A Lifelong Love for the Strange
Teresa Racer describes herself as a Fortean historian, a title inspired by Charles Fort, a researcher who collected stories of unusual phenomena that did not fit into the neat boxes of traditional science. This interest began early, as she was raised by grandparents in Beckley who shared Scots-Irish and Cherokee family ghost stories instead of typical bedtime tales. Her passion for the paranormal became personal at age nine when she moved into a haunted house in Winfield. After witnessing a man walking down the hallway and seeing her friends flee sleepovers in terror, she began reading everything she could find about paranormal research to understand the activity in her home.
“I was always a weirdo. I was a weird little kid. Apparently when I was very little I talked to people that weren’t there. I used to tell people that I was going to be a voodoo priestess when I grew up.”
Separating Fact from Folklore
While Teresa appreciates a good legend, she is dedicated to finding the historical truth behind famous hauntings. For instance, she discusses the famous Amityville Horror “demon boy” photo, noting that the figure with glowing eyes was actually an investigation assistant in a flannel shirt who was caught on camera while setting up equipment. In her own field work with Appalachian Ghost Tours, she looks for evidence that aligns with the historical record. During an investigation at The Oaks at Elhorn Station, the team repeatedly heard the name Sarah over a spirit box while a security light triggered in tandem. Later research into census records confirmed that a woman named Sarah had once worked at the house as a laundress. She also tracks bizarre events like the time it rained frogs over Lake Shawnee or the day an elephant blocked an intersection and had to be lured away with cornbread.
“What they failed to mention was that one of their assistants was setting up cameras and stuff and getting stuff ready. That’s him actually bending over and getting caught by the camera.”
Secrets Beneath the Soil
Teresa is currently working on a new book titled West Virginia Cemetery Legends, which explores the unique stories found in local burial grounds. She believes that while spirits may not always haunt their place of rest, cemeteries are often filled with the strong residual emotions of the living who go there to mourn. Her book covers legendary sites like the Ravenswood Devil Baby, a porcelain grave photo that has deteriorated to look like an infant with fangs and horns. She also investigates the legend of Mother Blood in Huntington, where a tombstone is said to bleed, though the phenomenon is actually caused by rust leaking from a metal flower arrangement. By combining fact with folklore, she aims to preserve these Appalachian stories for future generations.
“I really want to believe that all of this stuff that’s happening is proof that there is life beyond life, but I don’t know.”
Understanding the paranormal in Appalachia is often like looking through a kaleidoscope: every time you turn the lens of history, the pieces of folklore and fact shift into a new, slightly more complex pattern.
If you’re ready to go deeper into the shadows of the Appalachian hills, you won’t want to miss the full conversation where we dive into even more local hauntings and historical mysteries!
