When I was young, my overly-imaginative friend Brad told me a lot of local "ghost" stories about New Albany. Years later, knowing Brad is a bullshitter extraordinaire, I decided to see if he made this shit up or his tales actually were old folk tales passed down through the generations (in other words, new lies or old lies?). Well, none of the tales he told my friends & I were recorded in the "folklore" folder in the Indiana room of the local library, so I'm certain they were new lies. Be that as it may, they're pretty damn good yarns, so I'm going to post what I remember of them here. Who knows? Maybe people will start believing this crap.

Devil's Hills: Brad used to tell me an old story about the hills between the Ohio river & Corydon Pike in Floyd County. He said they were called "Devil's Hills," because the land was bought some time ago in the 1800s by 13 Devil-worshipers, who wore long, black hooded robes. They marked the land off by carrying these huge candles & letting the wax mark the boundaries. He said on certain nights one could see lights in the hills which were their spirits.

The "Dribbler": Decades later, High Water Road in NA was blessed by a priest & the ghost of one of the 13 devil-worshippers wandered onto the road. This, of course, bode ill for him. His ghost took off running at high speed (along High Water, Budd Road, Corydon Pike, & other roads in the area), his hood falling off to reveal his skeletal features. His running is supposed to sound like a basketball being dribbled at high speed, hence the nickname.

The Lady of the Well: This one is about a woman named Mary who lived in Devil's Hills in the 1800s. She became possessed by demons & ended up killing her children. After realizing what she'd done, she threw herself into a deep well in the area, which thereafter became haunted by her spirit. Supposedly some hikers discovered the well in the 70s, & one was pulled in by a ghostly white hag in a blood-spattered nightgown & drowned, after which authorities covered the well up in concrete. It's said that the Lady of the Well haunts Floyd County still, floating on a cloud of white mist, scratching at windows & calling out the names of her dead children.

Burn in Hell
posted by El Bastardo at 3:13 PM