The Appalachian region is no stranger to the paranormal. The hills and mountains making up the region once stood taller than the Rockies and were created almost a billion years ago. For reference, trees first evolved around 400 million years ago.
Because of this immense age, much of the region is said to be a hotbed for the supernatural. Southeast Ohio is no exception, with Athens being called one of the most haunted college towns in America, according to College Consensus.
Many know the stories of the Ridges, but Athens County and nearby areas are home to some lesser-known tales. Brian Collins, the Ram and Sushila Chair in Indian Religion and Philosophy in the department of classics and religious studies, said he started a class due to the local interest in the paranormal.
“I started a class on ghosts, magic and demons, and it was a popular class,” he said. “I began to teach it during the regular semesters. And now I teach it pretty much online, and have for a couple years to about 150 students per semester.”
About five and a half miles north of town is Mt. Nebo. At 1,017 feet, it is the highest point in Athens County and holds spiritual importance to the Indigenous peoples of the area. In the mid-1800s, a man named Johnathan Koons and his family built a log cabin atop the hill, where he performed séances to communicate with spirits, a popular act at the time.
Over several years, the room where these séances were held drew in hundreds to try and communicate with the dead. In his book, “Guide to Ohio University Ghosts & Legends,” author Craig Tremblay claims these rituals opened a portal that has caused Athens County to become a paranormal hotbed.
While not technically in Athens County, the nearby Moonville Tunnel in Zaleski State Forest has become a focus of local legend. Moonville was once a coal town on the Marietta and Cincinnati railroad. It is said that the ghosts of railroad workers inhabit the tunnel and can be seen waving their lanterns at night.
Back in Athens, people have reported an iconic building on campus is haunted. Bekah Davenport, a sophomore studying organ performance, said Galbreath Chapel on College Green is a hub for the unexplainable.
“There’s the basement part, which is super creepy,” he said. “If I'm down there, I'll hear people talking and a bunch of commotion up in the top part. I go up, no one's there. I've taken people with me, and the same stuff happens, or a feeling that you're being watched … It's just a very creepy place.”
About 45 minutes south of Athens along the Ohio River sits the town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, home of the Mothman. In 1966, two couples first reported seeing the beast outside of town. The next year, the Silver Bridge collapsed, which many attributed to the Mothman.
Point Pleasant now holds an annual Mothman festival every September, celebrating the creature. Maddie James, a graduate student studying education for social studies, said the local aspect of the Mothman legend is the main reason she likes the story.
“Obviously, Mothman is in the area, and I think that might have been part of the appeal,” she said. “People are very proud of it.”
Recorded in Salt Fork and Hocking Hills State Parks, the Ohio Grassman is the Buckeye state’s claim to the Bigfoot fame. The creature is similar in stature to the Bigfoot mythos, except it is said to be covered in long, shaggy grasses and builds makeshift shelters out of grass and sticks.
James said the thought these occurrences could be real is part of the fun of paranormal legends.
“My thought is that even though I personally haven't seen something, there's so many stories that even if the majority of them are lies, there's still so many that some of them have to be true,” she said.
