Lily's Lore and Legends

Photo via the Naval Historical Foundation, Maher Collection. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. The Haunting of the Battleship USS North Carolina Decommissioned ship turned museum... but what about the ghosts??? Location: Wilmington, North Carolina 28401 Growing up in Wilmington, NC, the Battleship was just a part of the local city layout. Everyone has at least one photo they have taken of it, mostly from Water Street, looking across the Cape Fear River. And everyone has heard the stories - faces looking out from the portholes, overwhelming emotions in certain locations, footsteps when no one else is around. But is the battleship USS North Carolina really haunted? Or is it all just local legend? The Lore The USS North Carolina saw war, death, and destruction, both as the cause and the recipient, during her time on the water in the 1940s. With so much terrible history lurking in her metal walls, something, or someone, was bound to stick around. Reports from mus...

"Prune-Faced Woman" Reader Story Submission Location: New Mexico This story comes from one of my good buddies over on Twitter and y'all, it's a damn good one. So grab a cup of coffee, turn down the lights and your device brightness, and settle in for the amazing story of the prune-faced woman... Edited for clarification, spelling, and layout. "Prune-Faced Woman" Where I live, the houses are spread out. Lot of Cedar trees, lot of open space surrounded by mesas. And I just happen to live down the road from a cemetery. Things do go bump in the night as one would imagine. My neighbors seem to ignore it, or they just don't have anyone to bother them. Sometimes in the middle of the night, even in midday, I'll hear knocking at our door, tapping at our windows. This all ties to events that happened in my childhood which I could explain in detail in another story. Stuff like this comes in waves. It's calm most of the time, then some months it's never ...

"Monkey Junction Monkeys, Wilmington, North Carolina" (1985) The Legend of the Monkey Junction Monkeys Escaped Circus Act? Or Simple Tourist Trap? Location: Wilmington, North Carolina 28412 If you have ever been to Wilmington NC, you may have noticed a particular area of town called "Monkey Junction", where highways 421 and 132 merge (locally known as Carolina Beach Road and College Road, respectively). Just a quick little pit stop on the way to Carolina and Kure Beaches, locals and tourists alike often wonder how this area got its funny little name.  The Lore There are more than a couple of stories floating around town and the internet as to how Monkey Junction arrived at its name. 1. References Tregembo Animal Park/Tote-Em-In Zoo. 2. Circus monkeys escaped in the area. 3. Man with an organ grinder had a monkey and sold peanuts. 4. A gas station owner had a few monkeys to entice tourists to stop and spend money. Historical and Current Maps marking the intersection ...

Call for Submissions! Hey y'all, Lily here. I am working on the research for the following spooky spots and spirits and would LOVE to include any personal stories, photos, videos, or whatever that you may have. Use my fun little submission form to give me all the details and I will be in touch! (Seeing this post after I've posted the lore? Submit your stories for future updates!) Upcoming Posts USS Battleship North Carolina - Wilmington, North Carolina Seneca Guns - Coastal North Carolina Devil's Tramping Ground - Chatham County, North Carolina Normie the Lake Norman Monster - Lake Norman, North Carolina The Gray Man of Pawleys Island - Pawleys Island, South Carolina Submit Your Story Here! Until next time lore lovers, stay spooky 💖 ~Lily Submit your Stories and Suggestions Subscribe for Post Updates Support the Blog Follow Lily's Lore & Legends on Twitter

Welcome to Lily's Lore and Legends! Hello friends and fellow lore lovers! This is Lily's Lore and Legends, a blog focusing on all the myths, ghosts, cryptids, and strange things that have taken place in and around North Carolina and the United States. I'm Lily and ever since I was little, I've never been able to get enough of the unexplainable and the spooky. As a kid, I memorized almost every ghost story within a 20-mile radius of my hometown of Wilmington, NC and it wasn't uncommon for my weekly library books to contain at least one ghost story. As I got older, I started a personal collection of books focusing not just on ghosts but vampires, ghouls, dark legends, and more. And let's not mention the sheer number of horror and mystery shows and movies I've consumed over the years because it's a lot. Like a lot a lot, as horror is my number 1 to-go genre. Follow along as I share tales, locations, history, and more for as many ghosts, demonic creatures, s...