Book Review: The Mothman Prophecies
May 8, 2008 by Dean
John Keel’s examination of the strange events in and around Point Pleasant, West Virginia, in the mid-sixties deserves its status as a classic of Fortean literature. Keel, a renowned UFO and paranormal researcher, fills the pages of this book with accounts of weird lights in the sky, sightings of strange creatures and encounters with Men in Black.
At the center of all these are the reports of the Mothman, a large humanoid creature with red eyes that terrorized the area for about a year beginning in 1966. Residents from all walks of life claimed to have seen the creature that year and into 1967. As suddenly as the creature appeared, it seemed to vanish. Reports eventually just stopped coming in.
The book was made into a film in 2002 that in no way does justice to Keel’s work. After reading the book, it’s obvious that no movie could.
Though the book does not have a strong narrative and Keel is given to wide digressions, these faults are more than made up for by the author’s encyclopedic knowledge of the paranormal, the color and liveliness of his writing, and the suspense he is able to create as he writes himself into the story as a first-hand witness to many of the bizarre phenomena he relays.
The strongest aspect of the book may be Keel’s philosophical ruminations about the nature of reality, especially of the mind. Keel was one of the first UFOlogists to reject the idea that UFO’s were ships from outer space and that contactees were really meeting space people. He is critical of the scientific materialism that gives rise to the idea of aliens from other planets. Instead, he suggests beings who exist on a different, perhaps spiritual, plane of reality are manipulating contactees’ minds. In so doing, Keel offers a theory that fits the evidence better and is consonant with a Christian worldview. Highly recommended.
Well, Keel certainly told a decent story, I’ll give him that.
I’ve spent the last five years researching and writing a paranormal novel, SO DARK THE NIGHT, and had the opportunity to read a vast amount of literature on the occult and otherworldly events. Nothing I read passed the rigor of sound, scientific investigation but it sure inspired some cool ideas I could riff on.
(SO DARK THE NIGHT is available for free downloading on my site.)
Thanks for the comment, Cliff.
I don’t know what the rigor of sound, scientific investigation is. I know what people think it is. But I think the whole construct is often wrong.
I guess I meant that too much of the paranormal or occult-related material has been prepared by hoaxers, charlatans or the overly credulous. That takes away the credibility from more serious researchers like Colin Wilson.
I guess it comes down to a matter of faith, an insurmountable obstacle for informed and objective debate. My reading on the Mothman episode left no doubt in my mind that Keel made the whole thing up but, as I said, it made a helluva story. As a work of fiction, a la THE EXORCIST, it would have made for a fun, exciting read. But when someone tries to put the imprimatur of truth on something like that, it must stand up to outside scrutiny. Keel’s account doesn’t (again, in MY view).
“too much of the paranormal or occult-related material has been prepared by hoaxers, charlatans or the overly credulous.”
Well, you’re certainly right about that.