i debated giving my thoughts lest someone come and tell me rudely that i'm overreacting. beyond that, i don't hope to call anyone out or anything. i'm just disappointed to see this user adding fuel to the fire of the point of my blog.
there are so many other things one could notice or ask themselves upon seeing the image, aren't there?
the most obvious: what makes this holler in particular so dangerous? what about it lures in the unsuspecting? what is its siren's song?
that is to wonder: does the same thing that makes it lethal also serve as the reason people are seduced by it, and with such persistent frequency that it feels necessary to post a sign to ward them off?
is the danger something easy to explain, like steep cliff drops along its borders or unstable mountain passes? does loose rock or bad weather claim the curious?
or could it be something supernatural, something a superstitious someone posted up? maybe the wives tales and urban legends hold some truth, and you really shouldn't go investigating the strange and terrifying in appalachia at night.
"be carried out?" is that because mother nature had her say, or is it because the cryptids did? is this a threat or a frustrated warning?
or maybe there is no danger at all. perhaps the property's owner just wants to be left alone, keep their fertile expanse of land to themselves.
maybe it's something handed down through generations. maybe strangers have stomped all over its history in the name of sightseeing.
but instead... it's the incorrect spelling that gave this user pause.
the intrigue and mystery and magic of this ageless region just doesn't matter to most, not when so many people who come from it grow up in generationally impoverished communities, inhibited by poor public education--people who aren't likely to make it to the last rounds of a spelling bee, you see.
appalachia is shadowed by its stereotypes.
if you can't see how this contributes to, and is in fact directly related to, the issues appalachia is stifled by, i'm not sure what else to say
The original sign sparked nightmares for me. When I saw it, my brain started hopping between “you can’t tell me what to do” and “dear god what happened here” and “I already HAD to go in, now I double have to.” And then that night, I dreamt about the large holler near my grandfather’s farm and the stories of people disappearing there. We’re so bad about hollers and holes, we see them and HAVE to go explore. I didn’t even notice the misspelling, too busy reliving my cosmic horror Kentucky childhood.








