The Moonlit Road Podcast - Southern Ghost Stories & Folklore
Leave the highway behind for the back roads of the American South. The Moonlit Road brings you authentic Southern ghost stories and folklore, preserved and performed by the region's finest storytellers. Since 1997, we've been your trusted guides on a journey into the South's mysterious past. In each episode, you'll hear gifted storytellers, musicians, and folklorists unearth classic campfire tales, forgotten ghost stories, and the oral traditions whispered across generations. From the bayous of Louisiana to the hollows of Appalachia, pull up a chair and listen for a spell. WE EXPLORE: -- SOUTHERN GHOST STORIES: Haunted history from plantations to forgotten battlefields. -- FOLKLORE & CREATURES: The legends of the Bell Witch, Boo Hag, and the Loup Garou. -- CULTURAL ROOTS: The deep history of Voodoo, Hoodoo, and Southern folkways. -- APPALACHIAN HAINTS: Echoes from the high country and mountain mysteries. Join the thousands of listeners who have walked The Moonlit Road for over 25 years. Subscribe now and let the Southern spirits guide you. FOR THE FULL EXPERIENCE—including many stories and regional legends NOT found on the podcast—visit our extensive archive at https://themoonlitroad.com.
Episodes
Why do these biting insects plague us so? This Southern legend - an ancient tale originally from the Tlingit people of Alaska - tells of a giant, a bloodthirsty heart, and a vengeful curse.
FOR MORE STORIES: This is just one of the many legends found on the back roads. Visit our archive of Southern ghost stories and folklore at https://themoonlitroad.com.
Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/themoonlitroad an...
How far would you go for the love of your life? In this Louisiana tale, a young deputy is given a terrifying task to prove his worth: he must capture and kill the Loup Garou (or Rougarou), the shapeshifting werewolf of the Cajun swamplands.
FOR MORE STORIES: This is just one of the many legends found on the back roads. Visit our archive of Southern ghost stories and folklore at https://themoonlitroad.com.
...Meet Stingy Jack, a man so cunning he managed to trap the Devil himself. But when you strike a bargain with the Prince of Darkness, there is always a price to pay—one that leaves Jack wandering the night with a very strange lantern.
FOR MORE STORIES: This is just one of the many legends found on the back roads. Visit our archive of Southern ghost stories and folklore at https://themoonlitroad.com.
What happens when a traveling preacher seeks revenge on an inhospitable farm couple?
This darkly funny ghost story—passed down from Ireland to the Arkansas hills—follows a man of the cloth who decides to teach his unkind hosts a lesson they'll never forget. But in the world of folklore, revenge often takes a very strange and unexpected shape.
Advisory: This is an un-sanitized tr...
Episode Summary: Would you spend the night in a house the rest of the world has abandoned to the dead? This episode takes us to historic Charleston for an adaptation of B.M. Croker's Victorian ghost story, "Number Ninety."
In this episode:
- <...
The haunting conclusion to Ambrose Bierce's masterpiece. In 'The Spirit's Testimony,' a voice reaches out from beyond the grave to reveal the final, heartbreaking truth of that moonlit night. This third and final chapter completes the chilling mystery of a family destroyed by silence and the supernatural.
Part Three, STATEMENT OF THE LATE JULIA HETMAN, THROUGH THE MEDIUM BAYROLLES
In Part Two of our Ambrose Bierce adaptation, the mystery deepens with 'The Confession of the Father.' Haunted by a spectral encounter on a dark road, a man is forced to confront the truth behind his wife's death. The second chapter in this chilling 3-part Southern Gothic masterpiece.
Part Two, STATEMENT OF CASPAR GRATTAN
FOR MORE STORIES: This is just one of the many legends found on the back roads. Visit our archive of Southern...
Part One of our adaptation of Ambrose Bierce's masterpiece. A chilling mystery begins with the 'Statement of the Son,' as a family is shattered by a brutal murder. Experience one of American literature's most famous ghost stories told from three haunting perspectives.
Part One, STATEMENT OF JOEL HETMAN, JR.
FOR MORE STORIES: This is just one of the many legends found on the back roads. Visit our archive of Southern g...
Uncover the chilling legend of the "Nut Eating Devil," a classic Tennessee mountain ghost story. Follow young Tom McBride as he investigates eerie sounds haunting a remote cemetery in the middle of the night. Why do the noises sound exactly like his dead Grandpa cracking open hickory nuts? Is it a restless ghost, or a meeting with the Devil himself?
FOR MORE STORIES: This is just one of the many legends found on the back roads. Vis...
A Southern supernatural folktale with Irish roots: An early Louisiana settler rescues a turtle and is transported into the strange world of The Fair Folk.
BEYOND THE PODCAST: This is just one of the many legends of the bayou. Discover many more Southern folktales not found on this podcast by visiting our archive at https://themoonlitroad.com.
Additional Reading:
An Alabama widow lives in fear of the terrifying murderer Railroad Bill. But is he really what the townsfolk say he is?
For more strange Southern folktales, including stories not on the podcast, visit https://themoonlitroad.com
Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/themoonlitroad and X/Twitter https://www.x.com/themoonlitroad
"Railroad Bill" was written by told by Christine Horn. ...
Experience the legend of Thomas Lester, a man whose high-speed encounter with a headless ghost left him running faster than a jackrabbit. This humorous Southern ghost story explores the folklore of 'the spirit that passes you real quick-like,' giving you a chill up your spine. Narrated by Yomi Goodall and recorded for the Tour of Southern Ghosts in Stone Mountain, Georgia.
The haunting Cherokee legend of Tsali. Discover the powerful North Carolina story of a brave warrior whose defiance during the Trail of Tears and ultimate sacrifice for his people would make him a legend of the Smoky Mountains.
FOR MORE STORIES: This is just one of the many legends found on the back roads. Visit our archive of Southern ghost stories and folklore at https://themoonlitroad.com.
Follow us on Facebook http...
Experience the chilling legend of the Maco Light. From the tragic night of Joe Baldwin's sacrifice to the mysterious lantern light that haunted the North Carolina rails for over a century, this episode explores one of the South's most famous paranormal phenomena. Narrated by Jim McAmis, it's a journey into the heart of railroad folklore.
FOR MORE STORIES: This is just one of the many legends found on the back roads. Vi...
Mississippi ghost story about a young boy's encounter with a strange girl who suddenly appears near his family's farm.
For more strange Southern folktales, including stories not on the podcast, visit https://themoonlitroad.com
Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/themoonlitroad and X/Twitter https://www.x.com/themoonlitroad
"Mississippi Rose" was written by LaDoris Davis and Craig Do...
Tragic and well-documented ghost story of Chloe, a slave girl said to haunt Louisiana's Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville.
Additional Reading:
The Moonlit Road story about Chloe
For more strange Southern folktales, including stories not on the podcast, visit https://themoonlitroad.com
Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/themoonlitroad and X/Twitter https://www.x.com/themoonlitroad
Gruesome New Orleans ghost story about a sausage shop owner who has a unique way of getting rid of his wife.
For more strange Southern folktales, including stories not on the podcast, visit https://themoonlitroad.com
Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/themoonlitroad and X/Twitter https://www.x.com/themoonlitroad
"The Sausage Ghost" was written by Craig Dominey
Storyt...
Creature story of a Depression-era farmhand who will take just about any job - even at a creepy Mississippi farm where a strange cat is always whispering: "Sop Doll."
For more strange Southern folktales, including stories not on the podcast, visit https://themoonlitroad.com
Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/themoonlitroad and X/Twitter https://www.x.com/themoonlitroad
"Sop Doll" w...
Classic Southern spooky story about a traveling salesman who runs into some pretty strange cats warning about someone (or something) named "Jesse."
For more strange Southern folktales, including stories not on the podcast, visit https://themoonlitroad.com
Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/themoonlitroad and X/Twitter https://www.x.com/themoonlitroad
"Wait 'Til Jesse Comes" was a...
Louisiana Swamp Folktale about a local fisherwoman whose unique way of fishing for crabs in the bayou gets her into trouble.
For more strange Southern folktales, including stories not on the podcast, visit https://themoonlitroad.com
Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/themoonlitroad and X/Twitter https://www.x.com/themoonlitroad
"Mama Coon Coon" was written and told by Veronica Byrd...
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