WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – Think about the creatures from all those regional tall tales and urban legends you heard growing up…well, what if they were all real? That’s the idea behind “South of Midnight,” the latest release from Xbox Game Studios and Compulsion Games.
WECT had a chance to sit down with Donna Washington, a professional storyteller who performs all across the Carolina’s and beyond. She worked as a folklore consultant on the game and talked to us a bit about why these stories resonate throughout generations. You can find our full interview right here. Below are some excerpts from our interview that best exemplify the merging of folklore in traditional storytelling and in the interactive medium of video games:
“Folklore is about, well, it’s about the folk. It’s about the little people, who are just trying to survive every day. Folklore is about keeping the wolves out. We see everything beyond the walls as dangerous. It’s scary, it could eat you, it could make you ill. All of that stuff is out there and it can sneak up on you.” – Donna Washington
“Also in folklore, you’re worried about the people in power. If you’re very poor, you know that someone with money can take things from you. If you’re a person of color, you know that someone who is not of color can take from you. So, the stories are about surviving. The forces are dark and they’re all scary but here around the campfire, while we’re telling stories, we are powerful. We are going to overcome. We can face anything.” – Donna Washington
“These stories about giving you strength and letting you know that. As dark as it is. There is someone out there, some greater power or strength that can help you so. We get together, we tell these stories, we survive the stories, we yay, we beat the evil thing. Yay. We overcame everything. Hurricanes can come and take everything, but we survived. The wolf showed up at the door and we had the ability to be rid of him. We are small, we are the folk, but we have the power to overcome anything. And that’s what the stories are all about. Any kind of folklore, not just southern folklore. All folklore is about that. It’s about survival and the celebration of surviving…Now, that’s not always true. Sometimes the thing eats us. Sometimes the thing eats us. And when that happens, the stories message change to: Be careful. Keep your eyes open or you will be eaten.” – Donna Washington
“What the studio wanted to do is take these various cryptids and put them all in one story. But, these guys don’t all exist together. The ones you see in the game, they’re not all together. They are from different parts of the south. And they have brought them into this game where people all over the world will see them. And hopefully look them up, and find out where they’re from. I just think that’s really cool.” – Donna Washington
South of Midnight is available now. You can find it on both Steam and Xbox Game Pass and a special thanks to Donna Washington for sitting down with me today. If our conversation of Southern folklore at all interests you, check out the full hour-long extended cut of our interview where we do a deep dive into the art of storytelling. You can find that video on the WECT YouTube page, right here.
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