February 19, 2025 • 12 mins
Discover the chilling legend of Frozen Creek in Breathitt County, Kentucky—a place where the past never lets go, and the dead refuse to rest. Explore the haunting story of the Frozen Inn, a roadhouse steeped in sin and blood, where bootleggers and outlaws met their fates, leaving echoes of gunfights and ghostly laughter that linger in the night. Learn about the tragic flood of 1939 that claimed the lives of nearly 40 souls, leaving behind restless spirits that roam the creek banks and shadowy figures that appear at dusk. From mysterious glowing orbs and phantom footsteps to the eerie cries of a woman searching for her lost child, this Appalachian holler holds a legacy of sorrow, superstition, and spectral sightings. Listen close… because in Frozen Creek, the past still whispers your name.
Watch the video on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/u2TNJIX6H90
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
They say some places never forget.
(00:05):
The land holds on to sorrow, soaks up blood, keeps a reckoning of every pain ever felt upon
it.
Some places breathe with the ghosts of what's come before, not just haunted but cursed, and
frozen creek, it's one of them.
If you listen close, you can hear it. The whispers through the trees, the echoes of a time drowned
(00:31):
in sorrow.
The wind, don't just blow here, it carries the past whispering names of folks long gone,
crying out in the dead of night.
Folks around these parts say the spirits ain't never left, that they're still here, trapped
in the place that took them too soon. But before we get to the ghosts, you gotta know
(00:55):
what made them.
Welcome to Kentucky Melody's Scary Stories from Kentucky, where we spin yarns about ghostly
haunts, creepy hollers, and spine-chilling legends from deep in the hills. So grab a
chair, dim them lights, and let's dig into something spooky.
(01:17):
Hucked away in breath-it-county Kentucky, frozen creek don't look like much now. Just
a quiet holler, trees heavy with the weight of forgotten things. But once, long ago, it
was a place of hard work and harder times.
The people who settled here weren't looking for no easy life. Mountain folk, tough as
(01:41):
the rocks they built their homes on, they scratched out a living from the land, working
small farms, cutting timber, digging coal where they could find it. Most weren't rich,
and sure as hell weren't soft.
They got their mail from a post office opened in 1850, and if they needed supplies they
(02:04):
made do with what they had or hitched a ride into Jackson. Winters were cruel. Summers were
hotter than the devil's breath, and through it all, folks clung to each other, to their
faith and to the land. But the land don't always love you back. Now, if there's one
(02:26):
place in these hills that folks don't like to talk about, it's the frozen inn. There
weren't no ordinary inn. There weren't no cozy place where travelers stopped for the
night. No, sir. This place was different. A den of sin, a roadhouse where men drank
too much, gambled their last dime, and sometimes never made it out alive.
(02:52):
Sat about four miles from Jackson, right along Highway 15, the frozen inn had a reputation
darker than a coal mine at midnight. Bootleggers ran their business out of there. Women of
the night took up rooms upstairs, and if you wanted to settle a grudge, well, let's just
say plenty of men did, with knives, pistols, and fists. In 1939 alone, the coroner was
(03:20):
called ten times to investigate murders on that cursed property. Gunfights, stabbings,
these found dumped in the creek. The sheriff couldn't shut it down fast enough before another
round of blood got spilled. And then, just like that, it was gone. Ain't no one knows
(03:42):
for sure what happened to the frozen inn. Some say it was burned to the ground after
too many killings. Others whisper that the great flood of 39 washed it away, like the
land itself was done with it. But some folks say it's still there. Not the way it was,
(04:03):
mind you. No, but on certain nights, when the fog rolls thick and the moon hides behind
the trees, folks say they see the outline of a building that ain't there no more. Hear
the sound of laughing and fighting, the clink of glass on wood. A place that refuses to
die, long after it shoulda. But that ain't the only ghost hanging over Frozen Creek,
(04:29):
not by a long shot. The worst thing to ever happen to Frozen Creek came on July 5, 1939.
A storm rolled in, dark clouds like bruises spreadin' across the sky. The rain came hard
and fast. They say up to nine inches fell in just a few hours. Folks barely had time
(04:53):
to blink, for the water started risin'. Frozen Creek turned into a monster, its banks
swellin' till the water moved like a great black hand, rippin' homes right off their
foundations, draggin' families into the dark. They say the water rose 22 feet. They say
(05:14):
folks woke up to their cabins torn apart, to bodies tangled in the branches of trees
like broken dolls. They say people screamed for help that never came. In the end, at least
39 souls were lost, though plenty say the real number was higher. Back then, mountain
(05:36):
folk handled their own burials, and some names got washed away along with the bodies.
The water receded, but the ghosts, they stayed. Ever since that flood swallowed near 40 souls,
folks say the land ain't never settled. There's a feelin' here, a weight in the air, thick
(05:58):
as the mist that rolls off the water at dusk. The kind of stillness that ain't peace, but
somethin' else. Something watchin'. Ain't nothin' loud round these parts at night.
No crickets, no frogs, no wind rustlin' the trees, just silence. Heavy, suffocatin', like
(06:19):
the land itself is holdin' its breath, but stay long enough and you'll feel it. That
prickle on the back of your neck, the slow creep of ice-cold fingers down your spine.
Deep, non-certainty that you ain't alone. They say, come dusk, you'll see em'. Down by the
(06:40):
creek, just past where the water turned red all them years ago, the orbs appear. Soft,
glowin' lights hoverin' above the ground, dancein' slow, driftin' over the water like
they got nowhere left to go. Some folks say their spirits searchin' for their bodies,
(07:00):
lost in the flood. Others whisper that they ain't nothin' but warnings. A sign you ought
to turn back for it's too late. But if you stand there too long, watchin' em' floatin'
the dark, you'll start to feel it. Eyes on ya'. Shadowy figures driftin' along the banks,
their clothes drippin' wet, hangin' heavy like they just crawled out of the flood waters.
(07:26):
Their eyes empty, hollow, like they're lookin' for somethin' they ain't never gonna find.
And then there's her. A woman's voice, cryin' out in the dark. Folks hear her wailin', callin'
for her baby, her sorrow weavin' through the trees like they missed off the water. But
(07:47):
no one ever finds her. Just a voice, lost in time, beggin' for somethin' that's long
gone. And up the hill sits the old Frozen Creek School. A place where children once
laughed and learned, now swallowed by silence. The walls still stand but they don't sit quiet.
(08:08):
They murmur. They breathe. Folks who've dared step inside say they feel it first. A chill
creepin' up their arms like unseen hands brushin' against them. Then the footsteps come. Slow,
deliberate, pacein' the halls when no livin' souls around. And sometimes a laugh. Soft,
(08:32):
high-pitched, belongin' to a child that ain't been seen in decades. More than one ghost
hunter's left that place white as a sheet, swearin' they saw faces peering out from
the broken windows. But not just faces. Things twisted, wrong. Eyes that weren't eyes no
(08:53):
more, smilein' mouths where they shouldn't be. And then, there's the road. The one that
cuts through the holler past where the frozen inn used to stand. Ain't nobody likes drivin'
that stretch at night. The unlucky ones that stop. Well, they see things. The glow of lanterns
(09:14):
light flickerin' in the dark, where no lanterns oughta be. The shape of a building that ain't
stood in 80 years, shinin' like it's waitin' for customers that ain't comin'. And the worst
part? The feelin' of eyes on you. People swear they can feel it, somethin' just beyond the
(09:35):
trees, lurkin' in the dark, watchin'. Like the night itself has a pair of eyes, and they're
locked right on you. And then, the voices come. Faint at first, muffled laughter, the
scrape of chairs on wooden floors, the clink of glass on glass. Like the ins still open,
(09:57):
still servin' up sin and death. But sometimes, it calls to you. A whisper, slippin' through
the cracks of the night. Your name. And if you hear it, you best not answer. You best
not turn your head, or strain your ears, or sit too long in the dark, tryin' to convince
(10:18):
yourself it's just the wind. You put your foot on the gas, and you go. Because some
places don't let go easy, and some ghosts don't just watch, they wait.
One creek ain't just another holler in Kentucky. It's a graveyard of forgotten souls, a place
(10:39):
where the past don't stay buried. Maybe it's just stories. Maybe it's the wind. Maybe it's
the way the land itself remembers. But if you ever find yourself in these parts, if you
ever walk along the creek when the night's quiet and the air feels too still, listen
(11:01):
close, because the past ain't dead here. And sometimes, if you're real unlucky, it'll
call your name.
Now, I gotta ask. Do you believe the ghosts of Frozen Creek still wander, searchin' for
what they lost that night in 1939? Or is it just the wind, carryin' old memories that
(11:24):
won't fade? And what about the Frozen Inn? A place soaked in blood, where folks still
claim to hear laughter, see lanterns flicker or feel somethin' watchin' from the dark?
Could it be lingering in a way we don't understand? If you've ever been to Frozen Creek or anywhere
(11:44):
in breath at county, have you felt it? That heavy stillness, like the land itself is holdin'
its breath? Maybe you've seen shadows movin' in the trees or heard voices that shouldn't
be there.
Drop your thoughts in the comments. Tell your stories, share your own eerie encounters,
(12:05):
and if you ever find yourself out there after dark, listen close, because the past don't
stay buried in Frozen Creek.
Here at Kentucky Melody, we tell the tales some dare not tell. Stories that ain't just
whispered in the dark, but felt in the bones of the land, in the chill of the air, in the
(12:26):
silence that ain't ever truly silent.
Now we put out new videos come every Wednesday and Saturday, so if you got the nerve, come
on back. But be warned, some stories don't like to be told, and some places don't like
to be left alone.
(12:47):
And whatever you do, watch for the next video, because some say, when you stare into the
darkness long enough, it just might stare back.
They say some places never forget.
(00:05):
The land holds on to sorrow, soaks up blood, keeps a reckoning of every pain ever felt upon
it.
Some places breathe with the ghosts of what's come before, not just haunted but cursed, and
frozen creek, it's one of them.
If you listen close, you can hear it. The whispers through the trees, the echoes of a time drowned
(00:31):
in sorrow.
The wind, don't just blow here, it carries the past whispering names of folks long gone,
crying out in the dead of night.
Folks around these parts say the spirits ain't never left, that they're still here, trapped
in the place that took them too soon. But before we get to the ghosts, you gotta know
(00:55):
what made them.
Welcome to Kentucky Melody's Scary Stories from Kentucky, where we spin yarns about ghostly
haunts, creepy hollers, and spine-chilling legends from deep in the hills. So grab a
chair, dim them lights, and let's dig into something spooky.
(01:17):
Hucked away in breath-it-county Kentucky, frozen creek don't look like much now. Just
a quiet holler, trees heavy with the weight of forgotten things. But once, long ago, it
was a place of hard work and harder times.
The people who settled here weren't looking for no easy life. Mountain folk, tough as
(01:41):
the rocks they built their homes on, they scratched out a living from the land, working
small farms, cutting timber, digging coal where they could find it. Most weren't rich,
and sure as hell weren't soft.
They got their mail from a post office opened in 1850, and if they needed supplies they
(02:04):
made do with what they had or hitched a ride into Jackson. Winters were cruel. Summers were
hotter than the devil's breath, and through it all, folks clung to each other, to their
faith and to the land. But the land don't always love you back. Now, if there's one
(02:26):
place in these hills that folks don't like to talk about, it's the frozen inn. There
weren't no ordinary inn. There weren't no cozy place where travelers stopped for the
night. No, sir. This place was different. A den of sin, a roadhouse where men drank
too much, gambled their last dime, and sometimes never made it out alive.
(02:52):
Sat about four miles from Jackson, right along Highway 15, the frozen inn had a reputation
darker than a coal mine at midnight. Bootleggers ran their business out of there. Women of
the night took up rooms upstairs, and if you wanted to settle a grudge, well, let's just
say plenty of men did, with knives, pistols, and fists. In 1939 alone, the coroner was
(03:20):
called ten times to investigate murders on that cursed property. Gunfights, stabbings,
these found dumped in the creek. The sheriff couldn't shut it down fast enough before another
round of blood got spilled. And then, just like that, it was gone. Ain't no one knows
(03:42):
for sure what happened to the frozen inn. Some say it was burned to the ground after
too many killings. Others whisper that the great flood of 39 washed it away, like the
land itself was done with it. But some folks say it's still there. Not the way it was,
(04:03):
mind you. No, but on certain nights, when the fog rolls thick and the moon hides behind
the trees, folks say they see the outline of a building that ain't there no more. Hear
the sound of laughing and fighting, the clink of glass on wood. A place that refuses to
die, long after it shoulda. But that ain't the only ghost hanging over Frozen Creek,
(04:29):
not by a long shot. The worst thing to ever happen to Frozen Creek came on July 5, 1939.
A storm rolled in, dark clouds like bruises spreadin' across the sky. The rain came hard
and fast. They say up to nine inches fell in just a few hours. Folks barely had time
(04:53):
to blink, for the water started risin'. Frozen Creek turned into a monster, its banks
swellin' till the water moved like a great black hand, rippin' homes right off their
foundations, draggin' families into the dark. They say the water rose 22 feet. They say
(05:14):
folks woke up to their cabins torn apart, to bodies tangled in the branches of trees
like broken dolls. They say people screamed for help that never came. In the end, at least
39 souls were lost, though plenty say the real number was higher. Back then, mountain
(05:36):
folk handled their own burials, and some names got washed away along with the bodies.
The water receded, but the ghosts, they stayed. Ever since that flood swallowed near 40 souls,
folks say the land ain't never settled. There's a feelin' here, a weight in the air, thick
(05:58):
as the mist that rolls off the water at dusk. The kind of stillness that ain't peace, but
somethin' else. Something watchin'. Ain't nothin' loud round these parts at night.
No crickets, no frogs, no wind rustlin' the trees, just silence. Heavy, suffocatin', like
(06:19):
the land itself is holdin' its breath, but stay long enough and you'll feel it. That
prickle on the back of your neck, the slow creep of ice-cold fingers down your spine.
Deep, non-certainty that you ain't alone. They say, come dusk, you'll see em'. Down by the
(06:40):
creek, just past where the water turned red all them years ago, the orbs appear. Soft,
glowin' lights hoverin' above the ground, dancein' slow, driftin' over the water like
they got nowhere left to go. Some folks say their spirits searchin' for their bodies,
(07:00):
lost in the flood. Others whisper that they ain't nothin' but warnings. A sign you ought
to turn back for it's too late. But if you stand there too long, watchin' em' floatin'
the dark, you'll start to feel it. Eyes on ya'. Shadowy figures driftin' along the banks,
their clothes drippin' wet, hangin' heavy like they just crawled out of the flood waters.
(07:26):
Their eyes empty, hollow, like they're lookin' for somethin' they ain't never gonna find.
And then there's her. A woman's voice, cryin' out in the dark. Folks hear her wailin', callin'
for her baby, her sorrow weavin' through the trees like they missed off the water. But
(07:47):
no one ever finds her. Just a voice, lost in time, beggin' for somethin' that's long
gone. And up the hill sits the old Frozen Creek School. A place where children once
laughed and learned, now swallowed by silence. The walls still stand but they don't sit quiet.
(08:08):
They murmur. They breathe. Folks who've dared step inside say they feel it first. A chill
creepin' up their arms like unseen hands brushin' against them. Then the footsteps come. Slow,
deliberate, pacein' the halls when no livin' souls around. And sometimes a laugh. Soft,
(08:32):
high-pitched, belongin' to a child that ain't been seen in decades. More than one ghost
hunter's left that place white as a sheet, swearin' they saw faces peering out from
the broken windows. But not just faces. Things twisted, wrong. Eyes that weren't eyes no
(08:53):
more, smilein' mouths where they shouldn't be. And then, there's the road. The one that
cuts through the holler past where the frozen inn used to stand. Ain't nobody likes drivin'
that stretch at night. The unlucky ones that stop. Well, they see things. The glow of lanterns
(09:14):
light flickerin' in the dark, where no lanterns oughta be. The shape of a building that ain't
stood in 80 years, shinin' like it's waitin' for customers that ain't comin'. And the worst
part? The feelin' of eyes on you. People swear they can feel it, somethin' just beyond the
(09:35):
trees, lurkin' in the dark, watchin'. Like the night itself has a pair of eyes, and they're
locked right on you. And then, the voices come. Faint at first, muffled laughter, the
scrape of chairs on wooden floors, the clink of glass on glass. Like the ins still open,
(09:57):
still servin' up sin and death. But sometimes, it calls to you. A whisper, slippin' through
the cracks of the night. Your name. And if you hear it, you best not answer. You best
not turn your head, or strain your ears, or sit too long in the dark, tryin' to convince
(10:18):
yourself it's just the wind. You put your foot on the gas, and you go. Because some
places don't let go easy, and some ghosts don't just watch, they wait.
One creek ain't just another holler in Kentucky. It's a graveyard of forgotten souls, a place
(10:39):
where the past don't stay buried. Maybe it's just stories. Maybe it's the wind. Maybe it's
the way the land itself remembers. But if you ever find yourself in these parts, if you
ever walk along the creek when the night's quiet and the air feels too still, listen
(11:01):
close, because the past ain't dead here. And sometimes, if you're real unlucky, it'll
call your name.
Now, I gotta ask. Do you believe the ghosts of Frozen Creek still wander, searchin' for
what they lost that night in 1939? Or is it just the wind, carryin' old memories that
(11:24):
won't fade? And what about the Frozen Inn? A place soaked in blood, where folks still
claim to hear laughter, see lanterns flicker or feel somethin' watchin' from the dark?
Could it be lingering in a way we don't understand? If you've ever been to Frozen Creek or anywhere
(11:44):
in breath at county, have you felt it? That heavy stillness, like the land itself is holdin'
its breath? Maybe you've seen shadows movin' in the trees or heard voices that shouldn't
be there.
Drop your thoughts in the comments. Tell your stories, share your own eerie encounters,
(12:05):
and if you ever find yourself out there after dark, listen close, because the past don't
stay buried in Frozen Creek.
Here at Kentucky Melody, we tell the tales some dare not tell. Stories that ain't just
whispered in the dark, but felt in the bones of the land, in the chill of the air, in the
(12:26):
silence that ain't ever truly silent.
Now we put out new videos come every Wednesday and Saturday, so if you got the nerve, come
on back. But be warned, some stories don't like to be told, and some places don't like
to be left alone.
(12:47):
And whatever you do, watch for the next video, because some say, when you stare into the
darkness long enough, it just might stare back.
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