The Haunting of Bertha Sybert

The Talking Appalachian Podcast

What did you think of this episode?

The Legend of Bouncing Bertha was a story I heard straight from an eyewitness several years before he passed away, but I'd heard about little Bertha my whole life as a ghost tale, told and retold at spooky season. What made this Depression-era Appalachian ghost tale so scary was that by all accounts it was true. Years later, I researched and wrote about her, collecting photos and interviewing her cousin, Ralph, who went to school with Bertha and lived nearby. He recounted seeing the events you'll hear about in this episode....events so ghastly, no other family wanted to talk about them. News of her haunting spread worldwide, making her a child celebrity for a short period of time. Listen and decide for yourself: hoax or haunted?
Original article published by Amy Clark in Blue Ridge Country Magazine
Photo by: Virgil Wacks courtesy of son Stephen Wacks
Music from Just Off the Wilderness Road

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Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Steam Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain