For many, summer is often associated with camp and quintessential camp activities like swimming, making s’mores and telling ghost stories.
Last week, a group of nine students in Pocahontas County took telling ghost stories a step further, by learning how to make short, animated films at Monster Movie Camp.
On the last day of Monster Movie Camp, the students were standing at their workstations, hurriedly putting the final touches on the illustrations for their film. Molly Cook was drawing the shape of a funny looking monster with a magic marker.
“I just like drawing. I’m only 10. I’m the youngest person in this class,” she said. She made a short, animated film, about a legendary cryptid from Braxton County, known as the Flatwoods Monster.
After drawing the images, or creating a set with sculpture, the students used iPads to film their movies. They spent days working on their small sets and filming their stop-action animation.
Many of the students said they signed up partly because they like to draw. Jesse Kelly said he likes theatre, and performing, and he wanted to learn to make movies as another creative outlet.
One of the students’ sketches from Monster Movie Camp.
“I think I surprised myself on some of the things that I did because I didn’t think I could do it that good,” Kelly said. “Like, once I watched it, it was better than I thought it would be.”
The Pocahontas County Opera House hosted the five-day Monster Movie Camp. Artist Bryan Richards and writer Howard Parsons also helped teach the students how to animate stories.
On the final day of camp, the students showed their parents their films, which were projected on a big screen inside the Pocahontas Opera House.
In the interest of full disclosure, Roxy Todd, who reported this story, is friends with Brooke Shuman, who organized the camp.
Flying saucer investigator Gray Barker was born at Riffle in Braxton County on May 2, 1925. He spent most of his life in central West Virginia, earning a degree from Glenville State College, teaching school, and booking acts for local theaters.
Barker’s interest in unidentified flying objects was sparked by mysterious sightings of the Flatwoods Monster in 1952. Based on Albert Bender’s “Men in Black” theory, Barker published his best-known book, They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers.
Following the 1967 collapse of the Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant, Barker published his next book, The Silver Bridge, which popularized the Mothman legend. In 1983, he wrote MIB, The Terror Among Us, about the Men in Black
Gray Barker’s fame spread after his death in 1984 at age 59. A 1995 video by Ralph Coon recognized Barker as one of the 20thcentury’s leading UFO theorists. Barker’s personal collection is now part of the Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library. When asked once if he believed in flying saucers, Barker replied, “I am not sure, but anything that generates that volume of interest is worth collecting.”
West Virginia tourism officials are creating a trail that will highlight the state’s haunted history.
The state Division of Tourism is taking suggestions for places to include on its list of paranormal attractions, events and destinations.
The inventory could highlight legends like Mothman or the Greenbrier Ghost, and include places like the Lake Shawnee Amusement Park or the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum.
To be considered for the trail, locations must be open or accessible to the public. It also must be promoted as being haunted by the property owners or, if on public land, by local officials.
If you’ve been watching West Virginia politics play out on social media this election season, you’ve probably noticed some pretty vitriolic rhetoric. Some of it comes from the usual suspects–like candidates and their parties. But, some of it–it’s not clear where it’s coming from. Not surprisingly, there are those who contribute to the state’s political discourse through the veil of anonymity.
Byrd’s Finger: A Contractor for the Republican Party
When it comes to politics on Twitter, one of the most active accounts in West Virginia is Byrd’s Finger. It’s an obvious reference to the late Democratic senator Robert C. Byrd. But, there’s no question it’s coming from a Republican point of view.
With help from a few others, Byrd’s Finger is operated by Rob Cornelius. Aside from working as a full time sports broadcaster, he’s a contractor of the state Republican Party.
"Our goal is to, quite simply, make sure folks know they are a subject for ridicule. You know, Twitter is honestly a great avenue to make them subject to ridicule, to make them seem ridiculous make them appear to be criminals or buffoons. And that's what I do with that account."<br>–Rob Cornelius, contractor for the West Virginia GOP
While Cornelius and Byrd’s Finger use vitriol and personal attacks against Democratic candidates, there’s another account that uses satire as their chosen tactic: Mothman for U.S. Senate.
Credit West Virginai, Vote Mothman for U.S. Senate / Facebook
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Of course it’s not really the Mothman—you know, the supernatural legend out of Point Pleasant that’s said to have collapsed the Silver Bridge back in 1967. But, if you look at West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Facebook page, you’ll see him all over the place. Both there and on Twitter, he argues there’s no difference between U.S. Senate candidates Rep. Shelley Moore Capito and Secretary of State Natalie Tennant. (You’ll notice in the video below, he’s dubbed Tennant’s voice over images of Capito speaking.)
So who’s the person behind the Mothman account? It’s a 34-year old man from Charleston named Jeremy Brannon. I know this because when I tried calling him back a few weeks ago, it went straight to voicemail and the greeting message revealed his real name. (So, sorry, Jeremy.)
Analysis: Scholars and Researchers Explain Anonymous Accounts and Political Discussion
There are, of course, other anonymous (or quasi-anonymous) social media accounts chiming in on West Virginia politics–and it should be of no surprise. While some–like Cornelius and Brannon–find it difficult to remain anonymous online, the tactic is part of a long-standing tradition in American politics, according to Lee Rainie of the Pew Research Center’s Internet Project.
“It’s a pretty common element of politics throughout American history that’s now sort of amped up in an online environment because online tools allow people to do things even more quietly and without identification with their real names if they choose to do that,” he said.
“It was very clear that you had a significant number of folks who were tweeting who were portraying themselves as one thing—as just kind of average, unbiased observers of politics who were tweeting various things–when, in fact, it was very clear they were hired guns,” said Dr. John Parmelee, department chair of communication at the University of North Florida and author of Politics and the Twitter Revolution.
Parmelee also says that word of mouth communication, including on social media, can be as effective as a multimillion dollar TV ad buy.
