But to others, stories such as Taily-Po have become legends passed down from the family hearth to the country store porch and beyond. Unlike folk tales, which are recognized as fiction by both storyteller and audience, legends are accounts of events that the storyteller believes to have actually occurred, either to himself or to someone else in the past.

These legends generally contain a human character who comes into contact with the supernatural. How this character chooses to deal with this encounter enables the storyteller to teach a lesson about society's ethical and moral codes. Therefore, although a belief in revenants (returners from the dead) may contradict Biblical teachings, Taily-Po still contains life lessons that were important to this Appalachian mountain community.

The fear and isolation associated with early mountain life helped give birth to many paranormal accounts that, in turn, evolved into ghost stories. As in other regions of the South, however, modern influences have diluted the art of storytelling in the mountains. This is why some old-timers are likely to tell you that "there used t'be more ghosts then than now."