Apparitions at Twistabout Ridge

Clay County - Mountain Lakes

Local residents tell many tales of ghostly happenings on Twistabout Ridge. One of the stories involves a family who moved to the area many years ago. A man came with his pregnant wife and a young girl who was also pregnant. The wife became ill so he hired another young girl to care for her. It was rumored, after the second girl became pregnant, that the man had fathered all three of the babies.
The wife mysteriously died, and locals believed she had been poisoned because they couldn't keep her tongue in her mouth after she died. After her death, the man married the last of two girls who came to live with them. She soon became pregnant again and not only lost that baby, but every baby she became pregnant with after that. There was a cemetery on a knoll surrounded by pine trees where all the little babies were buried. It was said that anyone who came to stay in the house after that would see an apparition of a woman with her tongue hanging out of her mouth. Supposedly, the cemetery where all the little babies are buried is haunted.

On the same ridge, there was a log cabin where a woman lived. She was stoned to death by her neighbors, who left her lying under the stones after they killed her. After that, anyone who lived in the cabin couldn't keep the front door closed and they could hear the sounds of someone screaming and running around the cabin.

There is also a haunted mud hole at Twistabout. There was an old tree next to the mud hole that was once used for a hanging. Witnesses have seen a floating dog on the same road as the mud hole, and a ball of light coming from the hole. People have also heard huge objects falling to the ground near the tree, but never find anything.

Is this ridge haunted by the former inhabitants? No one knows for sure, so why not do some investigating and find out for yourself? Call 1-800-CALL-WVA for travel information.