Tuesday, June 25, 2019
PHONE CALLS FROM THE DEAD
On 9/20/1988 bestselling writer Dean Koontz received a strange call at his unlisted number. The woman's voice sounded distant and it faded further each time she repeated her urent message: "Please, be careful!" After he hung up, Koontz was left with the impression he'd spoken to his deceased mother. Two days later the author was attacked by his father, Ray, while visiting him in a care facility. Ray had secretly purchased himself a fishing knife which he used to slash at his son but the writer managed to get it away from him. When the police arrived, they pulled their weapons on Koontz who was now holding the weapon, thinking he was the culprit. Recalling the phone warning, Koontz realized THIS was the scenario for which he received the call.
Monday, June 17, 2019
Blue Man of the Ozarks
From the dark forests
and hills of the Ozarks comes an old legend of a hirsute figure that stands in
testament to the longevity of Bigfoot sightings in the region. In contrast to
the assertion that this is a recent phenomenon, the tale of the Blue Man stretches
back at least as far as 185 when a renowned trapper and hunter by the name of
"Blue Sol" Collins encountered strange tracks in the snow along Blue
Creek, near the confluence of the Missouri river and Auxvasse Creek.
Collins described the
tracks as bear-like with claws marks, but they would have had to have been the
biggest bear he had ever seen. Without trepidation, the seasoned hunter stalked
his quarry for many miles, eventually coming to Twin Mountain.
As Collins climbed the
slope, he was suddenly assaulted by several large boulders running down the
hillside toward him. He was luckily able to dodge the rockslide, but as he
looked up, he spotted an enormous, 9-foot tall, hairy man. The figure was clad
only in a leather breech, an animal pelt over his shoulders, and primitive
shoes tied with strips of leather that left the left the claw-like impressions
in the snow.
Collin could see the
man--or whatever it was--held a long wood branch that had been used as a lever to
dislodge the enormous rocks. The strange figure had set the stones free on
purpose.
Collins took stock of
the situation and decided--perhaps wisely--to discontinue his pursuit of the
hairy figure.
Strange occurrences
were reported over the intervening years (missing livestock, etc.), but no
sighting of the wild man was reported until 1874 when over a dozen men
witnessed it and gave pursuit. Expert as these men might have been at hunting
in these woods, they were unable to capture it.
By this time, the name
"Blue Man" had come into use in describing the wild man. It is not
clear why, but it may be that because "Blue Sol" first reported the
strange apparition, that locals took to calling him "Blue's Man" and
then later simply "Blue Man." Over the next few decades, like a very
long game of telephone, the details would evolve and it would be said the
creature was of a purplish-blue color.
Legends even sprang up
to explain its existence. One of these involved a French trader who came into
the region when it still belonged to France, taking with him a young Spanish
woman whom he gifted to a local tribe. From their offspring, the Blue Man
evolved, according to a local named "Uncle Jerry" who had lived in
the region since the 1820s.
Another search was
mounted in 1890 when sightings cropped up. This, too, was an unsuccessful
venture. In 1911, a den was found in the hills that locals believed was its
home, but the creature was nowhere to be seen.
In 1915, a farmer went
in search of two errant lambs. He found their bloody remains in a remote
hollow. The following day, the farmer spotted the "Blue Man" chasing
after a hog in those same woods. Others had similar sightings.
The descriptions of the
creature at this time described a somewhat changed being: thinner, less robust,
and its formerly black hair had grown gray. Still, the beast was feared.
Accounts in newspapers
seem to die off by the 1930s, but it's likely that the Blue Man was still well
known for decades thereafter. While, it's a bit more obscure legend these days,
tales of Bigfoot like creatures are still strong in the region.
My grandfather grew up
in the area and had his own stories to tell, including the time when I was kid
and he had gone outside to scare off a strange, hairy creature that moved on
two legs as it tried to get at my grandfather's hogs.
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