Published by Overmountain Press in 2007, Thacker’s Mountain Mysteries: The Mystic Traditions of Appalachia in a second printing. Watch for MMII in the fall of 2009.
“…a well-researched and very entertaining look at Appalachian life, written in a comfortable and comforting conversational tone. Thacker explores just about every facet of folklore and folklife in this wildly interesting book, which will be of great value to anyone interested in Appalachian life and studies.” — Silas House, author of Clay’s Quilt, A Parchment of Leaves, and The Coal Tattoo
“…a provacative and rewarding study of paranormal topics, both in history and up to the present. Fraom traditional ghostlore to UFO reportes and recent Internet traditions, this fascinating book covers a wide spectrum of paranormal beliefs, viewing the material with a skeptical eye and solid compartive research.” —Dr. Jan Brunvand, author of Encyclopedia of Urban Legends and many other books
“A near-obsessive pursuit of ghost stories and odd superstitions cranks up this serious study of Appalachian tales of the supernatural and their origin in both old-world customs and real historical events. An effort to preserve and record one aspect of a dying way of life, the book relies on interviews and historic documents to search for the facts behind local lore of murder, witchcraft, and weird hauntings. Several campfire-worthy ghost stories are recounted in their entirety—including “The Swinging Gate of Fern Lake Hollow”—and an unexpectedly large number of stories about aliens and UFOs provide an interesting comparison of three-century-old mysteries and those stirred up in comparatively recent times.”
“Author Larry Thacker (director of student success and retention at Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee) presents Mountain Mysteries: The Mystic Traditions of Appalachia, a collection of untold and overlooked stories of the paranormal in Appalachia–the tales and legends disdained by mainstream scholarly thought. Delving into esoteric topics such as the Oak Ridge UFO connection, psychics, the Appalachian Sasquatch, death lore, and more, Mountain Mysteries at once seeks to explore the supernatural and debunk urban myths. “Though the death beliefs of the Cherokee evolved as time and exposure to white culture progressed, one predominant theme seemed to persist, an often universal and symbolic avoidance of being polluted by the dead. Most death-related activities were viewed as unclean and warranted immediate and strict purification regimens. Being in death’s presence, witnessing a death, bringing about death in battle, or being a mourner merited such ceremony.” A handful of black-and-white photographs illustrate this trailblazing guide to Appalachian myth and unexplained phenomena.” — Midwest Book Review
“For years, scholars have studied the folklore of the people of Appalachia, producing stale lists of herb remedies, ghost stories, and well-known legends. Not content with such pedestrian offerings, author Larry Thacker now presents the untold and ignored stories of the paranormal in Appalachia, delving deep into the mysteries that pervade the lives of the people in the mountains…Mountain Mysteries not only explores the supernatural but seeks to dispel urban myth and the attitudes that create it. To the benefit of all, Larry Thacker has peered into dark corners and forgotten hollows to bring these mountain mysteries to light.”
“Mountain Mysteries is one man’s near obsessive pursuit of superstitions, legends, lore and paranormal topics in order to understand his own place within a long family history lodged in the mountains of Central Appalachia and the Cumberland Gap region. From an intense historical perspective, mixed with the simple preservation of the little understood and quickly dying ways of life and thinking, Mountain Mysteries scrutinizes the origins of belief as well as our regional contemporary similarities with “old world” thought and an ever evolving and elusive frontier lore. Assuming that little is sacred in this pursuit of cultural self-knowledge, Mountain Mysteries examines numerous local legends and myths, attempts when necessary to verify much of the larger Cumberland Gap region’s extremely colorful history, and strives to find connections between how we live today and how life unfolded throughout almost three-hundred years of mystically blended Appalachian generations…”
JOE TENNIS
Media General News Service
Published: October 16, 2008
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – From an Appalachian “Bigfoot” allegedly seen in Campbell County, Tenn., to ghost tales near Middlesborough, Ky., author Larry Thacker uncovers many “Mountain Mysteries” in his most recent book. One is the so-called “Bigfoot” story – or what folks in the Norris Highlands at LaFollette, Tenn., called a “Skunk Ape” a few years ago. “The Skunk Ape was, in my opinion, a definite creature sighting of some sort which led to media hysteria, grew over the course of about three pre-Halloween weeks, and then died off like a good legend for a few years, yet to return,“ Thacker said during a recent interview. Thacker talks about that creature in “Mountain Mysteries: Mystic Traditions of Appalachia” (The Overmountain Press, $14.95). And he also talks about ghosts, like what’s been happening at the “Ritchie House,“ said to be a haunted residence at Ewing, Va. “I do not believe that scientific proof of ‘Bigfoot’ will be found any sooner than proof of ghosts existing,“ Thacker said. “I believe this entity is much more a woods spirit than anything else.“
Do ghosts really exist? Thacker, the “Mountain Mysteries” author, ponders that question for a moment. “I would have to say I do believe in ghosts,“ he said. “Some form of them, in my opinion, must exist … The ghost phenomenon is too persistent in the world’s history not to have some reality in there.“ An educator who makes his home near Middlesborough, Ky., Thacker has studied ghosts for years and is currently working on a sequel to “Mountain Mysteries.“ But whether or not this author believes in ghosts, he said, does not matter. “My believing one way or the other doesn’t affect the overall public consciousness of belief, which is my fascination – a fascination rooted in the experiences of others, more of how they believe, when they do believe – and how these often ignored stories change the lives of people in subtle and major ways,“ he said.
Speaking Events:
Melungeon Heritage Association’s Twelfth Union, Summer 2008
Mountain Heritage Literary Festival, author presentation / class, Summer 2008
Jonesborough (TN) Visitors Center, during International Storytelling Festival, Friday and Saturday, October 3rd / 4th, 10am-5pm, 2008
Books-A-Million, Johnson City, Tennessee, presentation / signing, Oct 18th, 2008
WLMU Radio, interview and roundtable discussion, Oct. 24th and 31st, 2-3PM
Tennessee College Public Relations Association, presentation, Webb’s in the Gap, Nov 7th, 2008
Meet & Greet with regional authors, Middlesboro Public Library, Dec 14th, 4PM
Poetry Reading, LMU Arts & Humanities Symposium, Dec 2nd, 7PM