Episode 0.5: The Witch Queen

They say there's a witch in that valley and you'd do well to stay away from there. Join us as we journey back to the settling of the central plateau and witness the power of mountain women.
Written by Steve Shell
Sound design by Steve Shell
Narrated by Steve Shell
Intro music: "The Land Unknown," written and performed by Landon Blood
Outro music: "I Cannot Escape the Darkness," written and performed by Those Poor Bastards
To learn more about Old Gods of Appalachia, visit our website at www.oldgodsofappalachia.com, and be sure to complete your social media ritual and follow us on Facebook and Instagram @oldgodsofappalachia, or Twitter and Tumblr @oldgodspod. If you'd like to support the show, you can join or Patreon at www.patreon.com/oldgodsofappalachia, or support us on Acast at supporter.acast.com/old-gods-of-appalachia. You can also find t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, and other Old Gods merch in our shop at www.teepublic.com/stores/oldgodsofappalachia.
Old Gods of Appalachia is a production of DeepNerd Media. All rights reserved.

[@Wizardously]

"The folk were not cruel...but they were faithful and superstitious and stupid." I know too many people that this describes.

[@diogeneslantern18]

One only needs to look in the mirror.

[@ayistromia]

@@diogeneslantern18 bless your heart

[@Witchofthewoods.]

@@diogeneslantern18 well he did spell "too" correctly, so that says a thing or two. 🪞

[@spaztron5000]

Faithful, superstitious, stupid, and cruel describes too many people I have met, my own blood included.

[@johnlynch-kv8mz]

I like to think superstitions are just fears of losing the good things bestowed upon oneself. Gifts are like that. You didn’t get it yourself so how can one keep from losing it…I think.

[@broderickblack]

Now this is like those grim American frontier folklore tales I yearned for from my childhood, like the early settlers hymns I heard of my youth or numerous other mythology that I spent so much time with. I would recommend this channel to anyone looking for an old American scare.

[@ShredofLove]

This is exactly the kind of content I have longed for, and wanted to make about our little area. You have done some excellent work, here.

[@radhadas8157]

I am 69 years old born in NC now live at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Georgia. This is awesome. My grandmother lived in a little town in the mountains of N.C. called Cooleemee. She delivered babies all in the mountains. I subscribed and thank you.

[@Dottywalkers9]

Are the tales of putting witches out in the wilderness true? Did they really put out people for things like that?

[@broderickblack]

@@Dottywalkers9 Yes is true and it iis still done these days, America has never been kind to the obscure.

[@private_ventures2592]

​@@Dottywalkers9It was true, but unusual. If a kid was acting weird, you treated em like a weird kid. If they continued, you gave em a talking to. Pretty normal, generally. You'd mostly just hear rumors and urban legends.

[@CellarDoorWhispers]

I deeply regret waiting so long to check this out. I know I'm bad about zoning out during podcasts, so I didn't have faith in myself I'd be able to enjoy it. Turns out I can very easily pay attention though, and apparently even easier when the speaker has an accent similar to my own. As someone who's spent my life in the hollers and on the peaks of the Appalachians in northeast Tennessee, I appreciate this even more than I thought I might. This is something I've been longing for without even realizing it. Such beautiful and well thought out stories, with great positive attention to what we'd call social issues nowadays. There's a lot to appreciate here. Thank ya'll for making this a reality, I'm really looking forward to working my way through all the content here.

[@TheGoauldApophis]

Same, except for the part about the accent. It's actually why I thought I'd have trouble focusing when I listened to the prolonged a few years ago. I'm finally giving it another shot because it shows up on so many recommendations lists for other podcasts I enjoy.

[@Gandalf-The-Green]

Awesome, Lovecraft meets Appalachia and there is some Johnny Cash in there too. I love it. Going to binge the whole series.

[@southerspartangaming6846]

Man I love seeing southern, eldritch, gothic horror set in a region I love. Funny how a lot of traditions bleed from the mountains of North Carolina to the coastal area I live in. Love my state, love y’all. Respect the old ways, they linger for a reason

[@Witchofthewoods.]

This tale rings true to my heart 💔 My Great Great Grandmother was a WV Midwife. She delivered over 500 babies in this Appalachian area. I wish I could've known her, but I did get a little bit of her as I'm a nurse myself. I'm sure not as wonderful as she, but still. I loved to hear stories about her during our family reunions. What an amazing & enchanting story. ✨ 🪄

[@AppalachianOddity]

Awesome story telling! Very authentic to the region as well, nailed the dialect. ~ Montani Semper Liberi ~

[@valeriondread5549]

One of my many great-grandmothers was a supposed witch, she lived out of Brethet County, Kentucky.

[@ajaxslamgoody9736]

You a Mormon...having more than 2 Great Grandmothers...

[@n.m.3981]

I think intent was “many great” grandmothers such as great-, great-great-, great-great-great-, etc. A difficult thing to write but understandable in the way the poster wrote it.

[@sandyperkins237]

I come from a long line of Granny Witches..and Melungeon!Bwahahahaa

[@summercucumber4964]

I love this episode. I've probably registered to it a couple dozen times now on Spotify.

[@shinigamiauthor]

found wonderful inspirations for Dungeon Crawl Classics The Chained Coffin

[@alethearia]

I had this podcast recommended to me months ago. I was dubious. But, having listened this far I've got to say I love your world building, cultural sensitivity, inclusiveness, and attention to history. I am legit curious to know if you'll include indigenous creators and their stories set in this darkly fantastical world (either in future episodes I haven't listened to yet, or in upcoming seasons). Not judging, just curious.

[@OldGodsofAppalachia]

We will if we find those who would like to contribute, family. We’re working on it.

[@alethearia]

@@OldGodsofAppalachia Neat! I do love what I've heard so far, I think I'm almost done with season 1. Had to share these stories with my family. Got everyone hooked. ;)

[@kokomochonk1131]

I ended up finding Old Gods of Appalachia on Tee public when looking for a hoodie, thought the design was amazing and just got it today, I've been binge watching the episodes day by day as I was waiting for it to arrive. I'm absolutely hooked!!

[@gabefernandes356]

I saw someone reference this podcast in a comment -I lit candles and incense around my apartment as this episode played. Never listened to anything like this, but this is amazing storytelling.

[@revolutionoutdoorsandstuff5846]

Blown away by this! Just wow

[@mnvn]

I just want to say, I’m hooked!. I got all my friends to subscribe your channel man.. this is awesome!,

[@RealBradMiller]

Oh man, I just found you all through a thread on Twitter. Goosebumps! So glad I have so many episodes to catch up on! Will spread the love(& the darkness for those deserved) where I can.

[@justin5002]

This is the most amazing thing I’ve come across in a long time. Thank you.

[@jahprincess1589]

Let us talk of many things......I'm hooked.

[@irvingsmith6559]

Outstanding!!! So glad I found this!!!

[@garrettwhitley8925]

A friend recommended this podcast to me yesterday, and so far I am already obsessed. The atmosphere is haunting and amazing.

[@mammon_is_god]

We are very good at waiting...

[@The_Corellian]

Formidable work

[@crocus8080]

My dad suggested this to me and it took a while go get into it because I don't listen to podcasts often, but this is great!

[@hannaheller5290]

Recently discovered you and forced my husband to listen and got him hooked too. I hope to hear things about Western NC! Just finished season one, but I’m waiting for my husband to catch up before I go on

[@jahnapanui6532]

Love love love it!!!!!!!!!!

[@VredesStall]

While I have relatives from the Deep South on both sides of my family... I myself did not grow up in the Deep-South or in Appalachia. My first (and probably only) introduction to the people and 'older' ways of Appalachia are from Hollywood movies... most notably... --"Next of Kin" (1988) starting the late actors Patrick Swayze, Bill Paxton and Liam Neeson who star as brothers who were raised and grew up in the hills of Appalachia... --and the horror movie... "Pumpkinhead" with each movie coming out within about a year of each other. While "Next of Kin" is more of crime/ action movie... it does have one scene in particular that was rather spooky: At the very beginning of the movie... Det. Truman Gates (Patrick Swayze) responds to an apparent "bar-fight turned murder"... Gates arrives the apartment of the main suspect, Billy Simpson, where Truman & Billy have a chat... and soon learn they are from neighboring counties in Kentucky (Harlan & Perry Cos.)... and Truman claims that he and his brothers used to hunt in Willy's home-county of Harlan up on "Daggot's Ridge". Billy explains that he knows exactly where Truman is talking about: "Hey... there are ghosts up on that ridge. Yeah... one time my dogs took me straight down this hollow (holler??). There weren't no wind or nothing. It just got real cold. Then all at once... them dogs started to howl. Like... like they was talking to the dead. Yeah, man. There are ghosts up on that ridge". Sure... it was just a movie... but that being said... something was really eating at Billy Simpson especially to make him think of that past memory that still haunted him. The next movie "Pumpkinhead" was supernatural horror film, starring actor, Lance Henriksen, who plays "Ed Harley"... a scorned father who's on the warpath and seeking vengeance for the untimely death of his young son at the hands of reckless teenagers. Harley seeks out an (Appalachian??) witch of Black Ridge named 'Haggis' who sends Ed Harley out to "Razorback Holler"... a cemetery that apparently served as an informal resting place (or dumping-ground) for those poor souls who were less-than-loved or who were downright rejected and despised. Or.... as Haggis put it to Ed Harley: "Ever hear of 'Razorback Holler'??... There's an old graveyard way back... deep in them woods. Mountain-folk use to bury kin in there... kin they was ashamed of!!". As if that old crone Haggis couldn't be any scarier... she wasn't one to mince words and made no bones about it. That old woman looked like she was nothing but a bag of bones who couldn't lift herself out of her rocking chair even if her last breath depended on it... but she easily made the Wicked Witch of the West (from the Wizard of Oz) look sweeter than sugar... and scared the living piss out of me. Holy Sh**!!😳 From what I can recall... it is never clearly stated what county, town or state where the events of "Pumkinhead" take place... That being said... the only place(s) that I have ever heard words like "holler, kin, kin-folk" ect. has only been in the Deep South of the US and especially in Appalachia.

[@OldGodsofAppalachia]

The portions of Appalachia we grew up in and write about (Eastern Kentucky, Southwest Virginia, Northeast Tennessee, and Western North Carolina) are actually not part of the Deep South (which is Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina; sometimes Texas and Florida are included as well).

[@monicalinares1041]

Love this!!

[@seamusmohally-sheehan7522]

Got to hand it to my cousin hes got good taste

[@markymuskrat1]

Cool stuff

[@quntmphscs]

Wow!

[@nate_sc]

Excellent.

[@Companion92]

So good

[@angelaknight7184]

Thankyou x

[@Witchatwork]

Just finding this... so thankful I stumbled across this on reddit!!

[@thefisherking78]

Oooooh. I like where this is headed.

[@FantasticDimensions]

That was fucking awesome!

[@erickling4016]

First encounter with the podcast. Subscribe complete

[@oldcrone]

He is talking about me!🐉🐉🐉

[@brianboru2762]

So now I'm wondering did the Deelies adopt her? Or was she one of theirs thanks to some other participant.

[@Kropothead]

Hard to say, with witches. Daughter Dooley certainly sees them as her real mothers, biological or otherwise.

[@lisasage3164]

WOW!!!!

[@revolutionoutdoorsandstuff5846]

Came here from Reddit. Amazing

[@rayy.8952]

YASS

[@bunch_o_racket]

i found this on Amazon music, but this half episode wasn't on there! in "completing my social media ritual" (or however he says it 🤣) i found it and am diligently catching up!

[@OldGodsofAppalachia]

We publish an RSS feed of our episodes, family. We can’t control what individual apps do with that data and our files.

[@johnlynch-kv8mz]

4:33 Nope. She’s just pissed off, now, spin her around again! Do it once more for me!

[@Mi-yc3oy]

Thanks to Google surveillance that recommended a recent CNET article that brought me here 😅🥳🥃

[@solidsentinel1285]

Alright who’s here because of The Painting Phase

[@hangarrat]

Same.

[@anthonywhited6692]

Who performs the intro song?

[@cbotsalot4078]

Landon Blood does the intro. He mentions the artists at the end of every podcast.

[@Robitrium]

19:35 even the CC couldnt understand. "Let us talk of ___" ??? What he say? many things?

[@OldGodsofAppalachia]

We have full transcripts of every episode on our website.

[@Robitrium]

@@OldGodsofAppalachia ah ok good to know but what he say here?

[@passivepassions]

Got a Spotify podcast?

[@OldGodsofAppalachia]

We are primarily a podcast featured on Apple Podcasts, Spotify etc. KZbin is not our main venue. We were actually the 9th most popular fiction podcast on Spotify.

[@linuxstreamer8910]

i call this backwoods horror

[@johnlynch-kv8mz]

8:48 that much , huh? But enough. Preacher’s boys. Is there a greater potential for evil?

[@johnbbolton]

I hate that I had to give a like when you had 859 likes

[@johnlynch-kv8mz]

18:07 Mm

[@ghoulzyplays]

While I was listening to this, the name Kate came to mind immediately after they said that her name was not known 🤔

[@OldGodsofAppalachia]

Nope.

[@ghoulzyplays]

It was a good name though ☺️

[@broderickblack]

Sounds like a wife name?