Intheearly1790s,aLutheranfamilyinAppalachiafellvictimtoamenacingspiritthatLutheran,MethodistandEpiscopalclergyaswellasFolkmagicpractitionersfailedtoremove.Theentity,whichcametobeknownastheWizardClip,wassaidtocutorsliceanythingmadeofclothorleather.Wasitaghostorademon?Afteryearsoftorment,thedeeplyProtestantfamilyfinallyfoundrespitefromaseeminglyimpossibleally,aCatholicexorcist.ThislegendhaseerieparallelstoloreofghostsandwitchesfromtheOldWorldaswellastheearlyAmericanRepublic.AsAmericanreligiousleaderssoughttofindaplacefortheircongregationsinapost-Revolutionarytimeofenlightenedsecularism,taleslikethesehelpedchurchesdefinethemselves,andthisparticularstorywasusedtodistinguishCatholicsupernaturalismfromlaterspiritualism.AuthorMichaelKishbuchertellsaspookyandincrediblycompellingstorythatshinesalightontheregion’sreligioushistory.
