Harlan County Haunts

The following are images from the Harlan County area.

  Local News Cranks woman compiles book of Appalachian Tales

                        By ANN ROBINSON - Contributing Writer

                        Harlan Daily Enterprise, Harlan, KY

                        Sunday, March 16, 2008 11:34 PM EDT

                        While mystery writing can be compiled into many different categories, the plot of the story is usually based on an everyday normal occurrence or happenings that can be explained with human logic. However, there are many stories that fall into the category of the paranormal mystery genre that defy any human explanations.

                     Although paranormal activity may seem to be found almost anywhere around the globe, it would seem that tales of the paranormal have become a tradition to many people of the Appalachian mountains, with many of these tales coming straight from eyewitness accounts of Harlan Countians.

                    While many of these stories are told on a daily basis,  they soon either become extinct or are forgotten about with time, which has given one Harlan County woman a reason for compiling the stories to be preserved for  future generations.

                     Darla Saylor-Jackson, of Cranks, has recently released a book titled "Harlan County Haunts and Tales of the Unusual and Amazing" which features a Novella titled "Caroline" from the journal of James Saylor.

                      The book, which was published by LuLu.com in late February, is a compilation of short stories written about actual accounts of supernatural incidents which reportedly happened in Harlan County.

                     "I have just always been interested in this sort of  thing - paranormal and supernatural activity - and I  began in about 2000 writing these stories down when I would hear them told," said Jackson. "I would listen to these stories, and they just seemed so interesting, and I thought that other people might be just as interested in hearing them as I was."

                      Jackson said that the book takes its readers on a ghostly journey through the mountains of Appalachia and beyond with stories ranging from tales of ghosts to angels, as well as over 100 personal accounts of encounters with the unexplained.

                     "All of these stories are stories that were told to me to be true accounts of unexplainable happenings, and although I had many other stories to choose from, I chose about 65 of the best stories to begin this first book with," Jackson said. "I do have plans of this book becoming a series with many other stories to be told."

                      Jackson, who is an artist in residence with the Kentucky  Arts Council, said she feels that the traditions of the Appalachian mountains are a huge part of the people of this region.

                      "I teach Cherokee and Appalachian culture in many schools and areas throughout the region, and I feel that it is important that people do not lose touch with their  heritage," said Jackson. "And I also feel that these tales of the unknown are as much a part of our heritage as anything else."

Kentucky Ghost Stories

                  By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News

                                    Dowagiac, Michigan

                  Wednesday, April 9, 2008 11:34 AM EDT

                  A book about Harlan County, Ky., would not seem the natural place to find material about Dowagiac, Glenwood or Sister Lakes, but author Darla Saylor Jackson knew her friend Darlene (Clardy) Steele had some "good stories."

                Steele left Michigan in 1971 when she married a Kentucky man, Oscar "Butch," and settled in Evarts, although they moved back to Dowagiac for a couple of years in 1984.

                 Darlene, 53, has three grown children, grandchildren and became a teacher. Darla, 38, lives in Cranks, also in Harlan County, where storytelling is a "huge part of the culture." She lives about five minutes from Virginia. A lot of "drama" occurs in her region, Jackson told the Daily News Tuesday from Frankfort.

                 The famous Hatfield-McCoy feud happened in eastern Kentucky, a couple of counties north. The very rural, isolated southeast part of the commonwealth is former coal mining country. Black Mountain, which crops up in the tales, is Kentucky's highest peak.

                Steele's stories about growing up in Dowagiac, including her memories of the 1964 Sister Lakes monster craze, span many pages.

                She started the project as a contributor, "but ended up much more than that," according to the author. Darla, who has also published a children's book, is an artist in residence with the Kentucky Arts Council. She travels the Appalachian region teaching Appalachian and Cherokee culture in schools and other places.

                The book about weird occurrences, published by lulu.com in late February, was two years in the making.

                 "Harlan County Haunts and Tales of the Unusual and Amazing" takes readers on a ghostly journey through the Appalachian Mountains and beyond with stories ranging from ghosts to angels, as well as more than 100 personal accounts of encounters with the unexplained.

                    Jackson says "mountain folk" take ghost stories seriously: "You don't ask someone if they believe in ghosts, you ask them how many they've seen."

                      Her own encounters with the unexplained, however, are "few and far between ... There are only a couple of times in this book where I speak of my own experiences. I rely on others because I don't have experiences of my own," she said, and it would have been a much shorter book than 185 pages. "I'm a big chicken," she admitted.

                      Darla believes many stories will become extinct as they are forgotten over time, which is the reason she compiled these stories to be preserved for future generations. "I have always been interested in this sort of thing - paranormal and supernatural activity," Darla says. "I began writing these stories down in about 2000 when I would hear them told. I would listen to these stories and they just seemed interesting to me, and I thought that other people might be just as interested in hearing them as I was."

                     A novella, "Caroline," highlights one of Harlan County's most compelling unsolved crimes adapted from the journal of her uncle, James Saylor, and the first part of the book she wrote.

                    Steele's first supernatural experience occurred in 1958 when she lived on Allen Street. She describes other events during the two times she lived on Glenwood Road. Another story contributed by others concerns a drowned man who supposedly haunts Indian Lake.

                    Steele met Jackson and her husband, Dewayne, when she taught heir son Holden for three years - third, fourth and fifth grade. Steele "will always be Holden's very favorite teacher," Jackson said.

                     The women said they are sending a copy of the book to Dowagiac District Library.

                             www.lulu.com/rdjackson