Ohio Folklore
Hello and welcome to Ohio Folklore. I’m your host, Melissa Davies, and I’m delighted to serve as your guide through some of Ohio’s most treasured, and often misunderstood, folk legends. We’ll explore locations that have inspired a sense of wonder, awe and mystery. We’ll scour historical facts to lay out what can be known. We’ll explore oral histories from local people who’ve had first hand encounters with the places and legends themselves. And, lastly, we’ll consider the unexplained, the unresolved, the missing pieces. What keeps a legend alive is a mix of critical ingredients. You’ve got to have a sense of uniqueness, of being out of place. You’ve got to have an element of significance, of a message that speaks deeply in its universal truth. But lastly, and most importantly, you’ve got to have that feeling of curiosity, of a puzzle with a few vital pieces missing. Our minds want to fill it in, to make it whole. And that, my friends, is where folklore is born. It’s is a collection of stories we humans tell about the places and events that seem bigger than ourselves; that seem too fantastical for history books; that seem too mysterious for museums. Many of the stories we’ll cover in this podcast will say as much about the storytellers as the subject matter itself. The teller and the story cannot be separated. Sometimes, what’s conjured up to fill in the gaps, tells us more about ourselves than we realize. The legends we’ll cover will address our deepest fears, our most heartfelt wishes and our most ardent desire for something beyond our mundane lives.
Episodes
Most Ohioans know the community of Mason for one claim to fame -- the destination of summer thrill seekers, Kings Island. But for those more keen on local history, it’s also known for a haunting, unsolved murder. The building in which it occurred, at 101 E. Main Street downtown, stands yet today. Claims of eerie disembodied sounds and full-bodied apparitions are now commonplace.
On Apr. 12, 1901, an elderly recluse was found m...
Most of us come to Hocking Hills, Ohio’s most treasured park, for its rugged beauty. With scenes unlike anywhere else in the state, newcomers are often stunned by towering rock formations and plunging waterfalls. It’s no wonder this place draws so many year after year.
One lesser known landmark off the beaten path has intrigued and terrified locals for more than a century. Death Hole, a deceivingly peaceful spot on Scott’s Creek...
Just in time for the holiday season... An Ohio Folklore Christmas Classic
Around the holidays, most Ohioans are wrapping presents, baking cookies and decorating the tree. One ancient holiday tradition often gets left out, however. It’s the ritual of sharing ghost stories around the winter solstice. It’s that darkest time of year when the veil between the dead and the living is at its thinnest.
Come hear the forg...
Just in time for Halloween, a classic Ohio Folklore episode is rebroadcasted. Take another delve into this timeless ghostly love story that lingers on...
Bridges represent so much to us. They make the impassable, passable. They connect us to the wider world. Yet in folklore terms, bridges are magnets for ghosts. Countless “crybaby bridges” dot the landscape of our great state. We share and reshare tales of disembodie...
Come listen again to one of Ohio Folklore's most popular episodes!
One monument to an era gone by once laid hidden in the overgrown hills of Ohio’s Vinton County. Thanks to the efforts of countless local enthusiasts and state ODNR officials, this antiquated railway tunnel is now easily reached. In fact, it’s handicap accessible.
All who dare can now visit the Moonville Tunnel. However, it’s not just the living ...
Planning that annual trip to the Lake Erie shore this summer? Better take another listen before you go...
Most of us think of Port Clinton as a summer tourist destination. Indeed, it is. And yet, it's so much more.
Few know of the haunted structure that sits on the corner of Madison and Perry Streets. The Island House Hotel is a rumored home for lost spirits, including a famous mobster, sheriff and orphaned im...
In honor of the upcoming summer solstice on June 21, 2022, come hear one of Ohio Folklore's most downloaded episodes. Then click this link to plan your visit to this year's Summer Solstice Celebration:
https://www.serpentmound.org/fullschedule/
When we think of history in Ohio, most of us consider the past two to three hundred years. Few know that one location in Ohio's southern hills holds pr...
When most of us think of the Civil War, we picture grand Southern plantations and epic battles with names like Gettysburg and Antietam. Even many Ohioans fought in the conflict, no actual battles happened within our borders, right?
The ghosts of the Battle of Buffington Island may beg to differ on this question.
Come hear the historic saga of one rogue Confederate general who led a raid through southern Indiana and Ohio. His reig...
For this month's rebroadcast, we turn to an oldie but a goodie. First released in April 2019, this tale stands as the most compelling UFO lore to ever come out of the Buckeye State. If you haven't heard it yet, what are you waiting for?
Early before dawn one April morning in 1966, in rural county outside Akron, two police officers got the call of a lifetime. The chase that would follow was covered in newspaper...
In honor of Women's History Month, take another listen to the episode devoted to one of Ohio's most revered daughters, Annie Oakley.
When we Ohioans think of Annie Oakley, we think of a petite woman in fringed leather, staring down the barrel of a long gun, at a target soon to be decimated. Her fame lives on a century after her death. She’s the subject of musicals, movies and countless books.
We’re well awa...
For our second rebroadcasted episode, come listen to Ohio Folklore's most downloaded tale, the legendary Ohio State Reformatory.
Most Ohioans know well the venerable institution called Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield. It served as the backdrop for the 1994 seminal film, The Shawshank Redemption. Had the movie been shot elsewhere, the state would have demolished this historic structure. How fitting that this mov...
In honor of Black History month, come hear one of Ohio Folklore most downloaded episodes, Ripley, Terminus of the Underground Railroad.
Most of us have heard tell of the Underground Railroad, the secretive movement that spirited enslaved peoples northward, toward freedom. Yet few Ohioans know of the integral role of one tiny town on the bank of the Ohio River.
Meet Ripley, Ohio. History has dubbed this quaint ...
OSU’s main campus in Columbus is known for many things. It’s the home of world class sports teams. It’s the home of a public institution compared to ivy league universities for its excellence in higher education.
Few know that it’s also said to be home to a host of spirits who’ve lingered long after their earthly demise.
Come hear the tale of the most spotted ghost on campus, The Pink Lady of Mirror Lake. She’s been seen gliding...
Werewolves are the stuff of nightmares and of 1960’s horror films. Werewolves aren’t the subject of documented Ohio sightings, chronicled in newspaper articles, right?
Few Ohioans have heard the account of the half wolf/half human creature that once terrorized the small city of Defiance, Ohio in 1972. The tale itself, had almost faded into obscurity.
Until now.
Come hear the insights of one cryptid researcher, Lyle Blackburn, w...
Ohio has no shortage of lore attached to prisons. Our most famous haunted correctional facility, the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, tends to hog the spotlight when it comes to legendary Ohio prisons. However, one institution in the southeastern corner, is often overlooked.
The Boys Industrial School, known today as the Southeastern Correctional Institution in Lancaster, harbors a unique past. Its revolutionary influence ...
Insane asylums evoke images of straight jackets and padded cells. There, deranged and forgotten souls were doomed to a life of isolation and anguish. It’s no wonder that these structures are steeped in tales of ghostly sightings. Perhaps some tortured spirits were never discharged. Many of us claim to have encountered them.
The Athens Lunatic Asylum, known today as The Ridges, is a case in point.
Come hear the tales of two loca...
Museums are known for holding all sorts of important objects. Some museums, however, hold something not usually visible… something of the spiritual realm. These places are fertile grounds for folklore to take root.
Such is the case with the United State Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio.
Come hear the personal experiences of famed author of Ohio ghost tales, Ms. Chris Woodyard. Her renowned 5-part series, Haunted Ohio, introduced...
Come hear an Ohio folktale that springs forth from true crime history. The spirits of those murdered, and the murderess herself, is said to linger in this unassuming, modest farmhouse. It still stands in a state park. You can walk up to the stoop for yourself and peek in the windows. Perhaps the souls of those lost there yearn to have their story heard.
In 1896, Ceely Rose was a developmentally disabled young woman. While her...
Bridges represent so much to us. They make the impassable, passable. They connect us to the wider world. Yet in folklore terms, bridges are magnets for ghosts. Countless “crybaby bridges” dot the landscape of our great state. We share and reshare tales of disembodied voices and misty shapes rising over the water.
So you might think this episode is just another trite tale of a haunted bridge. Thank again.
Come hear the tal...
Many Ohio folktales spring forth from darkened woods. The claim is that wild territories harbor menacing creatures lying in wait. Kirtland’s legend of the Melonheads is no exception. Rumors abound of small, childlike humanoids with bulbous heads and jagged teeth. Unsuspecting motorists, left disabled on the side of country roads, are said to fall victim to their predatory attacks.
It seems some cryptids aren’t shy at all.
But t...
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