Appalachian Ghost Stories, Cryptids, and Cultural Folklore w/ Ed Bolden-Greer | Ghost City Podcast

Some ghost stories are fun until you stand on the ground where they started. We talk with Ed Bolden-Greer, an Appalachian storyteller, horror writer, and festival creator, about why the Bell Witch still feels “different” to people who’ve been to the land and why that feeling matters more than arguing over perfect facts.

We trace Ed’s path from the ministry to healthcare to running a massage school, then hit the burnout wall that so many people recognize from the shutdown years. Horror becomes more than a genre, it becomes a creative outlet and a way back to himself. We get into why humans are natural storytellers, how technology can flatten real connection, and why live storytelling brings energy you can’t fake through a screen.

From there we head straight into Appalachian folklore and cryptids: the warnings you grow up hearing, the reason “don’t whistle in the woods” keeps getting passed down, and how creatures like the Wood Booger sit in the same cultural neighborhood as Bigfoot. We also dig into paranormal investigation as a tool for wrestling with faith, experience, and the question of what it means when a place doesn’t feel empty.

Ed also breaks down his two podcasts, Ravens Vail (scripted, sound-designed, ongoing horror universe) and Cracked Cauldron (unscripted, talk-heavy, and not for the censor-happy), plus what people can expect at HorrorFest in Knoxville with vendors, panels, music, and storytelling shows.

If you like Appalachian folklore, paranormal podcasts, ghost stories, and the real human reasons we gather around scary tales, hit subscribe, share this with a friend who loves the weird, and leave us a review. What local legend do you secretly believe?

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Transcript

Bell Witch And The Supernatural

Tim Nealon 0:00

Do you think the Bell Witch, like the the core you know, story, do you think that's a true story?

Ed Bolden-Greer 0:05

I I'm gonna I'm gonna come out of the closet here and say, Yes, I believe I believe in the supernatural. And having been to the Bell Cave and the Bell Witch Farm, there's something very different about that that land.

Tim Nealon 0:25

All right, guys, welcome back to another episode of the Ghost City Podcast. Today I'm joined by Ed Bolden Greer, who is located in Eastern Tennessee, Knoxville specifically, I'm pretty sure, right, Ed? Yep. Uh-huh. And uh it turns out you're you're quite the storyteller. Um I I've I've become that.

Ed Bolden-Greer 0:44

I didn't intend that.

Tim Nealon 0:46

Well, I don't think I don't think any of us intend to be what we are. Um, it just kind of, you know, it's a calling, right?

Ed Bolden-Greer 0:53

Yeah, absolutely.

Tim Nealon 0:54

So, so Ed, for the people out there who might not know who you are, tell us a little bit about yourself, how you got into this world, crazy this crazy world we're in, and and all that good jazz.

Ed Bolden-Greer 1:04

Yeah. Um,

From Ministry To New Career Paths

Ed Bolden-Greer 1:05

well, uh my story is a little different, I think. I started out um in the ministry. Oh, okay. Um that's that's where I was going to school. Went to went to seminary, got ordained. Um, really um couldn't figure out how to make a living out of that. And and I I like food and I like shelter. Right. So I went into nursing. Long story short, wound up back in Knoxville, Tennessee, owning a massage school. Okay. That's and um in uh in 2020, I figured out how burned out I was or how I was headed down that road. And so we started, um, I went back to writing horror and doing storytelling, which I'd done my whole life. My grandparents uh were big horror fans, and they got me involved in the love of horror and everything about it. Um I was the chosen child of my grandparents as far as that went. Right, right. Nobody else liked horror, so I got I got to be involved in that. Um and um because they inundated me with that, I have always had a love of horror. Right.

Tim Nealon 2:24

Now, when you're saying well, now when you're saying horror, are you talking about like you know, horror movies or just the genre?

Ed Bolden-Greer 2:30

Everything horror. My grandmother read horror novels and everything she got her hands on. And when um Salem's Lot came out uh back in the day, the original, yeah, um, it was a two-part series. And they made arrangements with my parents to pick me up and take me to school and get me from school just so I could be there with them to watch that series. Right. Um so it was a big deal for them. Yeah, and um, it became a big deal for me. And I was working, writing curriculum and doing all the things that a business owner does, and um was I absolutely loving that, but I had no creative outlet. Okay, and so we started a podcast.

Tim Nealon 3:16

Yay! Um, everybody has a podcast now. We're just jumping on the bandwagon.

Ed Bolden-Greer 3:22

And you know, that podcast, it's called the Ravensvale Podcast, V-A-I-L, okay, uh, for Ravens Valley. It's a storytelling podcast. Uh, we have an ongoing storyline, and then we take little detours. Uh, and so that's how I got myself out of that burnout. And um, our mentors uh in the pod podcast challenged us to do a show, and I only had like two episodes at that time. And I'm like, I I I can't really do a show. Like podcast shows, you know, live shows are typically, you know, an hour, hour and a half,

Turning A Podcast Into A Festival

Ed Bolden-Greer 4:00

whatever. So we created a storytelling festival. Okay. Um, where my uh voice actors and I did some storytelling about the storyline, but we hired and brought in other storytellers. And um, we sold out our first year. I I had no idea that storytelling would be that popular. Um, I was getting calls to go to uh bonfires and all kinds of places to do uh storytelling, but I didn't realize how big it would be. And so we we did it the first year, got lots of encouragement, did it the second year, uh, sold out that year. And at this point, we were in a small little theater that seated a hundred people. Right. And then um last year we moved to a convention center in a hotel, and um we we sold out again if you want to consider selling all the tickets that we had ahead of time, yeah. And um had vendors and the whole the whole thing. And it has just become you know, one of the things that I can say about storytelling is that it it is a very creative way of uh having an artistic expression. Yeah, not only you don't have to write the story to tell the story.

Tim Nealon 5:26

That's true.

Ed Bolden-Greer 5:28

And that's a lot of people don't understand that.

Tim Nealon 5:30

Now, when when when these stories that you're talking about, are they are they fiction, are they nonfiction, or how are you approaching this?

Ed Bolden-Greer 5:37

Um well there's a lot of different stories. Some are based in reality uh that we have at the festival. I do a lot of urban legend, uh, like I I've done like the hook, you know, the couple that's out um making out uh I tell that story. I surround it in the area we're in. Uh so I've re-authored it, if you will, to to be more local. Yeah. And have things that people around here would identify with. Yeah. Well, um, so yeah.

Tim Nealon 6:11

Well, like so here, you know, I I think most people know like the Ghost City tours, like the company that we are. Um and you know, we're in the ghost tour industry, right? But really all we're doing is telling stories. That's literally all we do as a company is tell stories. And, you know, we we end up with, you know, 600,000, 700,000 people a year on our tours. Yeah. And, you know, sometimes that number blows my mind a little bit. And, you know, one, we're just really good at what we do. So I don't want to take away any credit from any of the people who work here and and the hard work they put in. But it is sometimes surprising to me that so many people are interested in just hearing stories.

Ed Bolden-Greer 6:49

And uh I I think that the art of storytelling is uh making a comeback. I think it was dying for a while, and people didn't realize like the

Why People Crave Live Stories

Ed Bolden-Greer 7:00

the ghost tours with storytelling, and they love those. Uh so I think I think that people uh in today's society uh are craving that personalized interaction with someone who's telling stories.

Tim Nealon 7:15

Yeah, and and I I I think that that is only going to be getting it is only going to be taken further because that I mean my theory, and and who knows if I'm right or not or if I'm onto something, but I mean, we all see how the way the world's going right now. Like everything's technology, everything's AI. I mean, good luck even calling a a business now and talking to a real person half the time. Right. And, you know, at our core as human beings, we're storytellers. I mean, when you look at the history of humanity, you know, over the last couple thousand years, not just you know, the last 20, a lot of our society was based on this idea of people gathering together and telling stories. I mean, I remember a podcast we did a couple months ago when we were talking about um the origins of Halloween, like where did Halloween even came from? Yeah. And it turned out it's like, well, it's kind of started. Just everybody wanted to get together before the fall. And like in one of the traditions was they sat around and told stories. You know, that that's who we are. That's that's how our history was passed down for thousands and thousands of years. So now we're at a place where that was kind of taken from us. But I do think, like in our core, in our DNA, there's still that craving and that desire to be a storyteller and share your thoughts and ideas and experiences with people and for other people to to hear them. And I think that society today has taken away so much of that.

Ed Bolden-Greer 8:37

Um Yeah, I think I think uh the advent of technology and the internet and that we have information just at our fingertips at all times. Um, it it kind of took away that tribal or that cultural sense. And I p I think people crave that.

Tim Nealon 8:57

So from from your perspective, you know, what are the type of stories that you are telling? You know, you've brought up horror a couple of times. Like I was like, man, this guy loves horror. We're gonna have to do an intervention. Actually, Tyler, Tyler, who we works here, we had to have a do we had to do a horror intervention on him too, but it was a different type of whore.

Ed Bolden-Greer 9:15

Um, I gotta pick on Tyler. I do focus uh most of my uh storytelling around horror or uh sci-fi. Um a lot of a lot of uh realistic storytelling that's fiction but based in reality in some some way. Uh like uh our entire uh the Ravensvale story, which is ongoing, is based in Appalachia. Uh, we use as much factual stuff as we can, but it's about a race of witches. Uh-huh. And so that's that's kind of the type of stories I tell a lot.

Tim Nealon 9:58

Now you now you said that that a lot of your stories are kind of based on real events. So like, is that one based on a real story from and I like how you said Appalachia. That appala I can't even say it right, but I'm like, that's how you know that they're really from there, was when they say Appalachia. Yeah.

Ed Bolden-Greer 10:13

Yeah, I'm like the Appalachians, but uh yeah, I would say that our storyline, uh, the the universe that I created is um it's it's very different. Like it it is sci-fi as well as horror, but it's it's very like southern gothic horror.

Horror Roots And Appalachian Settings

Tim Nealon 10:35

Right. You know, no vampires. When I hear when I hear the southern gothic, I'm like, oh, there has to be a vampire in there.

Ed Bolden-Greer 10:44

Um kind of right. Um there we we keep all the traditional uh monsters, but they're just called something different and they act a little different.

Tim Nealon 10:56

Sure.

Ed Bolden-Greer 10:56

Um, but you know, when we look at like stories like the bell witch, you know, those are the type of things that I'm talking about when I talk about space regionally and in and in somewhat of reality. Like there's a lot of stuff about the bell witch that you know has has been fantasized.

Tim Nealon 11:14

But so do you think do you think the bell witch, like the the the core you know story, do you think that's a true story?

Ed Bolden-Greer 11:22

I I I'm gonna I'm gonna come out of the closet here and say yes, I believe I believe in the supernatural. And having been to the Bell Cave and the Bell Witch Farm, there's something very different about that that land.

Tim Nealon 11:36

Yeah, I I yeah, I'm pretty familiar with the story. I I've never actually been there though. Um, so I'm always interested, you know, and that's one of the more famous ghost stories of the Appalachians. And I'm always curious to know if people really think that that's a true story. Because there's some parts of it when you hear it, I'm like, that's a little, and by the way, I believe in ghosts. Like I'm getting ready to go to Oregon, look for fucking Bigfoot

Bell Witch Truth Versus Tourism

Tim Nealon 11:55

for God's sakes. Like I believe in some weird shit. Um, but you know, there are parts of that story where I'm like, that's a little fantastical.

Ed Bolden-Greer 12:03

Um yeah, I think I think we've fantasized some of the parts of it, you know. It it is a big tourist trap. Yep. But um, but but if you ever go there, you'll feel it. Uh and you know, uh what what's real about the story and what's not is another situation entirely, because I don't think we have a way of knowing that. Sure. But I will say that having grown up here and had my grandfather and grandmother tell me that story and take me to to the property, uh it it's it's it it feels a lot different, you know. Yeah. If I if I had been on a paranormal investigation, and I used to do that a long time ago, uh, but if I'd been on a paranormal investigation, I would have been the person saying there's something here.

Tim Nealon 12:51

Yeah.

Ed Bolden-Greer 12:51

I don't know what it is.

Tim Nealon 12:53

So, you know, you you've mentioned that your grandparents again, and you've brought them up quite a bit. You know, it seems like they had a pretty big influence on your life.

Ed Bolden-Greer 13:00

Oh, absolutely.

Tim Nealon 13:01

Um, you know, so you mentioned that they kind of introduced you into the horror uh genre. I mean, were they in any of this other, you know, what people might consider weird stuff, you know, ghosts and no, absolutely not.

Ed Bolden-Greer 13:13

They were they were like your everyday southern grandma, grandpa, you know, uh except they liked horror. Right.

Tim Nealon 13:24

Yeah, that's that's so like growing up, I uh I was actually really close to my grandparents, and you know, unfortunately they're not here anymore. Um, my grandpa, he was just into wrestling. I was like, it was like grandfather was into wrestling too. He's like he was like, you know, what's Hulk Hogan doing this week? So like you know, um, yeah, he never really introduced me to horror. I'm trying to think of if they like that stuff. I'm just imagining, you know, old people like in horror. Like to me, that's kind of it's not weird. It's just like, oh, cool for you, man.

Ed Bolden-Greer 13:52

Like, yeah, they there was uh a lot of different little 30-minute horror series that on Friday and Saturday night would run like back to back and um like the Twilight Zone. Yeah. And they were they would get

Grandparents Popcorn And Salem’s Lot

Ed Bolden-Greer 14:10

me to spend the night and we would watch all of those with popcorn and you know, all the treats and and all the sugar that I wasn't supposed to have, you know, they just spoiled me. So yeah, they were a big influence in my life, especially when it comes to horror.

Tim Nealon 14:24

So what what was your favorite horror movie to watch with them? Did you have one?

Ed Bolden-Greer 14:30

I I'm gonna reference back to Salem's Lot. I I was so astounded by that series. And even though it was a mini-series, two two episodes, the for the time, and I'm gonna date myself here, for the time that it came out, the graphics and everything about it was just phenomenal. And I was, I don't remember, maybe 13. Uh-huh. You know, and it just, I just, it just blew my mind. And then I uh my grandmother bought me the book, and then I read the book. And then um later I went to some cons and got to see, got to meet Stephen King. And uh, you know, it's just I'm a fanboy. Right. I can't help it.

Tim Nealon 15:14

Yeah, it's okay. Uh, we're all fanboys of something. I'm mostly just a fanboy myself. Um like Tim, you're so great. Um and then in the next sentence, I'm like, Tim, you're shit. Um, that's my horror movie, by the way. Um who is that, Gollum? Yeah, Gollum. Yeah, yeah, that's me. Um, but I can get just as many dates as Gollum, too. Um so at some point though, this this became more of just something that you would do with your grandparents, you know, a way to bond with them and everything else. Um what what point in your life did it kind of make that turn where you know I know that you said you know, you you went into the ministry and then the massage school and you know these these other things, but where did this become more or at what point did you think I I need to make something out of this? Like I need to do something with this.

Ed Bolden-Greer 16:06

Well, I think I was uh I I'll I'll take a step back on that. Sure. All of my friends in high school were into horror as well. Uh and back then we called it punk. Today we'd probably call it goth. Uh you know, and we were we were all going out clubbing and doing all the things allowed to do. So you were were you a goth kid?

Tim Nealon 16:26

I I was. Well, like with the makeup and because my only experience with goth kids comes from South Park. I don't know if you've ever seen South Park with like the goth kids.

Ed Bolden-Greer 16:34

It wasn't anything like that. And it was much milder back in the 80s. Okay. Than it was than it is today. Right. Um, but um, yeah, they all loved it. And we we we would go to every movie and any new book that would come out. And so um it wasn't until like I was I was a diehard fan of horror and watched all the movies and read books and all the things, and uh then in 2020, um during the shutdown,

Burnout And Finding A Creative Outlet

Ed Bolden-Greer 17:05

um I started not not really wanting to work anymore.

Tim Nealon 17:09

Right.

Ed Bolden-Greer 17:10

I liked what I did, and if I if if I got up and went to work, right, which I had to do, once I got there, I was fine. It was just dreading going to work up until that point.

Tim Nealon 17:21

Yeah, I do that every day. Yeah, every day.

Ed Bolden-Greer 17:24

I was like, I don't, right. And um I I was talking to my husband and he said, Um, what do you want to do?

Tim Nealon 17:34

Yeah.

Ed Bolden-Greer 17:34

Because you know, he he's part of the school and the the entire company. And he said, What do you want to do? And I said, I want to write horror. And he said, Well, do that. Yeah. And I said, But I want to do a podcast. And so it really, I he came to me with this the solution because I didn't know how to do a podcast. I knew how to write horror. Right. And um, he came to me with the solution, and he just uh handed me his phone, which is rare because he was coming home from work and going to take a shower, and he usually listens to an audiobook. Sure. And so he handed me his phone, he said, listen to this podcast. And it was old gods of Appalachia. Okay, yep. And um, they were telling stories uh on there, which was an ongoing story. So I listened intently, and you know, it probably saved my life, actually. If if I'm just being honest, it probably saved my life. And um he came out and said, What do you think? And I said, I think you're a genius. I just don't know how to do this. Right. And so we hired some people to show me how to do it, and um, and then I got really deep in the weeds with it because of the horror fest. And yeah, you know, running a festival is a a year-round thing, not just writing an episode and recording an episode and putting it out. Uh, so that that has become 50% of my my work life now.

Tim Nealon 19:01

Yeah.

Ed Bolden-Greer 19:02

And so uh outside of the personal life, which I still watch all the movies and read and do all the things, uh, it's 50% of my work life now.

Tim Nealon 19:12

So well, I mean, that's a good thing. I mean, especially if at one point you were like kind of ready to throw in the towels, like you know, yeah. Well, I mean, one, it's it's great that you have such a supportive husband who was able

Storytelling As Community Medicine

Tim Nealon 19:25

to help pull you out of that, you know. He is phenomenal. Not everybody has that. Um, as you're talking, the other thing that keeps coming into my mind, or this word that keeps coming into my mind, is community. Like you're looking for your community, you know, and you described it like when you were a kid, like you guys would get together and do all these events. Um, you know, and then you bring up COVID, you know, during the shutdown and everything, and that's when like everybody's communities kind of fell apart. Um and one of the things that I've noticed about people in the horror in uh realm. So I'm gonna let you down a little bit here, Ed. I am not a huge fan of horror. I'm just gonna throw that out there. Um, you know, I'll watch one every now and I think what it is is is like I I I I'm one of those goofballs. If I'm watching TV, I'm either watching Bob's burgers or a documentary. So I just never really have time for that stuff.

Ed Bolden-Greer 20:17

But I'm I'm right there with you unless there's a horror, new horror.

Tim Nealon 20:20

Yeah. Right. But one of the things I've noticed about people in the horror community is that they do seem to build like communities. Like you always see like those, like you, you talked about like getting dressed up and going to the movies and stuff like that. There always seems to be like this sense of community for people who enjoy horror movies.

Ed Bolden-Greer 20:36

Um I think that we're just we're we're just people and everybody's looking for a place to fit in. Yeah. You know, and I think that uh horror offers uh the genre, yeah, overall offers a real good sense of that. I think storytelling does too, because storytelling, you know, it originated like around the campfire or uh on the front porch. And we were we uh we were t talking about legacies and and passing down, you know, stories that we didn't want to go away. Yeah. And I think that that uh I remember back when I was younger, uh, and in high school and elementary school, my my parents every Friday, people came and sat on the front porch with us from the neighborhood and they talked and they told stories. And it wasn't it wasn't the formal storytelling, but you know, I can still think back to what they were talking about. Yeah, you know. Uh, and so that community is something that I think that that we as humans, especially in this country, we you know, we don't know our neighbors anymore.

Tim Nealon 21:46

Yeah. You know, well, sometimes that's a good thing. Um, I have one neighbor who's a complete asset. I agree. I don't like fuck him. Um, but the other ones they seem pretty cool. Well, you know, it you know, when you when you start to dive into this deeper and maybe get a little bit more philosophical. Philosophical, maybe philosophical is not the right word, maybe just like like a like a so sociology kind of viewpoint of this. You know, one of the things you keep hearing about people in the world today is people are more depressed than ever, they have more anxiety than ever, they have more uncertainty about the future than ever. And a lot of that is the breakdown of that community we're talking about.

Ed Bolden-Greer 22:19

I think so.

Tim Nealon 22:19

And you know, in your case, you have a niche community, you know, the horror community. But I think that that the same thing that we're talking about really just applies to humanity as a whole. Like we're missing, we're missing that. You know, and earlier in the podcast, I made uh comment something like, I think that storytelling is in our DNA, you know, that sense of and and what do you have to have if you're gonna do storytelling? You have to have a community, you have to have a group of people, you know, you have a giver and a receiver, you know. Um and without that, I feel that human beings, we just kind of whether or not we can put our finger on what it is, we just know that there's something missing in our life. Like we need we need that.

Ed Bolden-Greer 22:58

Um I mean, I I will tell you, uh, teaching uh is very much like storytelling. Sure. Uh and during COVID, I had to teach to a camera. And not having that energy coming back to me, it was the hardest thing uh that I think I've ever done. And then um, as part of my promotional stuff, uh, I've been asked to like stand in the middle of the spotlight and tell stories. Yeah. And uh that's hard. I can't see the faces, and you know, so I I agree with you 100%. It storytelling is all about community.

Tim Nealon 23:44

Yeah, and and you have to have it. Now, yeah, now you know, being somebody from I'm gonna try to say this right again, Appalachia. Is that how you say Appalachia? Appalachia. Appalachia. Appalachia, Appalachia. See, I'm just like the Appalachians. Um you know, the one of the

Don’t Whistle In The Woods

Tim Nealon 24:00

things a lot of people don't realize if you're not from that area is that the Appalachians are have a very rich storytelling tradition. And absolutely. And in in my opinion, and somebody's gonna go in the comments and tell me I'm a fucking idiot and I don't know what I'm talking about, but I I actually think app the Appalachians might have the strongest storytelling history of anywhere in the United States.

Ed Bolden-Greer 24:20

Oh, I think so. Uh I mean, if you look at the the I mean, most people think of Appalachia as just being a small area, but I mean it's it's a big long region and it extends almost across most of the country. And um if you if you look at just if you just look at like the cryptid stories that happen in Appalachia, yeah uh and you know, we referenced like the Bell Witch and and all of these little stories that have carried on through generation to generation and you know, down to don't whistle in the woods.

Tim Nealon 24:57

Oh my god. I so you read my you literally read my mind. That was the one I was as soon as you gave me a break and opportunity to, I was gonna bring that up because that was the one I always heard growing up. Like, don't go into the woods and whistle, you know. Um and I did because I was one of those kids.

Ed Bolden-Greer 25:12

Somebody calling your name and it sounds like your voice, don't answer back.

Tim Nealon 25:15

Yeah, don't answer back. Um so for people who might not know, why don't you want to whistle in the woods when you're in the Appalachians?

Ed Bolden-Greer 25:23

Well, I mean, there's there's several different myths around that. So the first one is that if you whistle in the woods, then uh the boogeyman or or whatever's out there will know where you're at. Right. Okay. Um, and it another uh mythos is that it gives permission for the spirits to come to you.

Tim Nealon 25:46

So you know what? I think it is, and you're gonna find this out about me. Everything comes back to Bigfoot. So I I think that I'm okay with that. So, you know, Bigfoot have been known to whistle and like that, the boogeyman, right? Bigfoot. So I think you go into the woods, whistle, and then Bigfoot's like, huh, what's going on here? I need to go inspect this situation. Let me go, let me go find out what's going on over here. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And it's probably not, but no, it's I I remember hearing that at my my who was it? I think it was my grandmother who told me that. You know, the idea because growing up, we were surrounded by woods. I was one of those kids I essentially grew up in the woods and you know, across the street from my grandparents' house, you know, they had a hundreds of acres back there. And I just remember I couldn't have been any more than 10, 11. And I, for whatever reason, that just really stuck in my head. Now don't you go whistling in them woods. And I'm like, why not? She's like, just I don't forget what she said, but it was just, you know, like something's gonna happen, you know, don't don't do it.

Ed Bolden-Greer 26:47

And uh and whether it was she was just trying to get you to not get out and get lost, right? Or whatever. Uh those stories have stuck around for ages, they're just old, old stories.

Tim Nealon 27:04

Yeah, I mean, even you know, early in the podcast you brought up, you know, the story of witches, you know, that you're incorporating into your own stories. You know, everybody thinks, you know, witches New England. I mean, we have so many witch stories in the Appalachians, it would blow most people's minds, and they've never heard of them, you know. Right.

Ed Bolden-Greer 27:19

If well, if you go ahead. No, you go ahead. Yeah. If you just look at like the smoky mountains here, uh, and most of Appalachia, but uh people talk about our dialect and how we sound funny and all that, yeah. Uh, that's caused by our Scottish roots, and all the Scottish witches uh are reported to come here, and they became your mountain grannies and and all all the different forms of boohag and all that stuff. Right. Uh those that's where it comes from. So any of the Scottish traditional things about witches we have here too.

Tim Nealon 28:00

Yeah. Yeah. And then and then on top of that, you were talking about the you know, the cryptids, you know, yeah in Appalachian. I mean, not only do we have like Bigfoot and stuff like that, but I mean, there's some so my wife and I, we we live outside of Louisiana, outside of Louisiana, Jesus. Live outside of New Orleans. And uh, there's been once or twice where I went to visit my family in Pennsylvania, and I'm I'm a world crass class procrastinator. Like even these guys were getting ready to film Bigfoot, and I'm like, don't worry, I'll buy your flights. We're leaving in a couple of days. I just bought their flights like yesterday. Um, well, I waited too long this these times and we had to drive. And there's been times where, especially going through Tennessee, Virginia, or up through West Virginia, I swear it's like every third exit sign. I'm like, I can tell her like a cryptid associated with that. I'm like, oh, that's where the Flatwoods monster is. Oh, that's where the you know, like they're ever. I mean, I'm not saying all of them are real, of course, but the stories, they're everywhere, like literally everywhere.

Ed Bolden-Greer 28:57

And they all have some common themes to them. Yeah. You know, if you look at Mothman or you look at um, you know, when you're talking like the uh ape man, um, I can't remember what he's called. There's a there's an ape man as well, which is not associated with Bigfoot or Sasquatch. Okay. Um they have a lot of similarities, you know. They show up when there's uh something bad going to happen, the importance of of bad things happening.

Tim Nealon 29:29

Yeah.

Ed Bolden-Greer 29:29

Um those type things, uh, and I think especially in the area I'm in, we get a lot of uh scary stories about things that just sound scary in the woods, you know, like a bobcat screaming at night, that type of thing.

Tim Nealon 29:47

Oh, and those those I don't know, most people probably have not heard a bobcat screaming in the night. I have. Um it sounds really ominous, or just a fox. I'm sure you've heard a fox screaming at night. Yeah, like that will make you that will make you think there's a demon outside your house. Yeah.

Ed Bolden-Greer 30:02

Um, I was camping in in the smokies at a campground, and I'd never heard a fox before. Right. And I was with a group of people, and I I I was terrified the first time I heard because it sounded like it was right there. Oh, yeah. And you know, it was echo and and all the things, but they're terrifying, they're absolutely terrifying. They're cute, but they're terrifying.

Tim Nealon 30:28

Yeah, I I I don't hear them too too often, but you know, we have them come around our house every now and I ever every now and then. And and my wife,

Bigfoot Takes And The Wood Booger

Tim Nealon 30:35

when when she eventually moved in, um, the first time she heard one, she uh she was outside and she came back in terrified. And she's like, I don't know what the fuck I just heard. And she's trying to describe it. She's like, I think people are screaming, I don't know what's going on. And I went out and I was like, Oh, that's a fox. She had no idea what it was.

Ed Bolden-Greer 30:52

Yeah, I was gonna talk about since you're so interested in Bigfoot, that there's a Virginia cryptid uh called the Wood Booger. Oh, yeah, I've heard of the Wood Booger. Um, which is yeah, it's it's described as like a Bigfoot-ish kind of creature, but I find most people haven't ever heard of it. I was telling, telling the story one time at uh a camp that I was hired to go to.

Tim Nealon 31:14

So uh most people have never heard of it. So, what makes the wood booger different than uh Bigfoot?

Ed Bolden-Greer 31:21

Um I I would encourage people to go and read about it. Um, it's a little trickier than uh you know often the wood booger wants to be seen. It's there to scare you.

Tim Nealon 31:34

Yeah, yeah. That and from what I understand, maybe they're a little bit smaller than what people traditionally report as Bigfoot.

Ed Bolden-Greer 31:40

I think they're they're like uh probably five foot or a little less.

Tim Nealon 31:45

Yeah. So I'm so once again, Ed, everything comes back to Bigfoot. So I'm gonna say a woodbooger, a wood booger is just a juvenile Bigfoot who's just a dumbass. Um like, you know, a little bit smaller, you know, they don't know the ways of the elders, and they're just kind of I'm gonna go scare these people. Because I imagine juvenile Bigfoots kind of act like teenagers, maybe, and do dumb stuff. Yeah, maybe.

Ed Bolden-Greer 32:15

Yeah, uh my my my co-host on the um cracked cauldron, he's a big book Bigfoot person. Okay, of course, he goes at it a little differently. He thinks that they're interdimensional creatures. Oh and so when we talked when we talked about the uh wood booger, he was like, if that's just a a teenager coming over causing problems, right?

Tim Nealon 32:36

So see, I I'm one of those people I do not believe that Bigfoot is interdimensional, all that stuff. I just think it's an animal. Um I do too. You know what I want? Maybe I should get him on the podcast sometimes and we can have a friendly argument, but with the purpose of having a friendly argument or debate, I guess that's a better word for it. Debate. Because sometimes we'll be talking to guests and they'll say stuff like that. And and I want to be respectful. I, you know, I don't know you or them personally, but I'm sure you're all good people. I don't want to say anything to insult somebody. Well, there are not be. But there's some times where I'm gonna be like, really, like you seriously believe this? Like they're just going in and out of dimensions and making themselves invisible. I would love to have a good friendly debate with somebody who isn't gonna take it personally.

Ed Bolden-Greer 33:18

Uh well, he wouldn't say he wouldn't take it personally, but also he may give you 20 or 30 different um scenarios where he's got evidence because he's conspiracy-based.

Tim Nealon 33:33

Okay. Well, bring the evidence, that'd be even better. Like, you know, I don't know. Right. No, I because you know, I I don't want to discount anybody's experience because I wasn't there. Like at the end, at the end of the day, who am I to tell you what you experience? But there's some times where people are like, oh, he's standing right there, and he just disappeared. And then so that's how I know that they make themselves invisible. I'm like, well, maybe you just ducked behind like a little hill you didn't realize that was there.

Ed Bolden-Greer 33:57

Yeah, maybe they're really quick.

Tim Nealon 33:59

Yeah, yeah, they're a lot faster than my fat ass, that's for sure. Yeah, so by the way, I'm can really crave another one of those burgers talking about my fat ass, though. I'm like, I could go for another one of those burgers, guys. Um that's why they sell 12 at a time. That's true. They're like little white castle burgers, is what they are. If you ever had one of those, um so you know, when it comes to Appalachia, um, you know, once you start digging into it, it's one of the it's it's just a rabbit hole that that has no bottom. And you mentioned that you used to do

Ghost Hunting As A Faith Journey

Tim Nealon 34:30

parallel investigations, which means that at some point you were at least interested in the ghosts. And Appalachia has more ghosts than most people realize, you know, kind of like everything else. And it it didn't just start when you know white people came here, you know. Uh well, like the whole even your area, you know, Knoxville. Like once you start, I mean, there were lots of Native Americans that lived in that area, you know. Even uh, you know, we run tours in Gatlinburg and we were doing our research for the tours in Gatlinburg. I knew about the Native American history, but I'm I'm by no means an expert. But as I was digging into it, um, it kind of blew my mind a little bit, just the Native American, you know, folklore and traditions and religions that are associated with the amount of of lore around about American Indians, uh, and a lot of civil war.

Ed Bolden-Greer 35:19

Uh oh yeah, if you if you think about that too. Um, we were we were between two um ports here in Knoxville. Uh and um if we go into the uh Indian lore, and I'm I'm in no way an expert, sure, uh there are a lot of places, uh, especially in the Smoky Mountains up in the Gatlinburg area that have a lot had a lot of sightings and things like that. I've never personally got to go do an investigation uh with the American Indian uh as a basis for it. But civil war, yes, but uh not so much with the American Indian.

Tim Nealon 35:58

So so one, why did you stop paranormal investigating? I opened a massage school. Oh, that that'll do it.

Ed Bolden-Greer 36:07

And um it was owning a school is a time suck. You just you literally are always having to be available.

Tim Nealon 36:19

So I mean, that's a good reason to do it. So it wasn't anything like you know, you had a bad experience or you lost interest in it. It was just oh no, I loved it, right? Absolutely loved it. Yeah. Um just didn't have time. So, where where were some of the locations that you would visit when you decided that you wanted to do some ghost hunting in eastern Tennessee? We did a lot of cemeteries.

Ed Bolden-Greer 36:43

Okay, we've done Old Gray Cemetery here in Knoxville, uh, was probably the last one that I was involved in.

Tim Nealon 36:50

Okay.

Ed Bolden-Greer 36:51

Um there's a crypt there, uh or not a crypt, a mausoleum there. Um, a couple houses in the Sequoia Hills area that are much older, that date back to the Civil War. Um, I was not directly involved in this, although we think we're going to do uh an investigation with a group down at Brushy Mountain uh coming up. Um Lakeshore Mental Health Facilities uh did an investigation there back in the day. Right. Uh that was weird and wild. And if if anything was going to scare me out of it, it would have been that one.

Tim Nealon 37:28

So so you you kind of made that jump from horror to paranormal, um, the ghost side of it, which by the way, that seems to be pretty common. I think I'm in the minority when it's like the paranormal people who are like, ah, I don't really horror isn't my thing. Um I think there's way more people that are into paranormal that also enjoy horror. But what is it that made you think, you know, hey, I want to go sit in this dark, scary place and see if something will talk to me.

Ed Bolden-Greer 37:58

Well, so after I got out of the ministry, well, I guess I never really got out of the ministry. I didn't, I didn't lose my faith.

Tim Nealon 38:06

Right.

Ed Bolden-Greer 38:07

Um, but I had had grown up with a very uh different religious background. Uh my father was Greek Orthodox, my mother was a Pentecostal holiness handling snakes. Oh goodness. Uh so very, very high church to to low church. And um they they met somewhere in the middle at a Baptist church. And um for me, I was never uh given like permission to look at what I believed. Okay, and so um, you know, and you hear all the things, you know, reincarnation, all of the dogma that's in all of the religions. And so for me, paranormal investigation was helping me make decisions about my faith base. Okay, you know, uh, and I certainly came out of it believing that there is something there uh and have uh experienced it, and there's just no debate or doubt about it. There's something there. And um, I don't care what other people believe, I just know how I feel when I'm in those situations. I've been in houses, uh, we did a lot of residential stuff. I've been in houses where I could I couldn't feel anything, I didn't see anything, nothing happened, and it was just dead space to me. Uh, but the few houses where we actually encountered things uh was terrifying. Right. And in some cases, there were there were other cases where it wasn't malicious and it was just uh everyday activity going on.

Tim Nealon 39:56

Yeah. So were your parents supportive of this? Um no. Yeah, I kind of thought that was the answer I was gonna get. Um so you know, just just just curious, like did you when you went into the ministry, was it an attempt to you know kind of follow in your your parents' footsteps, like kind of, or or is it just something truly that that mattered to you and you wanted to?

Ed Bolden-Greer 40:19

I I

Identity Religion And Compassion

Ed Bolden-Greer 40:20

I would say it wasn't it had nothing to do with my parents or their desires because I would be in politics and uh law school uh if I'd done what they wanted me to do. Yeah. Um and um for me, I was so intent on uh making connection and figuring out who I was, and you can imagine uh being in the LGBTQIA plus community in a very small town, uh, how that would impact uh me. Yeah, and so maybe going into the ministry was a little bit of uh how can I save myself? Right? How can how if if this is so wrong, how can I uh compensate for that? Um and and so that was a little bit of it. Um but overall it was it was about uh finding me and finding my relationship with the divine.

Tim Nealon 41:24

Isn't it funny how so many things we do in life? You know, I was having this conversation uh with Andrea, one of our employees yesterday. She's she's not a she's not in ministry, but she might as well be because every time she's around, she's like, um, you know, Tim, you need to have a better relationship with with God and all this other stuff. But it it seems like so much what we do in our life, I don't know how to put this without sounding like an idiot. It's really just an attempt for us to get back to who we are and to be accepted for who we are. Like so much in our life, whether you realize it or not, is really driven by those two things, you know, wanting to know who you are and that it's okay to be who you are.

Ed Bolden-Greer 42:04

Absolutely. I the outcome of all of that was that I learned love, compassion, and understanding are the core things that I have to focus on. And um, as long as I'm focused there and all of my work and all of my intentions and everything are focused there, I have that relationship with God.

Tim Nealon 42:26

Yeah. And uh, you know, I I I've always struggled with like a relationship with God. If uh I guess I'm agnostic now. Like I used to consider myself atheist. And that's okay. Yeah, I used to consider myself actually just atheist. And and but I was a weird atheist because like I wanted to believe. Because the idea of God and you know, just the see, this is me doing exactly what I just said, like wanting to find my community, like the idea of going to church for me always felt so peaceful because I grew up in the church. Oh, absolutely. And you know, and for whatever reason, I think it's just because my brain decided it wanted to be ultra logical, and like logically, there's a lot of religion aspects that just don't make sense, which is where faith comes in. Um, and I think that's what kind of pulled me away from religion, but there's always been this part of me that like wants to get pulled back. And I think a big part of that for me is the the community aspect, the wanting to know that like I'm accepted for who I am, and um you know, just just feeling like I'm a part of something and you're not just out there alone.

Ed Bolden-Greer 43:26

Right, you know, I I think that's that's uh a major driving factor in humanity today.

Tim Nealon 43:34

Oh, absolutely. And you decided to turn it into horror writing.

Ed Bolden-Greer 43:38

Yeah. Yeah, I'll forget, you know, uh as as uh massage uh profession, we're supposed to be so uh gentle and kind and uh and people often say, How can you be zen and and teach massage and do massage and then turn around and write? All of this, and I'm it's it's it's just a yin and yang type thing for me.

Tim Nealon 44:06

So so side note on the massage thing. This question has been bugging me for a long time. Uh like years, not like since we started talking. So my wife is always trying to get me to go get a massage because she's like, Tim, you're stressed out, you know, let's go get a couple's massage. Um, I'm terrified of letting people touch my body because I'm kind of fat and I'm gonna be like, I'm very self-conscious. Like, and people, I I have this feeling that I'm gonna lay down the table and people are gonna be like, ooh, I gotta touch this fat slob today. Like, and and I don't know if you can answer this without impacting your business.

The Truth About Getting A Massage

Tim Nealon 44:40

But do massage therapists ever have that thought where they're like, oh my God, I gotta touch this person.

Ed Bolden-Greer 44:46

Uh I think that if if I were gonna uh offer a true insight into that, yeah, uh, I would have to say that there are all types of people that become massage therapists.

Tim Nealon 44:57

Oh my god, that's such a cop-out answer. I just wanted a yesterday. No, no, no, hold on, hold on. I'm not done.

Ed Bolden-Greer 45:02

Uh there are all kinds of people who become massage therapists. Uh-huh. By and far, the the majority of people who become massage therapists uh and go to school and uh are doing what they're supposed to do, they are there to help people. Sure. They are not there to judge. And they probably don't even think about it. Like it's not in their minds ever. Like I I can't tell you from client to client what I mean. I'm in a dark room. Yeah, I'm not looking right at, I'm touching and feeling to figure out where those problem areas are. Yeah. So I I encourage you to get a massage. And I I think that your therapist will not be as judgmental as you are about yourself.

Tim Nealon 45:51

No, they I I'm I'm I'm hoping. But no, I because there's some times where I'm like a massage would feel really good, but like then like then I have to expose my my gross body of the world. But then again, I guess it's like OBGYNs and vaginas. Like once you see enough of them, you just like you don't care anymore. Like we don't care.

Ed Bolden-Greer 46:08

Yeah. And the other thing is we uh massage therapists only expose the area that they're working on. Right. Otherwise, you're covered up.

Tim Nealon 46:16

Yeah, that's true. Well, I I have had two two massages in my life um long time ago, and I fell asleep during both of them. So I felt like I missed out on part of the experience.

Ed Bolden-Greer 46:26

I don't know if it was just like well, traditionally, uh-huh, women will stay awake through, and and I'm this is not a sexist comment, it's just statistics. All right. Uh, women will fall as will stay awake during their massage, they don't want to miss anything. Men almost always fall asleep.

Tim Nealon 46:43

Yeah. I was like, did I really get what I paid for? Because she could have stopped. And like I could have just laid there for a half hour and she's like, he's asleep. Fuck him.

Ed Bolden-Greer 46:50

You probably would have noticed if she had stopped.

Tim Nealon 46:54

All right. Well, now that I have that question answered, we'll get back to, you know, serious conversation. But it but it has always bugged bothered me. I'm like, I would like to, but I don't know if I'm brave enough. But so you know, you you you make the jump back into horror, which is what we're talking about. And you know, the you have the podcast now, um, but you're you're actively storytelling your your I guess you would call it a

Fear Of Publishing And Being Seen

Tim Nealon 47:20

performance, like when you go and do these events. Um, but how is that how has that changed your life? I know that's such a broad question, but you know, you're obviously doing this for a reason. And you know, you described a pretty low point a couple years ago. So where where has that brought you back to?

Ed Bolden-Greer 47:37

Absolutely. Um, I I had about well, I'm gonna be real honest. I was the biggest coward. I I I'm an extrovert's extrovert, okay, but I was the biggest coward. We had our episode zero uh in in the can, as they say, for about six months before I could bring myself to posting it. And we it's professionally done, sound designed, and whole nine yards. Right. Um, and I knew it was good, you know, from a technical side. But uh, you know, the fear was what if nobody wants to hear my story?

Tim Nealon 48:14

I deal with that every time I sit in this chair. Like every time I'm like, why nobody really cares what I have to say. Uh I I assure you they do. Well, even before we jumped on, I made the comment, like, you know, we we interview, you know, men and women on this podcast, obviously. And every time it's like an attractive woman, all those douchey guys are like, oh my god, you're so hot, like to the you know, just those ridiculous comments and stuff. And I observed those, like, not one of these women have ever made a comment about my beauty. Um so yeah, it it's like a what's the word, like vulnerable uh position to put yourself into.

Producer 48:52

And I let me get this straight. You don't want massage therapists talking about your body or observing your body, but you want the YouTube commenters to compliment and observe your body.

Tim Nealon 49:02

Well, sure.

Producer 49:03

Okay.

Tim Nealon 49:04

I I mean we make a couple of cents for every one of those comments, I think. Keep them coming. Um but uh you know it it it oh shit, now you got me totally off track, Carter.

Producer 49:14

Um That's what I do, yeah.

Tim Nealon 49:16

But you know, anyways, my my point was it's it's like a vulnerable place where you're you're putting yourself out there. Like I've I've I've written uh our PR person who you've been talking to, Carissa. She's been push, she's been pushing me to write a book. She's like, Tim, you gotta write a book about all this stuff. I've actually wrote two. And one of them is is actually about Civil War ghosts, because I'm a huge Civil War, I don't want to call myself a historian because that sounds official. Um, but you know, one was about Civil War ghosts, and uh the other one was you know, just more ghosts in general. And I think they're good. I'm just terrified to put them out there because the moment you put them out there, it's like they're no longer yours, you know.

Ed Bolden-Greer 49:55

I I have written several books and um in two weeks, my geriatric massage book is being released. Okay, congratulations. Here again, terrified. Yeah, it I went into podcasting without any concept of like parasocial relationships. I didn't have a concept of fans or listeners, none of that was something I contemplated. And my mentor had given me a shirt that says ask me about my podcast, ask me about my podcast. Okay, yeah, and I was in San Antonio, and um we were um probably competition here, but we were going on a uh San Antonio graveyard tour. Okay, and we had to go into this little witchy shop to get the tickets and to find out. And um, I had that shirt on, and uh we I think we only had like five episodes or four episodes at that point. And uh the gentleman at the register uh said, Hey, tell me about your podcast. And I forgot I had the shirt on. And uh my husband Jared's grandmother was standing with me. We had been shopping, and um I said, Oh, you know, I I'd never been confronted about it. I didn't know what to say, so I I stambled through it. And when I said Ravensville, he went, Are you Ed? And I was like, I had no concept that somebody was listening. I wanted people to listen to it, but I didn't have a concept that anybody was listening, nor did I think they would be fans, because I never had that concept. Yeah, and now we go to cons and and expos and things, and people want autographs, and that was never my intent. I'm not saying I don't like it, I do, but uh I that it was never a concept. So uh it was all about the writing and people hearing the story for me originally. Now I like the whole, I like all of it, right? And it energizes me and it gives me uh perspective and and I can do all of my job without see.

Tim Nealon 52:07

I I don't know if I would like that part of it. Um, I'm I'm you know, you described yourself as uh extrovert's extrovert. I am an introvert's introvert. Like I uh like uh I take pride in the fact when I don't leave my house for an entire week. I'm like, oh my god, this is awesome. Um, you know, and uh some of it's kind of a daunting. Like, so have you heard of this paracon that they're doing up in uh Pennsylvania at Pennhurst? That big paracon that they have every year. I I have well it's just a big paracon where like all the paranormal celebrities, I think they get like 10,000 people a year to one of these things. Um might be worth checking out, you know, if you ever wanted to, you know, absolutely reach a new audience. But uh somehow I got pegged to do the celebrity. I'm like, I guess uh maybe like you call it like the MC of the QA's uh and I was like half shitting my pants. I'm like, oh god, there's people there that are gonna be looking at me and I know I'm gonna fuck it up at some point. Um, you know. Um so I don't know if I I would the the attention side of it, not that I'm getting any of it, thank goodness, but I don't know that I would enjoy that part of it, like being the focus of like because here I could just get to hide behind a camera, and these guys are trust, trust me, every podcast, I've actually been very well behaved. This podcast, um, most podcasts I just say ridiculous nonsense, and these guys catch it and cut it out, like you know. So I I look good to the public, but not when they're without that filter, I'm like, oh god, what what am I gonna say on that stage that's gonna get me canceled? Um, or some variation of that.

Ed Bolden-Greer 53:35

I get that. Um I I have learned that I take more pride in my voice actors getting those accolades than I do me.

Tim Nealon 53:45

Oh, yeah, in the same way.

Ed Bolden-Greer 53:46

Yeah, yeah.

Tim Nealon 53:47

Not that I have voice actors, but my tour guides. Yeah.

Ed Bolden-Greer 53:50

Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Um, I I'm not saying I mind it, uh, and I'm not saying I don't enjoy it because I think everybody enjoys hearing they've done a good job.

Tim Nealon 54:01

Yeah.

Ed Bolden-Greer 54:01

Um, but it that was never the reason that I went into it.

Tim Nealon 54:05

Yeah.

Ed Bolden-Greer 54:05

You know, and uh, but it is a perk. It is, it is definitely a perk.

Tim Nealon 54:09

Well, maybe a maybe like a switch will flip at me and like I'm gonna come in here and they're gonna be like, hey Tim, and I'm gonna be like, you can call me Mr. Nealon. And all of a sudden it's just gonna go to my head. I'm gonna get a G-Wagon, uh, I'm gonna start wearing uh purple suits. I I purple would look good on you. Well, thank you. I appreciate I actually one of my favorite I just wore it the last podcast was a purple shirt. I do like like royal purple. I'm like, that's a good color.

Producer 54:34

Where the the suit from uh Eddie Murphy is is it delirious? He wears the purple.

Tim Nealon 54:38

Yeah. I'm yeah, once that switch is finally made in my head, I'm gonna be just an ego douche where I'm like, I'm famous bitches. Like I'm not quite that over here.

Ed Bolden-Greer 54:49

I I uh if if I ever went down that road, the people that work in the office here in our uh media company, uh they would put me in my place in a hot minute.

Tim Nealon 55:00

Oh, I would just have all my employees would all quit on me. So I I can't imagine ever doing that, but it would be kind of funny, you know. Like I have the rings on all the fingers, and like before

Ravensvale Versus Cracked Cauldron

Tim Nealon 55:10

every conversation, I show them. I'm like, well, guys, this is what I'm doing.

Ed Bolden-Greer 55:15

Sounds like a great Halloween episode.

Tim Nealon 55:17

Yeah, I'm like, I instantly go into pimp mode once I become recognized in public. I guess that's what I'm getting at. Like, I think I'm somebody special. I mean, good thing that'll never happen, but it is kind of funny to think about. Um, so with what you have going on right now, you have uh the Raven's Vale and you have the Cracked Caught Cauldron. And those are those are kind of the your two main platforms that you have right now for storytelling.

Ed Bolden-Greer 55:42

Those are our two um podcasts. Uh-huh. Yeah.

Tim Nealon 55:45

And how do they differ for people who might be like, yeah, I might want to go check one of these out?

Ed Bolden-Greer 55:50

Oh, well, um, the cracked cauldron is uh, like I say, a talk show, and it is a very liberal uh talk show. Um if you if you don't like uh curse words and foul language, you probably don't want to watch it. Um I love curse words and foul language. That's what I look like.

Tim Nealon 56:13

I mean, I don't even have to try.

Ed Bolden-Greer 56:16

Yeah. If you tend to be more conservative, you probably wouldn't like it. Right. Um, otherwise, I mean, we talk about cryptids, we talk about politics, we talk about social things. Our episode yesterday was about our high school experience because my um co-host is 30 and I'm 60.

Tim Nealon 56:36

Okay, that's a difference.

Ed Bolden-Greer 56:37

Oh big generational things.

Tim Nealon 56:39

Grew up in a totally different world. Yeah.

Ed Bolden-Greer 56:42

Absolutely. Yeah. Um, and then um the storyline is all recorded in in like a sound studio, okay. Uh, where we have scripts and we're acting and we're doing all the things. So very different takes because we don't, I mean, we prepare by doing research in uh for the cauldron, but we don't script anything out, it's all off the cuff, and sometimes sometimes we just talk and we don't quite make it all the way through what we're talking about.

Tim Nealon 57:13

Ravens Vale. Like, so so that is the one that you describe more of like a storytelling one from yeah, it's it's it's got a universe that every story revolves around.

Ed Bolden-Greer 57:23

We've uh a mainline story, it uh talk it's about a race of witches in this fictional world, uh called the McCauri. And the McCori uh live in this world, they live aside humans, just a separate race. And um they uh some of it's based on like the witch hunts and and persecution of witches, and so they've kind of isolated themselves into little sanctuaries around the country. And um, so there's a a demon involved, uh, and um that demon is out to kill all the witches. Demons always make everything more fun. Yeah, you can do a lot of things with demons.

Tim Nealon 58:09

Yeah, they can do a lot of things with you. That's what makes it fun. Um now is that is that like a different uh story per episode, or is it just a storyline that just keeps on going?

Ed Bolden-Greer 58:20

It's an ongoing storyline, but we we do veer off. Uh, all of the seasonal holiday episodes have their own theme. They're set in the universe, but they have their own theme. And then we take characters uh from the storylines as sometimes as they're they enter in and sometimes uh just randomly, and we do episodes based just on that character storyline.

Tim Nealon 58:46

So so what are your plans with these podcasts going forward, or is this something that you plan on like so, especially the the Ravens Vale, like is that just gonna go on forever? Like you're continually adding more to the universe, so to say it it absolutely that is our plan.

Ed Bolden-Greer 59:02

Um, we are going to also convert that storyline into a book. Okay. Um, because that's really the was the whole point was to write books. Um, but the podcast is is so much more fun.

Tim Nealon 59:17

I also think you I also think you need to turn it into like a music album. Like you, I don't know if you play any instruments or not, but you kind of look like a somebody who should be in a rock band a little bit.

Ed Bolden-Greer 59:26

So I don't play instruments, but my husband Jared and his entire family uh do. Uh uh, in fact, his family are all professional musicians.

Tim Nealon 59:35

So see, I think you need to turn that like into have its own soundtrack. Like uh that's

Books Soundtracks And Bigger Plans

Tim Nealon 59:40

that's a possibility. Because there's this band that I I I like, they're called Koheed and Cambria. I don't know if you've heard of them. Um I have. So what they do is you know, they they obviously put out albums, but uh every album is like a story. And I think actually the story goes from album to album to album. Like it's like this ongoing story. So as you're describing that, I'm like, you need a soundtrack, Ed. Um get the banjos out, or whatever your family plays up there in Appalachia.

Ed Bolden-Greer 1:00:05

They play every time.

Tim Nealon 1:00:07

So the other thing that I heard you have going on is uh the horror

What Happens At HorrorFest

Tim Nealon 1:00:10

fest. Is it horror fest? Is what it's called? Yeah. Yeah. So tell me a little bit about that.

Ed Bolden-Greer 1:00:14

Um, we're in our fourth year. Um, we've grown exponentially, and we we we didn't have a vision of where this would go. Right. Like it was it was our attempt at producing a live show for the podcast. Okay. And um we um we we've like last year we tripled our numbers. Nice. Uh and we went from hundred to three hundred and fifty. And um, we added vendors last year, uh, and all of our vendor spots sold out and nice uh congratulations sponsorships and and all of that. And it's been it's been a wild ride, but honestly, uh the community that it's creating, uh, we have social media uh communities, we have uh communities of volunteers that come together. It it's just doing what I'd love to do, which is get people together. And uh we have storytelling and we have music all day, and we have panels, and it's it's just a fun day.

Tim Nealon 1:01:24

I've noticed you're all about just bringing people together. Like at the end of the day, like everything we've talked about today, it really comes back to this idea of you want to be somebody who just brings people together.

Ed Bolden-Greer 1:01:35

Yeah, and I think that's very that's kind of my my my thing.

Tim Nealon 1:01:39

Yeah. Well, if somebody was to attend uh HorrorFest, what what would they expect to to see? What would they expect to be able to participate in?

Ed Bolden-Greer 1:01:47

Oh well, I mean, uh starting with the vendors, we curate our vendors so that there's not like 20,000 of handle makers and stuff. So there's just uh a lot of really neat merchandise and crafts and things that that people can uh purchase. The panels, we're doing paranormal panels, storytelling panels, like how-to. Uh we have authors, obviously being a storytelling uh uh festival. We have authors coming and talking about their stories. We have um safe space demonstrations. We got a uh a group that comes in and teaches public safety how to how to take care of yourself. Um, we have a hypnotist that has like a horror-themed hypno hypnosis show.

Tim Nealon 1:02:38

Uh it's any as then he's like, You are now Michael Myers, and he starts murdering the audience.

Ed Bolden-Greer 1:02:43

Like no, there but but it's a it's a form of storytelling. There's a there's a story that they tell, and the people who are on the stage get involved in it. Um, we have uh regional and um national music musicians coming uh for basically a day-long uh concert. Right. Uh and a lot of it because it happens uh on October 10th, a lot of the music they they bring will be holiday themed music uh surrounding Halloween. And then we have two storytelling events during the day. We have uh an afternoon storytelling event for people who may not want to stay as late. Uh, and we have our master storytellers that are there uh spinning their tails, and then we have another one which is a little more uh or a little less child friendly in the evening.

Tim Nealon 1:03:38

Some cuss words in there. Yeah, they say boobies, the kids can't come. Um was some stuff like that. Yeah. Well, where does this where does this event even take place?

Ed Bolden-Greer 1:03:49

Um, it happens uh here in Knoxville. Um we have rented out 8,000 square feet at the um holiday inn Cedar Bluff. Okay. And um, it is a one-day show, so it's not a big time commitment. Um, and uh it will start at noon and we end at seven that evening.

Tim Nealon 1:04:12

Oh, seems like you're a very busy guy, Ed. You got your books coming out, you got your podcast, you gotta start working on that soundtrack. Um uh horror fest. Yeah, yeah. I mean, you don't have to do actually uh every once in a while we encourage people to do things on the podcast. We had an author on the podcast a couple months ago, uh Raven Salvador, right? I did like I always her name trips me up a little bit sometimes. And in the podcast, I half jokingly mentioned a book that she should write about Edgar Allan Poe, and then she fucking wrote it. And I was like, I was like, Jesus, not so we're putting together a plan to help promote, help promote this book because now I feel responsible. I'm like, holy shit, like if this book is not a success for her, like I mean, not that I ruined her life or anything, but like it's like now now I'm obligated.

Ed Bolden-Greer 1:05:04

You can only make it better, yeah.

Tim Nealon 1:05:05

I mean, plus she's a very sweet lady, you know. She uh, you know, very enjoyable conversation. Maybe we should actually get her back on the podcast to like figure out how I helped create this mess. It's not a mess, but you know what I mean. Um yeah, so maybe this maybe the soundtrack will come about somehow, and then you're gonna tell me what a great success it is.

Ed Bolden-Greer 1:05:26

I have a lot of musical people.

Tim Nealon 1:05:28

Yeah, you know, because then you get to create a lot of people.

Ed Bolden-Greer 1:05:31

They're gonna be like, why aren't we making that soundtrack?

Tim Nealon 1:05:32

Yeah. Well, the well, yeah, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna encourage this um anymore. I don't want to get you in any trouble. So well, well, Ed was really good talking with you today and kind of, you know, hearing, you know, how you got into this and you know, the you know uh, you know, the part of it that sticks with me is just, you know, the this idea of bonding with your grandparents. My grandpar I was very close to my grandparents, so as you were talking about that, I kind of like was like, uh, like, yeah, I missed those days. And you know, you never know where the comp where where your life is going to go, you know, just because of you know people who are able to influence influence you at a low geez, young age.

Where To Find Ed And Closing

Tim Nealon 1:06:10

So absolutely.

Ed Bolden-Greer 1:06:11

Well, uh, thank you for having me here today. Yeah, absolutely. I really appreciate the opportunity.

Tim Nealon 1:06:15

Yeah. Well, if if people wanted to learn more about you, if they wanted to you know listen to your podcast, maybe attend Horefest, where could they find more out about you and what you have going on?

Ed Bolden-Greer 1:06:24

Um, well, as far as Horefest goes, they can go to Appalachian Horrorfest.com. Okay. Uh we have all the information there for for that. Um, and it's always changing and expanding. Um, they can go to edbolden.com, which is my website, okay. Uh, which could link you to the others. But uh the Ravensvale website is where it's kind of the hub of everything. Okay. Uh, and it's it's a V-A-I-L, not V-E-I-L. Right. Uh like that the old uh Caledonian spelling of Valley, so it's Ravens Valley. Um, and they it's ravensvale.com, and they can get to the podcast there. Uh, we're on all the platforms, right?

Tim Nealon 1:07:03

Spotify, Apple, like all those good ones. Yeah. Cool. Well, I really do appreciate you taking the time today. I'll be honest, at first when I looked you up online, all I saw was the massage therapist part. And I was like, why am I interviewing a massage therapist?

Ed Bolden-Greer 1:07:17

Um, but then I then uh I used to be on the national scene for massage on a lot of boards and stuff.

Tim Nealon 1:07:24

So well, you're you're doing God's work everywhere you go, Ed. Uh making people feel better, bringing together community. I mean, this is all this is all good work, you know. It's all good work that uh serves a good purpose. And I'm sure there's a lot of people out there that really appreciate you and what you do. So I hope so. Truly. There are. You you already know this. You just gotta wear that where uh ask me about my podcast shirt some more. That's all. And all right. Well, Ed, once again, it was really thank uh I really thank you for joining us today. And uh go enjoy the rest of your day. All right, thanks a lot, Ed.

Producer 1:08:05

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