Some Mothman Flash Fiction
I can’t remember the last time I dipped my taloned-toes in the flash fiction waters. Which is why it’s high time I get to it. Unfamiliar with flash fiction? (and no, it’s not me writing as I run around the house dressed like the Flash). It’s basically a short, rabbit punch of a story that can be as little as 100 words, or even less. There’s a great article on flash fiction here.
I’m starting off with a piece that is directly related to my book, Shadow of the Mothman, that I’ve titled BOXES. It takes place just as the calamitous collapse of the Silver Bridge is unfolding. I hope you like it.
Boxes wrapped in a holiday explosion of colors bob on the surface of the roiling water. They float amongst the sinking cars and wailing, desperate people. An icy gist of wind at Hank’s back nearly knocks him into the freezing river. His wife snatches his collar.
“Run!”
Hank should be sprinting for the end of the bridge that isn’t swaying like a drunk and groaning like a wounded, metal behemoth.
A man gripping a boy breaks the surface of the Ohio. Hank wonders why he pushes the unconscious boy away.
Until the chunk of concrete and steel drives the man under.
“He ain’t coming back,” Hank says. A whisper of steam coils from his parted lips.
“Jesus, he ain’t coming back.”
I think I’m going to have some fun writing more flash fiction pieces with other crytpids, as well as UFOs/aliens, ghosts, and maybe some Jessica Backman further adventures. Stay tuned!
New Cryptid Thriller Release – SHADOW OF THE MOTHMAN Haunts Bookshelves
Years after writing books about a host of cryptids – Skunk Apes, Bigfoot, Orang Pendek, Loch Ness Monster, Montauk Monsters, Jersey Devils, Goat Man, Dover Demon and so many more – it was time I finally sat down to write my own Mothman tale. The issue for me always was, the Mothman story from 1967 in Point Pleasant in WV, as chronicled in John Keel’s Mothman Prophecies, is more than just a creepy winged beast lurking in the night skies. It’s literally the whole dang paranormal kitchen sink!
I’ve spent the better part of the last decade trying to come up with a Mothman story I felt was worthy of the bizarre events the people of Point Pleasant experienced. I’m talking about 50-plus concepts that just never floated my cryptid boat. Then, this summer, I had a kernel of an idea that piqued my interest. I said to myself, “Just sit down and write and shut the doubt out of your giant Irish head.” I figured I would write a wild little novella in the vein of To The Devil, A Cryptid. Then I just kept writing, and the book kept growing, until I had a full-fledged novel on my hands.
The question that sparked the idea was – What if a survivor of the Silver Bridge collapse, someone who was not part of the Mothman flap, survived, but was in a coma, waking up in the early 80s, only to find the creature and all of its high strangeness had followed him to his home?
Because any monster book is really about the people, I set the story in a fictionalized MA town based on the one my wife’s grandparents lived in and we would visit every year. I’m talking no-nonsense, salt of the earth types who have zero flights of fancy. How would they react to such a thing? The story revolves around the Silver Bridge survivor, Ken Orsulak, who’s family car plunged into the icy Ohio River when he was 16, and now finds himself a 32 year old man out of time. He’s grappling with the loss of his youth as well as a terrifying mystery that’s taken over the town.
Last but not least, I wanted to write about my favorite stalwart reporter, John Keel himself! It was time to make him a character in the meta tale about the cryptid he had made infamous. He was the real-life Karl Kolchak and deserves more love and attention from folks in my circle.
So there you have it – the inspiration behind SHADOW OF THE MOTHMAN. It’s finally out of my head and now out there for you to grab in ebook or paperback (with audio on the horizon).
I hope you enjoy my take on Mothman! For me, the best part of this is that it’s now mandatory that I take part in the annual Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant. Hope to see you there in September.
If you dig the book, please drop a quick review/rating on Amazon. It’ll keep ol Mothy happy…and you don’t want an angry Mothy patrolling the skies!
Hunter Shea 