Alabama Lore: The Choccolocco Monster, Huggin' Molly, the Lost Town of Cottonport and Other Mysterious Tales

by Wil Elrick

Overview

Join author Wil Elrick as he explores the history behind some of the Cotton State's weird and legendary tales.

Mysterious 1989 UFO sightings brought more than 4,000 visitors to the tiny town of Fyffe, population 1,300. Legends of the Alabama White Thang - an elusive, hairy creature with a shrill shriek - persisted in the state for a century. Just outside Huntsville's historic Maple Hill Cemetery lies an eerie playground where the ghosts of departed children are rumored to play in the dead of night. After hundreds of unexplained sightings, the town of Evergreen declared itself the Bigfoot Capital of Alabama. Alabama is a weird and wonderful place with a colorful history steeped in folk tales passed from generation to generation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781439664698
Publisher:	The History Press
Publication date:	07/23/2018
Series:	American Legends
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	128
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Wil Elrick hails from Guntersville in the northeastern part of Alabama. He is a writer and "weirdologist" who loves telling stories, whether as a tour guide to historic Huntsville or with friends around a campfire. He can often be found "off the beaten path" researching historical, weird or unusual tales. From time to time, he can even be found participating in a ghost investigation, a Bigfoot hunt or a search for buried treasure. He previously co-authored the book Alabama Scoundrels: Outlaws, Pirates, Bushwhackers and Bandits.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Alabama Is a Weird and Wonderful Place 7

1 The Story of the Union's Lost Gold: The Keel Mountain Treasure 9

2 The Legend of the Miser's Gold 15

3 The Many Legends Surrounding Famed Authors Harper Lee and Truman Capote 20

4 The Ghosts of the Mighty Alabama 25

5 When UFOs Visited the Tiny Town of Fyffe 29

6 The Ghosts of Oakey Streak 33

7 Church Street Cemetery and the Haunted Boyington Oak 39

8 Huntsville's Dead Children's Playground 44

9 Fish the Size of Volkswagens 50

10 The Tale of the Coosa River Monster 55

11 The Legend of Lonnie Stephens, the Vanishing Hitchhiker 59

12 The Strange Disappearance of Orion Williamson 62

13 Wolf Woman of Mobile 66

14 The Piedmont Pukwudgie 69

15 Bigfoot in Alabama 73

16 Alabama White Thang 82

17 Huggin' Molly: She'll Hug You to Death 86

18 The Strange Case of the Choccolocco Monster 92

19 Ghostly Governor Thomas Bibb and His Haunted Family 95

20 Hartselle's Cry Baby Hollow 101

21 The Spirits of Old Georgia Cemetery 105

22 The Mysterious Town of Cottonport and Its Long-Dead Inhabitants 109

23 Old Cahawba, Alabama's Most Mysterious City 115

Bibliography 123

About the Author 127

Editorial Reviews

"""Beyond the old plantation's creaky gates, a moonlit cemetery beckoned. So begins your typical Southern Gothic novel. Yet Wil Elrick, Alabama native author, researcher, storyteller and ""weirdologist"" loves to discover the history behind those strange stories, legends, and folk tales of his state.



Fascinated by the many stories of spirits, disappearances, treasures lost and found, monsters and odd goings-on, Elrick has traveled widely and dug deeper to give a remarkable account of some of the most bizarre stories you're likely to encounter. Alabama seems to be a fountainhead of such wonderment, and he aims to give us the historical basis of the stories behind the tales. In the process, you discover what a great storyteller he is."" Decatur Times Daily "

From the Publisher