North Carolina – The Tar Heel State
North Carolina will be the state of interest for this week’s edition of Urban Legends, Monsters and Haunted Places. North Carolina is a Southeastern State known for it’s military bases, spectacular beaches, NASCAR and southern hospitality. This particular state seems to have it all in terms of scenery, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Appalachian Mountains. If you have never had the chance to visit the Tar Heel State I strongly recommend it, there is something there for everyone. As awesome as this place is, I give you fair warning, watch yourself playing around the lakes and woodlands of North Carolina, it has more than it’s share of monstrous sightings and ghoulish legends. So keep the kids close and keep your guns closer cause you never know just what might be lurking in the night.
The Devil’s Tramping Ground
The Devil’s Tramping Ground is located in a forest near Bennett, North Carolina. According to the legend this area consists of a 40 foot circle of bare ground where nothing ever seems to grow quite right , not a tree or a bush and barely even a blade of grass protrudes from the burnt and lifeless ground here. Peculiar, but hardly the stuff that legends are made of, but there’s more to the story than this.
The legends surrounding this circle have been passed down by local residents for at least two hundred years and involve animal sacrifices, demons and even the Devil himself. It was a local newspaper journalist and editor by the name of John William Harden who was quoted in 1949 as saying “There, sometimes during the dark of night, the Majesty of the Underworld of Evil silently tramps around that bare circle thinking, plotting, and planning against good, and in behalf of wrong.”
Locals say that it’s foolish to attempt to spend an entire night within the Devil’s thinking circle. It has been done, on several occasions, with little or no repercussions towards the campers at all, though it is much more common for the trespasser to witness events that have been known to drive the human mind to the point of insanity.
They say that anything left within the circle overnight will mysteriously move outside of it by morning, and that dogs refuse to enter these unholy grounds unless drug by force. Carcasses of dead animals can be found scattered throughout the woods near the circle as if they are the long forgotten sacrifices left for the unholy one in an attempt to have him release his demons upon the Earth or to grant the worshiper some type of power.
The unlucky campers who have claimed to witness the strange events that occur at the Devil’s Tramping Ground say they have seen the devil walk this Earth. Many of those men never recovered and still to this day spend their remaining years locked away in mental facilities in an attempt to hide from what they now know is real. The Devil walks among us waiting for his next lonesome visitor to the Tramping Grounds.
Haunted Old State Capital Building
In 1961 the seat of the North Carolina State Government was moved from its old location in the North Carolina State Capital Building to a new state government building in Raleigh, two blocks away. The old State Capital Building was originally built in 1840 and to this day continues to be one of the best preserved state capital buildings in the entire nation, even going as far as keeping all the original furnishings.
Aside from it’s antique decor the building seems to have a bit more of it’s original features still lingering around the place, some of its past politicians and possibly one victim of murder dwell there to this very day, eternally haunting the corridors of this old building. The sounds of sad and mostly forgotten misery can still be heard throughout the building in the dead of night along with the continuous shuffling and rambling of a few former state leaders compelled to carry on their work long after death.
Many of the strange occurrences reported came from the night watchmen of the old capital building, claiming to hear the sounds of doors slamming shut, books being thrown to the floor and violent screams echoing throughout the night. For one watchman, by the name of Mr. Jackson, the strangest disturbance was witnessing the manual elevator going up and down from the first to third floor on its own accord, all the while several disembodied voices carried on a conversation while entering and exiting the elevator.
Other strange events have taken place here as well, including glass breaking within the building only to be repaired on its own by morning, the voices of politicians arguing over issues that have long been passed or dismissed, and quite often reports come in mentioning the feeling of another presence in an otherwise empty room usually combined with some sort of physical touch like an invisible hand on your shoulder or a ghostly pat on the back.
For the most part the occurrences seem docile, almost friendly or comforting even, but on a few occasions the events have become downright terrifying. In the late 1860’s a woman was murdered right outside of the buildings main doors, many feel that this is the cause of the ghastly screams that are often heard and usually accompanied by the thunderous winds that rumble though the hallways, as if they were an embodiment of the victims suffering, it’s on these nights that the caretakers and watchmen fell no comfort.
On rare occasions ghostly apparitions have been seen within the building, though for the most part they remain hidden from sight. As of now no paranormal research has been conducted on these premises but several research groups are attempting to get permission from state officials.
The Lake Norman Monster
The Lake Norman monster, often referred to as Normie, is North Carolina’s very own version of the lochness monster. Norman lake is man made and was created in 1963, so it is doubtful that any type of prehistoric creature has been hiding away there, but the claims to have seen this beast have been so numerous it’s hard to rule out the possibility of something equally as strange living there.
This particular lake was created by damming the Catawba River at Cowan’s Ford. Norman Lake is approximately 50 square miles and well over 100 feet deep, so it is quite possible that something within that river had become trapped within the lake only to continue growing throughout the years. Many repair divers working on the damn have claimed to have seen things swimming around that could easily swallow a full grown human and have vowed to never dive there again.
Normie is usually described as being about 20 feet long, with a serpent type body. More than a few claim to have figured out the true origin of Normie, stating that it must certainly be an overgrown garfish or fresh water eel mutated by sewage run off coming from a nearby nuclear power plant. Whatever Normie is it’s had nearly as many sightings as big foot and has caught the interest of many cryptozoologists and underwater investigators from around the world.
Beast Of Bladenboro
The reports of animal mutilations first started to pile up in Bladenboro in 1954. The dead animals were usually dogs or livestock and were commonly found with their jaw either broken or completely removed and their bodies drained of blood much like the victims of the chupacabra.
There had been several witnesses to these vicious attacks and the creature was often described to look like an overgrown panther or some sort of other large cat but some witnesses thought they had seen a large black wolf stalking their cattle. The town of Bladenboro offered a large reward to any man that could find and kill the beast but after only a few days the hunt was shut down, accident reports were coming in non-stop due to the large number of hunters in the woods at one time.
The attacks did die down and eventually stop altogether after the start up of the big hunt, giving the impression that perhaps the beast had been scared off or forced into hiding. For 50 years there wasn’t a single report of the beasts appearance and no strange animal attacks were reported in the Bladenboro area.
Unfortunately peace and quiet never lasts forever, it was around 2006 that it all started back up again. Once more people were seeing the beast roaming the fields and woods at night. Mutilated animals were also being found again, same as before jaw broken and blood drained. As of yet no one has been able to capture or kill this mysterious beast and many wonder if it’s even possible. If this is the same creature then where has it been the last 50 years? Why has it only come back now? Until it’s captured we’ll never really know.
Epilogue
Even though North Carolina is one of the most beautiful states in our region, with lush forestry, clear lakes and gorgeous mountain trails, it’s apparently also inhabited by some gruesome beasts that I would rather not run into alone or unarmed. So remember, if your ever in North Carolina check out the scenery, enjoy the beautiful weather and have a great time, but most importantly watch your back at all times, because you never know, you could be the next star victim of a horrid monster legend. Thanks for reading this edition of Urban Legends, Monsters And Haunted Places.
DS Duby
, North Carolina Edition – Urban Legends, Monsters And Haunted Places www.ozeldersin.com bitirme tezi,ödev,proje dönem ödevi