THE JAXSON | The Boo Hag: A ghost story from 1930s Jacksonville

In the 1930s, folklorist and Episcopal priest Harry Middleton Hyatt traveled city streets and backcountry byways with a dictation machine, recording folklore and hoodoo traditions from hundreds of Black Americans from all walks of life. In July 1937, Hyatt’s travels took him to Jacksonville’s Wynn Hotel, where one informant told him possibly the eeriest stories in the whole collection. Here’s the story of a Jacksonville family’s terrifying encounter with a life-draining witch from Gullah Geechee lore: the boo hag. Some dark woman “Boo Hag” by Kwanzaa Edwards. Find more of Kwanzaa’s art on Instagram at @empty_holiday. Among those who Henry Middleton Hyatt interviewed was a man identified only as Informant 562. Among his stories, he spoke of his horrifying childhood dealings with a boo hag. This is a type of witch or haint originating from the traditions of the Gullah Geechee people that slips into the house at night to “ride” sleeping victims and drain their breath and life fo