Cryptid craze: West Virginia’s folklore festivals show the shift from marginal to mainstream

POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. 一 Lila More adjusted her Mothman hoodie and flexed her foam claws as she walked her way through the local vendors in downtown Point Pleasant. The air filled with the scent of kettle corn and the sound of banjo music as thousands of guests crowd the small town's center. 

More is from Jacksonville, Florida, and said that after visiting the Mothman festival two years ago, she now enjoys travelling to what she calls “weird cryptid towns,” like Point Pleasant. More traveled 700 miles in September to attend the West Virginia Mothman festival.

“Every state, every culture, even religions have a different cryptid,” she said. “Everything co-exists, but it's all different.”

Legend has it that Mothman was originally spotted in Point Pleasant in 1967, when a large winged creature with glowing red eyes was seen leading up to the collapse of the Silver Bridge. The creature became locally believed to be a harbinger of death.

Tourists, like More, came from all over the U.S. to attend the festival, which has seen nationwide recognition as cryptids and the folklore surrounding them have gained mainstream traction.

Cryptid culture in West Virginia goes beyond Mothman. Festivals celebrating other cryptids have begun popping up across the state.

Marion County hosts a "Veggieman Festival” to honor a cryptid that was spotted in Fairmont in 1968. The 7-foot-tall “man-like being” appeared to be made entirely of vegetables. 

Taylor County also recently began hosting a Grafton Monster festival to commemorate the 1964 sighting of the 9-foot-tall, ape-like being. 

These festivals are just one way that West Virginians celebrate the unique aspects of their culture. In addition to the festivals, there are several museums, statues and artworks throughout the state depicting what are now vital pieces of the state's folklore. 

Though the tales of cryptid sightings weren’t always celebrated, Trinity Brown, a longtime employee of the Flatwoods Monster museum and Braxton County native, was raised knowing the lore of the Flatwoods Monster and said she remembers being handed a coloring sheet of the cryptid in third grade. 

She said that the Flatwoods Monster saw a drastic shift in popularity in their community around the ’70s when the children who spotted it originally began embracing it. 

Freddie and Eddie May, along with their friend Tommy Hyer, were the first to spot what is believed to be the Flatwoods Monster in 1952, as the boys saw a bright streak across the sky and crash into a nearby hillside, according to Brown. 

The May family and a group of locals went to the crash site to investigate where they spotted a tall, glowing creature with a spade shaped head, claw-like hands and eyes that glowed red in the dark.

Brown said that the community shunned many of the people who originally spotted these paranormal beings. 

“That poor family was extremely ostracized, and no one wanted to talk about it. People were afraid of it,” Brown said of the Mays. “Now, throughout the years, it has changed into people having piqued interest in it, and it really helps build a community together.”

In the 1970s, Freddie and Eddie May began to alter the social stigma around the family when the boys started to publicly embrace the encounter. Even participating in street drag races under the nickname "The Flatwoods ground pounders."

Brown said that outside of the Braxton community, the Flatwoods Monster and other local cryptids found mainstream popularity largely through video games.

“Not only is Fallout [76] one of the games, but the Flatwoods Monster is also in Legends of Zelda,” Brown said. “I think video games have been a big thing to interest people and help with viewing these creatures in a different light.” 

Fallout 76, which is set in post-apocalyptic West Virginia, features locations throughout the state and highlights cryptid lore, including the Mothman. The fanbase surrounding the video game has been instrumental in popularizing both popular locations in the state but also major folklore.

At the Mothman festival in September, hundreds of attendees came to Point Pleasant dressed as Fallout characters, to celebrate their video game community.

Lydia Warren, director of the Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center at Fairmont State University, said that Fallout and other video games have had a positive impact on tourism in the state.

“I think all of the cryptids are becoming more well-known because so many people online are interested in them,” Warren said. “People are coming to West Virginia and walking around looking for the place where the Grafton Monster was first seen, or they’re visiting Helvetia because Fasnacht is in Fallout.”

According to the West Virginia Department of Tourism, tourism’s economic impact on the state in 2024, surpassed $9.1 billion for the first time. Visitor numbers reached 77.2 million, with tourists directly spending a record $6.6 billion — a 4.1% increase from the previous year.

Lauren Bodnar, the director of public relations and strategic partnership at the Department of Tourism, said that fall festivals are a major draw for the state, and the creation of the paranormal trail came in response to the growing popularity of cryptid and spooky tourism.

Brown said that the Flatwoods Museum in Sutton sees visitors from all over the country, but also internationally, with a lot of the museum's memorabilia coming from Japan and even Germany. 

“The fact that we might have these creepy creatures just around and in the woods, it adds to that eeriness," Brown said. “It attracts people to it, and they want to learn more. It helps massively with tourism, and it has shaped West Virginia to be so wild and wonderful.”

Additionally, many artists said these festivals and other events like it bring in a large number of customers. 

Cory Seymour, owner of Seymour’s Captive Cryptids and a vendor at the Mothman festival, makes latex cryptid-themed masks – a skill he said he learned through watching YouTube tutorials. 

Seymour said that when he first began making masks, he would create original monsters but quickly saw a bigger market in the cryptid community. 

“I had someone come up to me, another mask maker, and he said, ‘your masks are really good, your prices are really good, but people want to buy something that they know,’” he said. “And then I figured what is something I could make and put my own spin on, and I figured cryptids.” 

Seymour also said that the Mothman Festival is where he earns the bulk of his mask sales. 

However, financials are not the main reason cryptid festivals are popular. 

Chris Grimm, of the Huntington-based Paranormal Investigative Team, said that he comes to these cryptid festivals for the community. 

“You would not see people walk down with ears, tales and a bunch of tattoos and piercings,” Grimm said. “Things like this make people feel more comfortable expressing who they are.”

As thousands continue to flock to Point Pleasant and other small towns each fall, these West Virginian stories which were once-feared legends, have now found their footing in pop culture. 

These creatures are viewed as a celebration of creativity, identity and community. 

Regan Duceman contributed to this report.