Type: Legend
- “Well I always was scared of the Moth Man, he’s a legend or myth or something. It’s basically a shadowy figure or silhouette that would appear right before something bad or terrible would happen. The Moth Man, driving or something. So if you’re driving at night and you see the silhouette of a man on a corner, or on a tree, or something, you’ll crash your car. Something like that. I was scared of him as a little kid and still when I go camping or backpacking someone will tell a story about the Moth Man. He is in many different ghost stories/scary stories that you tell around a campfire.”
- I obtained this piece of folklore from my cousin Clay. Clay is a year older than me, and grew up in Mill Valley California, which is located in Marin County (just North of San Francisco). Clay spends a lot of his free time outdoors: camping, hiking, backpacking, kayaking etc. Him and I also spent many camping trips together when we were younger, and we told each other ghost stories. Clay said he heard the Moth Man legend from kids at school, and from friends around the campfire.
- Clay grew up in a forested, suburban environment, and the legend of the Moth Man seems to be unique to his hometown (but it may not be). Shadow figures in the forest are much more frightening than a shadowy figure in a big city against city sky scrapers. From what Clay told me, this is something that is told around campfires and younger kids, not so much something that is passed around adult communities.
- This piece of folklore confuses me but it also intrigues me. I am drawn to the concept of seeing something as a warning, but I am frightened by the silhouette shadowy figure. I have never heard of this before and therefore do not believe it, although, apart of me wants to believe this.