Local Legends: The Mothman: Harbinger of Doom

 Myths and legends touch upon the unknown, intriguing us of what is beyond the things we can see.  Many cultures have legends or folklore that shows who they are, their beliefs and values..  Other myths and legend evolve from stories, true events, dreams, revelations and any combination of those things. Anywhere you go, you will be sure to learn of a legend centered in that area.  For West Virginia, the legend of the Mothman is such a tale that accompanies the area.  The tale of the Mothman is such an interesting story, that there was a movie produced in 2002 staring Richard Gere: The Mothman Prophecies which presents the tale and raises questions of what is the Mothman?

The Mothman legend started in November 1966 in the town of Point Pleasant, when a couple of gravediggers claimed to have seen a massive brown humanlike creature moving rapidly from tree to tree.  With that sighting, the legend begins.

Three days after the initial sighting, two couples report another sighting where they describe seeing a grey-winged beast standing 6-7 ft tall in front of their vehicle.  It had bright red glowing eyes, with a 10 ft wingspan.  It is possible the creature is sensitive to light as it seemed to have avoided the headlights of the car.  The couples tried out run the beast, but it had a flight speed of an estimated 100 mph, but was much slower when it ran.  

Several days later comes yet another sighting.  This time a man heard strange sounds outside while strange patterns appeared on his television.  When he looked outside with a flashlight, he seen what appeared to be 2 red eyes reflected back at him.  Oddly enough his dog went missing around this same time, which people have attributed to the Mothman.  One of the last recorded sightings is that of a young woman walking into her house with her baby when she observed the creature emerging from the shadows.  She ran inside only to have the creature peer in through the windows from the porch.  Then he suddenly disappeared.

In December 1967 after some of the last sightings, tragedy struck in the form of a bridge collapsing.   Forty Six people died from the incident, from either drowning in the river or being crushed among the wreckage.  There have been reports of the Mothman being seen just before the incident.  This has caused the theory that the Mothman is a harbinger of doom.  There is no census, however, on whether or not Mothman is trying to warn humans of impending doom or if he is the cause of the doom.  All together in West Virginia there have been over 100 reports sightings of the Mothman.   

Even though Mothman remains a West Vrignia myth, there have been other incidents of Mothman sightings outside of the West Virginia area.  Just before the disaster of Chernobyl, there are reports of Mothman sightings, even as recent as within the past couple years when a pilot in Chicago reported seeing the creature in August of 2019.  The pilot recounts riding on a shuttle to the terminal and seeing a large humanoid with wings sitting on a railing. Watching him with red eyes.  The creature kept his wings open, slowly moving them as it watched the shuttle. His account others can be read an the article by Tobas & Emily Wayland on the Singular Fortean website (link at the end of the post).

While it is unknown of what Mothman could be there are some theories that he is an alien stuck on earth, some sort of mutated bird, or even a vengeful curse.  Regardless of what the Mothman is or what he represents he is a legend that is revelant today as people continue to report sightings of the creature whether in West Virignia or not.

He has garnered enough intrigued that the town of Point Pleasant hosts an annual Mothman festival generally held in September.  For information on the festival visit the Mothman festival homepage. Not only has the Mothman been brought to life on the screen, there are several books about him as well you can check out:

The Mothman Prophecies by John Keel

Mothman: The Facts behind the Legend: by Jeff Wamsley

Beyond the Prophecies of Mothman by Andrew Colvin

Monsters of West Virginia by Rosemary Ellen Guiley

Other Articles of Note:

Second Pilot Reports Sighting of "Mothman" at Chicago's O'Hare

The Terrifying tale of West Virginia's Spectre: The Mothman

  

Nefertiti's Heart

Cara's father has recently passed away and it is now up to her to settle his estate.  She had hoped it would be something quick and easy, something she could put into the hands of someone else.  She never wanted to return to the home where she faced horrors 7 years ago at the hands of her "husband."  Her plans to only be in town a short time are disrupted when the police are looking at her for her father's death, as well as the murders of high society women her age.  The women are found wearing an Egyptian nightdress and a strange key embedded into their chests.  Cara struggles to deal with her feelings for Nathanial Trent, the viscount helping her dispose of her father's artifacts, her fears, as well as finding the truth behind this mysterious murders.  Their search leads them to Nefertiti's Heart and the legend surrounding it.  Could the legends be true?  Could her father have stumbled upon something beyond value?




I have a lot of conflicting feelings about this book, which is generally rare.  There is a lot going on in this story, so much that one would think the story wouldn't work or it would be too much, but it isn't.  It somehow works.  First we have the murder of her father, and the strange circumstances surrounding his death.  This alone would have made for a good book.  Cara searching to find out clues to who would have wanted her father dead while dealing with her own horrors.  But no there's more, then we have the romance between Cara and Nathanial.  He wants her, desires her but she is scare of physical contact.  Reasonable substory for the novel, I can accept that in the midst of searching for her father's killer.  BUT, then we have the murders of the high society girls.  The book focuses on their murders more than the father's.  It's almost as if his murder takes the back-burner because no one liked him.


I want to say that Cara is a strong character, but there are times when she doesn't seem as such.  She becomes almost a slave to her past and feelings for Nathanial.  I feel like there is so much more in Cara that readers don't get to see because so much emphasis was placed on what happened to her when she was 14.  When she reflects back to it, at times it took me away from the story, but at the same made me feel for her.  I liked Nathanial, but I would have wanted more imagery of what made him less reputable man of society.  Towards the end it felt like things were starting to get rushed, that things were being thrown at readers for suspects and things.  It began to feel like too much at one time.  The steampunk elements were nice, but I would have liked to have seen more description other than steam powered coached or mechanical horses.  I craved more of those elements.


Would I recommend this to someone else?  Sure, just because I have mixed feelings doesn't mean someone else won't completely love it.  I know this was the first book in a series, and I would be interested in seeing what is next in the series.  I would give A.W Exley another chance to simply blow me away, and I hope that happens with the next book.  I will give this book a 3 out 5 rating.




Old Farmer's Road By Isaiyan Morrison

I have to say that Old Farmer's Road is one of those books that is chilling and suspenseful.  Old Farmer's Road has been the center of several mysterious deaths for centuries. No one knows of the true horrors that reside in that swampy area except for two teenagers: Isaac and Elsie. They quickly befriend Cecilia shortly after she moves from California to Minneapolis. The conduct a ritual that turns Cecilia into the same rare creature they are, an Impa. Each day Cecilia is plagued with a voice asking for "just one more," and a hunger that can only be quenched by the flesh and essence of humans. Soon the voice and the hunger become more than she can bear, and Cecilia tries to find another way to save herself as well as the unwilling victims of Isaac and Elsie. Meanwhile Jan and Derek are investigating the murders since Derek brother became one of the victims. Little do they know the truth that is lurking in the swamp. There is some truth to the old legends revolving around Old Farmer's Road, but is there a way to eliminate an ancient evil with a grudge against the town?

 This book was probably one of the best books I have read so far this year.  There is so much in it that makes it a great novel to read, one that I couldn't put down.  I would lay awake reading telling myself "one more page, just one more.  Just to the end of the chapter" then it would be 3 in the morning and I would growl at myself.  When I did put it down, I couldn't stop thinking about it.  There were points in this book that were down right terrifying as Morrison describes the Impa and their feeding habits. I thought the folklore around the Old Farmer's Road was interesting and a great use of how small towns hold on to things.  I enjoyed that Morrison used a different legendary creature that we don't see too often in literature.  Instead of relying on the vampire lore, Morrison created something even more terrifying.

Morrison's writing simply radiates off the page as the characters develop and become something new right before our eyes.  Readers quickly get dragged into the story and it clings to them until the bitter end, although I hope there will be more books from Morrison.  I give this book a 5 out of 5 because it is completely unique and well written.

See my other review of this book at Onlinebookclub.org as well as countless other reviews of phenomenal books.