Stormi and I have a long history of buddy reading Hunter Shea books. He is one of my favorite indie authors and his creature books are some of the best I've read. So, when this one came out at the end of last year, it was a given we would get to it eventually and well, February ended up being the month. So read on for my thoughts and then hop over to Stormi's at Storm Reads for hers.
TITLE: Shadow of the Mothman
AUTHOR: Hunter Shea
PUBLISHER: Severed Press
PUBLISHING DATE: December 15, 2025
PAGES: 271
SOURCE: KU
FROM GOODREADS: First There Was Dread and Death
In 1967, the town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, was terrorized by a winged creature stalking the night skies, along with a host of other bizarre and frightening paranormal phenomena. It all came to an end with the tragic collapse of the Silver Bridge on a cold December evening.
Then It Returned
Ken Orsulak survived the Silver Bridge disaster, only to awaken from his coma sixteen years later. A man out of time and confined to a wheelchair now, he’s taken back to his childhood home of Remington, Massachusetts. By day, the bucolic farming town is just as it was when he left in 1967. By night, shrieks, strange shadows and unexplainable lights send ripples of fear throughout its residents. Something sinister has descended on the town. Has the terror of Point Pleasant come for Ken?
Now All Hell Has Broken Loose
The creature has a name – Mothman. The high strangeness surrounding the monster defies explanation. Ken and the town fight for answers, then find themselves fighting for their lives. Enter John Keel, the stalwart reporter who made the mysterious cryptid infamous. Has he arrived just in time, or is he too late to save Remington from the unknowable intentions of the Mothman? Remington is coming apart at the seams. Will anyone be left standing when…and if…the Mothman’s reign of terror ends?
A cryptid tale of existential dread unlike any other. Shadow of the Mothman will pull you into a world of mythical beasts, UFO folklore, men in black, and ghostly visions. The nostalgia of the 80s is plunged into the mystifying world of In Search Of in this love letter to the beasts and enigmas that plague our nightmares.
Ken and his parents are traveling back from a Christmas visit with family when the find themselves stuck in traffic on the Silver Bridge in Pt. Pleasant. Ken starts hearing some weird radio transmissions and soon sees two glaring red eyes right before the bridge collapses. Ken and his mother survive but the accident leaves Ken in a coma for 16 years. When he finally awakens, he has trouble adapting to the 80s and the fact that mentally, he is still a teen who is waiting to give his girlfriend an ankle bracelet for Christmas.
Ken and his mother, along with that girlfriend from long ago who is now Ken's primary nurse, head to the family's hometown of Remington. Soon, weird things start happening, men in black start showing up in town and people start seeing a large, winged creature with glowing red eyes. Ken is convinced that he is the reason the Mothman is back and terrorizing his hometown. Working with a John Keel, a reporter who first covered the Mothman years ago and is now investigating a link between it and the current happenings in Remington, Ken tries to survive the Mothman's curse and more importantly, save the ones he loves.
Some things worked for me in this book, and some didn't. I loved the 80s nostalgia and for the most part enjoyed the characters. Especially the elderly owner of the town grocery store who runs the local Video Rental store - Ken's favorite way to catch up on what he missed while in the coma. I loved the Mothman lore and true to Shea's other books, the action was spot on. However, there was kind of a lull before the action started happening and quite a few animal deaths (well, and people too but let's be honest, you know I'm all about the animals). Also, I felt the ending was a bit weak and am not sure I bought the explanation for the Mothman's arrival in Remington.
Finally, I have to mention Patch, a brave dog who lives with his owner on her farm. RIP Patch - you never stood a chance. I actually messaged Shea about sacrificing Patch and he pointed out others died as well but if you know me, I pretty much automatically deduct a rating point for pointless dog deaths. If you are really intersted in the Mothman, which I am, and love cryptid tales, this one is worth picking up. Not my favorite Shea book but still worth a read.
MY RATING: 3 PAWS
