r/OldGodsOfAppalachia

The Holler episodes come with a paid subscription to The Holler (link for details!)

Unhallowed Grounds represents the second story arc for subscribers of The Holler this season, following Grave Concerns. The previous episode was titled "Homecoming," and introduced us to Casey Addison and his partner, Devin Roberts, who move to Casey's hometown in Mavisdale, VA in 1974. The pair moved back from New York City after Roberts lost his job teaching writing and directing and Casey flunked out of school due to financial stress. Back home in Mavisdale, Casey's parents help him pick up work at the family diner, while Roberts waits to start work at a local college.

The couple move out of Casey's parents house into an old farm house with a low rent and promise to make updates and repairs. At first, their new life seems to be off to a good start minus a disembodied voice warning Devin not to proceed into the basement in search of a circuit breaker box when the power is mysteriously off in the middle of the night. While Casey works during the day, Devin takes up renovating the house, but something in the house wants things to stay just the way it.

Brutus Locke learns the price and makes a deal with the Beast of Tie and Rail in an attempt to foil his half-brother's maneuverings to take control of the family business. In Philadelphia, Solomon Locke, formally Jonah Hellbender, continues his education under a dark mentor and displays the extent of his powers, while awaiting the arrival of his old friend and potential bride.

Edited to add link to the episode page here and transcript page here.

I would love to be able to read the series. Will it ever be printed? I know I can get the transcripts for the episodes, but it would be nice to have a bound copy to carry around and not be a stack of printer paper.

Howdy family!

I know some, if not all, who frequent this sub are members of the Holler; which is currently releasing episodes from and expanded upon the Unhallowed Grounds live tour. Would those who are members like to see discussion posts for those episodes, too?

Spoilers for S6E99, Generation of Vipers

I loved the symbolism of the names we've gotten over the past few episodes! There's a lot of meanings here that hint at some neat ideas for the rest of the story arc. I thought it might be fun (for me at least) to do a recap of our cast of characters and what the future might hold for them.

So we start with Jameson Locke's five children: Patience, Brutus, Mordecai, Bonaparte, and Haman. Haman and Mordecai as a pair are interesting. Both names can be found in the Biblical story of Esther where Haman, a prominent noble in the Achaemenid-Persian Empire, seeks to kill all of the empire's Jewish subjects after an insult by Mordecai, a prominent Jewish elder. In the Biblical story, Haman does not succeed and, in fact, is hung from the very gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Although we don't necessarily know that Haman Locke orchestrated Mordecai Locke's death, he did get one over on him, as we'll come back to later.

We have Bonaparte Locke, in what I assume is a reference to Napoleon Bonaparte. I'm not exactly sure yet how the actual Napoleon's life could foreshadow what happens in the story - maybe Bonaparte Locke will lead what is ultimately a failed attempt to acquire another company before being booted from the board of directors.

Patience Locke lives up to her name, of course, as she waits patiently for her father to return. And Brutus Locke of course brings to mind Brutus and Julius Caesar. He too is colluding with outside forces in the hopes of bringing down the man in charge. I wonder if we'll get an "Et tu, Brutus?" moment later on.

The names of some of their children are interesting too. We're hearing about Nathaniel Locke again, years now after his death. Brutus comments that he had been the first one suspected to be the prophesied son. Similarly, there's the Biblical Nathaniel, who was the son of Saul, the first king of Israel. The Biblical Nathaniel would certainly have been raised to succeed his father as king one day, but instead he's usurped by an outsider, David.

Solomon Locke, or Jonah Hellbender is even more fascinating. Starting first with Jonah, that could be a reference to the Biblical Jonah, who spent three nights in the belly of a whale after trying to run away from a task God had given him. Has Solomon already been metaphorical whale food those years he stayed with Granny, or his three nights in the belly of the beast still yet to come?

And as for Solomon - well, the Biblical Solomon was the son of David, the unexpected king who succeed Saul. King Solomon was the wisest of them all, leading the Kingdom of Israel to new heights, including a fabulous temple. But, Solomon was also the last king of a unified Israel. The succession battles of his sons were so bad that the kingdom split in two, Israel and Judah. Perhaps the Locke family will finally split for good after Solomon's generation?

One reason why the kingdom split after Solomon's death, according to the Bible, is because of the discord introduced by foreigners: Solomon had a habit of taking wives and concubines from other countries that didn't worship the same god. It seems like we're flirting with that here, given the prophecy, and Rachel's status as a true outsider of the Green. Her name too, is interesting, when considering the Biblical character of Rachel. The Biblical Rachel was the second wife of Jacob, or Israel. In the Bible, Jacob promises his father-in-law Laban that he'll work 10 years of unpaid labor in his fields in exchange for marrying Rachel. Laban agrees and 10 years later, the wedding takes place. But, Laban tricks Jacob into marrying Rachel's older sister Leah that night, and Jacob ends up working an additional 10 years to finally marry Rachel. Maybe it'll be a bit before we hear wedding bells ringing in the podcast.

I hope y'all enjoyed this nerd out with me. The next episode is up so I'm off to see just how close some of these predictions might be!

I've been a fan and dedicated listener/subscriber since season 2, and I've heard every season at least twice. But I recently finished catching up on the one-offs I'd been saving for a rainy day (Fair Trade was soooo good) so I'm thinking I might cycle back again.

What season(s) do you find yourself revisiting most often? What storylines do you like to slip back into like a beloved winter coat? I think S3 is my favorite, but I often find myself turning back to the Cora Lee Tilley storyline in season 2. Not terribly sure why - I think maybe I just love Dougie Walker 😍