Haunted folklore in West Virginia never ceases to end — ghosts stalking the roads, monsters lurking in the woods, and even people creating horrible crimes. Some tend to be much darker than what people tend to take from it. This specific folklore dives into a lot of dark themes, more so than other stories. It involves a tragic story of a lady who didn’t get to see the sunrise during a cold winter night. Her tragedy is how a small issue turned into a freakish accident.
The tale begins with a young woman by the name of Jenny. She had no family to speak of to protect her or help her out of the hard times that had befallen her, so she occupied one of the small storage sheds abandoned after the railroad was built in Harpers Ferry in 1833.
One cold evening in late autumn, Jenny sat around her fire, shivering, when a spark flew onto her skirt and set it alight. According to the blog Dark Hauntings, â€Jenny instinctively ran in the direction of the train station hoping someone was there to aid her. Her body was a glowing inferno within minutes and Jenny was in overwhelming pain. Her screams became more blood curdling but her steps became much slower.â€
Her attempts of running caused her to lose stamina fast. While she was in flames, her will continued to push her in order to seek help. Sadly, to no avail.
“She staggered blindly onto the tracks just west of the station, a ball of fire that barely looked human,” said the website . “ In her agony, she did not see the glowing headlight of the train rounding the curve, or hear the screech of the breaks as the engineer spotted her fire-eaten figure and tried to stop. A moment later, her terrible screams broke off as the train mowed her down.”
Jenny’s screams stopped, and her attempt to save herself resulted in failure. The crew found her and gave her a proper burial, placing her body in an unmarked grave near a local churchyard. Not long after, another family moved into her shack and Jenny was forgotten.
Her story, however, terrifies the locals. A month later when a train rounding the bend west of the station was confronted by a screaming ball of fire. Too late to stop, the engineer plowed over the glowing figure before he could bring the train to a screeching halt. Leaping from the engine, he ran back down the tracks to search for a mangled, burning body, but there was nothing there. Shaken, he brought his train into the station and reported the incident to the stationmaster. After hearing his tale, the stationmaster remembered poor, dead Jenny and realized that her ghost had returned to haunt the tracks where she had died.
They say to this day that on her anniversary of her death, she returns reliving the same horrific incident of her untimely death. A ball of flame can be spotted if you look closely enough. Be careful, for who knows when Jenny may return looking for someone to aid her.
