories series by author S.E. Schlosser, illustrated by Paul Hoffman and published by Globe Pequot Press. The books feature tales of hauntings, strange happenings and other local folklore from various states and regions within the United States of America and Canada.
- [Scary Halloween Stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/scary-halloween-stories/) - Read Halloween stories about ghosts, witches, monsters and Bloody Mary! Ghosts and ghoulies and the devil come out to play in this collection of the scariest stories published on American Folklore.
- [Countdown to Halloween 2024](https://www.americanfolklore.net/countdown-to-halloween-2024/) - Read Halloween ghost stories and creepy monster tales, getting scarier each week until Halloween! Or check out our Halloween games page for more spooky fun! Scary ghost stories are retold from American Folklore by S.E. Schlosser, author of the Spooky Series. Hungry for more? Check out the 2023 Countdown to Halloween.
- [American Folklore Stories A-Z](https://www.americanfolklore.net/american-folklore-stories-a-z/)
- [United States Folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/united-states-folklore/) - Choose a State AlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinois IndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontana NebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvania Rhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyoming Featured USA Folktales
- [Funny Ghost Stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/funny-ghost-stories/) - Black cats and monsters and mischievous ghosts come out to play in this collection of the funniest ghost stories published on American Folklore. Great for Halloween! Featured Posts Top 14 Funny Ghost Stories
- [About the Author](https://www.americanfolklore.net/about-s-e-schlosser/) - S.E. Schlosser is the author of the Spooky Series published by Globe Pequot Press. She has been telling stories since she was a child, when games of “let’s pretend” quickly built themselves into full-length tales acted out with friends. A graduate of both Houghton College and the Institute of Children’s Literature, Sandy received her MLS
- [Blog home page](https://www.americanfolklore.net/latest-stories/) - Latest Stories Choose a category Snippity-snip, snap and store,Of American Folklore there’s plenty more!
- [Featured Stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/featured-stories/) - Ghost Stories Myths & Legends Tall Tales Choose a category Snippity-snip, snap and store,Of American Folklore there's plenty more!
- [Contact Us](https://www.americanfolklore.net/contact-us/) - FACEBOOK: Follow S.E. Schlosser on Facebook INSTAGRAM Follow S.E. Schlosser on Instagram EMAIL Email Customer Service REPRINTS Please visit the Reprints Page for information on how to request reprints of stories retold by S.E. Schlosser in the Spooky Series.
- [Contact](https://www.americanfolklore.net/contact/) - Contact Send me a Message Humblebrag occaecat hell of kinfolk cronut blue bottle labore. Incididunt twee thundercats adipisicing humblebrag jianbing. Live-edge narwhal intelligentsia church-key typewriter scenester pop. Follow on Twitter Follow Follow on Instagram Follow Watch us on YouTube Follow

## Categories

- [Famous Folktales](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/famous-folk-tales/)
- [African-American folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/african-american-folklore/)
- [Animal Stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/animal-stories/)
- [Blood Mary Legends](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/blood-mary/)
- [Brer Rabbit](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/brer-rabbit/) - Brer Rabbit / Brother Rabbit is a trickster character from African folklore which was brought to the New World by African slaves. Over time, the Brer Rabbit / Brother Rabbit stories developed a more localized flavor, influenced by similar trickster tales told by indigenous tribes in the Americas. A key theme in these stories is that of the smaller, weaker creature who overcomes larger, more powerful animals through its wits.
- [Spooky Campfire Stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/campfire-stories/) - Campfire stories of ghosts, spooky happenings, and eerie events. Scary campfire stories come from all over America
- [Canadian folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/canadian-folklore/)
- [Children's Stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/childrens-stories/)
- [Christmas Stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/christmas-stories/)
- [European-American Folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/european-american-folklore/)
- [Fables](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/fables/)
- [Folk Tales](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/folk-tales/)
- [Folklore Q&A](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/folklore-qa/)
- [Folktales A-Z](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/folktales-a-z/)
- [Scary Ghost Stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/ghost-stories/) - Here are some scary ghost stories to tell your friends or share at a sleepover. These haunting tales will keep you awake at night. You may want to read with the light on!
- [Halloween](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/halloween/)
- [Halloween Games](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/halloween-games/)
- [Halloween Stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/halloween-stories/)
- [Heroes & Champions](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/heroes-champions/)
- [Horror Stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/horror-stories/)
- [Jersey Devil](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/jersey-devil/)
- [Legends & Lore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/legends/)
- [Mexican Folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/mexican-folklore/) - Read ghost stories, myths, legends and wonder tales from all over Mexico.
- [Mythical Creatures](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/mythical-creatures/)
- [Myths](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/myths/) - Myths are traditional, typically ancient stories dealing with supernatural beings, ancestors, or heroes that serves as a fundamental type in the worldview of a people. The purpose of myths is to account for the origins of something, explain aspects of the natural world or delineate the psychology, customs, or ideals of society. In many myths, the main characters are gods or demi-gods and the story may have some religious meaning or background.
- [Myths & Legends](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/myths-legends/)
- [Native American Myths, Legends & Folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/native-american-myths-legends-folklore/) - Retellings of famous Native American Myths, Legends and Stories such as Rainbow Crow, the Maid of the Mist, and the King of Sharks, as well as First Nation tales from Canada.
- [Outlaws & Villains](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/outlaws-villains/)
- [Paul Bunyan](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/paul-bunyan/)
- [Pecos Bill](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/pecos-bill/)
- [Pirate Stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/pirate-stories/)
- [Pirates](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/pirates/)
- [Railroad Folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/railroad-folklore/)
- [Tall Tales](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/tall-tales/) - A tall tale depicts the wild adventures of extravagantly exaggerated folk heroes. Often told around the campfire, these stories are meant to entertain their audiences, who appreciate the wildly outsized claims of the storyteller.
- [Tricksters](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/tricksters/)
- [Urban Legends](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/urban-legends/)
- [Yellowstone Ghost Stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/yellowstone-ghost-stories/)
- [United States Folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/united-states-folklore/)
- [Top 20 Scary Stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/ghost-stories/top-20-scary-stories/)
- [Countdown to Halloween 2022](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/halloween/countdown-to-halloween-2022/)
- [Ghost Stories for Kids](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/ghost-stories/ghost-stories-for-kids/)
- [Funny Ghost Stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/ghost-stories/funny-ghost-stories/)
- [New Folklore Stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/folklore/) - Pull up a chair or gather round the campfire and get ready to read the latest folk tales, creepy ghost stories, and extremely tall tales from AmericanFolklore.net
- [Latin American Folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/latin-american-folklore/)
- [Davy Crockett](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/davy-crockett/)
- [Jokes, Riddles & Tongue Twisters](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/jokes-riddles-tongue-twisters/)
- [Countdown to Halloween 2023](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/halloween/countdown-2023-halloween-stories/) - Halloween ghosts and goblins and cryptids come out to play in this collection of Halloween stories retold by S.E. Schlosser, author of the 30-book Spooky Series. Stories get scarier each week until Halloween!
- [Haunted Holidays](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/haunted-holidays/) - Grab an eggnog, gather ’round the fireplace and get ready for tales of ghostly hauntings, eerie happenings, and other strange occurrences from times past! Holiday folklore traditions from around the United States are kept alive in these expert retellings by master storyteller S. E. Schlosser. From Hanukkah and Christmas to Three Kings Day and New Year’s, these spooky stories will have you looking over your shoulder again and again.
- [Countdown to Halloween 2024](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/halloween/countdown-to-halloween-2024/) - Halloween ghosts and goblins and cryptids come out to play in this collection of Halloween stories retold by S.E. Schlosser, author of the 30-book Spooky Series. Stories get scarier each week until Halloween!
- [Pacific Northwest](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/pacific-northwest-ghost-stories/) - Welcome to the Pacific Northwest, where ghosts and goblins and Sasquatch roam harsh and beautiful landscapes; and where folks should beware when buying furniture at antique shops, because you might bring home a phantom. Enjoy!
- [Countdown to Halloween 2025](https://www.americanfolklore.net/category/halloween/countdown-to-halloween-2025/) - Check out the 2025 Countdown to Halloween, featuring ghost stories, supernatural happenings and creepy monster tales: getting scarier each week until Halloween. These scary ghost stories are retold from American Folklore by S.E. Schlosser, author of the Spooky Series.

## Tags

- [African-American folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/african-american-folklore/)
- [Alabama folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/alabama-folklore/)
- [Alabama tribe](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/alabama-tribe/)
- [Alaska folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/alaska-folklore/)
- [Arizona folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/arizona-folklore/)
- [Cajun Folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/cajun-folklore/)
- [California folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/california-folklore/)
- [Children's stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/childrens-stories/)
- [Colorado folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/colorado-folklore/)
- [Connecticut folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/connecticut-folklore/)
- [Creek/Muscogee Tribe](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/creek-muscogee-tribe/)
- [First Nations](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/first-nations/)
- [Florida folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/florida-folklore/)
- [Funny Stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/funny-stories/)
- [Georgia folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/georgia-folklore/)
- [Ghost Stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/ghost-stories/)
- [Halloween games](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/halloween-games/)
- [Halloween Jokes](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/halloween-jokes/)
- [Halloween Stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/halloween-stories/)
- [Hanukkah](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/hanukkah/)
- [Hawaii folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/hawaii-folklore/)
- [Hitchiti Tribe](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/hitchiti-tribe/)
- [Illinois folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/illinois-folklore/)
- [Indiana folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/indiana-folklore/)
- [Inuit Myths](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/inuit-myths/)
- [Jewish folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/jewish-folklore/)
- [Kentucky folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/kentucky-folklore/)
- [Louisiana folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/louisiana-folklore/)
- [Maine folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/maine-folklore/)
- [Maryland folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/maryland-folklore/)
- [Massachusetts folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/massachusetts-folklore/)
- [Michigan folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/michigan-folklore/)
- [Missouri Folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/missouri-folklore/)
- [Native American Myths](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/native-american-myths/)
- [Nevada folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/nevada-folklore/)
- [New England folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/new-england-folklore/)
- [New Jersey folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/new-jersey-folklore/)
- [New Mexico folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/new-mexico-folklore/)
- [North Carolina folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/north-carolina-folklore/)
- [North Dakota folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/north-dakota-folklore/)
- [Ohio folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/ohio-folklore/)
- [Ongiaras Tribe](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/ongiaras-tribe/)
- [Phantom bellman](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/phantom-bellman/)
- [Railroad folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/railroad-folklore/)
- [S.E. Schlosser](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/s-e-schlosser/)
- [Scary Stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/scary-stories/)
- [South Carolina folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/south-carolina-folklore/)
- [South Dakota folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/south-dakota-folklore/)
- [Spooky stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/spooky-stories/)
- [Spooky Yellowstone](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/spooky-yellowstone/)
- [Stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/stories/)
- [supernatural tales](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/supernatural-tales/)
- [superstitions](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/superstitions/)
- [Tall Tales](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/tall-tales/)
- [Tennessee folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/tennessee-folklore/)
- [Texas folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/texas-folklore/)
- [Tlinglit tribe](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/tlinglit-tribe/)
- [Tricksters](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/tricksters/)
- [United States](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/united-states/)
- [urban legends](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/urban-legends/)
- [Utah folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/utah-folklore/)
- [Vermont folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/vermont-folklore/)
- [Virginia folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/virginia-folklore/)
- [weatherlore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/weatherlore/)
- [Wyoming folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/wyoming-folklore/)
- [Yellowstone ghost stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/yellowstone-ghost-stories/)
- [New York folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/new-york-folklore/)
- [Arkansas folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/arkansas-folklore/)
- [Delaware folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/delaware-folklore/)
- [Idaho folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/idaho-folkore/)
- [Iowa folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/iowa-folklore/)
- [Kansas folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/kansas-folklore/)
- [Minnesota folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/minnesota-folklore/)
- [Mississippi folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/mississippi-folklore/)
- [Montana folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/montana-folklore/)
- [Nebraska folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/nebraska-folklore/)
- [New Hampshire folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/new-hampshire-folklore/)
- [Oklahoma folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/oklahoma-folklore/)
- [Oregon folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/oregon-folklore/)
- [Pennsylvania folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/pennsylvania-folklore/)
- [Rhode Island folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/rhode-island-folklore/)
- [Washington folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/washington-folklore/)
- [West Virginia folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/west-virginia-folklore/)
- [Wisconsin folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/wisconsin-folklore/)
- [Halloween 2022](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/halloween-2022/)
- [Nez Pierce](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/nez-pierce/)
- [Sahaptin/Salishan](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/sahaptin-salishan/)
- [Mandan Nation](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/mandan-nation/)
- [Ontario folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/ontario-folklore/)
- [Top 10 Scary Stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/top-ten-scary-stories/)
- [Countdown to Halloween 2022](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/countdown-to-halloween-2022/)
- [Mexican folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/mexican-folklore/)
- [Cherokee Nation](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/cherokee-nation/)
- [Ojibwe Nation](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/ojibwe-nation/)
- [Chippewa Nation](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/chippewa-nation/)
- [Canada](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/canada/)
- [Teton Sioux](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/teton-sioux/)
- [Sioux Nation](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/sioux-nation/)
- [Lakota Nation](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/lakota-nation/)
- [Christmas stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/christmas-stories/)
- [Holiday stories](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/holiday-stories/)
- [Bolivia](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/bolivia/)
- [Haunted Holidays](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/haunted-holidays/)
- [St. Nicholas Day](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/st-nicholas-day/)
- [British Columbia](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/british-columbia/)
- [Nunavut folklore](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/nunavut-folklore/)
- [Spooky Virginia](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/spooky-virginia/)
- [Omaha tribe](https://www.americanfolklore.net/tag/omaha-tribe/)