Mothman Festival

[Photo: Kevin Kelly/Point Pleasant Register]

"It's time again for the Mothman Festival! This weekend! Yeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiiipeee!" -- Roberta of WVa

The 3rd Annual Mothman Festival is taking place in downtown Point Pleasant, West Virginia on Saturday and Sunday September 18th and 19th. If you're lucky to attend, maybe the Mothman will pose for a photo with your kids.

The festival seems to have turned into a sort of early Halloween celebration; considering the horrific nature of what the local folks are celebrating, it makes sense:

For thirteen months the entire town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia was gripped by a dark terror that culminated in a tragedy that made headlines all over the world. This is a story that contains all the elements of a modern science fiction movie but every single word is true and fully documented...

Homes throughout the little towns were plagued with unearthly noises and ghostly manifestations while mysterious aerial lights traveled silently overhead seemingly on a regular schedule. Winged monsters and frightening apparitions terrified the population as automobiles stalled and telephones and TV sets ran amok. A Red Cross Bloodmobile filled with fresh blood was pursued along a darkened highway by a weird flying machine. Domestic animals were found slaughtered and mutilated in pastoral farm fields. Innocent people lived in surrealistic horror, haunted by the fearsome demonic "Bird" and besieged by legions of strange beings (some of which arrived in ordinary-looking automobiles).

-- John A. Keel, "The Mothman Prophecies"

Click to read about the Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.