Alabama

‘Alabama White Thang’ turns up in new graphic novel ‘Snag’

Published

2 years ago

June 3, 2024

‘Alabama White Thang’ turns up in new graphic novel ‘Snag’

A new young adult graphic novel created by an Alabama-born artist features one of the state’s more legendary figures.

“The Alabama White Thang” figures prominently in “Snag,” a story scripted and drawn by Hannah Hill, a Brooklyn-based artist who grew up in Gadsden.

Its first chapter is available for free here. Further chapters will arrive in later weeks.

“Snag” tells the story of Sarah, a 12-year-old girl growing up in a society after its collapse, navigating familiar adolescent issues such as bullying and loneliness. Helping her through it all is the Alabama White Thang, the hairy forest giant of local lore.

The “White Thang” is an 8-foot-tall, furry white creature with glowing red eyes, which reportedly wanders the area between Morgan, Etowah and Jefferson counties. Witnesses say it has the ability to move extremely quickly and emits an eerie screech that has the sound of a woman’s scream. A 2019 survey of mythical creatures around the country gave the White Thang the top spot for Alabama.

While believers maintain it might be some kind of Sasquatch, various sticks in the mud say it’s probably just an albino bear.

It has been sighted in a triangle around communities such as Happy Hollow, Walnut Grove, Moody’s Chapel and Wheeler Wildlife Refuge. In Huntsville, the phrase “Alabama White Thing” is used to describe a humanoid, possibly alien figure spotted in caves or drainage ditches in Jones Valley, along Governor’s Drive and on Monte Sano Mountain.

A team of researchers of the cryptid started a Facebook page called Alabama White Thang.

“Snag” is a dark fairy tale named for the dead tree where Sarah is raised by the creature. Sarah must eventually decide which world she wants to be a part of – the gritty, terrifying world of the humans, or the magical Appalachian forest she shares with the creature.

Hill, 34, has been an artist in New York City for about 10 years. The idea for “Snag” first showed up in her imagination about eight years ago, when she read a story about the White Thang on AL.com. She also felt torn between two competing worlds – missing Alabama and trying to find a place in the art world.

“I created a little story to be able to occupy my mind on commutes, mostly,” she said. “So I spent a really long time knitting the story together, sitting on the 6 train.”

“Snag” stayed in her imagination, even as she saw it potentially as a short film. Then, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she started showing some of her visual ideas to her fellow residents at the Vermont Studio Center. The idea seemed right for a graphic novel.

“I spent quite a long time hand drawing the frames in sumi-ink because I felt the very dark, black ink and the gritty blooms it created really captured something I was going for,” she said. “Meanwhile, my core body of paintings were becoming extremely colorful and so then were my visions of Snag. So I took the opportunity to start the piece over, this time in color, and with the help of digital painting via the iPad, which revolutionized the way I worked digitally.”

Though the story would be categorized as young adult, Hill prefers the term “y’allternative.”

“I know we can challenge young adults,” she said. “We don’t have to pander to them and we do better when we don’t. We’ve all gone through things like bullying, and we will go through even more complicated situations in whatever lies ahead. I think it’s okay to talk about these things.”

Hill has been inspired by her Alabama background in various paintings, saying she had always been drawn to “any dark, wild, spooky narrative,” which made the White Thang a natural subject. But the human characters of “Snag” deal with very human issues, like bullying, substance abuse, loss and grief.

“I want my artwork to be freaky, a little trashy, and a complete mystery,” she said. “As long as I keep surprising myself, I’m happy.”

“Snag” is the creation of Hannah Hill, an Alabama native based in Brooklyn, N.Y.Hannah Hill

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Alabama

Where to watch Texas vs. Alabama today: College basketball free stream

Published

6 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Where to watch Texas vs. Alabama today: College basketball free stream

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The No. 13 Alabama Crimson Tide host the Texas Longhorns Saturday at 8 p.m. ET. The Crimson Tide have four losses this season, all have come against teams ranked inside the top 11.

Texas vs. Alabama will air on ESPN, and streams live on DIRECTV (free trial).

What: Men’s college basketball regular season

Who: Texas Longhorns vs. No. 13 Alabama Crimson Tide

When: Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026

Where: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Time: 8 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN

Live stream: DIRECTV (free trial), fuboTV (free trial)

Texas is 3-4 in its past seven games, and doesn’t have a win over any currently ranked teams. A road win over Alabama would help its cause in the national ranking and the SEC standings. Alabama hasn’t lost to an unranked team this season, and a second straight would hurt their hopes for a top seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Here’s a recent college basketball story via the Associated Press:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tyler Tanner scored 23 of his career-high 29 points in the second half and No. 11 Vanderbilt remained undefeated by beating 13th-ranked Alabama 96-90 on Wednesday night.

The Commodores (15-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) extended their best start since winning 16 straight games to open the 2007-08 season. This is only the second time in the program’s 124-year history that Vanderbilt has won its first 15.

Vanderbilt hadn’t played a ranked opponent until this game, also the first here between two top-15 teams since Jan. 5, 1974. Then-No. 10 Vanderbilt beat the 14th-ranked Crimson Tide in that game on its way to splitting the SEC championship with Alabama.

Vanderbilt also beat Alabama for the first time at Memorial Gym since 2018, ending a five-game skid against the Tide.

Duke Miles had 19 points and five steals before fouling out, and four other Commodores finished with at least four fouls. Tyler Nickel scored 12 points while Devin McGlockton and AK Okereke, who also fouled out, each had 10.

Tanner, a sophomore guard, added seven assists and four steals. He was 12 of 15 at the free-throw line — all in the second half.

Alabama (11-4, 1-1) had its four-game winning streak snapped in a game featuring 63 combined fouls, with two technicals on the Crimson Tide.

Amari Allen led Alabama with a season-high 25 points. Leading scorer Labaron Philon Jr. added 18 but checked out with 16:06 to go and never returned. Aden Holloway had 22 points and Latrell Wrightsell Jr. scored 13.

Fouls called left and right turned the first 10 minutes of the second half into ugly ball, and Alabama never led by more than four. Allen hit two free throws that pulled the Tide to 59-58 with 12:14 left.

Vanderbilt went on a 16-4 spurt that included a technical foul on Alabama coach Nate Oats with 8:39 to go. Tanner hit both free throws off the technical, then Mike James knocked down a 3-pointer for a 74-63 lead. The Tide made it interesting but got no closer than 94-90.

Up next

Alabama hosts Texas on Saturday.

Vanderbilt hosts LSU on Saturday.

Can I bet on the game?

Yes, you can bet on the game from your phone in New York State, and we’ve compiled some of the best introductory offers to help navigate your first bets from BetMGM, FanDuel, DraftKings, Bet365 and more.

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Alabama

Texas vs. Alabama Prediction, Odds and Key Players to Watch for Saturday, Jan. 10

Published

18 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Texas vs. Alabama Prediction, Odds and Key Players to Watch for Saturday, Jan. 10

The Alabama Crimson Tide are coming off a tough loss to Vanderbilt, but at 11-4 overall, they’re still in a great spot this season. On Saturday, they’ll host the Texas Longhorns, who are still seeking their first SEC win of the 2025-26 college basketball campaign.

Texas lost to Mississippi State in overtime and then lost by 14 points to Tennessee this past week. The oddsmakers now have them set as significant underdogs in this game, meaning a 0-3 start in conference play is likely. Let’s dive into it.

Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook

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Moneyline

Total

Dailyn Swain is leading Texas in points (15.6), rebounds (7.1), assists (3.5), and steals (1.8) per game. You’d be hard-pressed to find another team in college basketball where the same player leads the team in all four of those statistics. Alabama will have to shut him down to win and cover in this game.

The key factor in any Alabama game is how its opponent defends the perimeter. The Crimson Tide is primarily a three-point shooting team, which means the ability for their opponent to defend the three-ball plays a big role in how the game turns out.

Unfortunately, the Longhorns rank 223rd in the country in opponent three-point field goal percentage. They allow teams to shoot 34.4% from beyond the arc, which means Alabama, especially with the Crimson Tide being on their home court, has a chance to shoot the lights out on Saturday.

I’m going to lay the points on Alabama as a big favorite.

Pick: Alabama -13.5 (-110) via FanDuel

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Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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You can check out all of Iain’s bets here!

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Alabama

How an Alabama moonshiner’s whiskey became the official state drink – and stayed that way

Published

1 day ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

How an Alabama moonshiner’s whiskey became the official state drink – and stayed that way

Named after a famous 1940s Bullock County moonshiner who eventually served an 18-month federal prison sentence at Maxwell Air Force Base for producing illegal liquor, the Clyde May’s whiskey company was founded in Union Springs in 2001 by the bootlegger’s son, Kenny May.

Though the whiskey it produced was actually distilled in Kentucky, it was supposedly made using Conecuh Ridge spring water that was trucked there from Alabama.

In 2004, the Democrat-controlled Legislature approved a resolution naming the company’s “Conecuh Ridge Alabama Fine Whiskey” as the “Official State Spirit” of Alabama.

Gov. Bob Riley, a teetotaler who did not think the state should have an “official whiskey,” vetoed the resolution, but Democrat lawmakers quickly overrode his veto and allowed the resolution to take effect.

Shortly thereafter, in December of 2004, state liquor agents arrested Kenny May for selling liquor without a license, possessing excessive quantities of liquor in a dry county, and selling alcohol to a minor. He pled guilty to the charges.

Alabama’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board immediately moved to revoke Conecuh Ridge’s distribution license, meaning that once stores sold out of their existing stock, the state’s official spirit could no longer be sold in Alabama.

May’s stock was held in trust pending the outcome of his trial. Attorney Alva Lambert assumed interim leadership of the company.

After May entered his guilty plea, the Alabama House of Representatives moved to repeal the declaration of Conecuh Ridge as Alabama’s “Official State Spirit,” but the reversal legislation never passed the Alabama Senate. It remains the “Official State Spirit” today.
Kenny May passed away in 2016.

Owned and operated by a company based in New York today, Clyde May’s whiskey and bourbon is sold nationwide.
It’s flagship bottle is marketed as “Alabama-style” whiskey, and dried apples are added to the liquor as it ages in barrels, which imparts an apple/cinnamon flavor to the finished product.

Some like it, and some hate it, but all can agree the whiskey carries a fascinating political pedigree.

This story originally appeared in The Art of Alabama Politics, an outlet dedicated to the the wild, weird, and wonderful history of Alabama politics.

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