Never whistle at night in Appalachia because if you do, "they" will hear it and come for you. This warning has been passed down from generation to generation in the mountains of North Carolina, and now, with Halloween upon the country, it has once again gone viral on TikTok.
One user, @ashleeinc, recounted the story of her friend Jane, who grew up in the Appalachian foothills. "She told me that where she grew up, stories weren't just stories; they were lessons."
Highlights
- Never whistle at night in Appalachia or 'they' might come for you, warns viral TikTok story.
- Jane's grandmother had two rules: be home by dusk, never whistle at night.
- Jane's whistle was mysteriously echoed, causing her fear and belief in superstition.
- Netizens speculate creature could be Wendigo, a mythological being mimicking human voices.
Growing up, Jane lived with her grandmother, who wanted her to feel free to explore the woods and just be a child. However, she had two ironclad rules: first, she had to be home by dusk, and second, she had to promise never to whistle at night.
When Jane asked her grandmother to explain why she couldn't whistle, she replied, "It calls them to you," but refused to elaborate.
Netizens are warning people never to whistle in Appalachia at night, or their lives could be at risk
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After Jane grew up, she moved into the city and left her hometown in the mountains behind. She became a full-fledged millennial, using a smartphone and watching The Bachelorette. However, every time she heard someone whistle, she couldn't help but be bothered by it.
"You shouldn't do that," Jane used to think, her adult, rational mind trying in vain to convince her that her grandmother's words were just stories and nothing more.
One day in December, Jane returned to her grandmother's house for the holidays, fearing that her days might end.
Image credits: Wendel Rocha de Oliveira/Pexels
She stopped at a convenience store in Appalachia to buy herself a Red Bull and some snacks and was suddenly overtaken by the need to whistle. A part of her wanted to prove her grandmother wrong and be free of superstition.
"She let out a loud, high-pitched whistle," the TikToker recalled. Nothing happened other than the sound of leaves rustling in the wind.
Image credits: Ellie Burgin/Pexels
Jane finally arrived at her grandmother's house, and the two went into the living room to talk. Everything seemed normal until suddenly, the wind stopped—there was complete stillness.
Out of nowhere, Jane heard something that sent chills up her spine. Her whistle, with the exact pitch, volume, and length.
Jane feared for her life as she realized her whistle had summoned "them." The experience haunts her to this day
Image credits: ashleeinc
"Did you whistle at night!?" Her grandmother asked, furious, her knuckles turning white from clenching a chair too hard.
"I… I did when I got here," Jane stammered, trying to explain herself. "But it wasn't quite dark, and I didn't think anything would happen!"
"We need to go inside right now!" the grandmother replied, directing her into another room with a fire burning.
As she locked the door, they heard a second whistle—exactly the same, but this time much closer.
Image credits: ashleeinc
"I told you never to whistle at night. Why did you do this?" the grandmother asked again, her anger replaced by fear. "They are coming…You called them, and now they are here!"
Moments later, the pair heard pounding on the door. Jane, still in denial about who "they" might be, decided to open it, believing it was her mother or her husband who had come for the holidays.
"What are you doing?" her grandmother asked. "Don't open it! Come, sit down."
Jane obliged, and eventually, the pounding disappeared. When she went outside to check, she found no one. According to the TikToker, the experience still terrifies Jane to this day, and despite inheriting the house after her grandmother's passing, she refuses to go back.
Netizens believe the creature that pursued Jane was none other than a Wendigo, a mythological cannibalistic monster that can imitate human voices
Image credits: Q. Hưng Phạm/pexels
The TikToker then urged her viewers to share their experiences and come up with explanations as to what Jane might have experienced.
Her comment section soon filled with accounts of people hailing from the Appalachian mountains and even some from Australia and Hawaii, who all agreed that their grandparents had told them never to whistle at night.
Image credits: morgshaunting
One commenter, more versed in the supernatural, pointed out that the "them" in the story could be none other than the Wendigo, a cannibalistic monster that has haunted the North American mountains for hundreds of years.
The Wendigo has been described as an emaciated figure with ashen flesh and endless hunger. Its desire for flesh is so big that its own lips are missing, as they have already eaten them. They are known to have antlers like deer, sunken eyes, and sharp yellow claws.
Wendigos have excellent hearing, which they use to listen to and mimic human voices, calling for help to lure in their prey. Their mimicry abilities would allow them to copy the sound of whistling, further reinforcing the theory that one of them might be the creature stalking Jane in the story.
Users shared their own stories of being warned not to whistle at night, with some even claiming to have come close to encountering the creature at one point
Image credits: Ashlee Jordan
"Yep, never whistle! Born and raised in the Appalachian mountains of NC!" one viewer confirmed.
"It's not just Appalachia, or just America for that matter. I'm Australian and was taught by indigenous friends that you should never whistle at night," another recalled.
"I just moved to the foothills of Appalachia, and I whistle to my dogs but then go back inside. The rule out here is 'If you hear something, no, you didn't, '" a user shared. "One night, I heard my husband calling me, but he was already asleep."
"At night, don't whistle, don't answer when someone calls your name in the woods, don't look in the trees, and if all sounds of nature stop, look at the ground and walk away."
"I'm going to have nightmares." While many were frightened by Jane's story, others expressed a desire to travel to the mountains to test whether whistling at night would summon the monster
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