Mothman Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

New Film Looks At 'Return of the Mothman'

Since his first sighting in November of 1966, West Virginia’s Mothman has become a pop culture figure recognized around the world and appearing in films, books and video games. Now the state’s best-known cryptid is back in a new movie, the locally produced “Return of the Mothman.”

Bill Lynch spoke with film director Herb Gardner about why people are still interested in the Mothman.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Lynch: The Mothman has been kind of like the local monster. I’d never heard of it until about college, actually. What is the enduring affection for the Mothman? Why do we still love the Mothman?

Gardner: I think, probably rest on Jungian thought on that one. Carl Jung would probably call him a universal archetype, that he kind of wellsprings from, whether he’s real or not.

Certainly, it’s something that our universal unconscious can relate to and I really think it’s that simple.

There’s so many of them [monsters] besides the Mothman. There’s the Flatwoods Monster, and then there’s Sasquatch, and the list goes on and on and on.

Lynch: West Virginia really likes its monsters. You were mentioning Sasquatch and the Flatwoods Monster. There’s over 20. They keep developing them. Why do we like monsters?

Gardner: I think with any culture, and especially West Virginia/Appalachian culture, there’s a rich history of folklore and storytelling. I think they just naturally arise. And again, going back to Carl Jung, it’s like, can we project our shadow self into the real world? And that’s a reflection of us, really.

Lynch: With the production of the film, did it go okay. Did you have any trouble?

Gardner: It took two years to make and we would have released it probably this last year, If COVID hadn’t just brought us to a grinding halt there for a while.

We had actually shot our first scenes when – and of course, we were following all the strict protocols– masks and nitrile gloves and taking people’s temperatures every hour.

We’d filmed a couple of scenes in-studio, and then we got a call from one of the primary actors. They say, hey, I just found out that, prior to filming, I was exposed to someone who has COVID.

And they were getting tested.

So, we’re just holding our breath for 48 hours. It came back negative, but we didn’t even have to discuss it. The risk was just too high for us. We didn’t want to put anybody at risk. So, we just put production on a back burner and concentrated on what we could, which was working on the Mothman costume, securing locations down the road and things that we could do, literally, from our offices.

Lynch: Herb, How did you get into filmmaking in the first place?

Gardner: My background from the late 80s and early 90s, I did educational films and commercials. I really didn’t find it rewarding. And I was like, if this is what’s available, I’m just not gonna do it.

So, I pursued a career as a detective and then as a mental health counselor. And a few years ago, a very good friend of mine, actually, my filmmaking partner Calvin Grimm, enlisted me as an actor for our first film, “River of Hope.”

And… that was the type of film-making that I wanted to do.

So, I went from being an actor in that, to first assistant director to helping co-write the screenplay, and I got hooked and haven’t looked back since.

As soon as that project was over, we were looking to do another film. And we wanted to do a Mothman story, and actually had three separate ideas for potential scripts. And then Calvin discovered Michael Knost’s novel, “Return of the Mothman.”

He shot it over to me and I read it. We both fell in love with the story and we decided that’s the avenue we were going to take.

We contacted Michael. He’d been approached by some larger networks – Sci Fi Channel and FX. He turned them down. He wanted the story to be told by West Virginians. So after a few meetings with Michael, we shook hands, and started working on the project.

Lynch: I imagine the difference between “River of Hope,” which is more of a historical drama, to your Mothman film, there’d be some differences like in costuming, special effects. What kind of challenges?

Gardner: The first film, which was set between 1850 and 1891, of course, costuming was a huge concern.

And then also we got horses. We had to hire horse wranglers, horse trainers to teach the actors how to ride,

In this film, because it is contemporary, costuming wasn’t an issue, but there’s special effects and we didn’t go the CGI route. The Mothman is a live actor. So, the costuming there was a huge challenge, instead of having to come up with period correct costumes for 50 people-plus.

It’s giving this believable costume for one actor –but the challenge was real and it was great.

Lynch: The film is called “Return the Mothman.” Herb, thank-you.

Gardner: Thank you so much.

‘Bash’ Celebrating All Things Cryptid Returns To Morgantown

Now in its second year, the Cryptid Bash in Morgantown is a rising star in West Virginia’s growing constellation of supernatural attractions. Reporter Chris Schulz spoke with organizer Michael Strayer about this year’s bash.

Not even the supernatural have been immune to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, when the Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant had to shutter for the second year in a row, cryptozoology enthusiasts, and hosts of the ‘Mothboys’ podcast, Michael Strayer, Jake Haskin and Matthew Schang scrambled to create an alternative event.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Schulz: So Michael, Why don’t you start us off by telling us exactly what Cryptid Bash is.

Strayer: Cryptid Bash is a meeting of people within the cryptozoology community. Around this time last year, the Mothman Festival was canceled. So we’re like, “How can we put on an event for all of our friends that are losing money from the Mothman Festival?”, that kind of thing. Bunch of artists, musicians last year and everybody just followed. You know, it’s just a bunch of people that love cryptozoology: Mothman, Flatwoods Monster. Well, it’s all like minded people just getting together and celebrating cryptozoology.

Schulz: So as we’re speaking, it’s early July, The Mothman Festival this year is still set to happen in September. Was there ever any question as to not have Cryptid Bash in 2022?

Strayer: I think that the Mothman Festival is just part of why we threw it. We also just wanted a bunch of people that we admire in a room together. It did so well last year that we don’t want to let the people down either. That’s because people had a lot of fun. There was no chance that we weren’t going to do it, it just did so well. And we were so happy with it.

Schulz: Why don’t we back up here and make sure everybody’s on the same page. What exactly is cryptozoology? And why do you and your group of fans find it so appealing?

Strayer: There’s creatures out there that can’t be explained by science. And that’s what cryptozoology is. And it just appeals to us because there’s more to the world than just us, you know? And the things that we know about. It’s just, it’s cool. There’s a whole full folklore thing behind it. And there’s just a sense of community to it, that you don’t find in a lot of places. It’s a bunch of weirdos getting together and just talking about these cool stories essentially is what it is. That’s why I personally love it. And I think that’s why the fans love it too. Just, it’s just cool stories to tell.

Schulz: Michael, what brought you into cryptozoology originally?

Strayer: It was a few things, actually. I mean, my mom was really into aliens and UFOs and Bigfoot. You know, I think a lot of people start off with that. Loch Ness Monster. That kind of stuff. Yeah, my mom was doing all the weird stuff, you know, ghosts and stuff. And then eventually, my personal interest. I got into the weird, weird, weird stuff by watching ‘The Mothman Prophecies’ with Richard Gere. I saw that in theaters with my dad, who took me to see that. Mothman was something I’d never heard of and that blew my teenage mind. So I was a big fan. But yeah, I think initially, my mom really got me into weird stuff. She was a huge Bigfoot enthusiast. Shout out to my mom for getting me into all this weird stuff.

Schulz: West Virginia is pretty well represented on the cryptozoology map. What do you think it is about the state that kind of primes it to be a center of this world?

Strayer: I think the storytelling here is big. The folklore behind it, people telling each other stories and small towns, especially small towns. It’s like a small town thing, passing stories along to each other, hearing stories when you’re young. I’m not from here. But you know, I talked to people and I used to hear stories about this and that. I feel like West Virginia has the most creatures and the coolest creatures. I think Mothman, obviously. And then you got the Grafton Monster, Flatwoods Monster, you have a list of all these cool monsters coming from here that people are interested in. And I think it’s just, the storytelling from here is so rich. And I think that’s why. And some people say that West Virginia is a window area, that’s like an area where reality kind of bends you know, and things can come in and out.

Schulz: Do you feel like you’re adding to that, that folklore and that oral tradition with your productions?

Strayer: I hope so. I hope that we’re doing that we do it in kind of a silly way, a goofy way, we have a different way of telling stories. A lot of podcasts and people that are telling these stories, do it very seriously. And that’s fine, that’s great. We love it, but we come at it at an angle that’s a little different. We try to be a little fresher and we try to make it a little bit more funny. We try to laugh with it, you know, we try not to laugh at it too much, you know, but it’s weird stuff, and sometimes you can get a laugh out of it. So I hope that we’re adding, I think we’re adding this whole folklore thing to it because we’re trying to get a younger crowd into it. We know there’s a lot of serious podcasts out there and we love them but we’re trying to get a whole new generation in with this this thing

Schulz: To that end, people who are maybe on the fence about coming to a cryptozoology event. What would you tell them about cryptid Pash?

Strayer: Well, I mean, if you’re not in the cryptids I mean it’s just it’s a good, free event where you’re gonna meet some really nice people that you can decide not to talk about cryptids with as well. But if you want to, you can talk about anything with these people. It’s just some of the friendliest people I’ve ever met. And some just great artists and musicians and speakers. We got, I just say, the people are really great. And I think that’s a reason enough to come just hang out for the day and see, see if you’re into it, you know,

Schulz: So what can people expect at cryptid bash?

Strayer: So, Cryptid Bash, Morgantown, West Virginia. It’s gonna be at the Morgantown Art Bar, and then the Morgantown Art Party, Saturday, August 6 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.. And it’s gonna be vendors, musicians, speakers, there’s gonna be a costume contest. So if you want to dress up like a cryptid, come out, just like Mothman or Bigfoot, whatever you want to do. There’s a money prize and stuff like that. We didn’t have that last year so we thought that would be a lot of fun for people. Hopefully people dress up and come act goofy.

More information can be found on the event’s Facebook page.

A W.Va. Board Game And Honduran, Salvadoran Food In Moorefield On This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, a new West Virginia board game combines the Mountain State’s resident monsters and some favorite dishes. Also, in this show, we meet a woman who has been serving up traditional Honduran and Salvadoran food at her restaurant in Moorefield.

On this West Virginia Morning, a new West Virginia board game combines the Mountain State’s resident monsters and some favorite dishes. Also, in this show, we meet a woman who has been serving up traditional Honduran and Salvadoran food at her restaurant in Moorefield.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from West Virginia University, Concord University, and Shepherd University.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

Cryptids, Local Food, Artwork Celebrated In W.Va. Board Game

Mothman’s been sighted again in West Virginia. And he’s looking for a meal. He’s part of a new board game that features cryptids and local West Virginia food. Jared Kaplan and Chris Kincaid of Beckley, West Virginia created the game called “Hungry for Humans.”

At Kincaid’s home in Morgantown, we sat around the colorful board arranged in the center of a wooden table. His basement was a board gamer’s paradise – a giant game cupboard lined the wall and the table we were playing on was designed specifically for board games.

It was my first time playing and I was up against the two creators of the game.

“I’m gonna say ‘You look hungry’ and I’m going to make you eat that extra chunky milk,” Kaplan said. “So then you have to go back one.”

The odds were not in my favor.

“So us as the players, we’re the humans, we each have a monster friend who wants to eat humans,” Kaplan explained. “But if you feed it enough, good food, normal food, it’ll satisfy its human hunger and it won’t eat anybody.”

That good food could be a sundae from Ellen’s Ice Cream in Charleston or a burger from the Farmer’s Daughter in Capon Bridge.

“However, if you feed it too much, too fast, it [the monster] becomes too powerful and just explodes,” he continued. “If you feed it the wrong things, because there are some nasty foods in here, then it becomes hangry. And it just gets mad at you and it will eat you. And you’re also out of the game.”

“This is toothpaste with an orange juice chaser,” Kincaid read from a game card. “That’s a minus two.”

Kaplan said they wanted the game to celebrate their home state and its local restaurants.

“I love food. So I just started thinking of a game that involves food,” Kaplan said.

They decided to focus specifically on food from West Virginia restaurants, like Tudor’s Biscuit World and Pies and Pints.

Cryptids are another important part of the game. The Grafton monster, Sheep Squatch, Mothman and the Flatwoods Monster are all special power cards that give you an extra edge on your competitors. In real life, cryptids are rarely spotted. And it’s the same in the game.

“Do you hear that?” Chis asked.

“The buzzing?” I replied.

“No, that’s the sound of the Sheep Squatch coming to scare Jared out of the meal!” he said.

Kincaid and Kaplan met several years ago, in their hometown of Beckley. Kincaid said they bonded over their love for board games.

“We’ve played games with people from very different walks of life,” he said. “From very different places, with very different belief structures, and it’s great, nobody cares about any of it. We’re just there to rob the bank or rescue the princess.”

As a kid, Kincaid learned to play games with his dad and two younger brothers.

“It was always associated in my life with happiness and togetherness,” he said. “We grew up, not super well off, so a board game was about as much entertainment… we weren’t going off to take trips and vacations all the time. We played Uno till we ruined decks.”

Now Kincaid is a family doctor and professor at West Virginia University. He said board games are his escape.

“My career’s pretty taxing, especially lately, as far as time consuming and energy consuming, and it’s just how I recharge my batteries,” he said.

Kincaid has carried on the family tradition of playing games with his own kids. He said they’re budding board gamers with a game shelf that’s starting to rival his.

Kaplan works in marketing at the Resort at Glade Springs in Daniels, West Virginia and he has his own marketing business. He said he was never very good at video games, so he played board games instead.

“For someone like me, who has a ton of anxiety, I actually enjoy being around people more than you would probably think,” Kaplan said. “That’s what I love about board games as it brings people together.”

Kaplan said for him, board games aren’t just something he pulls out at the holidays. He hosts frequent game nights throughout the year.

“It’s really the anchor right now for me that brings my friends together,” he said.

At one of these game nights in Beckley several years ago, none of their other friends showed up, so it was just Kaplan and Kincaid. Instead of playing something, they started brainstorming game ideas.

That was the start of “Lonely Hero Games,” their board game company. After diving deeper into the world of board games, they quickly learned that a good game needs good artwork.

“If your art and your game is not good, you’re going to hear about it,” Kaplan said.

Morgantown artist Liz Pavlovic was the perfect fit for their second game, Hungry for Humans. She’d never illustrated a board game before, but she’s known around the state for her funky renditions of West Virginia food, like pepperoni rolls, and cryptids like Mothman.

“I just really like celebrating the weird stuff in the state and the stuff that maybe people don’t know about, especially if you’re not from here,” Pavlovic said.

It was Pavlovic’s first time playing the game, like me. Her monster friend was none other than the fictional Flerbin Gusselpot, a peculiar creature, loosely inspired by a bat. It’s her personal favorite and just one of the many monsters she illustrated for the game.

“He has a really weird nose. And otherwise, sort of a reptile body with a horse tail. And some fangs and like a really long tongue and really long fingers. He’s purple with spots, orange spots,” she said.

When Hungry for Humans launched on Kickstarter last fall, Kaplan and Kincaid received an unexpected amount of support for the game, specifically from West Virginians.

“I reflect on that and feel extremely lucky to be from West Virginia and have our community,” Kaplan said. “If you’re creating a game in somewhere like New York, everywhere you look, people are doing that. In West Virginia, though, people take a lot of pride in people who are doing things that are different and unique, and they want to support each other and lift each other up.”

Kincaid said he enjoys playing Hungry for Humans, but he rarely wins. And indeed, Kincaid’s monster – Porgis Bean-hammer – was the first one to explode.

“Don’t blow me up! Blow him up!” Kincaid pleaded.

That left me, Kaplan and Pavlovic. When we totaled up the meal, it was a seven – meaning that all of our monsters were about to explode. I had to think quick. Without hesitating, I played a “Yuck” card – landing me right at the finish.

They may have let me win, but I’d like to think otherwise.

Hungry for Humans will be available this summer. And even though their game isn’t even on the shelves yet, Kaplan said he already has at least 15 new game ideas.

“There’s a skeleton of a game under this table right now that I’ve been working on,” Kincaid said.

This story is part of the Inside Appalachia Folkways Reporting Project, which is made possible in part with support from Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies to the West Virginia Public Broadcasting Foundation. Subscribe to Inside Appalachia to hear more stories of Appalachian folklife, arts, and culture.

Mothman Legacy Has Ties to Ancient Folklore

The world first heard of the Mothman in 1966 and 1967, leading up to the Silver Bridge collapse in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. The disaster claimed the lives of 46 people on Dec. 15, 1967.

Many thought the Mothman sightings in the small town were a warning that something terrible was about to happen. The winged cryptid has gone on to appear in books, films and on television.

In a new documentary, filmmaker Seth Breedlove explores the ancient historical roots of the Mothman and looks at the legend today. He spoke with Eric Douglas by Zoom to discuss the documentary “The Mothman Legacy.”

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Douglas: What prompted you to, to do this film?

The DVD cover of the documentary Mothman Legacy.

Breedlove: I was having a conversation with someone about the Mothman story and they pointed out some similarities between Mothman and other winged creatures throughout mythology. They made an interesting connection between the Mothman and banshees from Irish and Scottish folklore that involves this creature that heralds some sort of oncoming death or disaster and typically has glowing red eyes.

The interesting thing about that is, obviously, Appalachia, and West Virginia, especially, was settled largely by Scotch-Irish immigrants. Did those immigrants bring that folklore with them and then it just gained a foothold and took on a life of its own over time? What really interested me was being able to look at not just a spooky creature story, but a bigger look at mythology and legends and folklore in general.

Douglas: What did you learn when you started digging into that?

Breedlove: I think what we learned is that there’s a history of these similar creatures, not just Irish and Scottish, but kind of all around the world. I mean, in Hindu mythology, there’s the Garuda, which is a winged creature that would proceed or portend disaster. And interestingly enough, John Keel, who wrote “The Mothman Prophecies,” was originally going to title the book “The Year of the Garuda.”

Douglas: What do stories like the Mothman tell us about ourselves? Why do we enjoy these kinds of stories?

Breedlove: I’ve always said there’s a correlation between when subjects like this become popular, and the current state of the world. I’ve always felt that there’s an escapism, as weird as that sounds. They definitely can directly tell us things about human beings and ourselves and how we pass along stories. I think, if there’s anything the Mothman legacy is actually about, is it’s about the legacy of storytelling.

Douglas: Do you believe in the Mothman?

Breedlove: Not to cop out with this answer, but I think it kind of depends on what your version of the Mothman is. There’s eight different interviews in the film with people that claim to be witnesses, and none of them describe the exact same thing. So, I think there was something going on. And I think there still is something going on that maybe we don’t understand. As to whether or not that something is a giant humanoid, creature with wings and glowing red eyes, I’m not positive. I do think there’s a lot to the Mothman story, though, that you can’t simply write off every every sighting,

Douglas: What does moving a horror story or mythology story into pop culture mean for the Mothman moving forward?

Breedlove: We see these stories springing up all around the country, and probably all around the world, but especially America seems to really respond to its monsters. So you’ve got creatures like Bigfoot, or the Dover Demon, or the Jersey Devil.

You don’t see the transition, in those cases, in quite the same way you do with the Mothman, where you go from what is really a regional media frenzy during the 1960s that dies off and then comes back to life in the early 2000s, and then morphs into what it is today. And if you can, if you can track it all the way back to something like the Garuda or banshees, it’s even more fascinating because then you’re dealing with centuries of stories changing and not just a few decades.

“The Mothman Legacy” is now available to stream online through most major streaming platforms.

West Virginia Mothman Festival Postponed Due To Virus Outbreak

An annual festival that commemorates a local legend about a “Mothman” in West Virginia has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

If the festival honoring the legend of the red-eyed creature’s sightings in Point Pleasant was held this September as previously scheduled, it would “be subpar and lackluster to what has been built over the last 18 years,” organizers for the event said on Facebook while announcing the change Thursday. The festival has now been moved to September 2021.

Admission to the event held in downtown Point Pleasant is free to the public and features live music and cosplay. Visitors have to pay a fee to see the Mothman Museum and for some attractions, according to the festival.