Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 31, 1995 TAG: 9510310067
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALMENA HUGHES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
``We all want to believe that death doesn't mean extinction," he said. "We want to believe in an afterlife. The existence of ghosts implies that something lasts past the body.'' ``Besides,'' he adds, ``ghost stories are exciting.''
Mann, a poet and instructor of English and Appalachian studies at Virginia Tech, has been seriously studying ghost tales of Appalachia for the past two years. He said he's not familiar enough with the whole gamut of ghost lore to make comparisons, but tales from the Appalachians do tend to be long-lived.
``Washington Irving may have explained it best when he said that in rural areas, lore lasts longer because the people aren't as transient,'' Mann said recently by phone from his campus office.
One of Mann's favorite ghost stories, centered in Roanoke and recounted in the anthology, "The Ghosts of Virginia," by L.B. Taylor Jr., has lasted since 1902. According to the legend, for a brief period during March of that year, a tall, beautiful woman, garbed in black, would randomly appear to married men who for one reason or another were out late at night.
The mysterious ``Woman in Black'' would materialize from nowhere and call the men by name. Though several tried to outrun her, she kept pace with apparent ease. Sometimes she talked to them or asked them questions about their intentions and destinations. A few victims said she touched them. Once the men reached their homes, the woman would vanish.
``The suspicion goes that she was the ghost of a wronged wife who was just making sure that other married men didn't go astray,'' Mann said.
Mann said he frequently refers to Taylor's books for research. Taylor credits Virginia's spirit bounty to the state's being the oldest colony in the New World and its numerous old houses, manor homes, mansions and plantations. Then, too, there were the state's early famines, massacres and wars. Plus, there is the Old Dominion's love of history and preservation and its penchant for passing things - lore included - down from one generation to the next.
Taylor's two-volume ``The Ghosts of Virginia'' includes stories about mysterious happenings in Lynchburg, Botetourt County, Elliston, Christiansburg and Bedford County.
To those, Mann sheepishly admitted, he could add a few stories about experiences of his own. This spring, while staying in a room near Roanoke's Highland Park, Mann says he experienced the sensation of someone gently punching the underside of his mattress.
But perhaps his most impressive encounter occurred back in the early 1980s. Mann had been reading Anne Sexton's ``To Bedlam and Part Way Back,'' which recounts the poet's experiences in a mental institution.
``She was a tormented soul who eventually committed suicide,'' Mann elaborated.
Although alone in his apartment, Mann said, he suddenly sensed a presence in the room. True to his Southern (Covington) upbringing, he remained a gentleman and said to the presence, ``I don't think we've been introduced, and I'd appreciate it if you'd leave.''
It did.
The next night, Mann's roommate, also alone in the apartment, was reading the book when she, too, experienced a presence. The third night, a friend who lived across town borrowed the book and was reading it alone at home. Unexplained sighing sounds convinced her to put the book down and get the heck out, Mann said.
While he's been inexplicably drawn to the occult since childhood, Mann said he doesn't get too spooked. For example, he said he finds Halloween fascinating for its old pagan traditions. But its real draw is that it will give him an excuse to have a big meal and celebrate with friends.
by CNB