Name: Profs & Pints Richmond: Virginia, Commonwealth of Horror
Start: 2026-10-14
End: 2026-10-14

We’re a community of runners, hikers, bikers and ballplayers. We’re an outdoor playground, designed by Mother Nature, with class III and IV rapids running right through our downtown. A 52-mile bike trail runs along the James. The Richmond Marathon and Ukrop’s 10k are huge celebrations, and the whole region comes out to cheer on our local teams. In fact, we’re so sports-minded that the Washington Redskins have their training camp right in the center of the city. Add to that awesome hotels, beautiful venues, attractions, art, craft beer, more than 900 restaurants and a convenient location, and you’ve got a top choice for your next sports event. Welcome to RVA!

From indoor to outdoor facilities, the Richmond region has the fields, pitches, diamonds, venues and the dedicated staff to ensure your event is a huge success. 



Sports Richmond, VA

Profs and Pints Richmond presents: “Virginia, Commonwealth of Horror,” on terrifying tales rooted in the Old Dominion, with Joshua Barton, lecturer in English at Virginia Commonwealth University and scholar of horror.  
  
Virginia is for lovers of a good fright. It boasts one of the richest horror folklore traditions in America, ranging from colonial tales of witchcraft all over the state to the modern legend of Fairfax County’s Bunny Man.  
  
Every whisper of a shadowed plantation, every account of a witch trial, and every rumor of a cryptid said to lurk in the Blue Ridge Mountains offers a window into the Commonwealth’s history, cultural anxieties, and evolving identity.  
  
Join Joshua Barton, whose fantastic talks on horror have earned him a devoted following among Profs and Pints fans, as he takes us through decades of Old Dominion horror lore, tracing how supernatural tales and gothic traditions evolved alongside the nation itself.   
  
We'll explore how early colonial fears of the untamed wilderness transformed into antebellum gothic fiction, ghost stories, and, ultimately, into the bizarre suburban legends of the modern era. We’ll look at tales of Grace Sherwood (the “Witch of Pungo”), the Richmond Vampire, and Virginia’s very own Bigfoot, the Woodbooger.  
  
Along the way, Barton will discuss why some dark legends endure in popular culture for centuries while others vanish entirely. He’ll explain how these stories reflect Virginia’s real-world historical shifts, local folklore, and literary imagination.   
  
You’ll come to understand how these tales highlight what makes Virginia unique, both culturally and in its storytelling traditions. (Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. The talk starts 30 minutes later.)  
  
Image: Richmond’s Hollywood Cemetery, where the mausoleum of W. W. Pool is said to hold the Richmond Vampire (Photo by Mr. Johnson / Wikimedia Commons).

Profs & Pints Richmond: Virginia, Commonwealth of Horror

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