Hillbilly Hot Dogs LeSage WV June 2025

I know, I have put up MANY other videos on Hillbilly Hot Dogs.  Expect more.  I love this place.

West Virginia Bigfoot Museum June 2025

We visited the wonderful West Virginia Bigfoot Museum again in June 2025!

Flatwoods Monster Museum Sutton West Virginia 2025

I know I have mentioned it before...  but we went again!  I love the Flatwoods Monster Museum in West Virginia!

"No Direct Evidence: The Story of the Missing Sodder Children" by Bob Lane Bragg

I have brought up the recent "West Virginia Bigfoot Festival" in Sutton a couple of times recently.  The place was a goldmine for people like me who enjoy reading books on the weird and unexplained.

I came across Bob Lane Bragg while I was there.  Bob had a booth selling all sorts of books like this (he was representing the West Virginia Book Company).  AND, Bob himself had written a book, "No Direct Evidence:  The Story of the Missing Sodder Children".

This is probably West Virginia's most famous unsolved mystery/possible crime.  Briefly, Christmas, 1945, the Sodder family experienced a house fire.  The two parents and nine children were home that night.  After the house was evacuated, only four of the children seemed to have escaped the fire.

Oddly, no remains of the other five kids could be found.

Bragg covers the details of the family and the fire.  Some odd events are noted around the time of the fire- including a phone call that night, a ladder that could have been helpful had been moved away from the house, phone lines were cut, among other issues.  The family starts to believe the house fire was arson, and the other children were taken.

At first, this almost comes off as a situation where the family cannot accept the obvious, but.....

Bob Lane Bragg, through various sources and research, shows that there could have been much more to this case, and the strange events occurring around the time of the tragedy.  The family's Italian background, the father's business dealings, and many other factors could lead in another direction.  I'm not going to say Bragg solves the case- he clearly doesn't.  He DOES show that some small almost forgettable events could have had a lot of meaning.  My mind was blown at the end.

This might be one of the more perfect true crime books out there.  Bragg discusses the case thoroughly.  He talks about why some of the family members to this day may be reluctant to discuss it.  He offers a very logical potential conclusion to the case.  This book gets my highest possible recommendation.



 

West Virginia Bigfoot Festival 2025

Check out my short video from the 2025 West Virginia Bigfoot Festival in Sutton West Virginia!

"The Silver Bridge Tragedy" by George Dudding

 West Virginia author George Dudding has written a ton of books, mostly in the UFO/cryptid/ghost area.  I have read a few and I was glad to meet the man at the recent West Virginia Bigfoot Festival.

Many of his books give a fairly basic telling of a particular event.  If you are looking for a nicely detailed book on a topic that you can probably read in one setting, he is your guy.  You get all of the details, but the books are not encyclopedic.

One thing he definitely has over other authors though, is that he was right in the middle of a lot of West Virginia weirdness.    We was literally AT the Silver Bridge shortly after it fell.  He grew up in Point Pleasant.  He has some serious cryptid cred.

He has written "The Silver Bridge Tragedy" about the collapse.  He is a science/math guy too, so Dudding gives a good explanation of what happened (he gets a bit technical, but you can still follow him).  He also talks about the rumors (and initial reluctance to believe) that the bridge fell.

He has a couple of books on the Mothman legend too.

I had a nice chat with him at the West Virginia Bigfoot festival.  I figured he might be a bit stiff (he holds degrees in math and physics).  He is a very matter of fact guy but I had a great talk with him mostly about Point Pleasant and a few other related topics.

West Virginia Bigfoot Museum Sutton WV Sept 2024

In Sutton West Virginia, literally walking distance from the Flatwoods Monster Museum, is the West Virginia Bigfoot Museum!

Flatwoods Monster Museum Sutton West Virginia 2024

West Virginia is suck a great, "weird" state.   Two of my favorite "monster" stories originated there within a couple of hours from each other......  In Sutton, there is the great Flatwoods Monster Museum!

Driving around Sutton and Flatwoods West Virginia 2024

While in the area visiting locations associated with the Flatwoods Monster sighting, we drove around the sibling towns of Sutton and Flatwoods!

Flatwoods Monster Convention West Virginia 2024

We had a really fun time at the Flatwoods Monster Convention in Flatwoods West Virginia!

Hillbilly Hot Dogs Lesage West Virginia May 2023

Yeah, I know I have covered Hillbilly Hot Dogs in West Virginia A LOT, but I was there again not too long ago...  so here is another video.

Billy Bob's Wonderland Barboursville West Virginia

Getting to visit Billy Bob's Wonderland in Barboursville West Virginia is such a treat.  I LOVE Showbiz Pizza when I was a kid, and this is pretty much the last of its kind.

I filmed the old "Rock-afire Explosion" band jamming out on some great tunes, some relating to pizza.  Check out the video!

Hillbilly Hot Dogs Lesage West Virginia

 

Here is some video from a visit to Hillbilly Hot Dogs in Lasage West Virginia!  I have mentioned this place before...  and I really love this place!

Lowe Hotel Point Pleasant West Virginia July 2021

 We recently spent some time in the old, historic, and haunted Lowe Hotel in Point Pleasant West Virginia.  We had a very nice time!

Point Pleasant West Virginia at night July 2021

 I have posted a LOT about Point Pleasnat West Virginia and the Mothman....   Well, recently we spent a night in town, and I made a short video of their downtown area at night.

Ravenswood West Virginia July 2021

 Another great town we drove through while driving along the Ohio River was Ravenswood West Virginia!

I Scream Sundae and Hallowbeans Coffee House Ripley West Virginia July 2021

 While exploring some of the great little towns along the Ohio River, we found Ripley Ohio....  While in that town, we found the very cool and unique businesses "I Scream Sundae" and "Hallowbeans Coffee House".  They are conveniently in the same building (so my wife could get ice cream and I could have coffee).

This could satisfy your need visit a "haunted house" when its not October.  There are a couple of very unsettling rooms in the coffee shop.  I have to admit too, that some of of the creations at the ice cream place would be hard to eat...  from a visual standpoint.

I cannot think of any other place similar to this, and we loved it.  If  you are doing a cryptid/paranormal West Virginia road trip (it is kinda between Flatwoods and Point Pleasant) you should fit this in for a nice treat!

Ripley West Virginia July 2021

 While exploring the roads along the Ohio River, we drove through the cute little town of Ripley West Virginia!

Mothman Festival Point Pleasant West Virginia 2014

 I have posted a LOT about Point Pleasant and the Mothman!  LOVE the legend, love the town....  Well, as I am going back through my older videos, I realized I had this from the 2014 Mothman Festival!  I put it on youtube.  Check it out!

Gray Barker- "The Silver Bridge"

I have talked a lot about how interesting I think Point Pleasant West Virginia is. 

Well, Point Pleasant is just a cool, neat, and weird town.  Its a great town for fans of the paranormal, its a cool place for people that love folklore, and its just a warm small town.

I've read John Keel's "Mothman Prophasies" a couple of times, and the story is freaky.  If you are a believer or not, its just a good, strange book.

So, I found a copy of Gray Barker's "The Silver Bridge" which is somewhat of a sibling book to Keel's.  In many ways, I kinda felt like I was reading the whole basic Mothman story again.

Still, this is a must read for students of the Mothman.  I would love to hear from others who have dug deeper into the tale....  Anybody else have any thoughts on this one?

Mothman, Keel and Barker are all some crazy rabbit holes to jump into.