Shades & Shadows

The lure of Catoctin Mountain is the lore of Catoctin Mountain

Catoctin Mountain lore tells of monsters like the snallygaster and dwayyo, creatures that haunt the dreams of children and adults alike. However, there are other tales of Catoctin Mountain. These nightmares are on and around the central Maryland mountain, incorporating its places and people into its legend.

• In "The Anger of Innocence", millions of birds flocked to the small town of Graceham in 1972, destroying crops and annoying the residents. But what brought them to the town and for what purpose?
• In "Cast from the Gods," the U.S. government is building Site R or the Underground Pentagon deep beneath Raven Rock Mountain during the 1950s. When the complex was being built, workers found something else in the ground. It had been there for centuries. Its discovery released a danger that the U.S. Army nearly failed in controlling.
• In "Set in Stone," a stone carver in Thurmont finds blank headstones suddenly inscribed with the death information of murder victims, he becomes the suspect in their murders. He discovers that the truth is far more fantastic and horrific and dates back through generations of his family.

These are just a few of the stories found in Shades & Shadows, a collection of serial stories that appeared in monthly installments in The Catoctin Banner. The collection also includes some previously unpublished serials. Catoctin Mountain's most frightening stories have yet to be told.