Appalachian Woman Goes Into a Cave Deep in the Woods. She Found Something that Confirmed Her Grandmother’s Stories: ‘Giving Creatures from Backrooms’

The Appalachian Mountains are often mentioned in relation to strange sightings. Sof (@sof_ttaco), a woman who has grown up in the area, used to hear stories from her grandmother about the woods and its dangers. But out of curiosity, she and her cousin decided to venture beyond the treeline—and what they saw deep in those woods haunts Sof to this day.

“Sometimes, there are just places where people don’t belong,” her grandmother told her about the woods beyond her property. Sof and her cousin were curious and wanted to explore, but their grandmother forbade them because she said it was dangerous. As kids, they followed their grandmother’s instructions.

But when they finally reached their teenage years, their curiosity got the best of them. Their grandmother used to take naps in the day, so they waited until she was asleep before they set out to explore the woods.

They had been walking for a while until they had reached an area with a dilapidated sign. It had “White Bone Ridge” written on it. The cousins went past the sign and immediately understood why the area was named the way it was.

“It looked like bones,” she said of the stones that were scattered in the area. She said that the stones had a light color to them. But none of them turned back. Instead, the cousins pressed on with their adventure into the deeper part of the woods.

“I swear to you, once we got to that edge of that treeline, that’s when things started to shift. My intuition was telling me to leave, my pride was telling me to press on,” Sof said. Neither the bonelike stones nor the unease in the air was enough to deter them.

A cave deep in the Appalachian woods

When they entered the cave, the temperature dropped. Sof described the feel of being in it as “ice cold.” The deeper they went in, the walls of the cave started looking unnaturally smooth. It looked as though a creature had been going in and out of the cave, with its body rubbing against the walls to create the smooth effect.

Sof was still feeling excited about discovering the cave. Her eyes spotted cave markings, some of them still dusty—as if they had been freshly scratched. She was unsettled by the unusual markings, but they continued further into the cave. Her cousin assumed it must just be the scratches of an animal, so they might as well see what lives in the cave.

They finally reached a cavern in the cave. They were shining their flashlights in the dark until they began hearing footsteps. The cousins froze—then, the footsteps also stopped. After a couple of minutes, the cousins thought their minds were simply playing tricks on them. They proceeded, but with more caution than before.

“But that decision to go forward would change our perception of these forests forever and make us believe in all of the folklore,” Sof recalled. She said that all the stories her grandmother told now paled in comparison to what they were about to see with their own eyes.

The cousins heard loud shuffling inside the cave. They froze again, shining their flashlights into the dark. Their flashlights hit the walls, and they noticed the details of the cave wall. The details were moving, and that’s when the cousins knew that these were not just pale white rocks from the wall.

The Moon-eyed People

They were shining their flashlights on the creatures that lived in the cave. They were bone white, and they were looking at the cousins with their huge eyes.

“It honestly was giving the creature from Backrooms, but with a big, pale, white face with these ginormous saucer eyes,” Sof said. She was likely referring to Entity 6 from The Backrooms, known for its disproportionately long arms and its tall physique. But the cousins didn’t spot just one—the cave was filled with these creatures.

When one of the creatures started stepping forward, that’s when they both made a run for it. Sof doesn’t remember the run back—all she knew was that she had to get away from those creatures. She believes that none of the creatures followed them back home.

Sof believes that the creatures they encountered must be the Moon-eyed people from Cherokee folklore. This group of legendary people could see better during nighttime. It’s unclear if the Moon-eyed people existed or if they’re just part of myths.

“If you live in Appalachia and your grandparents have ever told you the story of the Moon-eyed people of the mountains, believe them,” Sof said. Her expert advice? Stay out of Appalachian caves.

(featured images: Bennit Antony, sof_ttaco, Richard Wilson)

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