American Folklore was started by a young man named Hal Owen. Owen was born in a jack-o-lantern and grew up in an abandoned haunted house in rural Maryland. In 2001, Owen began having terrible attacks of schizophrenia that were extremely acute. As a vessel to channel this schizophrenic mindworld, Hal Owen started recording songs about his visions under the moniker of "American Folklore" because, after all, that is what it is.