Folklore or Truth

I have been following creatures they say roam the woods of the great smokey mountains. The Cherokee nation in the mountains there say ancient ones are stirring. People are missing and livestock torn apart only to find carcasses or personal belongings. They say this is happening because of arrogance and trespassing in the woods and habitats. They refer to this supernatural being as guardians of the forest. Or ( Tul Koo's). They kill because they have been disturbed not hunger. The forest is alive and predators are watching. When they are near, you feel uneasy, and you will smell and acrid, metallic or sulfuric smell. Trees near them look charred and have symbols carved in them that glow. You feel the instinct to run. You will see shadows and hear a rythmic unearthy sound like drumming coming from the earth. That leaves you feeling like you are being watched or hunted. Animal around will start acting peculiar. You will find deer carcasses everywhere. The air feels suffocating. They kill for being disturbed. The shadows are to large to be humans moving among the forests. They leave hooflike footprints or tracks. They will make a primal sound not human or like anything you ever heard. Their eyes gow red, when up close are empty sockets that seem to see everything. They are atleast 9 ft tall ashen gray and deep dark in color. Face almost human. But some say layered with many faces. They can knock trees down with great force and move rapidly considering their size. They seem to have one foot in our world and the other foot in another dimension. Long story short, stay out of the woods especially at night. They can mimic your loved ones to lure you in. You dont just hear these stories from the cherokee nation but from people all over the world. Their stories all have a lot of similarities. So is it worth trying to find out if these stories are truth or folklore? There are many types of predators or cryptids and hauntings in the woods popping up in stories all over the world. So is just stories or myth? What do you all think?