Book Review: Monsters, Cryptids, and Mysterious Wild Beasts

Title: Monsters, Cryptids and Mysterious Wild Beasts: West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, and Beyond

Author: Jannette Quackenbush

Published: 2019 by 21 Crows Dust to Dawn Publishing

Amazon Purchase Information

Author's Website

Any time I get the opportunity to chat with Jannette and purchase one of her books, I jump at the chance! The 2022 Hidden Marietta Paranormal Expo was no different. I was thrilled to see that Jannette was also vending at this event, and so I had to pick up a few of her books that I didn't already own, including Monsters, Cryptids, and Mysterious Wild Beasts!

Y'all know that my personal interests skew towards the ghostly side of the paranormal. I love me some good ghost stories and tales of haunted locations. However, I keep getting more and more into other branches of paranormal study, including cryptozoology. Therefore, I've been trying to fill out my own paranormal library with as many books on the subject as I can find, especially those pertaining specifically to West Virginia. This book has made a wonderful addition to my library, and was a really fun, fast-paced read as well. 

Jannette includes all the West Virginia favorites, from Mothman to the Flatwoods Monster, with a few more obscure mountain monsters, such as Vegetable Man and the Ghillie Beast of Seneca Rocks, thrown in for good measure. The creepy critters of this book aren't just confined to West Virginia, though. There's also a sampling of nearby cryptids from the surrounding states of Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky. This makes perfect sense, as many times, these monsters don't necessarily recognize our man-made boundary lines. Certain examples, such as the hellhounds and the Snallygaster, have been known to make their home on both sides of the state line. 

As always, Jannette does a wonderful job in giving some background on these creatures, along with sightings reports, both historical and recent. What makes her books really stand out, however, is that she always includes directions and coordinates to optimal places where YOU can visit and perhaps encounter these creatures for yourself. The places listed are public land and usually fairly accessible, with warnings about when and where to avoid private or unsafe locations. Jannette usually visits these locations for herself, so she is able to share the inside scoop for those wishing to check it out.

Further, there are a lot of really fun pictures for each entry. Many of the photos are actual photos of the beautiful, rural areas where so many of these beasts have been reported...but with an added twist. Digitally added depictions of what these creatures are described as are imposed over the real photos, making it a fun little touch that adds a lot to the unique layout of the book. 

Jannette is a prolific writer of the paranormal, featuring many books from West Virginia and surrounding areas. If you'd like to learn more about Monsters, Cryptids, and Mysterious Beasts, check out her website (linked above), find her on Amazon, or simply look for her at one of the many great paranormal conferences held in and around West Virginia and Ohio! Her books are very reasonably priced and super entertaining whether you're an experienced researcher, or just simply interested in the strange and unusual. Jannette is also the sweetest person you'll ever meet, and a joy to chat with in person. But, whether you get to meet her in person, or simply order from the web, I highly recommend adding a few of her books to YOUR personal paranormal library. Stay spooky! 

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The Braxton County Monster: A Wrap-Up

This past week, Theresa's Haunted History has been dedicated to sharing some newspaper articles dating back to the early 1960's involving a Bigfoot-type creature, roaming the hills of West of Virginia. For lack of a better term, these sightings were all lumped under the name, The Braxton County Monster, and for some inexplicable reason, local newspapers tried making connections between these sightings to the infamous Flatwoods Monster sighting of 1952. As terms such as Sasquatch and Bigfoot entered the public vernacular, hairy man sightings across the country started being classified under one big umbrella. Still, here in West Virginia, mentions of the 'Braxton County Monster' lasted well into the 1960's. Here are two final articles that mention the monster---neither of which actually were reported in Braxton County, lol.

On August 23, 1966 The Charleston Daily Mail ran this photo by Ray Wheeler. It showed a series of 2 foot long yellow footprints, which had mysteriously appeared overnight on Montrose Drive in South Charleston. They led from a sewer opening on the curb, went up a hill, and disappeared into a field.  Although alarming to local housewives, police surmised that the footsteps were made by a local fraternity/sorority or some 'mischievous youths'-----NOT the Braxton County Monster as suggested by the article's author. 

This second article is also from The Charleston Daily Mail, dated November 10th, 1967. For two nights, a Grafton mother and her two children were harassed by what they thought was a monster. The family saw two shiny objects, almost like eyes, in a field outside their house, and then some ONE or some THING tried to break in. Cpl. D.L. Lake suggested that it was merely a human prowler, using binoculars to spy on the family, and that the shiny objects observed were just light reflecting off the lenses of the binoculars. The 'peeping tom' was never caught, but again, the author of the article notes that the incident brings back memories of the Braxton County Monster. I think in this case, I'd rather have the monster, as opposed to some person spying on my family with binoculars and trying to break into my house!

Please be sure to check out ALL the posts in this Braxton County Monster Series!

Braxton County's OTHER Monster Seen by Delivery Driver

Braxton Monster Causes Car to Stall in Pocahontas County

New Martinsville Monster

The Braxton Monster: An Explanation

The Marion County Monster: Bigfoot or Hoax?

Flatwoods Wild Man: Original Braxton Monster?

Horror in the Woods: A Braxton Monster Prequel

Braxton County's OTHER Monster Seen by Delivery Driver

From The Charleston Daily Mail, 31 December 1960
Continued below

Just eight years after the infamous events of September 12, 1952, the people of Braxton County and surrounding areas began to chatter about seeing...another monster?

On Friday, December 30th, 1960, Charles Stover was driving the backroads between Braxton and Webster Counties. The 25 year old was finishing up his route, delivering for Dutch Oven Bakeries, and was headed back home. At around 11 p.m., he was in the vicinity of Hickory Flats. As he came around a curve, he spotted a creature on the edge of the road, glaring at him. The creature was "standing erect, with hair all over his face and body." He estimated that it stood about six feet tall. 

Stover stopped his truck a short distance away from the creature, took another look, and found it still standing there, glaring at him before 'roaring off.' Understandably shaken Stover took off and didn't stop until he found a restaurant-filling station still open. He spilled his coffee as he nervously tried to explain to the men in the station what he had seen. They told him that eerie cries had been reported in the woods near that area over the past couple of weeks. Now, with an actual sighting, some of the group decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to witness this thing for themselves. They went home and armed themselves with rifles and shotguns, and traveled out to the spot where Stover had his sighting. Fortunately for the creature, all the men found were some upturned rocks and a couple of 'marks' in the otherwise frozen ground. 

NOT what Stover described

The next morning, Stover's wife reported the incident, which appeared in the Charleston Daily Mail and other papers. She wanted to emphasize that her husband was not drunk. He had really seen SOMETHING that spooked him so bad that he couldn't sleep all that night. She believed him, his boss believed him, and the posse of men believed him, vowing to continue their search for the mysterious hairy beast. 

But what was it that he saw? Obviously, a 6 foot tall, hairy man-creature absolutely does NOT fit the description of the 1952 Flatwoods Monster reported by Kathleen May and others. However, it does sound like a Bigfoot (well, maybe a juvenile or relatively small one). What I find interesting is that not one news source I came across ever used the term 'Bigfoot,' or seemed to make any connection between a Bigfoot-esque creature and what Stover witnessed. The term 'Bigfoot' was coined two years earlier to describe the mysterious creature that had left its oversized footprints in a wooded area of northern California. I guess its possible that the name hadn't yet caught on yet here in central West Virginia, or that local news media simply didn't feel like this WAS a Bigfoot. Maybe they just wanted to cash in on the notoriety of the Flatwoods Monster, which, according to the article in the Daily Mail, sent 10,000 to 15,000 visitors into Braxton County.

 Nevertheless, Stover's sighting wasn't an isolated incident. Over the next year, several interesting monster sightings were reported throughout central and north central West Virginia. Strangely enough, none of these additional monsters were given the Bigfoot moniker either---they were simply the "Braxton County Monster on the move." I'll be sharing some newspaper clippings from these additional sightings throughout the next week...so check back throughout the week for more monster madness! 

The Vegetable Man

West Virginia is a pretty weird place! We've got Mothman. We've got the Grafton Monster. We've got the Flatwoods Monster. We even have Sheepsquatch, the Ogua, and a variety of Bigfoot roaming the hills of our state. But, it terms of weirdness, all these pale in comparison to the story of The Vegetable Man.

Sometimes referred to as the Veggie Man, this absolutely eerie West Virginia creature first appeared in Fortean literature in a 1976 newsletter published by West Virginia's own controversial ufologist, Gray Barker. However, the encounter with the Vegetable Man actually dates back to nearly a decade before.

In July of 1968, a local bow hunter named Jennings Frederick was roaming the woods outside of Fairmont, WV. The U.S. Air Force veteran was hunting woodchucks, unsuccessfully, and was about to head back, when he heard what was described as “high-pitched jabbering, much like that of a recording running at exaggerated speed.”

Just then, Frederick looked up and saw one of the weirdest creatures to ever have been reported in West Virginia, and possibly, the whole country. He described an extremely tall being, well over 7 feet high. Although it was vaguely humanoid in shape, the creature was extremely thin. It's coloring was a yellowish-green, which in my mind creates a picture of a chlorophyll-based stalk of celery!

Long ears and yellow, slanted eyes were also noted, but the most horrifying feature of the creature seems to be its arms. The arms, which were no bigger around than a quarter, ended in what appeared to be three long, slender fingers tapering off into suction cups.

Frederick observed that he thought the being looked sickly, which was confirmed with a strange, telepathic message he received as the whirring, high-pitched jabbering increased. "You need not fear me. I wish to communicate. I come as a friend. We know of you all, I come in peace. I wish medical assistance. I need your help."

Frederick didn't have the opportunity to make sense of what the creature was trying to convey before it reached out and wrapped it's 'hand' around his arm. The suction cups attached to his arm and begin sucking his blood, sending a jolt of pain up his arm. However, as the blood could be seen seeping up through the creature's arm and body, where it reached the yellow eyes and began to swirl and oscillate. This hypnotic effect seemed to alleviate Frederick's pain as it 'fed' on his blood for the next two minutes.

When the Vegetable Man had finished its vampiric feeding of poor Frederick, it sprinted up a steep embankment and disappeared at a supernatural speed, leaving Frederick's arm in pain and with several small wounds where the creature had suckled. Before fleeing the scene himself, Frederick heard what he interpreted as the creature's craft being propelled by a propulsion system.

No one ever saw the Vegetable Man again, and it is understandable why Frederick would wait so long before telling his unbelievably weird story of what seems like a close encounter with an extremely odd creature from another planet.

As an interesting side note, I can confirm that a Jennings Frederick and a Jennings Frederick, Jr. did live in Fairmont, WV. Jennings Frederick, Jr., who went by Skip, did serve in the US Air Force during the Vietnam War and his obituary interestingly notes that he loved art and science, and was known to be able to draw whatever he saw. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2012 at the age of 62.

Further Reading:

Cryptid Wiki---Veggie Man

Vegetable Man: Cryptopia by Rob Morphy. 11 July 2016

The Flat Mountain Beast

This vintage newspaper article comes from a November 26, 1920 edition of the Greenbrier Independent, a paper based in Lewisburg, WV.  It seems as if many believe the 'beast' is an escaped circus gorilla...but could it be something more?  The size and reddish coloring suggest that it could be a Bigfoot, and although I'm not a zoologist, I would think that even with our mountains, a journey from Wheeling to the Lewisburg area would result in a few more reported sightings.  I'll let you decide for yourself, though!  Here's the text as it appears in the original article:

SAW A 'WHAT IS IT.' 

A strange beast is said to have been seen roaming around on Flat Mountain within the past week.  It is said to stand about 6 feet high, apparently weighs 350 pounds, and is of a reddish and blackish color.  The beast, which resembles a gorilla, is said to have a broken chain around its neck.

It is reported that among those who have seen the beast are Opie Wikle and Wm. Hedrick, who live near Broad Run, and that the beast gave him a chase one night about a week ago.  The report of a strange beast of the description noted above has thrown a scare into some of the residents of Flat Mountain and 'Old Betsy' has been greased up in a number of homes and made ready for business.

Several weeks ago a strange beast whose description was not unlike that of the above animal was reported to be roaming one of the mountains of Pocahontas county was neither killed nor captured. The beast seen on Flat Mountain may be the same.  It is reported to have two long upper and and three long lower teeth.

Others are said to have seen the "critter," and have coupled it with a circus wreck said to have happened near Wheeling about three months ago, when a gorilla 5 1-2 feet tall is said to have escaped into Pennsylvania. The beast may have taken to the mountains and started South, which would account for its presence in Pocahontas county and later in this section.  Such explanation is better than none at least, for it is claimed firmly that the animal is not a product of either a vivid or a disordered imagination.---Alderson Advertiser