A quick doodle I made of mothman
Based on the song Butterfly by Marina
#artwork #drawing #illustration #painting #mothman #cryptids #kainoh #cainomura #character art #original character #character design #orange #art #my art #digital art #digital painting #moth
I have to find these!!! I need them! Is there anyone out there who has seen these in the flesh? Or in the moth? #mothman #potatochips #wva
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:baz3nw2zdnyfllf2prg76ukv/post/3mcn62zm56s2l
pray for the dead fight like hell for the living #uspol #fuckice #mothman #meme #worldpolitics
CRYPTID MINI PLUSH Has now LAUNCHED! Love #cryptids? want cute #plush well help us fund a small collection of plush and pins! www.backerkit.com/c/projects/b...
Finally, the official portrait for Mircea Clendenin! Isn't he adorable? Mircea is practically impossible to kill, whether he wants to or not: his body automatically responds to attacks, forming energy shields or passing through solid objects, like a ghost.
https://fantasydiario.blogspot.com/2024/06/personaggi-mircea-clendenin.html
Some sketches of expressions and possible hairstyles for our mothman, Mircea Clendenin. On the top row he's on second stage, on the bottom row he's on the third (or last) stage, when he finally has the complete mane.
He has pretty wide wings.
Just a quick little sketch of our Mothman, Mircea Clendenin.
https://fantasydiario.blogspot.com/2024/06/personaggi-mircea-clendenin.html
After his transformation, Mircea began to consume almost exclusively sugary liquids. The mere smell of this type of food is enough to make him start salivating.
He's our personal weird Mothman, Mircea Clendenin!
https://fantasydiario.blogspot.com/2024/06/personaggi-mircea-clendenin.html
During his hours of rest, the laboratory staff restrains Mircea with a straight jacket and with chains: this might seem like a way to protect the scientists from him, but in reality it is to prevent him from hurting himself.
His eyes no longer have eyelids like human ones, but only a semi-transparent nictitating membrane; even during sleep, Mircea's eyes appear fully open unless examined closely. All his body fluids, including saliva and tears, are of a more or less intense red color.
The Tragedy of the Cryptids
Why are many cryptid tales associated with tragedy? Or, why are certain tragedies linked to cryptids? Some might say a cryptid is a curse, but it more likely is a symbol of the things we fear or about which we are anxious or guilty. There are plenty of examples.
Blaming the cryptid
It was Christmas, 2024. Two Oregon men âfailed to return from a trip to look for Sasquatchâ in the Gifford Pinchot Forest in Washington, authorities said. Rescuers spent Christmas facing dangerous conditions during the search until the men were found deceased. From the news reports, the two apparently were not equipped for the cold and wet weather.
It was never made clear if they were on a Bigfoot hunting excursion or just out for a short Holiday hike. The Bigfoot connection may have just been a flippant comment they made regarding their trip, or perhaps they were cryptid enthusiasts who hoped to glimpse the creature in an area with reported encounters. The unfortunate outcome was subsequently linked with the cryptid, often in headlines, which seemed to be out of proportion, as if belief in Bigfoot was the cause of death. Several commenters on the news stories, unsurprisingly, were cruel, mocking the men based on speculation about their behavior. Worse than that, some people took the tragedy even farther by saying that the men didnât die from exposure, but from some other cause that officials are covering up. This is one of several examples of cryptids connected to tragedy.
There are various examples of cryptids associated with curses, death or destruction. This is unsurprising considering that cryptids are legends, and legends often have morbid twists as part of the drama. But the more surprising cryptid connections occur when the creature is celebrated in spite of or as part of the tragedy. The primary examples of these are stark: Mothman and the Pope Lick Monster. As noted in previous posts in this series, Mothman is the enigmatic, winged humanoid and the Pope Lick Monster is a Goatman. Letâs start with the cursed, evil, but maybe useful, highly-celebrated, harbinger of doom: Mothman.
AI art screengrabbed from a bad TikTok. (Not sorry.)Mothman and the Silver Bridge
On December 15, 1967, the Silver Bridge across the Ohio River, connecting Point Pleasant, WV to Gallipolis, OH collapsed. Most people know this terrible story: rush hour, forty-six people perished as their cars plunged into the icy water. The official investigation pegged the eye-bar failure. Lack of engineering redundancy meant the structure failed with it. However, the legend evolved to either blame the Mothman or its curse, or credit the creature as a warning of approaching doom.
Many people also know that the Mothman Festival is a big deal, drawing over 10,000 vistors to the small town every year to celebrate the big bird-moth-like being. How did we get from such heart-breaking tragedy to a giant town party with cosplayers and a shiny fantastical statue in the center square?
In 2008, Joseph Laycock, a scholar of religious studies, and sometimes of monsters, wrote about the weird acceptance by Point Pleasant of a legend that caused the town such pain and gave it a dark reputation. (Cite: Fieldwork in Religion, 3.1, 2008) To start, we must consider the context of the town of Point Pleasant.
So frequently, cryptid tales are backdated to the time when white settlers encountered the indigenous peoples. (Thatâs itâs own tragic tale â the lands haunted by Mothman and many other cryptids belonged to indigenous people who often were misappropriated by a manufactured legend, or erased entirely.) During the Revolutionary War times, a battle between the Virginians and the natives resulted in the death of the Shawnee Chief Cornstalk, who was murdered as a result of a diplomatic mission to Fort Randolph. Legend is that he cursed the land. Eventually, Cornstalk and Mothman legends were associated.
Prior to the bridge tragedy, the town suffered an economic downturn, flooding events, and a nearby mining disaster.
In the âYear of the Garudaâ as labeled by The Mothman Prophecies author John Keel, the town was plagued by not only the monster, but by UFO sightings and the appearance of strangers, dubbed Men In Black by Keel. The MIB reportedly intimidated, threatened, robbed and assaulted the locals. If you lived in Point Pleasant at this time, you may have been threatened more by the UFO reports than the âmonsterâ. Newspaper reporting leans much less on the âBig Birdâ and more on the rash of UFO claims during this time. Keelâs book, from 1972, reframed the Mothman-UFO flap as a time and place of âhigh strangenessâ with the Mothman as the star. (Cite: Dr. Jeb Card, personal comm.) [Addition: Corroborated by Richard Estep who said locals did not connect the bridge disaster to the âBig Black Birdâ at the time, either. See MonsterTalk.]
With the collapse of the Bridge, the Mothman essentially disappeared from sight. The community, left in shock, tried to make sense of the disaster. Laycock notes that Mothman would have remained âa local demonâ if the bridge collapse didnât happen. But the association propelled Mothman from a mysterious menace to a supernatural death messenger â like that of the Irish Banshee. Mothman perhaps helped to fill in the vacuum of meaning felt by the residents as they struggled to move past the disaster.
In later decades, Mothman moved from being a threat to being a symbol of the townâs identity â its âmonstrous patronâ. While the Mothman now has a gleaming anthropomorphic statue in a prominent location in town, and its own museum, festival, and traditions, the people who died at the Silver Bridge are less commemorated. The bridge event was situated in service to the Mothman, who became the spirit of the town. With a boost from the 2002 film that rejuvenated the tale, and the growing embrace of Pop Cryptids nationwide, Point Pleasant treated the winged monster much like a religious icon that was viewed with sacred meaning. Mothman symbolized events that shook their town beyond their control.
I would gladly become a monstrous patron of a capable scholar who could write the definitive bio of Mothman and his impact â itâs crazy stuff.
Pope Lick Monster
The Fisherville area of Louisville, Kentucky, location of the train trestle associated with the Pope Lick monster, has a love/hate relationship with the infamous goatman. Legend tripping teens and tourists bypass the fences and warnings in an attempting to traverse the active train trestle bridge (which is 90 feet high and 772 long) to have their own experience. I could not get an accurate count of the dead, but, since 1968, it appears that at least 10 people have been killed by trains crossing the bridge or falling from the bridge to avoid a train. Several more were injured or nearly killed.
As with Mothman, a film boosted the legend. The 1988 short film The Legend of the Pope Lick Monster by local Ron Schildknecht put it into an easily relatable package, introducing the idea that the goatman can hypnotize you, and suggesting that you can hang from the bridge while the train passed (few people have the strength to do this). Thanks to worldwide connectivity networks, the legend spread beyond the town, becoming an attraction for thrill seekers.
Some sources say that Schildknecht regrets that the film added to the lore and that he didnât intend to make dangerous trespassing a fad. But Iâm getting mixed messages. In what seems like a brazen affront to those that have been hurt or killed, the filmmakerâs website features quotes by the Norfolk Southern Railroad about the film,
âIt undermines our efforts on behalf of safety when movies like this are made.â
â spokesman for Norfolk Southern Corp.
The festival to celebrate the Pope Lick Monster legend is fairly new. There is also a Halloween attraction (that mentions the Schildknecht name associated with the sensationalized origin story). This all feels disrespectful to the memory of those who died and perhaps increases the odds that more people visit and venture into harmâs way. Supporters of the events say they donât celebrate the darkness. Iâm not sold. Imagine if you were part of an affected family witnessing a yearly entertainment event centered on the legend and location where your child met their demise. This controversy seems to be dividing the community. Sadly, cryptid capitalism will likely win out.
Because of its location, the area around the creek is said to be cursed land because of the bloodshed that occurred from removal of the native people. Do these communities still struggle with the guilt of history, past and current? Does the heavy weight of industrialism and depression help create the âmonsterâ that haunts the town? By using monstrous symbols, communities try to find a way to compartmentalize, process, and move on.
The Pope Lick Monster appears to be the cryptid with the highest death count. Of course, no one was really killed by the goatman. It is a choice to make the effort to put oneself in harms way.
I recommend checking out Episode 3 of Out There: Crimes of the Paranormal, a recent series that covered the despair of those left to deal with the Pope Lick reputation.
Linking cryptids
Cryptid legends, when examined in depth, can reveal tragic connections that the casually interested person would not typically notice. Iâve collected more examples.
Capitalizing on tragedy
There are not unreasonable arguments on both sides of the debate regarding capitalizing on past tragedies via cryptid festivals. Are cryptid festivals like those in Point Pleasant, WV and Fisherville, KY capitalizing on the deaths of others? Or are they serving as complex social means of moving beyond the haunted town histories? There likely are some instances where the intent was positive, to memorialize the tragedy in a respectful way, that later got out of control. And I have inklings that this conflict also occurs in other cultures, where monsters represent real tragedies.
The list above certainly has additional examples. Ghost stories are frequently a means of remembering a death or an unresolved tragedy or crime. Another example of banking on dark history is the commercialization of the town of Salem, where 25 people suffered and died in the witch trials that became the basis of a tourism branding as the tasteless and tacky âwitch cityâ.
Itâs difficult and often entirely inappropriate to police or suppress art (including books, films, etc.) and social responses to trauma. People will attempt to rationalize a disaster even via seemingly irrational scapegoats.
It can be difficult to reject participating in an interesting modern event because it is tainted by the events of the past. Culture evolves where we recreate or reenvision the past with a new framing. I donât know that there is a right answer here â each person will have their own response. Itâs imperative, however, that we not let the history of the tragedies be ignored, forgotten, or overtaken entirely by cryptid legends.
This is post 8 of the 12 Days of Cryptids.
#12DaysOfCryptids #Bigfoot #cryptidFestival #LandBetweenTheLakesBeast #Missing411 #mothman #PopeLickMonster #tragicCryptids #wendigo
by Oliver Hamlin
Winged Humanoids
Itâs hard to see details of an object that is flying in the sky. It is difficult to determine if it is a typical crow-sized bird close by or a monstrously large thing far away. Yet, there exist many claims of winged humanoids. They are not birds, witnesses say, but man-birds, or man-bats. In this piece, Iâm skimming the surface of the several infamous reports of large humanoid figures with wings.
In terms of zoological cryptids, there arenât many options we can consider as explanations. Flying things can only get so big. Flying mammals get no larger than flying foxes, which are not close to human size. It takes an incredible amount of energy to get a body airborne, especially a muscular human form, as some have described these âwinged weirdosâ. Birds, and ancient pterosaurs which were the largest flying creatures ever, have a lighter skeletal structure, and used wind to give them lift.
The logical associated categories to this topic is that of giant birds or claims of prehistoric survivors. But Iâm sticking to the human-like winged figures because it challenges the boundaries of zoology-based cryptozoology, and it has become incredibly popular in terms of culturally-relevant cryptids.
Mothman
What hasnât been said about Mothman? Probably nothing new. But all of it hasnât been distilled into one place. (Mothman could sure use a comprehensive biography!)
Mothman is an enigma that frightened the first witnesses in 1966. Disputed as a proper âcryptidâ because it is so deeply associated with paranormal and âhigh strangenessâ themes, only in the early days was it potentially explained as a crane or owl.
John Keel, the Fortean writer, transformed the Mothman of Point Pleasant, WV into the spooky superstar it eventually became, by publishing The Mothman Prophecies. The story woven around the emblematic winged humanoid included UFOs, otherworldly beings, unusual physical and mental phenomena, and eventually a tragedy in the collapse of the Silver bridge in Point Pleasant, West Virginia at the end of 1967.
Note: The Mothman was not originally described by witnesses as having moth features, but was clearly said to be bird-like.
The movie from 2002, loosely based on Keelâs book, not only re-popularized the legend, but also added manufactured pieces to it that people now accept as genuine. The Internet culture, particularly the LGBTQ and cosplay communities, have embraced Mothman as an icon. The town of Point Pleasant itself hosts a popular statue of a muscular, man-like, insectoid creature at a prominent place in town, a local museum for Mothman memorabilia, and an extremely popular town festival. The outrageous success of the festival was the impetus for dozens of other cryptid town festivals worldwide.
These photos appeared in local WV news in November 2016, close to the day of the 50th anniversary of the first Mothman witnesses coming forward. They appear to show a bird-sized creature possibly carrying something with its feet. But the media wanted to believe that it was the Mothman returning for a visit.In 2011, another Mothman flap, fueled by the media (and astoundingly uncritical paranormal websites), took off in the Chicago area. The incidents failed to carry the spooky seriousness of the original.
Mothman became the poster cryptid for the commodification of a town monster (no matter the associated tragedy). Its popularity translated to online forums, art/craft sites, and merchandise sales, making it the perfect Pop Cryptid. The question of what the Mothman phenomenon was is now secondary to its commercialization. No one currently seems to focus on a naturalistic explanation because the character of Mothman and the lore has blown past the bounds of mystery solving. The mystery is the sole point.
Owlman
In Cornwall, England, the Mawnan churchyard was the location for two sightings of an Owlman. In April 1976, two young sisters described a feathered birdman hovering around the church steeple. Three months later, a different pair of young girls, camping nearby, also saw a bird man, the size of a full-grown human. Similar to the Mothman accounts, the creature was said to rise âstraight upâ. These encounters were reported to the local press. Two years later, two other incidents were reported of bird-men around the Mawnan churchyard.
Janet and Colin Bord actively collected and wrote about these kinds of strange events, mostly in the UK. Their angle was to portray the incidents as related to earth energies or ancient sacred sites that somehow allowed the manifestation of strange creatures and happenings. They were helped along by others who injected ideas of magic and supernatural ideas into the tales.
When we are dealing with human-bird hybrid creatures, itâs difficult to continue serious discussion in a zoological sense. Thus, the winged humanoid themes have veered into the category of âzooformâ phenomenon â supernatural entities in a superficially animal form.
A more folkloric version of a giant owl man comes from Canada, related over a century before that of Cornwall. The first written account of a winged man with tiny features, but huge luminous eyes appeared in Sault St. Marie, 1811. Newspapers reported farmers and girls encountering the creature. The stories of an owl man in Canada may have been influenced by Native tales of giant owls, or shamans that could change into owls.
Batsquatch
âWhile there are many tales of Batsquatch, they are all a bit hazy on the details,â says the website for Rogueâs Batsquatch Hazy IPA (beer). The Batsquatch is a hairy flying humanoid from the Pacific Northwest typically described as big and muscular with yellow eyes, sharp teeth, tufted ears, clawed feet and bright blue fur. So, yeah, weâve definitely taken an extreme left turn out of zoology with this one that sounds more like a comic villain or cartoon character than anything else.
As many of these tales go, we begin with a teen driving at night in an isolated area. Brian Canfield, 18, had an encounter near Tacoma, Washington, in 1994. Reported in the News Tribune, it kicked off the Batsquatch legend. The engine in his pickup truck failed while driving around 9:30 PM. Illuminated in the headlights, he saw a monstrous figure land on the dusty road ahead. It didnât approach and ultimately flapped away. Then the engine miraculously restarted. Upon reaching home and telling his parents, they could see he was upset. They drove back to the location but found nothing. According to researcher Linda Godfrey (American Monsters), Canfield said he coined the name Batsquatch, a drawing of which accompanied his initial newspaper interview.
After this, other people claimed they saw a similar or smaller creature in the west and even in the Midwestern US. Iâve seen it mentioned as showing up at Mt Shasta and Mt Rainier. These stories, however, arenât coming from sources I can readily find. They seem to be showing up on monster TV shows, or websites without attribution. A particularly retro take seems entirely manufactured â that of the bat creatures being ejected from their home around Mt St Helens when the volcano erupted in 1980. From the Pacific Sentinel:
âŚwith ash clouds still drifting through the air, stories began to emerge of a strange winged beast seen flying around the eruption site. Witnesses described an apelike body with large, leathery wings and a pair of glowing red eyes.
The above is an unsourced claim. And non-credible. I cannot find any document that tells of this legend. It appears to have been manufactured after Canfieldâs incident. (If anyone has a source that exists prior to the 1994 coining of the term, please let me know.) Later reports claimed Batsquatch looked like winged vampires from modern movies. Batsquatch is now a darling of the Pop Cryptid world â right where he belongs.
Conclusion
Flying humanoid stories exist around the world. I canât even begin to describe the numerous terrifying and gruesome ones that are known from Asia. So Iâll leave to your own research if so inclined.
Janet and Colin Bord logged some episodes that predated Mothman:
And, one that postdated: Three US Marines saw a glowing, flying bird-woman in the summer of 1969 while stationed in Vietnam. There have since been many more. I doubt we will ever be free of them in some form. The idea of a flying magical human or animal hybrid seems innate to human cultures.
George Eberhart, cryptid librarian extraordinaire, deliberately excluded angels from his Mysterious Creatures double volume encyclopedia, so I didnât include them here either. Yet, if some people are considering flying humanoids as demons, how can we exclude the angels? However, people who report winged humanoids are doing so in, at least, a semi-objective context. That is, in terms of weird encounters, not religious ones. But, really, we canât know anything for sure about what people really saw.
Flying humanoids donât make any sense. So, for believers, the only logically illogical turn is towards a non-natural explanation.
This post is part 4 of the 12 days of Cryptids.
#12DaysOfCryptids #Batsquatch #flyingHumanoids #mothman #mysteriousCreatures #owlman
Mothmanâs Glowing Red Eyes Explained: Tapetum Lucidum Scientific Theory #mothman #mothmansighting #pointpleasant #WestVirginia #cryptid #creature https://www.gsnsp.com/mothman-red-eyes-tapetum-lucidum-scientific-theory/
Merry Cryptmas~ đ´â˝đ´â¨
Mothman doodle inspired by chat last stream
Don't miss out on your chance to get some really cool gifts! My 2026 #cryptid calendars are only available for a limited time at shawnlangley.myshopify.com, and you can also get some of my #mothman playing cards there! Each features my original art of various creepy cryptid creatures!
So, @blockforest , I had been saving your #MothMan block print card for a special occasion, and now that occasion is here. The International #Cryptozoology Museum is moving to #BangorME, so I am donating your lovely card as well as a Moth Man plush to the museum for their new digs! (They are currently in #PortlandME, but are moving next year). I'm sure they will find a nice spot in the Moth Man exhibit for these new items!
#MothManCards #BlockPrints #Art #MothManPlush #Squishables #InternationalCryptolozoologyMuseum
One of my #Mothman: Blood Moon illustrations, now a featured page in my 2026 #cryptid calendars! Available at shawnlangley.myshopify.com
The original art was created using Pentel brush pens, Yasutomo inks and acrylic paint on canvas, and this reproduction captures that look perfectly.
Also available as a personally signed 11x17" print!
