Mothman in St. Albans

When two young couples witnessed a terrifying, red-eyed, winged humanoid just outside of Pt. Pleasant, WV one November evening in 1966, that sleepy little West Virginia town along the Ohio River became forever entwined with the Mothman story. For 13 long months, the citizens of Pt. Pleasant were plagued by sightings of the creature, along with reports of UFOs, Men in Black, other strange cryptids, ghosts, and even psychic visions. 

Even to this day, Pt. Pleasant is home to the annual Mothman Festival, the world's only Mothman Museum, and of course, the beloved Mothman statue. People come from all over the country, and even all over the world to learn more about this mysterious monster, tour the places where it was seen, and take home plenty of Mothman-themed souvenirs from some of the many local shops! But...Mothman wasn't confined to JUST Pt. Pleasant. It seems as if our winged friend was quite the traveler, even during the initial 1966-1967 flap. One of the many places he was spotted (twice!) was St. Albans, West Virginia!

St. Albans is a town located in Kanawha County, not far from Charleston. As the crow flies, it's about 40 miles south of Pt. Pleasant, straight down on the Kanawha River. Less than two weeks after the initial Mothman sightings, West Virginia's favorite cryptid showed up on two consecutive evenings in or near town. 

On Saturday, November 26, 1966, Ruth Foster, a housewife, got a really good look at a strange bird-like creature standing in her front yard, by her porch. She said it had a "funny little face" with no beak, but "big red poppy eyes" that popped out of it's face. She said the creature stood around the same height as her husband, who was 6'1''. Understandably, Ruth let out a scream at seeing such a strange creature, and ran inside the house. Her brother in law immediately ran back out to see it for himself, but by that time it had disappeared. Neither apparently saw the creature actually leave. 

The next day, Mothman was a busy lil' beast. Around 10:30am, he was seen by 18 year old Connie Jo Carpenter near New Haven in Mason County, not far from Pt. Pleasant. Connie was driving home from church services when she noticed what looked like a large man in gray standing near the Mason County Golf Course. Suddenly, ten-foot wings unfolded and this...THING...took off straight up and then straight towards her car. She said the thing stared at her with it's huge red eyes through the windshield, then veered off and flew away. The whole incident affected her greatly, as she rushed home in hysterics. She was unable to go to school for the next few days, and had to seek medical treatment for klieg conjunctivitis---eye burn---that lasted two weeks. Like Ruth, she also got a good look at the thing's face, but she was so shook up by the experience that she couldn't really describe it beyond saying how awful it was.

After physically and mentally damaging that poor young girl, later that evening Mothman would return  to St. Albans, where he would again scare the crud out of two young girls. Thirteen year old Sheila Cain and her younger sister were walking home from a store on Route 60, just outside of St. Albans when they saw a large "something" next to a local junkyard. The girls described the creature as being gray and white, standing about 7 feet tall (bigger than a grown man), and having large, red eyes. It flew straight up in the air, and as the girls started running towards home, it flew over them, chasing them part of the way. Allegedly, a neighbor also witnessed the creature. 

As far as I have found, those were the only two times Mothman was reportedly seen in St. Albans, but it was one heck of a weekend! Fortunately for the citizens of this little city at the confluence of the Kanawha and Coal Rivers, Mothman had many more places to be and people to scare, always returning to his home base in Pt. Pleasant, West Virginia. 

Sources: 

Keel, John. Strange Creatures From Time and Space. New Saucerian Books, 2014. 

Keel, John. The Mothman Prophecies. Tor Publishing, 2002.

Sergent, Donnie and Jeff Wamsley. Mothman: The Facts Behind the Legend. Mothman Lives Publishing, 2002. 

Theresa and JR Visit Pt. Pleasant!

As difficult as my October proved to be, I still tried to have as much fun and cram in as many Halloween and spooky events as possible, and I think I did okay!  I never get to do everything that I want around the Halloween season, as there is just so much to do and I'm usually so busy...this year more than ever.  But, as long as I get in a few events and try something new, I'm happy!  October 2019 was a somewhat special year for me as it was mine and my husband's first October together as a married couple.  He really got a dose of my Halloween and spooky obsessions!  Earlier in the month, I took him to his first visit to the Flatwoods Monster Museum in Sutton.  A couple of weeks later, we took a spur of the moment trip to Point Pleasant----home of the Mothman!

Same as with the Flatwoods Monster Museum, JR had never been to the Mothman Museum, seen the Mothman statue, or visited the notorious TNT bunker area!  I was determined that a sunny, temperate afternoon to ourselves was the perfect time to remedy that.  We had eaten a late lunch at Steak N Shake in Barboursville, so we hopped on over to Route 2 for a scenic drive into Pt. Pleasant. 

I love seeing people experience things for the first time, which is one reason why I LOVE blogging about my son's haunted travels with me.  It's the same way with my husband. Before meeting me, he wasn't really into ghosts, cryptids, and all things spooky.  However, he is a wonderful husband, and is always willing to indulge me of my interests.  As an added bonus, I think my ghostly tastes are starting to rub off on him a little...

Now, I have been to the wonderful Mothman Museum many times, but I still enjoy seeing the new stuff, reading the articles, and browsing around the gift shop For a relatively small space, there's a LOT to see and do.  I was thrilled that JR seemed so impressed with the museum, especially the movie props. He asked me a ton of questions, which I was happy to answer and eagerly took in all that the museum had to offer.  I'm pretty sure he even went straight to Reddit with his newfound knowledge of one of West Virginia's most unique museums.  My favorite part, however, was snuggling up in the Harris' Steakhouse Diner room, watching part of a Mothman documentary together.  I almost didn't want to leave, but I wanted to make sure that he experienced ALL the Mothman goodness in Pt. Pleasant!

Obviously, that included the requisite photos with the Mothman statue.  Of course, I being the 10 year old boy that I am, made sure that JR got to see back side of the statue, featuring a well-formed metal buttocks!  He was bemused, but not nearly as delighted as I always am at Mothman's rump. He was, however, much more interested in the TNT area.

The weather was perfect for the walk out to the open igloos of the TNT area, once believed to be Mothman's stomping grounds. JR probably thought I was taking him out in the woods to kill him, especially as I led him through a thicket of branches and vines and past a heavy metal door into darkness.  As our eyes adjusted, I couldn't help but sneak in a kiss, because you know...there's no place more romantic than the TNT igloos, lol.  We talked about the graffiti on the walls, how the TNT area was significant to the Mothman story, took some pictures, and played with the unique acoustics of the igloo.  Again, I almost didn't want to leave.  Sharing one of my favorite spooky locations and my passion for the paranormal for the first time with the person I love is a memory I want to live on as long as the story of Mothman himself!

Mothman Festival 2019

Another Mothman Festival is in the bag!  This year, instead of manning a vendor's table, Aaron, Luke, and I participated simply as spectators...and we had a blast.

Although the festival is a 3-day event, we decided to go down on Saturday.  That Saturday was also special for another reason:  not only was it a day to celebrate Mothman's unique history and contribution to the paranormal world, but it was Luke's 10th birthday!  Therefore, we sort of let HIM (Luke, not Mothman) call the shots.  We arrived in town around 11 am, and as soon as we crossed the bridge into Point Pleasant, we KNEW this festival was a big one---traffic to Krodel Park, where parking and shuttle service were available, was crazy.  But, it didn't take too long, and we made it to Krodel, found a parking spot, and after only a short wait, were on the shuttle to downtown 'Mothman City.'

Luckily, my family and I live about 40 minutes away from Point Pleasant (dubbed 'Mothman City' by Luke when he was little) and we enjoy visiting the area throughout the year.  So, we've seen the totally awesome Mothman Museum and have had our picture taken with the Mothman statue on non-festival days.  Therefore, we were able to skip the lines for those iconic activities and explore what else the festival had to offer.  Luke was hungry, so we decided to start off with some lunch.

Again, because we live so close and visit so often, we were able to skip some of the more sought after sit-down restaurants in the area and went straight for the fair fare.  I had my favorite, ribbon fries, Aaron had pizza, and Luke had a corn dog and fries, which he washed down with a purple alien full of lemonade. The guys also split an order of fried cookie dough with the clever moniker of 'Moth Balls.'

We took our food over to the riverfront amphitheater and caught about half of the costume contest.  I really wish we had gotten there a little earlier, because what we caught of the contest was absolutely awe-inspiring.  There were so many great costumes, many of which featured an interpretation of Mothman himself, and so many of the participants REALLY got into their characters.  All the costumes were wonderful, but I had a soft spot for the Yip Yaps of Sesame Street!

Since we were mainly doing stuff Luke wanted to do, I only got to catch one guest speaker at the haunted State Theater this year.  Brian Seech, a cryptozoologist, UFOlogist, and paranormal researcher with the Center for Unexplained Events, gave an interesting presentation on 'Winged Entities from Antiquity to Present Day.' While I was learning about different winged humanoids from different cultures and different time periods, Luke was mauling himself, as he does every year, on the Wipe Out-style inflatable.

Luke also won a stuffed animal playing a balloon darts game, threw food into Slimer's mouth over at the Ghost Busters tent, met some Star Wars characters, and picked up a few souvenirs.  I ran into Les from WV Cryptids and Strange Encounters and tried to say hi to the guys at Wild and Weird West Virginia, but they were so busy!  I was thrilled to see that Andrew Smith was in attendance, representing the Flatwoods Monster Museum and giving a talk about West Virginia's other favorite monster at the State Theater. As always, the festival was overrun with awesome vendors selling the absolute coolest UFO, cryptid, paranormal, and horror merch around, and there were so many cool authors, researchers, and organizations representing this community.  And what a great community it is!  Sometime I always note about the festival each year is just how freaking nice everyone is.  I have been to the annual Mothman Festival well over a dozen times and its eerie just how sweet, compassionate, and understanding everyone I've ever encountered there has been.  People from all walks of life and from all geographical locations (we were on a shuttle with families from New York, Pittsburgh, Virginia and Kentucky) come together for this shared glimpse into one little town's brush with the unexplained.  It really is heartwarming, but I don't wanna get too sappy, because I haven't yet mentioned our favorite part of the festival this year...

WE MET JACOB THE CARPETBAGGER!

So, several years ago I stumbled across a YouTube channel for a guy called The Carpetbagger who traveled the United States, visiting weird festivals, strange roadside attractions, haunted places, museums, and just all kinds of cool places.  As time progressed, Luke and Aaron also started watching with me, and it became the norm during family dinner time to flip on the television and see where The Carpetbagger had been to recently. 

Last year, The Carpetbagger was at the festival as a spectator, and Aaron got to meet him five freaking minutes after I had walked away from our table to see a speaker down at the State Theater.  I was super jealous, so when I heard that The Carpetbagger would be an actual guest this year, I knew that no matter what, I was meeting him.  Luke was super excited as well, talking about how he was going to get to meet a famous celebrity.

I was not disappointed.  We met Jacob and his wife, and they were both just as nice and down to earth as they appear in their videos.  Luke was shy, but Jacob shook his hand and wished him a happy birthday.  We bought t-shirts, a Carpetbagger pressed penny, and a button.  Of course, Luke and I had to have our picture taken with him, since Aaron had received that honor the previous year.  Since then, we've had a blast watching the videos The Carpetbagger has uploaded from his Mothman Festival trip.  He got to stay in the super haunted, super creepy Lowe Hotel and proudly completed Hillbilly Hotdog's Homewrecker Challenge.

As always, I walked away from the Mothman Festival feeling so happy to have had the opportunity to be a part of this annual gathering.  So much work goes into providing this FREE festival, and Jeff Wamsley and his crew do such a great job keeping this festival growing and evolving from year to year.  If you can make it to the Mothman Festival (it takes place the third weekend of September), I highly encourage you to do so.  It's a great resource to see top-notch researchers and authors share their knowledge on stage in a haunted theater, to meet members of the paranormal community in person, and to have access to a huge variety of artwork, books, movies, and other souvenirs, all in one spot. If you can't make it to a festival, I still encourage you to visit Pt. Pleasant any time of year!  The museum is open year round and the famous Mothman statue is available any time for photos.  The Lowe Hotel is an affordable place to spend a night and possibly see a ghost, and if asked, most locals in town will give you directions on how to get to the TNT area to see the open bunkers!

There's no way I could cover ALL the activities, speakers, vendors and guests that make The Mothman Festival one of the most unique in the country, so if you're interested in learning more about it, beyond my very narrow view point, please visit the Mothman Festival's Facebook page and website.  Stay spooky, my friends! 


Mothman Festival 2018

Mothman Festival 2017

Mothman Festival 2016

Mothman Festival 2015

Holiday Gift Guide: Fallout 76 Edition

It's already December 10th!  Do you still have some holiday gifts to pick up...especially for those hard-to-buy-for people that seem to already have everything?  Why not treat your friends and family to a little bit of West Virginia---paranormal style, of course!

Ever since it was announced that Fallout 76 would take place in a post-apocalyptic Mountain State and feature plenty of West Virginia monsters, legends, and haunted locations, there's been a lot of interest in our area's history as well as our more...offbeat...lore.  And of course, there's been plenty of merchandise to back it up.  I've culled just a few of my favorite gifts that would be perfect for those gamers in your life who cannot get enough of Fallout 76 or those who simply appreciate a good dose of spooky West Virginia history.

1. Season Passes to Camden Park:  If your gift recipient is in the tri-state area, consider giving the gift of history AND summer time fun with a season pass from West Virginia's own amusement park.  Passes start at $49.99 per adult and would be a great gift for the thrill-seekers on your list.  When the images of the Camden Park sign in the game were released, people around here were thrilled, including me!  If you follow my blog or follow me on Facebook, you've probably seen me posting about the haunted history of the park.  But, even if your gift recipient isn't a believer in phantoms and spirits, how cool would it be to hang out in the actual location featured in the Fallout 76 game?

Source: WV Explorer

2. Greenbrier Bunker Tour: This unique gift is one that I would personally love to receive!  Well before Fallout 76 came along, it has pretty much been common knowledge throughout West Virginia that our state's swank resort, The Greenbrier, held a dark secret.  Below its posh halls was an underground bunker system, designed to house important government officials in the case of an emergency...such as a nuclear attack.  The government let the secret slip, and since then, the resort has been offering tours of the facility. These tours are offered year-round with a few exceptions and can get a tad pricey at $39 per adult. If you combine your tour with an overnight stay or simply just an on-site meal, you're looking at a good chunk of change, but one hell of a gift!  As an added bonus, the Greenbrier has a long history of reputed hauntings, as well! 

Photo Source

3. Official Fallout Mothman Museum T-Shirt: These awesome t-shirts, showing off one of MY favorite West Virginia monsters, are official Fallout merchandise, and can be purchased online, or on-site at the actual Mothman Museum.  Obviously, Mothman himself, WV's favorite flying humanoid, makes an appearance in the game, but so does the museum dedicated to him!  This particular t-shirt runs $22, but there are others to choose from, plus plenty of other awesome Mothman merchandise at all price points.  Shot glasses, stickers, pins, and other small items make great stocking stuffers, or add them to a t-shirt or larger souvenir for an awesome gift basket!

Source: Mothman Museum Facebook Page

4. Grafton Monster Print: The Grafton Monster is one of the lesser-known creepy creatures to be featured in the Fallout 76 game, but I'm glad to see him finally getting some much deserved recognition!  Previously, The Grafton Monster wasn't very well known outside of paranormal enthusiast circles, but now even he has his own merch, available through The Best Dam Town website!  For $30, your gift recipient can be the proud owner of this 11x7 art print! T-shirts and other items are also available.  I suggest following the Grafton Monster on Facebook for more information on this strange creature as well as updates on new items available for purchase!

5. Flatwoods Monster Lantern:  Every home needs one of these Flatwoods Monster lanterns, in my opinion!  In 1952, a group of boys, joined later by the mother of two of the group, witnessed something strange in the hills of Flatwoods, WV.  The strange creature they saw has been the cause of speculation for decades, and in recent years, has really gained a lot of attention, locally and nationally. Its inclusion in Fallout 76 has just been icing on the cake for this up and coming cryptid! The link provided will take you to a bunch of Flatwoods Monster merch, including the lantern (which costs about $28), but if you find yourself in the Sutton area, definitely stop by the Flatwoods Monster Museum for some in-museum only gifts!

6. Lunatic--A book about the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum:  This book, by author Edward Gleason, is the quintessential tome on the history of West Virginia's historic mental health institution, the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum.  The book, packed FULL of interesting facts about TALA and the history of the mental asylum in general, will surely fascinate the history buff on your list and is a must-have for anyone planning any upcoming investigations at the hospital!  Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of discussion about the ghosts that haunt the massive building, featured obviously in the Fallout game, so if that's more your gift recipient's thing, check out the book, The Haunted History of the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum by Sherri Brake. You can find it on Amazon in paperback form for $12!

7. Overnight Investigation at the WV State Penitentiary in Moundsville:  Another one of West Virginia's massive, historic, HAUNTED buildings to be featured in Fallout 76 is the former state penitentiary at Moundsville!  Now, I'm a huge fan of gifting experiences, and what better experience for a paranormal enthusiast, or just a curious Fallout fan than an overnight investigation experience at a real haunted prison? Unfortunately, bookings for overnight investigations won't resume on the prison's website until mid-January, so perhaps you can craft up a fancy IOU or be a tad late in your holiday gift-giving!  Either way, its a fun gift that they're sure to remember!

Theresa Travels to Pt. Pleasant (November 2018)

The Nina and the Pinta

This past weekend, my family and I made plans to visit Gallipolis, Ohio.  Our destination was the riverfront, where we would once again experience The Nina and The Pinta, two recreations of Christopher Columbus' famous ships.  We're kind of like Columbus Groupies...not that we support, you know, the genocide and stuff...but we enjoy history and we enjoy boats.  We've seen the Columbus Foundation's historically accurate replica ships in both Charleston, WV and Ashland, KY and now we can add Gallipolis, OH to our list!  It was really fun, and Luke was finally old enough this year to actually learn and retain some interesting information.  If you get a chance to see these boats in person, I highly recommend doing so!  They tour 11 months out of the year, and make it into our region about every 1-2 years. Anyway, we also got a quick glimpse of the quaint, historic little town of Gallipolis, which was founded in 1790 as a colony of French citizens.  There are a lot of cool places of historical (and even spooky!) interest in town, such as the haunted Our House Museum.  But, being late autumn and on a Sunday, there wasn't a whole lot open...so we headed across the bridge and into Pt. Pleasant, West Virginia.

Ever since my son was little, he has called Pt. Pleasant 'Mothman City.' Obviously, Pt. Pleasant was home to the original 1966-1967 Mothman/UFO flap and is now home to the world's only Mothman Museum, the annual Mothman Festival, and of course, the world-famous Mothman Statue! Since the anniversary of the original sightings is coming up later this month, it seemed fitting that we spend a few hours in one of our favorite little towns. 

Living only about a half hour to 45 minutes away from Pt. Pleasant my entire life, I've been there quite a few times.  I think, though, that being so close, I've taken the area for granted a bit.  It really is a fun little town to spend some time and learn all about West Virginia's most famous mysterious monster.  Our first stop was to the Mothman Museum.

Now, I love everything about the annual Mothman Festival, but during the festival I never get a chance to visit the actual museum.  It is just way too crowded.  And honestly, I had only planned on making a stop into the gift shop during this trip, as I have been to the museum before so, so many times.  However, my son, Luke, really wanted to go into the museum and since admission was cheap, we went for it.  I am SO glad we did.  There is so much stuff to look at in the Mothman Museum that you could spend hours in there and not see every single thing, and every time we go back, there's been something new added or we see something we missed on the previous trip.  There are props, photos and memorabilia from the movie, The Mothman Prophecies.  There are hand-written eye-witness accounts.  There are newspaper clippings, information about the history of the TNT area, costumes and artwork, books and rare documents.  There is even a small 'theater' playing Mothman documentaries. 

Luke is finally at an age where he's getting more into stuff like this.  He wanted to watch a bit of the documentary, and even took the time to read several newspaper articles.  When we asked him questions about what he thought the Mothman was and whether or not it was good or bad, he replied with thoughtful, knowledgeable answers.  As a mom and a lover of all things paranormal, I had never been happier!  After purchasing some souvenirs from the gift shop, we made the mandatory photo stop at the Mothman Statue.  One day, I want to put together a flip book of Luke's Mothman statue photos over the years, starting with one of the pictures of me pregnant with him, standing in front of the iconic silver creature with the glowing red eyes!

After a quick lunch, we rounded out our little afternoon with a trip to the TNT area bunkers.  It had been a long time since we had taken Luke out to see the bunkers and with it being a warm day and the thick foliage starting to die down, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity.  As we entered the first bunker, Luke was VERY hesitant.  In fact, he was close to tears.  He absolutely refused to go any further than the doorway.  So, Aaron and I walked around a bit and took some photos of the newest graffiti.  We had planned on only visiting the first open bunker on the trail, but Luke insisted that we go a little further down to the next open bunker.  I'm not sure what changed, but he found his courage, and proudly marched right into the center of the bunker, experimented with the strange acoustics of the structure, and laughed at a spray-painted penis drawn on the floor.  It was really special seeing him conquer his fear and hear his theories as to whether or not the Mothman actually camped out in these strange, concrete igloos.

We had to pass the first bunker on our way back to the car, and Luke decided that he would go ahead and go into this one as well now, which he bravely did!  Even on a Sunday afternoon with other people in the area, even I have to admit that the area around the bunkers is kind of creepy.  Therefore, I was impressed with his bravery and I have to wonder what he tells his friends at school when they ask about what he does on the weekends, lol.

Anyway, with the sun setting we bid adieu to Point Pleasant, aka 'Mothman City' and headed back home, with plans to visit again soon, and also to spend more time in Gallipolis as well.  For us, Pt. Pleasant is just a short drive, but it really is worth the trip if you're coming from further away.  If you can attend the yearly Mothman Festival in September, check that out---its a whole experience of its own.  But, if you can't make it down for the festival, there really is no bad time to visit.  The Mothman Museum is open year-round, and the statue is located right beside the museum.  The haunted Lowe Hotel can be booked much more easily during non-festival times, and the TNT area bunkers are always accessible as long as the weather isn't terrible. With other local museums and historic sites, you can easily spend an afternoon, a weekend, or maybe even longer exploring the area, and with the release of the new Fallout 76 game, in which the Mothman Museum and ol' Mothman himself appear, I think we'll see a lot more visitors to the area soon!

I picked these up at the Mothman Museum gift shop for $10 each.  They are by LizPavlovicDesign

IG: @keepon_creepinon