Four Books Describing Iowa Weird: Ghosts, Cryptids & Other Strange Stuff

 

So you wanna talk about Iowa ghosts, monsters, cryptids, and other mysterious creatures.

Don’t laugh. They’re out there. Sometimes closer than you think 

Sasquatches. Banshees. Black Angels. Truck eating bridges. Bridges that move cars. Maybe even a few UFOs.

Iowa’s got them all. Most of the stories are out there, easy to find. But some of them are hidden. You’ve got to do a little digging to find the real dirt. 

Or—you can read these books, written by guys who’ve spent their lives digging through ancient archives, sifting cemetery dirt, or maybe sitting under the Black Angel at midnight. Waiting. Wondering—if their time was up.

I know. Reading a book isn’t near as satisfying as chasing a banshee down Brady Street at 3 a.m. Or tracking a Sasquatch through the brush at Bulger’s Hollow by moonlight, but— You know you’re going to wake up in your own bed the next morning. That’s a big plus, isn’t it?

(One quick note. The links below are Amazon Associate links. If you decide to buy one of these books, I might make a few pennies on the sale. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, and it helps keep this website running. Thanks for your support.)o

Read this one first.

Eerie Iowa. Michael McCarty and Bruce Walters. 

The authors are no strangers to weirdness. McCarty has written several other books on monsters, ghosts and other creatures that go bump in the night.

Consider this book your primer on Iowa weird. 

It’s got short digestible bits on the Villisca Murder House, the Van Meter Visitor, Davenport’s Black Angel, the Lake Okoboji Serpent, and a rampaging Sasquatch in Calhoun County, among others.

The list goes on. The weirdness grows. It’s pure Iowa madness. Grab a Big Gulp. Curl up on the couch. And dim the lights.

Here’s hoping you don’t wet yourself.

The Van Meter Visitor. Chad Lewis, Noah Voss, and Kevin Nelson.

Picture. If you will, a sleepy little town nestled in the cornfields outside of Des Moines, haunted by one, maybe two, horned, scaly green creatures with spotlights on top of their heads. Toss in a few crazed citizens, armed with shotguns and pistols. After dark.

And did I mention? They climb up and down telephone poles. Scale tall buildings. And fly.

It’s 1903. Science fiction is fifty years in the future. But to the people living there, the Van Meter Visitor is real. And maybe out to eat them.

Or it could have been the creation of a bored reporter with an overactive imagination, and maybe a little too much to drink.

It’s anybody’s guess.

Monsters of the Hawkeye State. David Weatherly.

There were a few creatures here that I hadn’t heard of before. 

A monster turtle in the Big Blue Pond in Lester Milligan Park in Mason City. There’s a lot of talk, experts, but very few people who’ve seen it, although those who did say it’s as big as the hood of a Volkswagen. Small by automotive standards, but big in turtledom.

There are two different monsters. One at Raccoon River and another at Skunk River.

Bigfoot shows his face throughout the book. And then there’s the strange story of a phantom kangaroo in Wapello County. It was only here a short time, and only seen by two people, but does that make it any less real.

Another weird tale is the story of a wild woman seen near Gordon’s Ferry in Jackson County back in 1884. Before you write it off, the Cedar Rapids Gazette covered the encounter. She gave off “an unearthly scream” before “darting off in the woods.” Her hair was three feet long, and her body “almost devoid of clothing.” 1880s speak for nude. Stark naked and chased by an all male hunting group.

Trust me. You’ll like this one.

Ghostly Tales of Iowa. Ruth D. Hein. 

This book is a weird hodgepodge of stories. A strange troll in Decorah. A ghost named Barney haunts the Landmark Inn in Allamakee County. Clara, a cellar witch in Clayton County who lures children into the basement.

There’s more, but you can read about them if you choose to move forward.

The stories are short. Easy to digest. And a strange mix of history and supernatural razzmatazz. If ghosts aren’t your thing, stick around for the history. You just might learn something.