A great look into the folklore of the Appalachians, which is already linked in the American mind as a kind of place with a dark history. Will be ordering.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this book. 3/5 stars.

Not going to lie, I did skim a lot of this BUT I do love this area of knowledge between what I see online (and what's in Fallout 76). I appreciated how this discussed indigenous and enslaved contributions to the folklore. The folklore itself covered really only the basics and the history, and I think I was hoping it would go into more of what is more niche stuff (like what you see people talking about on tiktok living in this area). It was easy to understand and it was designed nicely.

A book a step or three away from being fine – and that's only if it's the kind of book you want. I came here for the stories of the folklore in the Appalachian region – and after about a half-hour introduction the count was 'mentions of stories – 2, recipes – 1'. The introduction ends with a promise of what happens "as you read my retelling of some of the most integral stories" – only for us to get a gazetteer of trends and superstitions, and one that can only disappoint in a way for being quite close to the generic (western) worldwide one. For all of the exoticism we might have expected, especially with the promise of Cherokee influence, this is still a place where black cats on your path are bad, a broken mirror is seven years' bad luck, and red sky at night is a delight to shepherds.

There is some that is novel, such as the idea that if a man can rub his hands on a woman's apron he will fall in love with her. But there's no advice as to whether she has to be in it at the time, mind. No, if you do want the actual stories that resound within these hills, you have to wait for the ghost story chapter – and even then, spectral and disappearing hitch-hikers, or black dogs, aren't unique. Moving on to cryptids, the Dwayyo is a werewolf in all but name. Sorry, Maryland.

Still, I can call this book a success – for the right purchaser. If you know you're getting a generic, all-pleasing guide to the folklore, telling you what's in the stories as opposed to the stories, then this might be wonderful. I loved the line art, and the maroon-and-beige palette gives a classy appearance. It is, however, incredibly repetitive – not just in repeating the same stuff in different sections of the dictionary-type chapters, but even on the same page. If my early digital copy didn't look so advanced I'd rein in the criticism, but this has to be shot down as something that suffered from two authors, and nowhere near enough editing.

The tl,dr of this is that it looks great, and acts as a beginner's encyclopaedia to Appalachian lore for the layman. The scientifically Fortean kind of researcher, and those who hate to be told the same thing multiple times unnecessarily, will find it much less appealing. Hard to rate then, I'd give it three stars and change. It certainly looked the part, but for matching the style proved itself an opportunity widely missed.

I enjoyed reading this one that took a deep dive into Appalachian Folklore. I feel like I learned a lot about the region and beliefs.

This is a thorough and well-written overview of Appalachian folklore. I really appreciated that it wasn't just ghosts and cryptids, but truly folklore: recipes and superstitions, crafts and divination. I really enjoyed it.

The digital format made this super hard to read without having to zoom in on every single page, so unfortunately, that took away from my experience. As for the content- it was interesting, but there was a lot of repetition. Not quite as informative as I was hoping.

Folklore of ancient creepy mountains have me say no matter what. What a great read for anyone that has experienced the mystery of Appalachia.

Oh my goodness…this book! Love it!
I’ve had a long standing interest in anything to do with The Appalachians.
I’m in the U.K. and visiting the stunning Mountains and hidden areas of Appalachia has been a dream of mine for 20+ years. (Obviously… still haven’t gotten there, but it’s on my bucket list).
So when I see a book like this, it just called to me. I was not disappointed.
This book was almost like an introduction to The Appalachians, covering everything from folklore, myths & cryptids all the way to the history of the area, (I like the fact that it was acknowledged that it is indeed a huge area, so therefore the author couldn’t possibly detail all of it in this book. Which leads to me hope, there could be more to come…), the diversity and culture that’s always been there, and even includes recipes.
I’m going to have to buy this book as a physical copy, as it will be a perfect addition to my bookshelves. It’s that good, I’d like to be able to physically hold it in my hands.
Thank you so much for allowing me an ARC.

This is a short, easy-to-read introduction to Appalachia. I really like how wide and comprehensive it is, although there's obviously not a lot of detail in such a small space. There are sections on everything from history to culture to mythical creatures, which was fun. This would be great in classrooms and school libraries. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

I picked this up because I have lived in Appalachia for my entire life and have a love for the history and folklore of my home. My favorite section was the cryptids! The omens and superstitions lost me a bit.

The blurb for this book sounded similar to their other book that I had read previously, it seemed it would be heavy on folklore creatures and monsters, however, this is not the case, I won’t deny there is some information about creatures in this book but it’s towards the end, basic in knowledge and plain repetitive from their previous work with not much new information, compared to the blurb which made it seem like it was a major point hence me picking it up, most of the book is general history and customs from the region that seem kind of weak and shoehorned in with only a little bit of information and started to get repetitive in parts which was annoying and made reading it distracting, I wish it went further in-depth and explored the concepts more, the other part of the book was a focus on omens and superstitions which sounded really interesting when I got to that part however it fell slightly short, it listed the different types with a very brief description, I felt like it would have better to explore this in depth and look at theories on why these superstitions exist and if there was any basis in truth.

I did really like that at the start it stated the region is large and have a diverse background for all over the world including Native Americans and wouldn’t be able to cover everything which was understandable, however, it felt like they were too scared to get too in-depth and really explore the region, another thing I really enjoyed was the formatting, the author’s previous book the formatting was honestly terrible, in this book the formatting was slightly lacking in parts but overall it didn't bother me too much.

This book is perfect for people who want an introduction to the history and culture of the Appalachian Region and those who enjoy superstition and folklore.

I have already ordered a physical copy of this book because it is so informative and beautifully printed. I have always been interested in folklore. Appalachian Folklore Unveiled is an informative starting point, partially for someone like myself from a different country. The layout is user friendly and easy to use. I also loved that we have cultural information as well, not just the folklore side so it’s nicely rounded.

As always thank you to Wellfleet Press and Netgalley for my copy. My review is always honest, truthful and freely given.

Step behind the veil of a rarely accessed culture with terrifying and mysterious ghost stories and lore as old and deeply enriched as the Appalachian Mountains themselves.

Thank you Quarto Publishing for making this book available on Netgalley as a Read Now book! I really enjoyed reading this book. I thought it was very interesting learning about the Appalachian culture. I liked reading about the monsters and demons and reading the ghost stories. This seems like it would be a good book to bring on a camping trip. The ghost stories in here weren’t scary but I still feel like you could read them when you’re gathered around a campfire with other people. I’ve never gathered around a campfire with anyone or heard any ghost stories so I don’t know what that’s like but I’m sure it’s a fun activity.

This is such a handsome and gift-able book! This book would be great for a coffee table, for a casual gift, and for a quick, fun reference. It's the type of book that you keep picking back up to read a snippet. I love the the way this book looks - the layout, the illustrations, how crisp it is. I've read a few books by podcast teams lately, and this is definitely the best one. To begin, it discusses stereotypes and diversity, plus popular art/expression mediums in the region. The rest of the book explores different ghostly tales and creatures. And there's a great reference section in the back! Will definitely buy and promote in our store.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.


This book was very informative about the culture and myths of the Appalachian region. I loved learning about different areas within Appalachia that I myself am not from.

I enjoyed this book. I found it interesting and informative about Appalachian Mountains. It gave me some understanding of the region and their mythology and folklore.

I never knew a lot about Appalachian folklore and culture, but this book caught my eye. Not only does it have a wealth of folklore, but it also includes cultural information as well. It has recipes for making biscuits and instructions on making a protection charm. It’s a very good interesting look at the tales of this region.

This beautiful keepsake is a love letter to the Appalachians a beautiful blend of people, and their beliefs, and customs. This rich history includes superstitions, stories, and even a recipe for buttermilk biscuits. I loved reading about the plants and herbs, and folk magic. This book will be enjoyed by all.

An interesting read for someone with limited knowledge but unlimited curiosity of the Appalachian region.

Great pictures in easy to read sections.

Description:
A book nominally about the folklore of appalachia, but actually mainly about cryptids and ghosts… which is a fairly significant subset, I suppose.

Liked:
The illustrations were good, and the general layout looked professional.

Disliked:
The text is dross. It’s hugely repetitive - there are at least two separate sections on coins (coin omens and coin superstitions) for example, which are almost exactly the same, and a full page each. Many of the superstitions are obvious across the western world, rather than unique to Appalachia (e.g. Appalachian’s think Friday the 13th and broken mirrors are unlucky… woah!) and introductions to each section recycle the same piece about the coming together of Native American, European Settler and Enslaved African tradition ad infinitum. Even in the descriptions of the ghosts and cryptids, where the author obviously has a bit more interest, there was tonnes of padding. Lots of fluff, repeated anecdotes etc. Even then, the author somehow manages to do a terrible job of describing what these things are meant to look like (particularly the cryptids) and I get the impression the illustrations are nicked from elsewhere rather than custom-made for this book, so they don’t really help - for example, a creature that is said to haunt crossroads would have an illustration of a forked path rather than the creature itself.

I’m irritated at this book for wasting my time. Definitely would not recommend. I would not be at all surprised if this was mainly written by AI.