The Gods of Appalachia
Summary
A couple hiking the Appalachian Trail encounters a towering, faceless entity that stalks them and possesses their wife, Carrie. The creature, which leaves cryptic messages like "it is so tall" in a shelter logbook, forces Carrie to make ritualistic offerings and carve marks into her skin to identify herself to it. The narrator struggles to protect his family from the ancient being, which eventually looms over them in a ring of cairns, demanding they not look at it. The episode explores themes of ancient, mournful gods and the terrifying loss of sanity in the face of the unknown.
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