The Confessionals Members Preview | 902: East Tennessee Giants, Legends Hidden in Appalachia
Oct 1, 2026
Tabitha Prock, an East Tennessee historian and author of These Haunted Hills, explores Appalachian folklore and paranormal traditions. She recounts her family’s encounters with the mysterious White Thing, a possible white Bigfoot, and her father’s account of an enormous skeleton excavation. They also discuss inherited witch legends, haunted landscapes, Christian discernment, and whether East Tennessee’s strangest stories conceal forgotten history.
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How Tabitha Prock Published Local Legends
- Tabitha Prock self-published These Haunted Hills in 2011 after collecting East Tennessee supernatural stories since childhood.
- She used Amazon when traditional publishing offered few options for local stories and firsthand folklore.
Study The Dark Without Becoming Infatuated
- Examine strange subjects without glorifying evil or becoming fascinated by it.
- Tony Merkel frames awareness and discernment as safer than either denial or obsessive interest in supernatural topics.
Welsh Witch Stories Reached Appalachia
- Tabitha Prock’s grandmother presented family witch stories as true events rather than entertainment.
- Genealogical research traced a similar story pattern from their Welsh ancestors into Appalachian tradition.
