Tag Archives: north carolina

The Demon Dog of Valle Crucis

The Informant

The informant (AW) lives in North Carolina and recalls a personal memorate encounter with this cryptid.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/HfwPEA4b2EKGPWYg6

There was no fencing around the cemetery, simply along the road.

Text

Outside of a small town called Valle Crucis (Valley of the Cross) up in the mountains of North Carolina is an old church along the 194 highway with a graveyard inhabiting an alleged “demon dog.” One evening, when the informant was traveling from his brother’s college to Valle Crucis, he passed by the church’s cemetery, and as his father was driving past the church, he gazed out and noticed a large shape blurring through the cemetery. At first, he mistook it for a black bear but thought it was strange for a bear to be in a cemetery at that hour, but as they got closer, he realized it was a large, black dog roaming through the headstones of the graveyard. Later, he encountered in a local newspaper discussing the Demon Dog of Valle Crucis as large as a man with smouldering eyes smoking with the fire of hell. His personal memorate assures at least the existence of a dog that could be mistaken for a “hellhound,” though he does not report anything about its “demon” nature.

Analysis

This particular memorate is interesting as the informant maintains his stance on superstitions instead of correcting for his cognitive dissonance. Despite the encounter and having made the connection between his encounter and the subsequent urban legend reported in the news, he comfortably reaffirms that he does not believe it was a demonic dog and has no answer for what it was. When I asked the informant if the “dog” was large enough to be mistaken for a bear, he responded “yeah, but you know, black bears aren’t that big.” As the informant does not actively believe superstitions, even an encounter with a supposed cryptid did not change his mind, and while he comfortably lives admittedly not knowing what he saw, he is certain that it’s probably not a hellhound but rather just a large dog that happens to be roaming a cemetery. That is a fair point as the origins of why this creature became a reported cryptid is likely not only due to its unusually large size but also its location of sighting being a church cemetery, lending itself to more soul and divine related superstitious interpretations by a fairly religious population. Ironically enough, belief in such a demonic entity on what should be a holy resting ground would also suggest that the church and by extension God is failing to protect the souls resting in the hallowed grounds from demonic invasion. This cryptid is a good example of how the folk are more likely to ascribe superstitious traits to strange coincidences when contextualized by a meaningful location such as a church cemetery.

The Devil’s Tramping Ground

The Informant

The informant (AW) lives in an adjacent county to the Harper’s Crossroad in North Carolina in Bear’s Creek where this legend is reported to be.

Text

A circle that looks like it has been scorched with a burning fire in a park. Nothing grows in this ring, and allegedly, Satan paces around it at night while in contemplation of his evil plans. Objects left in the ring will disappear, and dogs always bark and yowl when they’re nearby, often expressing distress or anxiety and a desire to leave the vicinity. Some say that it was an ancient meeting place for Native Americans.

Analysis

As North Carolina is a fairly Christian state, it’s not surprising that a superstitious area associated with Satan would be Native Americans as settlers displaced them over time. The informant also reported that their state’s history education lacked any details about its history with the indigenous people, but upon further research, I found that there was, of course, violent conflicts between the settlers and the natives. The superstition associating dark magic and satanic phenomenons with “ancient” Native American significance likely reflects a general xenophobic attitude toward the unfamiliar outgroup from the occupants of this colonized land. Just as it’s common for ghost haunting stories to take place on slave plantations and indigenous cemeteries, this likely explains why the largely Christian population associated this location with both the Native Americans and satan.

If it ain’t pig, it ain’t BBQ

Nationality: American
Age: 82
Occupation: Retired Professor of Pharmaceuticals
Residence: Chapel Hill, NC
Performance Date: 5/2/21
Primary Language: English

Background: The informant was born and raised in Western North Carolina. He has lived in North Carolina his whole life. The following phrase expresses a sentiment of North Carolinians surrounding a classic Southern dish: barbecue.

“If it ain’t pig, it ain’t BBQ”

I was told that for most people in North Carolina, barbecue is specifically pulled pork. It’s a very regional thing whereas other parts of the country also have barbecue, theirs is anything that’s cooked on a barbeque–could be tri tip, could be chicken, could be pulled pork, could be sausage. North Carolina also has a vinegar based barbeque sauce, where other places use mustard or ketchup based sauces.

Context of the performance: This was explained to me over FaceTime.

Thoughts: This short, fixed phrase states what is considered a truth among North Carolinians. It reveals a regional difference in a big part of the Southern culture–which is food. The phrasing suggests a binary view of barbecue that distinguishes region, and in North Carolina, you wouldn’t call something barbecue if it isn’t a form of pork, usually pulled pork. Barbecue seems to be a small way of forming an identity in North Carolina.

Moonshine custom

Nationality: American
Age: 82
Occupation: Retired Professor of Pharmaceuticals
Residence: Chapel Hill, NC
Performance Date: 5/2/21
Primary Language: English

Background: The informant was born and raised in Western North Carolina. He has lived in North Carolina his whole life. He wanted to share some Western North Carolina traditions or knowledge. He specified that this really only takes place in the rural areas of the state and that this isn’t common knowledge outside these areas or in the more urban areas and cities. This knowledge was passed down from his father.

If you’re ever walking in the mountains, the woods, and you ever come on a live still that’s cooking moonshine as you speak (this is just basically taking corn and mix and you cook it and it converts. Then you take it and run it through copper pipes and you get it cool and cool the alcohol and that becomes corn liquor–also known as moonshine), you have to be really careful. Sometimes it’ll be booby trapped and if not what you’re supposed to do is, you see the still, get a stick and put it in the fire to say you’re going to help it and keep it going. This signals to anyone that might be watching in the woods with a shotgun that it’s okay and you’re not here to cause trouble.

Context of the performance: This was explained to me over FaceTime.

Thoughts: I am also from North Carolina but I’m from a city so I had never experienced or even heard of this kind of thing. This is so interesting because it reveals that the cooking of moonshine itself is a sacred tradition and the punishment for messing with moonshine is potentially getting shot. I didn’t know it was such a protected tradition or secret. I have alway felt some selective pride in being from North Carolina, but I felt like I was coming from an etic perspective. It shows that within the state, lifestyle and knowledge of traditions varies very much by region and that certain parts of the state will share very different common knowledge and unspoken rules than others.

Sometimes you just have to poke the frog to get him to move

Nationality: American
Age: 82
Occupation: Retired Professor of Pharmaceuticals
Residence: Chapel Hill, NC
Performance Date: 5/2/21
Primary Language: English

Background: The informant was born and raised in Western North Carolina. He has lived in North Carolina his whole life. He wanted to share some Western North Carolina expressions and proverbs because he uses them frequently, liking their “local” nature.

“Sometimes you just have to poke the frog to get him to move.”

The informant said this proverb comes from a very literal place. When he was younger, he and his friends would go around poking frogs in the swamps with sticks to make them jump, saying: “It’s like, if you can imagine, when you’re growing up that’s what you do, you take the stick and poke the frog and it’ll jump.” Frogs are unique because just being around them or getting close to them doesn’t phase them or disturb them, only by actually touching them will they move. He explained that you would use this when it seems like you can’t get someone to do something, and it just means you have to take action to get others to act, especially if they’re being lazy.

Context of the performance: This was explained to me over FaceTime.

Thoughts: While the meaning can be inferred, the practice behind its meaning was a local thing for him. It’s a short, fixed phrase that provides an easy way to understand the world, given that the person hearing the proverb understands the meaning. In this example region comes into play, as this a widely understood sentiment, but its form as a proverb would perhaps not make complete sense to those outside the region of Western North Carolina, and perhaps some other areas of the south. I did not understand the context behind it, but got the gist of it. It made sense in terms of his life experience and that of people who grow up in rural, swampy areas after he explained.