Southern Superstitions: Alexis Noel

I was walking through Barnes and Noble the other day and I ran across a book called "Weird Carolinas". In this book, stories and folklore of the Carolinas were written down, as well as "haunted areas". Recorded in the book was a place called the Devil's Tramping Ground (located not too far from where I live). The story goes that the devil comes up to earth every night and walks in this circle, not allowing anything to grow. Strangely enough, no animals will venture near the circle, nor will anything grow on the circle. Is this a hoax made by locals to entice tourists to this location, or is it truly a North Carolinian phenomenon? In an area that is overflowing in religion, it is hard not to believe that these locals try to convince curious onlookers that the devil himself walks the circle.

On this blog, we have talked about a variety of things, including southern image, southern cooking, southern sports and southern tradition. But we haven't quite talked about engrained southern beliefs; that is, beliefs passed down through generations. I'm talking about superstitions and folklore. While there may be a wide variety of popular superstitions, such as black cats, breaking mirrors and walking under ladders, there are some superstitions that are native to the south. For example, in Tennessee: "If you hear two screech owls calling out to each other in the night, lay a broom lengthwise across the threshold or bad luck (or death) will follow."[1].

What type of folklore and/or superstitions have you heard southerners talk about? If you have no knowledge of this folklore, look up a southern folklore story/superstition. What makes this story different from normal folklore/superstitions?