Hellbilly: The Darker Side of Appalachia
Oct 8, 2026 · 44 min · 12 segments
... in which we deeply discuss how animals and other aspects of life create folklore, perpetuate the existence of it, and fuck with JD Vance. Opening poem: Fame is a Fickle Food by Emily Dickenson…
Let's start with the world itself.
Why not? Let's be broad about it.
Folklore.
For a lot of people, that means something quaint.
For me, folklore means nostalgia, old people talking about haints, strange creatures in the woods, superstition about not sweeping under somebody's feet lest they not get married, and I believed that one when I was younger, believe you me, and then I got married, and I regretted that shit.
A ghost story somebody's grandmother told.
But folklore is much bigger than supernatural belief.
It's attractively unusual and old-fashioned.
So for a lot of people, it does mean something quaint, attractively unusual and old-fashioned.
Folklore includes stories, songs, sayings, customs, jokes, rituals, and not the satanic kind, y'all.
We're talking like OCD kind of rituals here, or family rituals, or insert whatever there, folk remedies, blah, blah, blah.
Family traditions, see also rituals, beliefs, warnings, home remedies, see also rituals, occupational knowledge, and all of the little rules nobody remembers learning but everybody somehow knows.
Don't put your purse on the floor.
I don't remember that one.
Don't rock an empty rocking chair.
I also don't remember that one.
Making note to look into these in the future.
Don't bring certain flowers into the house.
Don't tell everybody your business.
That's an interesting one.
Never do that before a funeral.
Your family probably has folklore even if nobody in your family has ever used the word.
That is also known as family culture because folklore is, at its simplest, culture passed between people, and that distinction matters.
Let's start with the world itself.
Why not? Let's be broad about it.
Folklore.
For a lot of people, that means something quaint.
For me, folklore means nostalgia, old people talking about haints, strange creatures in the woods, superstition about not sweeping under somebody's feet lest they not get married, and I believed that one when I was younger, believe you me, and then I got married, and I regretted that shit.
A ghost story somebody's grandmother told.
But folklore is much bigger than supernatural belief.
It's attractively unusual and old-fashioned.
So for a lot of people, it does mean something quaint, attractively unusual and old-fashioned.
Folklore includes stories, songs, sayings, customs, jokes, rituals, and not the satanic kind, y'all.
We're talking like OCD kind of rituals here, or family rituals, or insert whatever there, folk remedies, blah, blah, blah.
Family traditions, see also rituals, beliefs, warnings, home remedies, see also rituals, occupational knowledge, and all of the little rules nobody remembers learning but everybody somehow knows.
Don't put your purse on the floor.
I don't remember that one.
Don't rock an empty rocking chair.
I also don't remember that one.
Making note to look into these in the future.
Don't bring certain flowers into the house.
Don't tell everybody your business.
That's an interesting one.
Never do that before a funeral.
Your family probably has folklore even if nobody in your family has ever used the word.
That is also known as family culture because folklore is, at its simplest, culture passed between people, and that distinction matters.
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