The Monsters Of Wisconsin Are Among Us...
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Posted by Nick Redfern, author of "There's Something in the Woods"
http://www.nickredfern.com
For the last few days, our tiny Dallas apartment has been battered by driving rain and howling, horror-film-style winds. Black and ominous-looking clouds loom above us, and plummeting temperatures have been the norm. Indeed, it's just like being back in jolly old England, and, needless to say, I am loving it!
But that's not all: the dark, late night skies and gale-force winds have provided the perfect atmosphere while I've been engrossed in reading Linda Godfrey's new suitably spooky and monster-infested book, Strange Wisconsin. I always very much look forward to a new book from the United States' most famous werewolf slayer.
Well, okay, Linda's not really a werewolf slayer; I exaggerate slightly, I confess. But she has deeply investigated those hairy, howling whatsits and has written two first-class books on the subject: The Beast of Bray Road and Hunting the American Werewolf. But "werewolf slayer" sounds cool, right?
Anyway, I digress. Back to Strange Wisconsin.
The book covers a whole range of subjects from the Badger State: ghosts, crop circles, UFOs, eccentric characters, strange architecture, archaeological mysteries and much more. But it is those puzzles in the book that fall under the heading of "Freaky Fauna" that I wish to draw your attention to.
As you might guess, and as is of course appropriate for this blog, "Freaky Fauna" deals with the many and varied diabolical beasts of a cryptozoological and fantastic nature that roam the darkened woods, fields, roads and lakes of eerie Wisconsin.
Of course this wouldn't be a Linda book without at least a mention of werewolves. And, she does not disappoint. Indeed, barely a couple of pages into the book we are treated to the story of the "Mangy Werewolf" of the Black River Falls - a classic werewolf-style entity of a type that would be perfectly at home on one of those old Hammer horror films of the 1960s.
The "Pig-Men" of Brussels sound like something out of Deliverance; the beast that haunts the pet cemetery at Chilton in Wisconsin's Calumet County is best avoided by those of a nervous disposition; and the story of the "big dead thing" will doubtless frustrate cryptozoologists everywhere, given that the witnesses might actually have let prime evidence for the existence of a cryptid slip through their fingers.
Linda's old arch-foe (okay, another slight literary exaggeration on my part) the Beast of Bray Road puts in an inevitable and welcome appearance, emphasizing that whatever the nature of the creature, it still lurks in the shadows of old Wisconsin.
Interestingly, as Linda reveals, Wisconsin - like so many other states around the US - has its own Goat-Man legend. I have investigated several of these cloven-hoofed man-beasts for myself and I can say for certain that they are a sinister and ominous bunch. And the Goatish-One of Hubertus does not disappoint in the menace-stakes, I am pleased to say.
A possible relation to the werewolf - the Bearwolf - gets several pages devoted to its moonlit antics; the infamous La Crosse Lizard Man surfaces from his watery lair; and one of the most diabolical beasts of Wisconsin, the Man-Bat (also of La Crosse, interestingly enough) drops in to say hello.
Surely the closest thing that Wisconsin has to Point Pleasant's infamous Mothman and Britain's Owlman, the Man-Bat is a large, leathery-winged demon of the night that instills fear and dread in those that cross its path. And it's pretty ugly too. Linda reveals the sighting of the beast by a Cherokee Indian and his son that, for full effect, should most definitely be read at the witching hour on Halloween. Great stuff!
Jenny, Geneva Lake's own version of Nessie makes the pages of Strange Wisconsin too - and there is an interesting discussion of the possibility that Jenny may very well be a supernatural entity, rather than, say, a giant eel or a surviving dinosaur.
Of course, that most famous of all monsters, Bigfoot, has also reputedly made Wisconsin its home; and Strange Wisconsin is full of the tales of the Chequamegon Bigfoot; the hairy man of Marshfield; and the Palmyra Bluff Monster. Again, however, there are indications that some of these Bigfoot may not be the straightforward flesh-and-blood creatures that many assume them to be. Indeed, the Lima Marsh Monster sounds positively ominous - creeping around in the wilds at night and almost psychically warning people to keep away.
Monsters aside, two of my favorite stories in the book are those that deal with the "State Street Demon Thing" (who would surely have been right at home in the 2004 remake of George Romero's Dawn of the Dead), and that of the chap who had the incredibly bad luck to be killed by a flying cow! No-one can say that the Grim Reaper lacks a sense of humor...
So, in conclusion, if you want to learn all about the monstrous and macabre beasts that can be found deep in the heart of the Badger State - and whether your interests are in the field of werewolves, Bigfoot, lake-monsters, flying winged things, or just the paranormal and the weird in general - Linda Godfrey's Strange Wisconsin is a great, atmospheric, excellently written book that will inform and entertain in equal measures.
And for full effect, ensure that you read the book late at night, by the light of a flickering candle and with only the moon, the dark skies and the creatures of the night for company...
