6 Scary Appalachian Trail Horror Stories

this was in June in Asheville North Carolina my boyfriend and my dog and I were camping along the Appalachian Trail along the river where we were kaying we had got done kaying for the day and we were relaxing at our campsite before dinner our site was only like 10 ft from the trail and the river was right behind that we had some trtic and stressful events while kayaking that day and we needed to unwind and relax we were running low on Weeds so we had just eaten some edibles because we are stoners and why not

my boyfriend was half asleep in his hammock I was at the River's Edge and I was laying on a towel near the tent when a man came walking up to us blabbing about giving us his trash I was at first confused but he was wearing a backpack and an Appalachian Trail shirt so I quickly realized he was a serious hiker on the trail and want us to take his for him which is a pretty reasonable request however we were only a 5-minute walk down the trail and there was basic civilization including a dumpster and whatnot

literally 5 minutes down the trail I told him this because I'm sure he would rather just put it in the bin himself in that case but he then pulled out a large bag of weed and said I could have some if I took his trash I was a little confused but I would never turn down free weed so I was like sure whatever we will throw it out he gave me a small handful of nugs and threw his trash into to our bag and I asked him some small stuff like oh are you through hiking

and whatever basic stuff he said he was and had been for a couple of months and asked if he could stay in drinking beer and I was like sure this guy seems like he really just needs to talk to some people or something and I wasn't doing anything and he seems normal enough so why not I did think he might have only been there because I looked like a girl who was alone if he hadn't noticed the hammock but I thought at most he would be mildly disappointed he couldn't hit on me or whatever my

boyfriend popped his head up at some point and the hiker did seem surprised to see him which confirmed that he thought I was alone he kept saying stuff like oh don't worry I'm not one of those creepy people like okay dude I hope not I was trying to be friendly and just ask some basic questions we about Trail stories and the guy was answering normal enough my boyfriend I decided to smoke some weed by the river and of course offer the guy some because he had given us the weed in the first place he hits

it and coughs a bunch and that's when stuff gets weird as a stoner we were used to seeing people get too high and acts a little weird but this guy was being incredibly strange he talked and talked and talked but it was so quiet we couldn't really hear a thing he said I tried to seem interested and respond to stuff but I had no clue what he was saying he was just staring at the river talking to himself and then occasionally looking at us like we were part of the conversation and me be like oh

right hahaha it was so strange confusing he also drank like three beers at least and two cigarettes during the time so it was not a short amount of time this man would not leave he started talking to Siri on his phone when we stopped answering him and he was like yelling at Siri calling her a [ __ ] at one point out of nowhere he goes on a scale of 1 to 10 how much do I seem like a serial killer my boyfriend and I looked at each other like we had both just had the

same thought that this guy had just gotten way too creepy we both nervously laughed and said oh one meaning not at all for sure tried to act casual like it was definitely a joke or something but we were both thinking what the [ __ ] after that I said nope this guy's not welcome here and I got on the hammock and so did my boyfriend and we kind of sat there talking to each other a bit and not really acknowledging the guy he had said he was going to smoke one more Sig and then leave

and I swear that was the longest cigarette I've ever witnessed in my life it took him so long to finish it and I was just watching it get shorter and shorter hoping he would just leave already he finally got up and put his stuff on and left but it was almost dark so we knew he would not go too far before setting up camp for the night too that night we thought for sure this guy would come back and kill us throughout the night people did walk by on the trail multiple times but it was

other people we had seen on the trail during the day one being a couple that seemed to be on drugs and maybe lived up the trail we literally planned what we would do if he came back which was grab the dog and jump in the river and Float to the boat ramp Downstream anyway he didn't end up showing up that night and we didn't see him again but it was enough to freak us out it's possible this guy was just lacking some social skills and also had been in the Woods by himself for a while

but it's also possible that he really had some creepy [ __ ] going on and I'm definitely glad I wasn't alone when he walked up I grew up in southern Appalachia in Western North Carolina 30 minutes outside of the town of Asheville the hills and hollers of the appalachi mountains are some of the oldest mountains in the world some of the rock formations standing back over a billion years that quite literally means they were here before they were terrestrial animals as with most things that have been on Earth for a long time there are inexplicable

anomalies both benevolent and malevolent for example the Brown Mountain Lights never in my life have I felt threatened or uneasy when witnessing them from wise man's view they're neither good nor evil they just are on the benevolent side sometimes you walk through an abandoned old church up near mom and dad's property line you can feel good warm and happy energy it's like that first warm day of summer when the sunshine is not too hot but it's not too cold well this story is not about one such anomaly it's about something that was definitely malevolent about

a decade ago I was in night school up at abtech going to school for some Automotive mechanics I'll go into class at about 2: p.m. after I got off my part-time job and I would end up getting home at about 10:30 p.m. depending on the traffic every night I drove the same road in my old 1973 w200 Dodge pickup some nights it would get rather boring and I would take a different route jump off of I40 and drive the back roads on this particular evening I had decided to just stay on I40 because I just

wanted to go home and go to bed it was Thursday and there was no class on Friday and I wanted to get in bed early so I could go on to the woods and go hiking early the next day and watched the sun come up as I jumped off of I40 onto the exit where my parents lived the night seemed to get darker and none of the animals that I could hear through my roll down Windows made any more noise I have never faced any kind of anxiety in my life but at that moment something

felt off and there was no way I could put my finger on what it was I came to a stop on the exit ramp turned to go down the road and I happened to notice that the gas station off the exit where mom and dad lived had no lights on they were a 24-hour truck stop and always had lights on but I didn't think about it again after noticing I just chucked it up to the power being out but I could not shake the feeling that something was definitely a skew I slowly shifted through all

of my old truck gears not wanting to make any more noise than an old pickup already did I leaned over my steering wheel to look up at the Moon through the windshield there were barely any stars visible which was way out of the ordinary if you've ever been to Appalachia primarily the sparsely populated areas where I'm from you can see the Milky Way on clear nights an absence of stars back home is only due to cloud cover or whatever in the hell went on this particular night as I rounded a particularly sharp left hand curve

and chugged through a straight stretch before the next right-hander I looked at the ancient decaying Barn I always gazed at when riding that stretch of road and thought about how long that thing had been here and how many advancements and civilization I had seen for the split second that my gaze wandered a very large sickly looking dog ran out in front of my truck no more than 10 ft in front of me old Betsy was a good truck but she didn't stop well I heard the fence post I had left in my truck bounce out

of my bed and then back into it as I slid to a stop my first thought was oh no now I have to go tell these neighbors that I ran over their dog that [ __ ] doesn't go real far with people around here it can really set them off depending on the dog and the person as I sat there breathing in the smell of burning rubber something else found its way into my nose the stench of Rotting Flesh it's not a smell you forget once you smell it one time I didn't pay much attention

to it at the time I just choed up to some rotting roadkill nearby finally I thought to myself let me go check and see who this dog belongs to I pushed my clutch in shifted to reverse and as I looked at my rear view mirror illuminated by The Haunting glow of my reverse lamps was the same dog only it wasn't on four legs anymore it had stood up like a man a man well over 10t tall only then did it dawn on me that the front of my truck was every bit of 5 ft tall

and this dog was every bit of 5T tall at the shoulder on all fours as it turned its head to look in the direction of my truck I caught only a glimpse of this creature it was not a dog it was not a man it was somewhere in between and at the same time entirely separate altogether its skin hung loose off of its emaciated and thin frame like a raccoon bits of matted fur and dirt and mud clung to its legs like a disease the right arm seemed a little longer than the left and they

both hung abnormally low in relation to either animal this creature seemed to be as it regained its senses it turned and looked into the mirror like it knew exactly where I was sitting the face was that of a man's but the very edges of its face seemed to not be totally defined they seemed to move and change like something you would see at a cellular level in a scientific documentary there were no eyes but only sockets where eyes should have been no hair and the skin that was dripping off of its face was a cold

lifeless gray color the nose was short and shoved into his face like a bulldog teeth still haunt me it was definitely carnivorous and true to the form of the rest of its unnatural look many of the teeth didn't seem to be arranged in a natural way in mouth they seemed to fill and spill forth from the indefinable face almost like they knew the whr they occupied and they were searching for a way out it stared through my life into my eyes and past my soul it seemed like an eternity but it could have not been

more than 5 Seconds that I sat there paralyzed a light came on at the house next to the road causing the creature to snap its glaze in that direction and tear off into the woods on its back two leges like a man I jamed my old truck in first gear and roasted tires all the way through first snatched second gear and drove as fast as I could home when I got to the house both of my parents were asleep I went downstairs into my bedroom and loaded every firearm I possessed and locked all of the

doors I couldn't wake them up I mean who the hell would believe that and at 10:30 on a Thursday night the basement was eerily quiet that night even their dogs that got up to raise hell at outside animals at all hours of the night were dead silent the Old Post in beam house didn't even Creak or pop that night as was usual at about 3:00 a.m. I started to finally get drowsy and as I went to lay my head down to get some sleep so I could still attempt to go hiking the next morning I

smelled the stench of death again it was faint at first but it was definitely there I thought to myself you're just going crazy none of that [ __ ] was real but as I dwelt on it it became more and more noticeable until it filled the entire basement my dad has a home office in the basement with two large glass doors that face National Forest Forest 500,000 Acre Woods I finally worked up the courage to walk out of my bedroom and into the basement living room with my little tactical 12 gauge loaded tack light on

I covered the flashlight with my hand so as not to make my presence known until need be and as I turned right out of the living room into my father's office I shined the light through the glass doors and at the edge of the woods there stood the creature was motionless it stared right into the light unafraid with those soulless sockets devoid of eyes I quickly covered my Tasco light ran into the living room and flipped on the outdoor flood lights and to my surprise it was no longer standing at the edge of the woods

but between the house and the edge of the woods still motionless though I swung the door open and fired every round I had into its direction I must have scored a couple of hits because it Screech an unearthly scream like that of a woman being slaughtered as it took off into the woods the dogs went crazy mom and dad woke up asking me what the hell I was doing I told them that a bear had gone to the trash and I was scaring it away they didn't believe me but I knew they wouldn't believe the

truth either I didn't sleep that night or anytime until the following Sunday everything seemed to return to normal and I didn't think about the creature again until I met my wife about 6 years later her mother's house sits at the mouth of the holler no more than four or 5 miles up the road from my mother and father's up on the side of the holler there are kennels for her brother's hunting dogs no longer in use and haven't been in years but defenses still there and the concrete pad is still there it's a thing of

great use when you need to quarantine an animal her great peer knees had gotten into a tussle with a raccoon which of course he destroyed but his rabies vaccination had lapsed so we had to keep him quarantined for a time it didn't bother him as he kind of liked Solitude this particular night that we were coming home from a movie day in a neighboring town was a last night of quarantine for him so we walked up the trail using our phone flashlights to get to the kennel and there he sat patiently waiting tail wagging happy

to see us we put him on a leash and started walking back to the house with him as we were walking back through the darkness I started to feel the same feeling I had felt the night I hit the creature in my truck I didn't say anything so as not to alarm my wife but then the smell came wafting in on the breeze she jokingly asked me my God what did you eat you stink I half ass laugh not being able to fully appreciate the joke for the horrors that raged within my mind she immediately

caught on and asked me what was wrong to which I could only reply I'll tell you later she grew up in the woods and around hunting in things of that nature her whole life so she knew what I meant she knew we were being washed by something when we could see the lights of the house from the trail to the kennel we heard it there came barking from the kennel that sounded just like the Great Pyrenees we had on a leash next to us it was a perfect imitation the Pyrenees being a guardian dog immediately

sensed that something was wrong and so he turned to face the danger belting out deep barks and growls in that direction I don't know if you've ever had to drag a 150 lb dog but it sucks and it's not an easy task I'm 6' tall and 240 lb and it was all I could do to get him back to the house The Barking never ceased the entire time we were running toward the house in fact it seemed to grow closer and closer till it seemed it was coming from inside my own head her mother heard

the commotion and flipped the flood lights on as we made it into the fence of the yard and I caught a glimpse of something coming to a dead stop at the end at the end of where the light reached Wheeling around and tearing off back into the darkness my wife looks at me and goes you want to tell me what the [ __ ] that was to which I replied yes let's just go inside I told her this story and she listened intently hanging on to every word her family came from a long line of

Granny witches and other Supernatural Healers of the Appalachians so her older sister came over the next morning with some herbs and chant to bless the property and ward off evil I suggested did we go up to the dog kennels and to them as well when we got to the kennels they were completely destroyed the very concrete foundation was cracked and the chainlink fence was torn off of its posts dog houses were destroyed and the place raked of the stench that followed the creature my wife's older sister just went about her business like normal blessed the

place and burned some herbs and let us back into the property when we gotone into the house she wheeled about on us suddenly and instruct us very firmly to never go into the woods after dark not until this thing left me alone to make a long story short my wife joined the military and she ended up getting stationed in Delaware well as someone who's lived around fairly large mountains and endless Wilderness their entire life Delaware is pretty terrible at least that was my thought when we first moved into the middle of a 50,000 plus population

city fortunately though it didn't take us long to find a house in a sleepy little Community further south he purchased the house and moved in with haste we both very grateful and glad to be out of the city and into a rural setting again the land in Delaware seems lifeless in comparison to appalache the sparsely populated Woods don't possess any energy that goes one way or the other the ground doesn't seem to be alive like it is in Appalachia having not thought about the creature in a long time I resumed my staying outside after dark

and playing with our dogs in our rather large yard that borders a small patch of woods well last night I went outside to play with the dogs and as dark sat in I built a decent Siz fire in my fire pit and consumed some good oldfashioned appalachin mountain cough syrup from a mason jar and just as the fire was dying down my American Bulldog tore off towards the woods he has a habit of running off to go on adventures so my immediate Instinct was to chase him down on the yard and Tackle him so he

can not get away as I tackled his 110lb ass to the ground and threw him in a fireman's carry over my shoulders I heard him began to bark only the bark was not coming from him the only sound coming from him was a deep rumbling growl a noise I've never really heard him make it was a threatening noise something was definitely wrong and as I ran with him on my shoulders back to the house the stench of death again began to fill the air the two other dogs must have caught wind of what was happening

and met me at the back door which I threw open slam shut locked and again loaded my firearms how the hell could this thing have followed us 650 Mi up here as I flipped my flood lights on the back side of my house several of the bushes and small trees at the forest's edge were still shaking like something had just run through them my dogs went crazy all night barking and Howling and attempting to get out of the windows I didn't sleep a bit and I don't think I will for a while I know for

sure I won't be in the Woods After Dark ever again in my life not until this thing is gone originally I'm from West Virginia I moved around between the Appalachian and the Midwest some as a kid between the ages of 10 to 13 I lived in Ru Kentucky in the foothills of one of the oldest mountain ranges on the planet I lived with my dad and my GRS we lived in kind of like a culde-sac in between a set of Foothills we lived in the middle of the neighborhood with nothing but my family on both

sides no one lived across from us or behind us because of the Foothills when I moved in my Grandma had some rules I had to follow at the time I chalked them up to hillbilly stranger danger they were saying like don't mess around with the wild animals don't go into the woods alone and then they got a little weird if you hear your name don't answer and don't go to it and if you see someone in the woods you might know no you didn't just come home this experience happened in August when I was 11

my dad and I had mowed a path through the tall grass and berry bushes to the left of the double wide we lived in we camped out there a lot because it was close enough that we could check on my grandma now when you're in the woods things are louder than you think you have animal life bugs chattering wind through the trees and grass there was a stream that ran along the road you could easily hear that night we added the campfire to that list my Dad decided to go back up to the house about

a quar mile to get more beer and to check on Grandma before he left he told me to not mess with the fire after a few minutes of watching the fire things started to get quiet like real quiet the wind had all but stopped bug and animal sounds were all gone and the stream sounded like it was miles away I was getting uncomfortable even though I've been left at the campground before like this then I started to smell and taste it it was in the back of my throat out of nowhere this awful metal Tang

after a few more moments of dread my dad came back he was mad right away said he could smell Burning metal coming up the trail he accused me of tossing beer cans in the fire I told him I didn't and even pointed to the to prove it he said there was a storm coming in and we needed to get back home and he let it go we left the tent and started our way back now the very cool but very weird thing about lightning in the woods this stents is when the lightning lights up everything

like the middle of the day well up into the front of the trees after the first set of trees it's pitch black there are no street lights and unless you have lights on your property it's completely black so which pitch black lightly raining and other than dim lights from the house windows there's nothing I'm eating watermelon as one does in August in the mountains when the first clap of lightning hits everything is as bright as it can be after the second passes it's pitch black next clap of lightning comes and that's when I kind of

see it on the porch past the yard over the stream past the road and the ditches on either side just past the first line of trees I could see the silhouette of it and it goes dark this is also when I can start to taste the same awful Burning metal I'm not really sure what I saw so I just stay still it's a few moments before the lightning hits again the figure is now closer standing side by side to the trees I'm standing now not sure what to do not wanting to see it again or

get any closer I run inside my grandma is doing dishes and ask why I'm inside I tell her I think I saw something she almost immediately gets my dad on his feet telling him to shut and lock all the windows and doors my dad vaguely drunk obeys that night I sleep with her and the next day we discovered the tent doors torn off it didn't look like an animal things weren't cut or shredded but looked like someone took and pulled to depart my uncle who lived a mile or so up had all eight chickens killed

heads gone but no blood the next few weeks all the kids had to wait for the bus with an adult my dad had to be laate for work for almost 3 weeks anytime I Tred to talk about it I just had the subject changed I just figured I was a kid and it wasn't important or real but it wasn't until years later I fin understood I was in my early 20s and some cousins were in town for Halloween as I was telling this story my aunt got I rate with me saying don't you tell them

that don't you put that evil on them after I couldn't help but think back on all the times I tried to talk about it and how I was shunned my kid mind not realizing it wasn't as simple as a subject change but then actively shushing me once I started dipping my toes in Reddit I realized there was a name for this thing the same name my auntie had called it that day at the party and other people have seen it the Goatman what bothers me the most is how to this day I couldn't describe any

feature nor have I ever tasted that awful Burning metal taste so friends if you ever find yourself in the foothills of Kentucky please remember my grandma's [Music] rules I once had a close friend who was an avid hiker we will call her Annie for the sake of keeping her identity safe she spent most of her free time hiking trails in and around the Appalachian region Tennessee and North Carolina no matter what the time of year was she would always be out hiking One Summer she decided to spend a few weeks hiking the appalachin trail she

wasn't going to do the full thing she just intended to start at the beginning in Springer Mountain Georgia and finish up at the shannona national park in Virginia I was all for it and encouraged her to do it I even helped her par and we even arranged for me to meet her where the trail crossed through the Newfound Gap area in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park I was going to bring her new supplies and hike for a few days with her along the trail while she was in the park close by to where I

lived at the time the time came for her to begin her journey and I drove her to the trail head dropping her off and left behind a very excited and determined Annie during the first few weeks of her journey I received several postcards from her as she would stop in and pick up her pre-arranged packages containing UPS of food and supplies she would write as often as she could to assure me that she was safe and making good time eventually July rolled around and it was getting close to when I was going to meet her

before she left we had sat down and figured out about when she would be reaching the backcountry shelter we were set to meet at July 10th was the day we settled on she was supposed to send me a postcard from the last reup spot before when we were set to meet and true to all of our previous cards I received one one detailing that she felt great that she was on schedule to meet me at the mount lante shelter on July 7th I had received the card on July 2nd we were going to stay at

the lodge for the evening and have dinner and rest up before continuing the trail Mount lante Lodge was one of the more popular destinations in the park and you had to make the reservation months in advance in order to have a shelter for one night it was important that we stayed true to our schedule and Annie knew this very well I gathered up all of the supplies we would need and had my then boyfriend drive me to the trail head he was going to hike with me to the shelter and leave once I had met

up with Annie we had a great time hiking there enjoying the breathtaking views of the Smokies while panting and sweating our way up the Steep climbs eventually we made it to the shelter and I fully expected Annie to be there waiting for us it was midafternoon and we had been running an hour or two behind schedule we went to the front desk to see if she had made it and checked in only to find out that she had not arrived yet we didn't think much of it because you can't be completely sure of when someone

is going to arrive with this kind of stuff so we took our gear and settled in our bunker we went up to the lodge and had some coffee and leisurely enjoyed our books and the views while waiting for Annie to arrive Sunset came and she still hadn't shown up this is when I began to get worried my boyfriend and I walked over to the office and asked if anyone named Annie had tried to check in and to our dismay no one had we went back to our shelter and my boyfriend tried to calm me down

as my anxiety began to take over she's probably running behind schedule the trails in this area of the park reach the highest elevations of the entire appalachin she probably got worn out and fell behind track he assured me if she doesn't get here tonight she'll probably make it by tomorrow don't worry I tried to let his words sooth my worries As We Lay Down for rest but I endured a long sleepless night she didn't show up the next day we waited at the office for hours but she never came around 2: in the afternoon we

decided to hike down the trail towards the direction she was du to be coming from we told the lady at the office to tell Annie we would be back if she arrived while we were gone we made it back to the lodge around 5:00 p.m. and found out she had not been there from this point things got hectic I won't go into much detail with it but we had no choice but to leave the lodge and return home leaving contact information with the people at the lodge to let us know if she ever arrived days

passed and no sign of her arose anxxiety and guilt and fear ate me alive in the days following we had no by the police and mass search parties were sent out Rangers the police and volunteers scoured the area between where she was last scene and where she was supposed to arrive it wasn't until almost a week and a half later that they found her bruised and starving hiding in a ravine about 30 Mi away from the appalachin trail and the shelter she last stayed at just over a day later I was finally allowed to see

her at the hospital she didn't tell the police anything about what happened she hadn't even spoken at all matter of fact it took her a few years to tell me what had fully happened to her including the details that she wouldn't tell the police the experience had made her quit hiking altogether I'm not sure if she would like me sharing this with you guys but I want people to be aware that this exists and it's something you should look out for when hiking the Smokies most likely aren't the only place where this can happen I

will tell you exactly as I remember in her words the best I can I left the shelter at around 8:00 in the morning on June 31st and I hiked most of the day making really good time I was resting and eating some snacks to give me the last boost of energy I needed to make it to my campsite for the night it was late in the afternoon and that's when I first heard it the sounds of men's voices came from a pretty good distance away but I figured it was just some guys walking the trail

nothing out of the ordinary I sat there for another 15 minutes but nobody ever walked by the voices would come in and out it was weird but at this point I had been hiking alone for a few weeks so I assumed I was just making up things in my head because I was lacking regular human contact I grabbed my things and continued on my way reaching my campsite just as the sun disappeared and light was waning I set up my tent and strung my belongings up on the wire cables to keep them from bears and

animals if they decided to wander over I was relaxing in my sleeping bag reading a book when I heard it again voices louder now than before I could faintly make out heavy Appalachian accents though it was still difficult to make out their conversation I waited for for the sound of Le crunching or Twix cracking to indicate hikers joining my sight but the sound never came I shut my eyes and weled myself to sleep you're just hearing things I told myself the next morning greeted me with the soft sounds of birds chirping in a soft Breeze

humming through the trees and against my tent I went outside and to my dismay found some wrappers of my freeze-dried blood scattered across the ground they looked as if they had been torn into and all the food was gone it was only a couple of packs so I still had a decent Supply I guess the Scrolls had found a way into my backpack the only strange part about it was that my backpack was zip shut and didn't show any signs of any nibbling or scratches an animal would have left I packed up my campsite uneasily

trying not to think about The Coincidence of the voices I heard the night before I walked faster this day trying to keep a quicker Pace with the hopes that I would leave the weird voices and strange happenings behind me I had been hiking for a few hours passing a very minimal amount of people fool when I heard the voices again they didn't go away this time they always seemed to stay at a steady Pace behind me no matter how many times I looked over my shoulder I could never find anyone I Came Upon my next

campsite and made the split decision to hike through the night if these people who had been following me were dangerous I didn't want to set up camp and leave myself in a vulnerable position to be attacked I walked slowly through the night using my flashlight as a guide the voices had stopped a couple of hours ago and I was beginning to feel like I had lost them whoever they were I came to a small opening in the trail and decided I would rest for a few hours because my feet felt like they were on fire

from all the walking I had done I hadn't even taken the tent from my backpack when I heard the voices this time directly behind me there she is a deep voice rung through my ears and I spun around pointing my flashlight in the eyes of two men who were ragged dirty and unshaven the look in their eyes was Sinister and I will never forget the way my skin crawled beneath their gaze I screamed into took off running in the direction I had come from I could hear their bare feet running along the trail behind me

as I ran when I was far enough away and over a hill I cut off the trail and sprinted as fast as I could through the brush and trees it was breaking down at this point so I was able to maneuver easier than if it were still pitch blackout for the next two weeks I hid in the woods dodging their looming voices and hiding in bushes they were never far off sometimes I would see them wandering around and talking about the things they wanted to do to me they looked as if they hadn't bathed in

months and they both only wore torn up cargo shorts their hair was long and their bodies were covered in mud I knew I wouldn't have anyone looking for me for at least another week because no one was expecting me until July 7th I barely fended for myself struggling to find water and to ration my food accordingly I knew if they found me they would do bad things to me I felt it in their eyes I felt it when I looked at their clenched fists and heard their raspy voices eventually a park ranger and a group

of volun teers found me a few weeks after being home and out of the hospital I did some research and found out there were people who would hide in the mountains to escape the law living there in order to avoid jail for the crimes they had committed there were people who had murdered and violated people in many ways in ways that would have warranted life in jail or even death they are called The Wild men after hearing her story I haven't gone hiking much they can't possibly be the only ones out there if you go

hiking deep in the mountains be sure to watch your back because the wild men are always lurking to start this off I need to give some context I'm 23 and I currently live in New York City but I have grandparents who live middle of nowhere in West Virginia when I say that I mean the literal Boonies their closest neighbors are over an hour away in a small town with a few houses and a Walmart last summer my grandfather who just called Robert for privacy reasons had surgery done to his hip the majority of my family

lives on the west coast and my grandmother who I'll just refer to as Muriel is very old and wouldn't have been able to take care of Robert because I was the closest family member I was the one they asked to come down there and help out with my grandfather being the good grandson I am I agreed to come down there for 2 weeks while he recovered from his surgery but fast forward a week everything was going fine all I really had to do was help my grandfather up and down the stairs and walk his dog

a blue healer named Rocky normally my grandfather would walk Rocky once in the morning and once at night through the woods behind their property but because of his surgery that responsibility fell on to me this was the part that I hated about helping him because ever since a kid I never like those woods behind the property whenever I'd go down there as a kid me and my cousins would always get creeped out going into that Forest it always just felt off for some reason anyways for the first week walking Rocky in the forest at night

was fine even if a bit creepy that was until one night weaken to my stay I was walking him through the forest it was around 8:30 and the sun was setting over the Appalachian Mountains everything was going normal until I heard a strange whistle that sounded like it was only around 20 yards away both me and the dog stopped St in our tracks and looked towards the direction the whistling came from I shined my flashlight in the direction but I didn't see anything so I just assumed it was a bird looking back it definitely wasn't

a bird there's no nocturnal birds that chirp and whistle out there and it sounded more musical than anything a bird could whistle but the dog was spooked he wouldn't stop growling and staring at whatever was back there and he kept trying to back up until whatever or whoever this thing was whistled again to which the dog started barking and going crazy at this point I decided that I definitely didn't want to stay there so I yanked on the dog's leash and we both bolted out of the woods and went straight back home when we got

back and I told my grandparents what happened they both seemed spooked and my grandma mother immediately asked if I whistled back I told her that I didn't and she seemed relieved but told me that I didn't hear anything and she just ignore it I asked why and she wouldn't tell me and would instead tell me I didn't hear anything I decided not to press it any further and I went to bed terrified and wondering what she seemed so freaked out about the next morning she told me that instead of walking Rocky through the woods I

could just take him on a few laps around the house so that's what I started doing every night I would take Rocky for around 50 laps around the house before going back back inside on Friday the third to the last day I would be there at night I was walking the dog again for laps as usual until I heard that same creepy whistle behind the attached garage which was only around 10 yards from the house this time I immediately took the dog back inside and locked the doors the rest of the night I put in

my earbuds and I ignored any more whistling like my grandmother told me to to this day I still don't know what was whistling in those woods some of my friends said it was a skin walker but that's not really a thing around here my girlfriend who stayed back in New York City asked her Muslim parents who are from Yemen and they said whistling at night as a signed that a Jin is nearby I don't know what that was but whatever it was had my parents legitimately scared I've heard of weird [ __ ] happening in

appala but this is the first time I've ever had a firstand experience with it does anyone have any idea what this could have been [Music] if you ever end up in the mountains after sundown be careful be respectful and most importantly don't touch the skulls the first time someone told me that I thought they were strange superstitious folk I just moved to a little town nestled in the Appalachian Mountains looking for a new start away from the busy cities I lived in for all of my life a house with forest for a backyard and neighbors

a mile or so away sounded perfect at the time it's what led need to buying the property in the first place don't get me wrong the house is nice it has a few problems though like a creaking porch and the kitchen is a bit too small for my liking but it's cute quaint is what the realtor kept saying when she showed me the rooms and I agreed with her even if it is a little small the real selling point was the Acres of forest that would be considered mine I remember my first trip to the

town at the base of the mountain a small place where everyone knows each other naturally if some weren't sure about me but most were actually nice asking where I grew up what I did for work normal questions I tell the owner of the only grocery store in town Mr Faraday asked me if I planned on hiking in the forest well yes of course I think I laughed as he bagged up my groceries eyeing me the entire time of course silly question he agreed as he handed me the bags and then continued the forest is perfectly

safe during the day just get home once the Sun starts setting you're asking for trouble with the wild life or you'll get lost if it gets too dark anything in particular I should worry about I mean we get black bears sometimes all you have to do is yell at them though and they'll run usually Scaredy Cats the lot of them unless you find a mama moose foxes wild Boors and even wolves I paused in gathering on my bags and repeated wolves I thought wolves were extinct here in the appalachin Mr Faraday Shrugged and ignored my

question continuing like I hadn't said it anything be careful out there always take water be respectful don't be one of them city Folk that make a mess of the place see a flower and think it's pretty you take a picture and leave it alone easy enough anything else I should do I wanted to be nice and not just blow the guy off even if most of his advice was common sense then again I didn't doubt that there had been trouble in the past with some Outsiders it happened all the time in the Parks I would

go to as a kid jerks I would come through and leave beer cans or cigarette butts everywhere he met my eyes staring for a second too soon before he replied if you see skulls or bones don't touch them if they are in the way you go around them I stared back feeling uneasy as he suddenly smiled and said you come back soon you he I run specials every week on fresh produce and meat I should have listened better to him the first few times I ventured into the forest it was always in the late morning

there's an old trail behind the house overgrown but still usable there are all kinds of song birds and small animals and interesting plant life to see I tried going in the morning when it wasn't too hot I also made sure to bring water and wore good hiking boots whenever I had time for a walk before work there was a point in the trail where a branches off into two directions and that is the point where I turned back around the last thing I wanted was to choose the wrong path and end up hopelessly lost or

unable to find my way back then work changed my schedule so I started going in the late afternoon I stayed out longer just getting done with my hike as the sky was bathed in pinks and oranges the sun no longer visible but giving just enough light I never noticed anything different between the morning and late afternoon hikes other than less bird singing then Small Things began to happen little Oddities that were easy to write off trees that had long scratches down their trunks or the song birds quieting down at the start of my afternoon hikes

rather than towards the end I figured it was from the seasons changing the night's getting longer and days shortening I had to be quick about my daily routine only letting myself get maybe a mile into the forest before turning around even if I didn't believe the town's folk that had gotten more vocal about being mindful of myself in the woods I still didn't want to get lost then I came across a deer skull it was in the middle of the path back to my house bleached and cracked looking far too old I looked around the

trees to see if anyone was around because I hadn't been there on my way up the mountain I even called out a nervous hello and got nothing the idea of leaving it where I constantly treaded made me sick so I grabbed a stick and carefully put it through one of the eye sockets I took a breath then tossed it off into the trees watching as it hit the ground before dropping the stick and quickly making my way back home that's when the howling started it woke me up in the dead of night a long lone

howl off in the distance I was confused startled because until that point I had never heard of Wolf Hollow before that wasn't on TV I didn't even know if that's what it was I laid there for a while listening to it then turned on some music to drown it out and go back to sleep for a week I would wake up in a cold sweat and the Wolf would be singing away until I finally started going to sleep with music I asked about it the next time I went into town curious if anyone else had

heard it but nobody did Mr Faraday shook his head and said he hadn't heard any noise as he gave me change for my groceries the pharmacist told me it was probably just a lonely or hurt animal when I was looking for some sleep aid even the waitress at the diner Shrugged and said haven't heard a thing honey just make sure to keep your doors locked always better to be safe than sorry the next time I went into the forest I made sure it was right after work so I could enjoy a nice long stroll the

trees with the scratches were closer to my home but I Shrugged it off figuring it was a ver or a moose I did my usual circuit followed the trail until I got to where branches off and and took a minor break sitting on a fallen tree to drink some water as I got up to start my way down I noticed that the forest had become quiet I felt nervous glancing around to look for a reason like a bear stalking about but found nothing at that point I quickly headed back home and nearly tripped over another

skull a moose skull going off the huge andler is still attached to the white bone perfectly preserved and staring at my direction I looked around wanting to find who was messing with me but I couldn't see anything but trees and ferns I thought about picking it up and throwing it to this side but I took a breath and walked around it then began running back home it appeared two more times before I had enough on the third time I picked it up and threw it into the trees I didn't stay to watch where it landed

and the moment I got home I slammed the door and locked up everything I was shaking trembling in my kitchen after locking the back door and dared to look out the window I didn't see anything but I felt like something was watching me how didn't wake me up that night no the sound of my Porsche creaking did the groaning of wood had my eyes snapping open as my heart leapt into my throat I laid in bed unable to move when I heard a low growl near my window the curtain was so drawn I couldn't see

outside but I could hear whatever it was the sound was that of an animal something didn't quite sound right I tried putting my finger on it when the growling stopped for a second then a howl rattled my windows and my bones I rushed to my bathro bathroom the only place in the house that had no windows and slam the door shut curling up in the bathtub I didn't move until my alarm ring at 7 and the Sun was shining through the curtains it kept happening every night the porch would Creek the growling would begin then

finally the howls that lasted until the sun came up I had enough by the fourth or fifth night and drove back to town functioning on a cocktail of adrenaline fear and caffeine I had to wait for the store to open but the moment it did I saw all Mr Faraday who was stocking some items on the shelves he glanced at me then said you look like [ __ ] if you need help sleeping you should see the doctor something keeps showing up in my house I think it's that wolf I was telling you about he

froze a slight Tremor in his fingers before he turned calling Sarah mine the front I'll be back he didn't wait for a reply and instead headed to the back of the store motioning for me to come along I did following him through a door that L outside once out in the too sunny morning he lit a cigarette then sighed I told you to mine the bones I broke down at that point lack of sleep leaving me without a filter it kept showing up I ignored it the first time and it kept getting in my way

what was it a mus skull there was another skull two weeks ago it was a deer but I moved that with a stick a shake of the head still count son what happened after you moved the deer I admitted that's when the howling first started but it was far off in the distance easy to ignore something that had him frowning but not interrupting until I finally asked it's not a wolf is it Mr Faraday looked at me for a long time then subbed out the cigarette before reaching for another one I told you what not

to do and yet you did it now you've got a mess to deal with I opened my mouth so ready to demand he answered my question but he kept going now listen here and you listen you going to buy some meat the reddest bloodiest meat I have then go home and put them in the fridge when the Sun is setting you're going to go in that forest with the meat and put it on the path the minute you do that you turn tail and run home you don't look back no matter what sounds you hear

or feelings you get you run and lock up tight and it'll just go away just like that I asked feeling a tiny bit hopeful the next words Dash those hopes away nothing is guaranteed son this is you trying to make amend it doesn't mean you'll be forgiven anger boiled in me and I snapped at him I didn't even do anything he shook his head with a small frown and said you show disrespect and acknowledged them that's enough in a place like this I opened my mouth but he brushed past me and asked you going to

buy the meat or what I ended up doing so I didn't know what else to do and figured why not just go along with it I couldn't explain anything else so why not try to make amends I bought the bloody Stakes I could find and drove back home in a days I set an alarm to ring just before Sundown and crashed on my porch until then it was surreal walking out to the trail as the sun began his descent I noticed that more and more trees had the strange scratches on them and shuddered at the

idea of something or many something being so close to the house I walked about 10 minutes up The Path before laying out the stakes it was disgusting the blood collecting on the brown butcher paper but I piled them up then looked around I couldn't see anything just the usual trees and decided to head back home I took a handful of steps when I heard it a low growling from behind me that had the hairs in the back of my neck standing up heavy thumping followed the growling getting closer and closer breaking me out of my

support I got my feet moving again and headed back to the house as the sound of teeth ripping into raw meat met my ears once I was at the end of the path my home in sight I dared to turn my head before I ran back to the house scrambling up the porch and barely slamming the door shut in time it had been right behind me following like an obedient dog only it wasn't a dog not even a wolf I had to brace myself against the door as it slammed into the wood growling and grunting

I managed to lock it just barely before rushing to the front door to make sure I locked it as well it nearly beat me I hit the door just as it started to open and push my entire body weight against it it seemed like it was barely enough to keep it out as I flicked the the lock I stumbled back shaking and panting staring at the door as the growling began all over again this time I followed it to the back porch and peered through the window it walked on four legs fingers sprayed out with

long claws for nails and covered in black fur in some places pale human skin and others as it walked the back legs bent unnaturally and make a horrific snapping noise the bones visible through the skin and twisting with every movement the head is the most disturbing a blooded muscle that stretches out to too much for a wolf eyes glowing red and can open the mouth far too wide the fangs are all black and red with flood too long too curved when it closes its jaws blood oozes out I stared at it and it stared at

me before the lips peeled back into a sort of demented smile the growling stopped and instead a new sound started a sharp high-pitched laugh human almost filled the air I shivered ready to shut the curtains when I heard more laughter I looked beyond it and was at the sight of more pairs of red eyes out in the forest the heckling grew in volume echoing until it's all I heard even now I still hear it I hid in the bathroom again feeling like a child and praying that my doors and windows would hold once the sun

came up and I mustered up enough courage to get to my car I found dozens and dozens of skulls on my porch all different shapes and sizes some bleached white others black with Decay and some even red and others laying in pools of blood one of them was human I wanted to run to the car bulldozed through the bones but instead I forced myself to carefully step over each and every one of them once I got back into town I sought out Mr Faraday he listened quietly to my account looking disappointed and annoyed by the

time I was done and said I told you not to look now you really made a mess not just for you but for everyone my blood ran cold and I asked what do you mean everybody heard them last night son cuz of your [ __ ] up he closed his eyes then lit a cigarette even though we stood in the paper goods aisle what if I just leave just go back where I came from he shook his head and flicked the ashes onto the ground uncaring of where they ended up then what what do I

do you're going to clean up your own mess a hunting party is gathering at the diner at sundown you better be there I asked if he really thought they could be killed if it was possible and he waved his hand and said we've done done it before you not the first person to not listen you won't be the last but you made the trouble you better be ready to help get rid of it I swallowed hesitating then dared to ask do people not come back from this hunting all the time this time won't be any

different sun down son or we'll not just be hunting them but you too we are gathered at the diner and I've been given a shotgun and a crash course on how to use it shown how to load it and told what not to do and what to watch out for according to Mr Faraday who was around for the last Purge the Wolves of the appalachin is what they call him he's sticking close to me he says having a buddy nearby is important it's safer this way the wolves like to drag people into the forest or

decapitate their victims they collect the skulls the bullets I have are supposed to be special blessed by the priest and bathed in holy water or something like that I've never hunted before that's why I'm leaving this account in case I don't come back hunting accidents happen all the time that's what the town's folk will say if anyone comes asking about me or anyone that doesn't come back the sun hasn't set yet giving us time to prepare and the priest time to bless every bully he can if we can hear them already the wolves are laughing

[Music] again for