Lake Michigan Mothman: Review
When I initially learned of The Lake Michigan Mothman, I wasn’t exactly hooked. Mothman? Again? Perhaps it was the preconceived notion I had that Mothman disappeared in 1967 after the Silver Bridge Collapse in Point Pleasant, West Virginia that made me reluctant.
Then I read the prologue- and realized I was wrong.
Less than two years after the Silver Bridge Collapse, winged humanoids were seen through the Midwest continuing to modern day. Mothman hadn’t disappeared, he had moved, and it was this waking nightmare experienced by Floyd Hancock that lured me into Tobias Wayland’s story of mothman like figures sighted in Chicago and the surrounding regions in 2017.
The book is a lean 187 pages, filled with chilling reports of large, black flying humanoids and sketches of what witnesses saw. It is strange, it is terrifying and it is just as inexplicable as the original mothman reports of Point Pleasant. However, what makes this book different from other novelty cryptozoology/fortean books is the researcher.
Tobias Wayland, head writer and editor of Singular Fortean Society, and his wife, Emily (who designed the cover for the book), are the only investigators to have conducted on site investigations combined with witness interviews into the Michigan Mothman sightings. Tobias’ openness with how his research was conducted should be a new standard among books of this nature. “Believers and debunkers alike are enemies of nuance”, a bold statement but true and it serves as the mantra for this book. Tobias never makes it easy for himself and his reluctance to explain a mystery with another mystery (ex: by simply classifying a sighting as a thunderbird) makes him not only a good investigator but a compelling one as well.
Tobias takes you down the terrifying rabbit hole of winged phantoms and glowing red eyes, that draws in thunderbirds, UFOs and other unexplained phenomena into the mix. It is a mystery that raises questions about much more than just mothman, but also the paranormal as a whole. As the book progresses, the idea of winged manlike beings flying around Chicago sounds less like fantasy and more like a terrifying reality.
While Lake Michigan Mothman may not provide a definitive answer to what the winged beings over Chicago were, where they came from or where they went, it ends on a note of hope: that one day we may know the truth of these encounters and we won’t stop searching until we find the answer.
10/10 - grab your copy from Amazon.
And check out Singular Fortean Society: www.singularfortean.com
