Why Australia and Appalachia Share the Same Dark Warnings

[00:00:00]All these Appalachian rules are for your safety, not ours.

[00:00:03]>> One of Australia's most worn off locations is heading through the Pilliga Scrub.

[00:00:08]>> And he said, "Yeah, he said you're you're you're in the middle of the Pilliga."

[00:00:12]>> that is relevant is because there's the special code for people that hike on the Appalachian Trail.

[00:00:18]>> One of my favorite things to do on this channel is deep dive into folklore stories and campfire tales, while also taking the history of areas and taking a little bit of pattern recognition to see if there's any similarities between these places. So, we have a look at the Pilliga Scrub in Australia and Appalachia in America. Two different locations, two pieces of bushland, two completely different sides of the planet, yet so many similarities.

[00:00:43]Legends, that is the crux of this video today and the new series I'm starting called Crossroads, where I take places all around the world and compare them to some of the scariest places in Australia and see what similarities they have. If you're new here, my name's Marcus.

[00:00:57]That's exactly what I do on this channel. I share scary stories, dive into dark history, and do paranormal investigations, and travel to some of the most haunted locations around Australia. Let's get into the video.

[00:01:26]Let's start with the Pilliga Scrub, shall we? So, the Pilliga Scrub covers roughly 500,000 hectares in Australia, and it's situated in New South Wales.

[00:01:34]So, the Pilliga Scrub is roughly 150 million years old, which makes it one of the oldest pieces of bushland in all of Australia. And the Pilliga Scrub, it's fragmented into the Pilliga National Park, East and West National Parks, and then you've got State Forest and National Parks that run through it. Now, one of the biggest differences that the Pilliga does actually hold to Appalachia is that the Pilliga is surprisingly flat.

[00:01:58]But, it's extremely extremely dense bushland with huge dirt roads that span for miles, huge long desolate highways that is one of the main routes for truck drivers. The thing is though, the deeper you head into the Pilliga scrub, the less and less light pollution you'll actually find. But, the terrifying reality is I didn't pick the Pilliga scrub and Appalachia because of the terrains, and we will get to that. But, let's talk about Appalachia's terrain now. I want you to imagine the Pilliga scrub being Appalachia's younger little brother. Because Appalachia roughly spans 53 million hectares, and the land of Appalachia is some of the oldest recorded land in the entire world being 450 million years old. The thing with Appalachia is it is a huge chain of valleys, creeks, gorges. It's one of those places in the world where you can be so close to civilization, yet get completely lost or feel so far. The scrub and the terrain in this location is so fierce that there are countless reports of full civilizations living out there that are entirely cut off from the rest of human civilization, and that is an extremely creepy thought. But, you see I didn't pick these two locations because of the geography or because of the land structure. No, I picked them because of what lies within the trees. I picked these two locations because of the lore that surrounds them.

[00:03:23]Because of the stories that come out of these two places. You see, one of the creatures that is said to roam around the Pilliga scrub is known as the hairy man, and the hairy man comes from oral accounts of Gamilaraay country people. Now, the thing with modern civilization is that people like to umbrella term things.

[00:03:41]Now, the hairy man is not a Bigfoot, it is not a Yowie.

[00:03:46]The hairy man is not said to be a creature or an animal, but more of a spiritual man that roams the area. Now, the way that the stories and the oral tradition goes is that the hairy man is actually a protector of the forest. And the hairy man will punish anybody that disrespects the land. It's really cool because of the stories of the hairy man, they predate European settlement by thousands of years.

[00:04:12]And they used to use this story of the hairy man to scare children and warn children off as well about wandering in the bush in the scrub alone. But they also used to tie this spirit to sacred land as well. Now, while the Pilliga scrub, the land, is protected and respect towards the land is enforced by the hairy man, they also have multiple sightings of Yowies.

[00:04:38]>> I can't explain it. It was It was horrible.

[00:04:41]>> Now, for our American friends, Yowies are our Bigfoot. Think of these huge 7-to-8-ft hairy creatures that roam against the trees. Well, that's what the Yowie is. Now, while the term Yowie was actually recorded in 1875 in Gamilaraay language, it is said to have been around for so much longer. In Australia, much like America, we are no stranger to Yowie sightings or Bigfoot sightings. I mean, when you really dive into it as well, we've got famous musicians like Slim Dusty that have actually sung folklore country tales about these beasts in the Pilliga. There have been so many accounts from truck drivers passing through having spotted these big beasts or encountered these big beasts. Now, I think it's important to note that while modern cryptid lore has like aped these creatures up a little bit, they are known to be a lot more spiritual. And there have been recounts of people seeing flashing strange lights in the sky when Yowies are approaching. There have been people that say they smell one of the foulest odors in the air followed by one of the most bloodcurdling screams you could imagine. Now, much like Appalachia, the Pilliga Scrub is often referred to as bad land or dangerous land, spiritually unsafe. And while that's not every area of the Pilliga, there are a lot of areas that are fundamentally connected to this. There are a lot of First Nations Australians, especially back in the day, that were warned to not enter the Pilliga Scrub, and they wouldn't enter the Pilliga Scrub. Now, with every good folklore tale, there's always going to be people that come in and say, "Mate, I camp in the Pilliga all the time. Never seen none of it. I drive through the Pilliga.

[00:06:21]You're all sucks." That's cool, like, good for you.

[00:06:25]Good for you. But we're talking about folklore here, and we're talking about campfire stories. And there's also a lot of recounts from hunters in the area.

[00:06:35]It's vastly filled with pig hunters, and a lot of these hunters will often say that they see animals acting strange in the area. A lot of hikers that enter the Pilliga, as well, will speak of getting disoriented extremely quickly. It's like the country is rejecting people from being in there. It's like there is an external force pushing people away. Now, aside from Yowies and cryptids and bad country, well, one of the most famous ghost stories in all of Australia comes from the Pilliga Scrub, which is the story of the Pilliga Princess, which was a First Nation Australian woman, and she used to be seen walking along the Newell Highway, which is a huge stretch of road that spans through the Pilliga Scrub.

[00:07:14]This woman's name was Claire Wibson, and truck drivers used to just see her walking up and down that stretch of road. And like we said earlier, that was extremely strange because back in those times, First Nations Australians weren't overly keen to be walking through the Pilliga.

[00:07:30]But truck drivers coined her the Pilliga Princess because they would always see Claire. Sometimes they would stop and drive her up the road, but a lot of the times they'd just keep on driving.

[00:07:41]Now, as Claire continued to push her shopping cart up and down the Newell Highway for years, on one night, Clare Wilson walked out, walked out onto the road and got struck down by a truck driver.

[00:07:53]And this is where the story really gets scary because after this incident, truck drivers still continued to see Clare walking up and down the Newell Highway. People still say that if you're driving through the Pilliga Scrub at night, you may very well just see the Pilliga Princess. That story is living folklore.

[00:08:11]You get truck drivers that will warn people, "Don't stop in the Pilliga Scrub at night." Now, another thing that occurs in this piece of bushland, more so than anywhere else in Australia, is rock throwing. Now, it might sound strange when you say it at the start, rock throwing, what is that? Huge rocks getting thrown around from the darkness of the scrub.

[00:08:32]>> Listen, outside.

[00:08:34]Something's throwing stuff at the tent.

[00:08:36]>> [ __ ] Oh.

[00:08:38]Yeah.

[00:08:45]>> Just imagine for a moment you're camping with friends. Campfire's lit. You've finished dinner and you're cracking a few beers, listening to some music, relaxing in the bush away from society.

[00:08:56]When all of a sudden, big rocks start getting thrown towards you. You look out into the distance, but there's nothing there. But then again, from the shrouded tree line, a huge rock comes hurling at you. And when people talk about tree knocking as well, again, that is another piece of old folklore where hunters used to claim that while they were out hunting, if they ever felt like they were being followed by something other than what they were hunting, they would call out to it.

[00:09:24]>> Listen, you all listen for each one.

[00:09:31]Try it again.

[00:09:34]Ouch.

[00:09:35]>> They weren't animals that they were tracking, and if these hunters used to call out to what they were hearing or they would try to speak to what they were hearing, they would get a reply. A reply from a tree knock.

[00:10:00]They used to come in patterns, and they used to say that these tree knocks were a way of something communicating with them, the bush communicating with them.

[00:10:09]And the final point that I want to touch on surrounding the Pilliga is mimicry.

[00:10:14]Now, a mimic is extremely strong in American lore, but there is a lot of history of mimics tied to Australia as well, especially in the Pilliga scrub. Now, mimicry is when you might be out in the bush by yourself, and you'll hear a voice call out to you.

[00:10:32]Maybe it's called your name, and at this point you're starting to get a little bit concerned, so you yell out, "Who's there?" And all you hear back is, "Who's there?" Maybe you're coming to the end of that bush walk returning to camp, and as you're on your last kilometer and you start whistling away, something whistles back. Now, if you're into the same weird stuff that I am and you dive into all of this folklore and urban legend and [ __ ] like that, you will know that the warning is to never whistle in Appalachia. Now, while that piece of lore doesn't associate directly with the Pilliga, and we do not have that warning, that urban legend, let's go to the other side of the world and dive into Appalachia. Before I even start to comment it, you're going to see a lot of similarities, and this this is what I want this series to be.

[00:11:18]Follow the trail. Follow the similarities. Let's look for these parallels.

[00:11:23]Let's find these crossroads. That was kind of lame, but I do like the title name. Now, as we dive into Appalachia, the first thing people are going to think of is, well, there's a lot of Bigfoot sightings there. But before the stories of Bigfoot ever came to be, while Appalachia was already filled with vast stories and lore of these big hairy men roaming the woods. There are so many stories about these old mountain giants and cave dwellers that inhabit Appalachia.

[00:11:51]And who knows, maybe these stories are rooted even more in folklore and conspiracy, and maybe the Book of Enoch had some truth to it.

[00:11:58]Maybe because the land is 450 million years old, that's where the rest of the Nephilim are residing. Just sprinkling in a little bit of conspiracy side of the content there, all right? It's a good deep dive if you're ready for it.

[00:12:09]Now, there's also stories that come from Cherokee lore regarding spirits that protect the land of Appalachia. Now, while in Australia the Pilliga Scrub is said to be protected by the spirit of the hairy man, in Appalachia the land out there is said to be protected as well by a being known as the Soul Ka Lou. And the Soul Ka Lou is said to be a slant-eyed mountain spirit, a hunter that roams the area protecting the land, looking after the land, and punishing anybody that disrespects it. The Soul Ka Lou was said to protect sacred sites out in Appalachia, and this being was extremely feared, but extremely respected as well. This is a being tied directly to Cherokee lore. By now, we're probably starting to recognize a few similarities, aren't we?

[00:12:54]And that's the fascinating thing about this series, a conversation area, a platform where we can start to ask of why is it that on different parts of the world the same stories reside. Why is it that these stories are so similar? Thinking back to when these stories were created, I think that's what fascinates me and what's probably fascinating you the most as well, right?

[00:13:19]These stories were passed down through cave drawings and oral tradition. These These stories aren't new.

[00:13:28]>> Spearfinger was a different type of supernatural creature because she was covered in like a rock-like skin. No arrows, no spears could penetrate that. But the scariest thing of all about Spearfinger is she is a shapeshifter.

[00:13:55]So, you could be out with your friends and the person you thought was your friend would slip behind you and take her razor-sharp Spearfinger that she kept hidden, spear you through the liver, pull it out, and eat it.

[00:14:19]>> These stories have been around for thousands and thousands of years.

[00:14:24]They're not stories that were just made up on Reddit or found on the internet.

[00:14:27]No. Now, when we head out to West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, well, that's where the Sasquatch or the Bigfoot stories really start to come into play. Now, one of the biggest pieces of folklore that come from Appalachia is the warning to not whistle at night.

[00:14:44]Don't whistle at night, and don't go to sleep with your curtains open. But why don't we whistle at night?

[00:14:50]Well, the way that the stories go is that when you whistle at night in Appalachia, you're actually opening yourself up to something. You are attracting something to come towards you. What are you attracting? Well, that depends on the storyteller because some people believe that you are attracting spirits.

[00:15:07]>> A hint is a restless spirit. It's a little more than just a ghost. It's mainly like a harmful presence. Hints show up in stories of hauntings, bad omens, and misfortunes.

[00:15:18]>> Other people truly believe that you are attracting a mimic now. Like I said earlier, the history of the mimic, it is extremely strong and those roots are also replicated and received in Australia in the Pilliga Scrub. Don't whistle at night because you could be attracting spirits, haints, mimics. Now, there's probably a few people in the comments that are going, "This guy hasn't even mentioned skinwalkers yet." If you whistle in Appalachia, what you are doing is inviting a skinwalker to come follow you.

[00:15:47]It's actually incorrect. Modern internet lore and creepypastas and Reddit and all of that and the actual lore of the First Nations occupants of the land because skinwalkers, they are not associated with Cherokee lore. And literally, you see this stuff all the time, right? Where people start telling these campfire stories and these urban legends and everything and they just start sort of blanket terming, like I've said, umbrella terming everything.

[00:16:16]But, skinwalkers, they actually come from Navajo culture, not Cherokee, and a lot of people get it so wrong. More popular like cryptid sightings and videos exploring like different cryptids and things, it all becomes blanket termed, but I feel like to compare these different regions and these different stories, I want to try to go back to the source material as much as possible. I want to do my research and deliver you actual fact. It's the exact same as the wendigo.

[00:16:43]So many people will be like, "Oh, there's wendigos out here." But, the truth is wendigos actually come from Algonquin in culture from Canada. That's not to say if these cryptids and things like that do actually exist that they can't travel. No, definitely not. But, if we're diving into lore and urban legend, then yeah, let's try to get it as accurate as possible. Now, funnily enough, as an Australian, I've never actually heard of this piece of folklore before surrounding Appalachia, but I started digging into hollers a little bit. I'd never really heard of these and if there is any of our brothers and sisters from America watching, I'd love you to drop a little bit more lore in the comment section. But apparently hollers are these huge isolated valleys, closed off valleys, and this relates back to bad country because a lot of people apparently in Appalachia claim that different hollers have different rules that you need to follow.

[00:17:32]And locals of the area will tell you that there's certain hollers that you shouldn't go near or enter.

[00:17:38]How cool is that? Some are dangerous.

[00:17:41]Some are said to take people.

[00:17:44]Some are said to have beings living in them. Spirits in the trees watching. I never heard of that one, which was really cool to dive into. And then this story that comes from Appalachia, I don't think we've really got this in the Pilliga, but I want to talk about it. It's known as the not deer. And the name explains it all.

[00:18:01]You'll be out in Appalachia and you'll spot a deer and that deer is staring at you, but it's not moving correct. Bends and distorts itself all wrong. It can watch you for far too long and almost demonstrate human characteristics. I could dive into this stuff for hours, but let's start doing some comparisons now with the Pilliga scrub in Australia and Appalachia.

[00:18:23]Well, first and foremost, both of these areas have stories of a hairy man or a spiritual guardian of the land. Both of these areas have so many stories and sightings of Sasquatches and Yowies. One of the strongest similarities both of these areas have is rock throwing. You can be out camping, you can be out adventuring when rocks start getting thrown at you from the scrub from nothing. And again, rock throwing is directly linked to Sasquatches and Yowies. Both these areas are filled with ghost stories. Both these areas are filled with stories of mimics and creatures that roam the lands and cryptids. And the best part about this is these aren't dead folk laws. They are very much living. There are still so many accounts from people coming forward of things they've experienced in Appalachia. So many things people have experienced in the Pilliga. And that's why legends, I believe there is a direct crossroads between the Pilbara scrub in Australia and Appalachia in America. If you've made it this far, thank you legends. This is a series that I want to upload every week if you all enjoyed if it's something that you just want me to dig into more and I'm more than happy for the comment section to take rain on this as well and throw out two places from Australia and America that you think have similarities to them. They can be haunted buildings, they can be areas. We could do Area 51 and Pine Gap next maybe. If this is a series that people enjoy, I'm more than happy to continue it while also managing to maintain those huge conspiracy theory videos and deep dives and rabbit hole digs that we all love. The ones that take a lot of research. I think I can keep up to date with all of that as well. If you enjoyed the video, please like and comment and subscribe. I know every single person says it, but it helps. It really helps, but more importantly, you being here is what I care about the most because your time is the most valuable thing you can give me and you've given me that tonight. So, thank you so much.