The White Bluff Screamer: Monster or Make-Believe?

As with all stories of cryptids that stalk the backwoods near the Appalachians, some of the oldest accounts sound more fiction than fact. But to imagine living potentially in the territory of a real-life Banshee? That's a terrifying prospect, even if, years removed from the history of it, we might think that account somewhat inflated by myth.

Origins of a Beast

As a Jersey Devil kid (having grown up hearing much about the state-famous monster), I have always had something of a soft spot for the weird and unusual lore of a state, especially as it involves a monster. I'm not a big Bigfoot fan, but I like the idea of some unseen predator lurking by the mist-thick woodlands on the outskirts of a family farm or quaint little town. There are stories that say people brought the old world with them when they came to their supposed 'new' one.

The White Bluff Screamer is one such tale, originating in White Bluff, TN, and involving a farmer and his family haunted by the incessant, blood-curdling screams of some dastardly beast in the woods. The legend goes that he was an expert huntsman who knew the woods well, so when he went out to finally confront the creature after nights of plaguing screams, there was little fear of him getting lost. But get lost he did, and he became increasingly panicked as he tried to find his way out, with the beast's screams echoing all around him.

Eventually, he heard the screams of his family join that terrible chorus. When he finally stumbled home it was to the bodies of his wife and children, with the beast nowhere in sight. He's said to have held them while the creature screamed in the background, cementing its deadly nickname into Tennessee Legend.

The Evolution of the White Bluff Screamer Legend

There is a variation of the tale that says that the farmer actually did encounter the beast. He's said to have found it in a hushed part of the woods after tracking it in his grief and that it wasn't some feral, old-world beast but a young woman in white.

The pervasiveness of 'women in white' is pretty well-known to the urban-legend enthusiast. Every town or locality is thought to have a woman in white stalking down one of its back roads, shrouded in white and having been subject to one tragedy or another -- the loss of a husband, child, or loss of herself. It's as ubiquitous to fire-side tales as cry baby bridges, portals or hell, and gravity hills, all of which I encountered in both NJ and many places I'd lived after. Eager for adventures, I even chased after quite a few of these elusive experiences with friends.

The White Bluff Screamer remains a part of campfire stories in and around the area of White Bluff today. It carries even to Nashville, which I'm sure has evolved its own variations of the story. With plenty of ghosts haunting the big city, it's got some competition when it comes to who has the best camp tale. If you join one of our fantastic ghost tours, you'll hear so much more about TN's local legends, both in the capital and beyond!