The Mothman Is A Fake

This story was originally written around '16/'17 for a fanzine showcasing artwork and short form text with the theme of urban legends and monsters. It was the same editor as the previous story and thus met the same fate.

Where I live people believe in the Mothman, that mythical winged man that swoops down from the heavens and causes all kinds of catastrophe. But it’s simply not true. A myth, legend, fake. And I’ll tell you why.


I was walking home one night in the woods near my house. I heard some leaves rustling but thought nothing of it at first. Then suddenly in the path in front of me was a 7’ tall man wearing a cloak. I couldn't see his face but I knew he was staring daggers. I stopped in my tracks, started backing away slowly. Then out of nowhere he threw his head back, emitted an ear piercing shriek and took off straight up into the air. See, that was no cloak, it was wings wrapped around him. Leathery, black bat wings.


See, fake. The Mothman isn’t a moth, he’s a bat. A bat-man, or man-bat if you will. This whole town is full of fakes.

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