Haints Holler
⛪ Old Holler Chapel
Est. 1848 · Nondenominational · All Souls Welcome
History
The Old Holler Chapel was the second structure ever built in Haints Holler, erected in 1848, just one year after the founding families arrived. The story goes that Elara Ashwood herself laid the first stone, declaring that "even monsters need something to believe in."
The chapel has served as a place of worship, a town meeting hall, an emergency shelter during the Burning Years, and on one memorable occasion in 1973, a courtroom for a property dispute between a poltergeist and a family of raccoons. (The raccoons won.)
Nondenominational by design, the chapel welcomes all faiths, all species, and all states of existence. Its stained glass windows depict scenes from both human and supernatural religious traditions, and the bell tower is rumored to ring on its own during the full moon, though the current management insists that's "just the wind."
Chapel Staff
Exterior of the Old Holler Chapel
Interior of the Old Holler Chapel
Weekly Services & Events
| Day | Time | Service | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | 10 AM | Morning Service | All species welcome. Coffee & biscuits after. |
| Sunday | 11:30 PM | Midnight Mass | For vampires & nocturnal creatures. Blackout curtains provided. |
| Wed | 7 PM | Service for Departed | Bi-weekly. For ghosts, spirits & undead. |
| Thu | 6 PM | Interfaith Potluck | Bring a dish. Label ingredients. NO cursed casseroles. |
| Fri | 4 PM | Youth Group | Ages 13-18. Mothias banned after the "lantern incident." |
| Sat | 9 AM | Grief & Transition | For the recently deceased adjusting to undeath. |
| Full Moon | Dusk | Moonlight Vigil | Outdoor service. Shifters welcome in any form. Don't chase the candles. |
⚠️ Father Mothias reserves the right to extend any service if he "feels the light moving through him." Sister Burnice reserves the right to end it.
H.H.I.S.S.
Haints Holler Institute of Supernatural Studies
Founded in 1953 on the eastern edge of town (backed up against the Whispering Woods, which the admissions brochure describes as "scenic" and the students describe as "actively threatening"), the Haints Holler Institute of Supernatural Studies is the holler's own community college.
HHISS offers two-year associate degrees, certificate programs, and continuing education courses for both human and supernatural students. The campus is small. The budget is smaller. The list of OSHA violations is enormous. But what HHISS lacks in funding, it makes up for in heart, stubbornness, and a faculty that is technically unkillable (two of them literally).
The school motto is "Knowledge Bites Back." It was chosen by the student body in 1971 after the previous motto ("Learning for All Species") was deemed "too boring" by a near-unanimous vote. The one dissenting vote was Professor Graves, who has been dissenting about everything since 1948.
History
HHISS was founded in 1953 by Thaddeus Ashwood, a witch from the founding family who believed that Haints Holler's supernatural population deserved access to higher education without having to leave the safety of the holler.
The original campus was a single converted barn. Thaddeus taught the first three years of classes himself. The barn is still standing. It's now the storage building. It is haunted, but that's true of most buildings on campus.
Over the decades, HHISS grew slowly. The college survived a fire in 1967 (arson, never solved), a budget crisis in 1984 (resolved when Dean Ashwood's mother cursed the state funding board into compliance), and the Growling in the 1980s (during which the campus served as neutral ground for species negotiations).
Today, HHISS serves approximately 380 students across its small but proud campus.
At a Glance
| Founded | 1953 |
| Type | Community College (2-year + certificates) |
| Students | ~380 (60% supernatural, 40% human) |
| Motto | "Knowledge Bites Back." |
| Mascot | The Hollerhounds |
| Colors | Moss Green & Lantern Gold |
| Dean | Cordelia Ashwood |
| Accredited | Technically yes. By whom? Longer conversation. |
Faculty & Staff
⚠️ HHISS is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on species, state of existence, or number of legs.
Programs & Degrees
What We Teach (and What We Probably Shouldn't)HHISS offers associate degrees, certificate programs, and continuing education courses across both conventional and supernatural disciplines. While humans are welcome to enroll in supernatural programs (and vice versa), some coursework is designed with the expectation of some degree of magical ability, a pulse, or a lack thereof.
Ways to Study
Associate Degrees (2 Year)
Students can pursue an Associate of Arts (AA), Associate of Science (AS), or Associate of Supernatural Studies (ASS). Yes, we know. The acronym was chosen in 1971 by the same student vote that gave us our motto. We've learned to live with it.
Certificate Programs
Short-term programs for specific skills: Ward Crafting Certification, Potion Safety License, Spectral Communication Certificate, and the ever-popular Cryptid Field Research Certificate (which is mostly camping with extra paperwork).
Continuing Education
Open to all residents. Non-degree courses for personal enrichment or professional development.
Supernatural Programs
| Appalachian Folk Magic / Rootwork Traditional Appalachian conjure, granny magic, herbal charms, and regional spellwork. Fieldwork required. | Necromancy / Spirit Communication Communicating with the dead and navigating the boundary between life and unlife. Lab involves actual ghosts (they've signed waivers). |
| Cryptozoology The study of rare and unclassified creatures. Field research in the Whispering Woods (buddy system mandatory, waiver required). | Supernatural History History of supernatural communities from pre-colonial Appalachia to modern day. Taught by Professor Graves, who was alive for most of it. |
| Potions / Herbalism Brewing potions, tinctures, and remedies. The greenhouse is behind Building C. Don't eat anything that glows. | Paranormal Psychology Mental and emotional states of supernatural beings. Taught by Professor Clearwater (who is still, somehow, an optimist). |
| Alchemy Transforming matter and creating magical substances. Building C has been rebuilt four times. | Ward Crafting / Protective Magic Creating, maintaining, and breaking protective wards and enchantments. Home security, town defense, and keeping things in the Woods. |
| Practical Magic & Survival Everyday magical skills and wilderness survival. Final exam: one night in the Whispering Woods. Pass rate: 78%. | Faith, Spirits, & the Unquiet Dead Religion, spirituality, and the afterlife. Guest lectures from Father Mothias (schedule permitting, he gets distracted). |
Trade Skills for the Supernatural
Practical trade certificates for supernaturals entering the workforce. Not everyone needs a degree. Some people just need to know how to do their job without accidentally cursing a customer.
Available trades: Enchanted Construction, Spectral Plumbing ("for when your pipes are haunted"), Supernatural Veterinary Assisting, Magical Equipment Repair, Potion Retail & Safety Compliance, and Graveyard Maintenance & Groundskeeping.
Electives
(aka "classes your advisor warns you about")
| ELE 199 | Don't Whistle at Night | Things you should not do after dark. Night hikes required. Waiver required. Therapy recommended. |
| ELE 222 | Moonshining & Potion Brewing 🍶 | Where chemistry meets tradition. Must be 21+ for moonshine. The potion component has no age requirement, which concerns the Dean. |
| ELE 260 | Paranormal Ethics | Ethical questions surrounding interspecies relationships. The title question (Can you date a ghost?) is addressed in week three. Answer is complicated. |
| ELE 333 | Advanced Curses & Petty Hexes | The fine art of making someone's socks permanently damp. The Dean has asked us to stop offering this course. We have not. |
| ELE 404 | Things That Live in the Mines ⛏️ | Course content is classified. Three students dropped out mid-semester. They won't say why. |
| ELE 420 | Conspiracy Theories (Actually True) | Government cover-ups, the Ashborne Company, and what's in the water supply. Taught by increasingly paranoid guest lecturers. |
Campus Map
H.H.I.S.S. Main Campus · Haints Holler, TN
Click emoji markers or building cards below to explore campus locations
Characters
The People of Haints Holler & H.H.I.S.S.Featured Students
Original Characters
H.H.I.S.S. Staff
Faculty & Administration
Looking for more characters?
Town residents, shopkeepers, and local characters can be found on the Meet the Residents page. Chapel staff can be found on the Old Holler Chapel page.
Alumni
Notable Graduates of H.H.I.S.S.
Student Body
Fan OCs for H.H.I.S.S.
Want to see your character on this page? Submit your OC through our admissions form and they'll be added to the student roster below.
Campus Life
Clubs, Activities & Student Culture at H.H.I.S.S.HHISS may be small, underfunded, and technically located in a haunted valley surrounded by woods that whisper your name, but the student life here is anything but quiet.
Clubs & Organizations
Cryptid Hunters Club
Weekly expeditions into the Whispering Woods. Buddy system mandatory. If it waves at you, do not wave back.
Potion Brewing Society
Definitely an academic club. Definitely not a drinking club. Members leave unusually cheerful. Coincidence.
The Howlers
All species welcome. Only rule: no biting. No shifting during dodgeball was added after The Incident of 2019.
Dead Poets Society
Actual dead poets. They're ghosts. They write new material. It's surprisingly good. Living students welcome but bring your own chair.
Hex Club
Competitive cursing. The art of making someone's socks permanently damp. Dean Ashwood "does not know this club exists." She has attended three meetings.
Mushroom Foraging Club
Don't eat the glowing ones. If a mushroom talks to you, it's not a mushroom. We lost a member in 2021. She came back. She's fine. She won't talk about it.
Human-Supernatural Relations Club
Promotes understanding between human and supernatural students. Professor Clearwater is the faculty advisor and cries at every meeting.
Art Club
All skill levels. A painting bit someone last year and people are hoping it happens again.
Anime Club
The projector is haunted and changes subtitles to cryptic warnings. A shapeshifter won the cosplay contest. There were complaints.
The Nightwatch
Group chat called "oh god what was that." Bo sleeps through all of it. Maeve has banned them from the library basement. They keep trying.
Campus Radio: "Static Hour"
Broadcasting at 66.6 FM. "Voices from the Static" is definitely fiction. Listeners are not so sure.
Drama Club
Past productions include "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (with actual fae, caused problems) and "Little Shop of Horrors" (the plant was real).
Campus Traditions
Full Moon Bonfire — Shifters shift. Non-shifters bring marshmallows. Bo falls asleep by 10pm.
Founder's Day — October 13th. Includes the "Find the Wandering Room" contest. Nobody has won.
The Hollerhound Howl — Campus-wide group howl before every game. Even the ghosts do it.
Dead Week — The week before finals. The undead find it hilarious. Clyde is under his desk.
⚠️ All clubs require a signed waiver. The Cryptid Hunters Club requires two.
Admissions
Enroll Your OC at H.H.I.S.S.Office of the Dean · Haints Holler Institute of Supernatural Studies
Dear Prospective Student,
If you're reading this, you've either found Haints Holler on purpose or you took a wrong turn off the highway and something in the fog told you to stay. Either way, welcome.
The Haints Holler Institute of Supernatural Studies is now accepting applications for enrollment. We don't care what species you are. We don't care where you came from. We don't care if you're alive, dead, undead, or "it's complicated." What we care about is that you showed up. That's more than most people do.
HHISS is small. Our budget is held together with spellwork and stubbornness. Our guidance counselor will tell you to major in forestry regardless of your interests. Our campus security has never caught a single trespasser. Our Alchemy lab has been rebuilt four times. Our library is run by a banshee who has not raised her voice in thirty years and does not need to.
But this place is ours. And if you enroll, it's yours too.
We'll see you in the holler.
Dean Cordelia Ashwood
Haints Holler Institute of Supernatural Studies
Est. 1953 · "Knowledge Bites Back."
What We're Looking For
HHISS welcomes students of all species, backgrounds, and states of existence. Our only requirements are as follows:
Species: Anything. Human, supernatural, undead, cryptid, construct, hybrid, "we're not sure and neither are they." All welcome.
Age: 18+ College-age or equivalent. If your species ages differently, we'll figure it out. Professor Graves has been "middle-aged" since 1948 and we haven't questioned it.
Disposition: Must be willing to coexist with other species on campus. You don't have to like everyone. You do have to not eat them.
Academic record: Optional. We're a community college. We believe in second chances. And third chances. Clyde Fumble is on his ninth.
OC Submission Guidelines
Want your original character to appear on the HHISS student roster? Here's what you need to know:
The Rules
✦ Your character must be an original character (OC). No canon characters from other media.
✦ Your character should fit the Haints Holler setting: modern day supernatural fantasy. Humans and supernaturals are both welcome.
✦ Keep it respectful. No slurs, hate speech, or content designed to be hurtful toward real people or groups.
✦ NSFW characters are fine (this is Janitor AI, we get it), but the info displayed on the student roster will be SFW (name, species, major, image).
✦ We will use whatever picture is attached to the character profile on Janitor AI.
✦ If your character has a Janitor AI bot, include the link and we'll make their card clickable.
✦ Submissions may be declined if they don't fit the setting or guidelines. The Dean reserves the right to reject applications. She's done it before. She'll do it again.
Opens Google Form in a new tab. HHISS is not responsible for any curses, hexes, or existential crises incurred during the application process.
🏛️ Town Hall
Township of Haints Holler · Est. 1903The Haints Holler Town Hall was built in 1903, making it one of the oldest standing structures in the holler after the chapel and the Old Barn (which is haunted and no longer open to the public). It houses the offices of the Holler Council, the Supernatural Registry, and a front desk staffed by a woman named Delilah who has been working there since 1987 and has never once smiled. She is very efficient.
Town Hall is where residents come to register, file complaints, attend Council meetings, and argue about property lines with their neighbors. It smells like old wood, coffee, and decades of bureaucratic resignation. The second floor is technically off-limits to the public. Nobody enforces this. The second floor is mostly storage and a break room where Council members go to argue in private.
The Holler Council
Haints Holler has no mayor, no city council, and no formal incorporation with the state of Tennessee. Instead, it is governed by the Holler Council, an informal body made up of representatives from the five founding families. The Council has maintained order for over 170 years through a combination of tradition, mutual respect, and the implicit understanding that crossing the Council is a very bad idea.
| Family | Species | Domain |
|---|---|---|
| Thorne | Shifters | Hunting grounds, wildlife, territorial disputes. Largest and most politically active family. |
| Ashwood | Witches | Magical oversight, wards, apothecary. Maintain the town's protective wards. |
| Graves | Undead | Spectral affairs, cemetery, death rites. Manage the town's large ghost population. |
| Mosswood | Fae | Natural lands, Whispering Woods, fae relations. Reclusive. Rarely attend public meetings. |
| Blackwell | Demons | External relations, trade, BSA negotiations. Shrewd negotiators. Suspected of connections beyond the holler. |
Council meetings are held the first Monday of every month at 7 PM. Open to the public. Bring your own chair if you're incorporeal.
Supernatural Registry
All supernatural residents are required to register with the Supernatural Registry at Town Hall, established under the revised Holler Accord of 1989. The registry is managed locally by the Council, not by the BSA, which is a point the Council makes loudly and often.
What you need: One form of identification (any species, any era), a self-reported species declaration (we don't test), and about 20 minutes of your time.
Demons: Additional federal paperwork mandated by the BSA. We know. We're sorry. We've complained.
Ghosts: Spectral residents may register in person or through a designated medium. Please do not possess the front desk staff during registration. It slows things down.
Humans: Not required to register but encouraged to file a "Voluntary Human Residency Notice" so we know you're here on purpose and not lost.
Bureau of Supernatural Affairs (BSA)
The BSA maintains a small field office on the eastern edge of town, near the highway exit. Officially, they are here to "assist with integration and ensure compliance with federal supernatural registration laws." Unofficially, most residents believe they are conducting surveillance.
The Holler Council maintains a tense but functional relationship with the BSA. The current arrangement can be summarized as: they stay on their side of the road, we stay on ours, and everyone pretends this is normal.
Residents are not required to interact with the BSA. Residents are required to not hex them. This rule exists because it has been violated. More than once.
Location Guide
Every Corner of the HollerHaints Holler isn't big, but it's dense. Every building has a story, every road has a name someone regrets, and every corner has something living in it that may or may not pay rent.
Meet the Residents
The Folks Who Call the Holler HomeEvery resident of Haints Holler has a story. Some of them are alive. Some of them aren't. All of them are worth meeting.
Looking for HHISS staff? Visit the Characters page. Looking for chapel staff? Visit the Chapel page.
⭐ Sheriff's Office
Law Enforcement
🔧 Hank Ironjaw's Garage
Mechanic & Towing
🏥 Dr. Harlow's Clinic
Medical
🏛️ Town Hall
Government
📚 Holler Public Library
Est. 1911 · Open to All · Quiet Please
The Holler Public Library has been standing on the corner of Main and Copperhead since 1911. It is the oldest public building in town after Town Hall and the Chapel. It is also, depending on who you ask, alive.
Not haunted. Not cursed. Alive. The building shifts. Not dramatically — not in ways you'd notice if you weren't paying attention. A hallway that was on the left yesterday is on the right today. The reading room has four windows in the morning and three by afternoon. The stairs to the basement creak in a rhythm that long-time patrons swear sounds like breathing. The Library Board has investigated this twice. Both times, the investigator's report was found reshelved in the fiction section.
Nobody talks about this. You check out your books, you return them on time, and you don't comment on the architecture. That's the arrangement.
Library Staff
The Cat
The library has a cat. The cat has no name. Or rather, the cat has many names — patrons call it whatever they like and it responds to all of them, or none of them, depending on its mood. It is large, black, and has eyes that are slightly too intelligent. It sits on the front desk most mornings, on the restricted shelf most afternoons, and somewhere you can't find it at night.
The Librarian says the cat came with the building. The building was built in 1911. The cat does not look 115 years old. The cat does not look any age at all. Nobody has asked. The cat has never answered.
A Note About Earl
Earl is not a library employee. Earl does not have a library card. Earl is, nonetheless, here most afternoons. He sits in the reading room with a newspaper he brought from home, does not read it, and watches people. When asked to leave, he insists he is "not a person and therefore not subject to library policy." The Librarian has never once acknowledged his presence. The cat sits on his lap. This is the only evidence that Earl is real.
Collections
| General Collection | Fiction, nonfiction, periodicals, newspapers, and a surprisingly good DVD section. Open to all library card holders. Cards are free. Getting the Librarian to make eye contact while issuing one is not. |
| Appalachian Folklore | One of the most comprehensive collections of Appalachian folk stories, oral histories, and regional supernatural accounts in the southeastern United States. Some volumes predate the town. Some predate the language they're written in. |
| Town Records | Birth records, death records, property deeds, Council meeting minutes, and census data going back to 1847. Some records are incomplete. Some are suspiciously redacted. The 1962-1967 files have gaps nobody can explain. |
| Community Board | A corkboard near the entrance for town announcements, lost & found, help wanted postings, and the occasional cryptic note that nobody claims to have posted. The notes are always accurate. |
| The Basement | Background check required. The Librarian decides who gets access. What's down there varies depending on who you ask. The stairs breathe. The door locks from the inside. |
Library Rules
1. Books are due in two weeks. Late fees apply. The fee is not money. The Librarian will look at you. That is the fee.
2. Do not reshelve books yourself. The building has a system. You do not understand the system. Nobody understands the system. Put returns on the cart.
3. The reading room is for quiet study. "Quiet" means no talking, no whispering, and no psychic projections. Telepaths, please keep it internal.
4. Do not feed the cat. The cat is not hungry. The cat has never been hungry. If the cat asks you for food, it is testing you.
5. If a hallway appears that you don't remember, do not walk down it. Return to the front desk and wait.
6. The basement door is locked for your safety. If you find it unlocked, it was not for you. Close it. Walk away.
Hours & Information
Hours: Monday through Saturday, 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM. Closed Sundays. Closed during full moons (the building gets restless).
Location: Corner of Main Street and Copperhead Road. The building with the ivy and the crow on the roof. If you can't find it, walk slower. It finds you.
Library Cards: Free to all residents. Temporary cards available for visitors. The Librarian will know if you're lying on the application. Don't.
Basement Access: By invitation only. Don't ask. If you're meant to go down there, you'll know.
📡 W.H.L.R.
WHISPER HOLLER RADIO · BUILDING B
WHLR broadcasts from a small booth in Building B on the HHISS campus. It operates on a frequency that shouldn't exist. Radios in Haints Holler pick it up automatically. Radios outside the holler sometimes catch it during storms. Listeners report "a calm voice that made them feel less alone" and then can't find the station again.
Run by Flux, a cosmic frequency being who showed up and started broadcasting, and Adrian "Graveshift" Graves, a dead revenant who walked in, started playing music, and refused to leave. They do not get along. The listeners love this.
YOUR DJs
SCHEDULE
| 6PM | Weather & Wards |
| 7PM | Holler Happenings |
| 9PM | Ask Flux |
| 10PM | The Flux Frequency |
| 12AM | The Graveshift 💀 |
| 3AM | Lost Signals |
| 5AM | Dead Air. Don't listen. |
SEGMENTS
Weather & Wards — Supernatural weather. Ward status. "If the singing knows your name, come inside."
Holler Happenings — Town gossip. Mabel Thorne is the most frequent caller. Flux treats it like field research.
Ask Flux — Advice that sounds wrong and is always right. "You want to know if you're allowed to want things. The answer is yes."
The Flux Frequency — Late night. Weird music. Conspiracy theories. Things Flux has noticed that nobody else has.
The Graveshift — Adrian's show. Dark folk, post-punk, murder ballads. No requests. No feedback. Highest rated on WHLR.
Lost Signals — Music from frequencies that don't exist. One broadcast said a student's name who hadn't been born yet.
Dead Air — The station goes quiet. If you listen, you hear things. We recommend you don't.