White Bluff Screamer: In the Hollers and Hills

One of Tennessee’s Folklore’s most famous legends is that of the White Bluff screamer. Its defining trait is a piercing, blood-curdling scream that echoes through the trees, especially at night. Is it a banshee, werewolf or something else entirely?

The Early 1920s

Deep in the Tennessee woods, a tale of madness, murder and mayhem took root and twisted into a legend in Tennessee folklore.

In the early 1920s, the population of middle Tennessee was changing. Returning World War I veterans searched for new opportunities, turning to expanding industries such as the railroad, construction, and textile mills for employment. Rural families were moving into bigger cities like Nashville and Murfreesboro looking for a better life and more lucrative job prospects. The agriculture industry was grappling with increasing mechanization and falling crop prices. Despite these challenges, farming was still the major industry in the area. 

A handful of families drifted into the region, drawn by the promise of a new start. They did their best to carve out homes, farms, and lives in what was left of the Tennessee wilds. They came from northern Appalachian communities or were relocating within other parts of Tennessee, seeking better opportunities on small plots.

One such family is the center of this legend. They consisted of a man, his wife, and seven children. The oldest was 14, and the youngest was 6. Their names have disappeared into history, but the tale continues to be told.

Near the small town of White Bluff, Tennessee, in a place called Trace Creek, the family built a split-log cabin, planted a garden, and settled into their new home. They joined the local church and became a part of the community. Things were going as well as they could for the family. 

The Terror Begins

A few months after moving to the area, the family began to hear strange noises at night. The sounds have been described as a screeching wail, like an animal but also resembling the screams of a young girl. ¹Spurlock, Justin

The howls and screams continued night after night, echoing throughout the valley the family lived in. Naturally the family was terrified, especially the children. The entire family was losing sleep and began feeling paranoid and delirious. The family’s crops were becoming overgrown and neglected. It is unknown if any of the other families were tormented by these screams. For this family, though, every night, after sunset, the screaming and howling would start again.

One night, the father went outside with a lantern to see if he could find the source of the screaming. He walked around the cabin and property but didn’t see anything. After this, the screaming increased in both duration and decibels. 

Death comes to White Bluff

According to historian Lyle Russell, the man had finally had enough. He sat on his front porch one evening and watched the sunset. He told his wife to lock the doors and keep the children close. This was going to end, one way or another. He hung a lantern on his front porch so he could easily find his way home. With a rifle and light in hand, he set out to locate the screamer. This would be the last night of his family’s torment. 

Just as he knew it would, the bone-chilling shrieking soon began. Each time he thought he was getting closer to it, the sound would move further away from him, echoing off the trees, hollers, and hills, making it difficult to locate the source. ²McCullough, Erin

Having only his lantern to light the way, the man soon became disoriented in the darkness. He thought he heard a new voice in the wails. It sounded like a woman’s scream. The man’s blood ran cold. It was his wife’s voice! He soon heard his children’s voices too. The man began to run as fast as he could through the dark forest back to his home. He stumbled over gnarled tree roots and tangled underbrush on the uneven terrain as the screams kept rising, louder and sharper, until they felt like they were splitting the trees.

When he finally reached his home, breath coming in gasps, he saw the front door was standing open. The lantern he had left hanging was casting an orange glow on the threshold. The screams had stopped, and the scene was eerily quiet. He climbed the porch steps, walked into his home, and immediately realized he was walking into a massacre. Blood was everywhere; it covered the floor, walls, and even the ceiling. His entire family was dead; they had been torn to shreds. 

The man stumbled outside to the front porch, stunned. Within minutes, the screaming began again. 

Some versions of the story say the man saw a female figure shrouded in white mist standing in the woods. The spirit floated through the trees, leaving scorched ground beneath her in a blue, ethereal fire. ³Russell, Lyle Other versions say the man encountered a great beast on his porch, linking this story to the escaped werewolves of nearby Werewolf Springs.

Appalachian Banshee

In the late 18th century and early 19th century, middle Tennessee saw a wave of Scottish and Irish immigrants moving to the area. With them, the two cultures brought more than just their music, tools, and traditions—they carried old stories too, such as that of the banshee.

In Irish and Scottish folklore, the banshee is a female spirit known for her eerie wail—a sound said to foretell the imminent death of a member of a nearby family. Often mischaracterized as malevolent, the banshee isn’t inherently evil. Instead, she’s seen as a harbinger, a ghostly messenger whose screams and wails serve as a warning rather than a threat.

Descriptions vary, but most accounts portray her as a pale, spectral figure with long, flowing hair, dressed in a white gown or wrapped in a burial shroud. She’s said to appear near sacred places: burial mounds, remote moorlands, or other sites long tied to the spirit world. Stories tell of her gliding through landscapes, her mournful cry rising, a sound that has become deeply rooted in the folklore of Celtic cultures.

Is the White Bluff screamer an Appalachian banshee? If you believe the version of the story that the murders were caused by a “great beast” instead of the woman in “shrouded mist,” then her wails could have been a warning to the unnamed family. A warning that was unfortunately not heeded or not understood.

White Bluff

White Bluff, Tennessee, is named for the white bluffs along nearby Turnbull Creek. In the early 1800s a fort was constructed in the area, followed shortly by an iron forge. The town was founded in 1867 and originally served as a Union Army base encampment during the Civil War. A fire destroyed most of the town in 1946. 

Today, the population hovers around 3,800. It is a few miles from Montgomery Bell State Park. The land the legend takes place on is now within the bounds of the park. 

Tennessee Folklore: Legend or Lie

The story of the White Bluff screamer has been circulating in Tennessee folklore circles for a hundred years or so. Local history teacher Justin Spurlock said he remembers hearing it when he was growing up in the area. The story was something parents told their kids to keep them in line or to scare campers from out of town. However, there was a possible sighting by a couple in the 1930s. 

Tony England, White Bluff’s unofficial town historian, told the Dickson Herald in 2019, “The house is all fallen in, but it’s still there.” He went on to say that while there’s no historical evidence that the screamer killed that family in the story, something has definitely been heard for years. 

95-year-old Fred Stacey, longtime White Bluff resident, said he’s heard the screamer himself on many different occasions. 

An unnamed state park ranger, familiar with the legend, claimed to have discovered the remains of a homestead located between Werewolf Springs and the nearby Hall family cemetery—now all part of Montgomery Bell State Park. It’s unclear when exactly this discovery was made. According to local historian Lyle Russell, it’s more than likely the cabin belonged to a member of the Hall family, who lived all around the area before the park existed. ⁴Russell, Lyle

So, is it real? Was almost an entire family massacred in the Tennessee woods? According to local newspapers, no. Even though the area was rural, a story of this magnitude would have definitely made headlines. Similar massacres occurred in Allentown Florida, and Cottonwood, Alabama and while not extensively covered, they did make the news. 

Should you decide to wander into the trees around Werewolf Springs or White Bluff, don’t be too quick to dismiss the howl that rises on the wind—it may not be as far off as it sounds.