Point Pleasant, West Virginia just hosted its annual Mothman Festival, a celebration of the creepy cryptid that some claim visited the town in the mid-1960s and brought a trail of Fortean weirdness with it. The first festival took place in 2002 after the release of The Mothman Prophecies film, based loosely on John Keel's classic 1975 book. (More information on Mothman can be found in the book Mothman and Other Curious Encounters by Loren Coleman, my cryptoozologist pal who so kindly sent me this link.) From the Huntington, WV Herald-Dispatch:
With a goal of jump-starting the town's economy, the festival was originally a way to capitalize on the "Mecca of history and genealogy," in the area, said Hilda Austin, executive director for the Mason County Area Chamber of Commerce.
Sisters Melanie Dudding and Kathy Jeffers of Pomeroy, Ohio, along with mother Shirley Simmons, returned to the festival out of intrigue. The sisters remember hearing the story of the Mothman growing up."I remember as a child, it frightened me to death," Dudding said. "We are all interested in things like this, and we really want to see the Mothman but never have. It seems like only people who really don't want to see him do, but we really want to see him."
