It was a normal September evening in 1924. A housewife on Magazine Hollow was sitting in her bedroom, awaiting the return of her husband, who had been on a trip downtown. Suddenly, the doorway between the bedroom and the dining room filled with smoke.

The housewife sat dumbfounded as an eerie shadow emerged through the door. It was that of a large bug, with horns the size of ice hooks. This shadow made its way around the room, only visible by the dark black shadow it cast on the walls. And, as suddenly as it appeared, it vanished out the same door it had come through. 

The woman eagerly told her husband all about the strange sight she had witnessed, but he chalked it up to her being tired and having an overactive imagination. Still, the woman couldn't get this eerie experience out of her mind. She knew what she had seen and she was going to prove it. So, she started telling neighbors about the giant shadow bug with ice hook horns. The curiosity was strong among those living in Magazine Hollow, and so over the next few nights, onlookers sat up in the evenings at the 'haunted' house, awaiting their own encounters.

1961 Flooding of Magazine Hollow National Guard Jeep outside Magazine Freewill Baptist

Many of these neighbors actually did see the phantom bug, as described. However, some never did, including the man of the house. Skeptics tried to tell the believers that what they were witnessing was simply a normal-sized housefly, landing on a lamp and walking around. The shadow it cast only looked huge due to the fact that the fly was so close to the light source. But, the witnesses remained steadfast. They had tried to debunk the fly theory and no such fly existed, especially not one with HORNS. 

These manifestations wouldn't last, and the phantom shadow bug ceased its nightly constitutionals around the Magazine Hollow bedroom. So what the heck was this thing? Out of curiosity, I looked up horned beetles in West Virginia, and we do have a few that may fit the description (albeit on a much smaller scale), including the Big-Headed Ground Beetle. But even if there was such a beetle in the house and it was somehow causing a shadow to project on the wall....what was with the accompanying cloud of smoke that entered through the doorway whenever the beetle made its appearance?

Charleston Daily Mail 10 September 1924

Looking through a more spiritual lens, I learned that beetles symbolize several concepts throughout different cultures. They typically represent transformation, resilience, and the cycle of death and rebirth. Their protective exoskeleton also makes them a symbol of protection. The ancient Egyptians considered the scarab beetle to be a sacred symbol of the sun god. Interestingly, at the time of this sighting, the United States was heavily under the influence of ancient Egyptian art and culture, as the tomb of King Tut had been discovered and opened less than two years prior. 

Whatever the manifestation was or wasn't, it does seem like there may have been an element of transformation and rebirth rooted in its symbolism when you examine the events of the area nearly 40 years later.

When I found this article, I wasn't familiar with an area known as Magazine Hollow, so I did some research. Magazine Hollow is more commonly known today as Garrison Avenue, on Charleston's West Side. A stream, Magazine Branch, runs parallel to and crosses Garrison Avenue several times. 

In July of 1961, the Kanawha Valley had experienced several days of heavy rains. The ground was saturated and the creeks were full. Then the rains picked up and five inches fell in under four hours. The waterways overflowed and large parts of Charleston and surrounding areas flooded. Cars, and even houses, were swept away as the screams of victims could be heard echoing throughout the valley.  Twenty-two people lost their lives in the flooding, including NINE from the Garrison Avenue/Magazine Hollow area. Five adults and 4 children were among the Magazine Hollow victims. For the survivors, their lives were changed forever.

Charleston Daily Mail 10 September 1924

It wasn't the only change. Today, there are no houses in the area with a Magazine Hollow address anymore. The Magazine Freewill Baptist Church, which was heavily damaged by the floods, donated their land to be used as a memorial to the flood victims, and rebuilt and rebranded as the Garrison Avenue Freewill Baptist Church. Aside from the memorials and the memories of those who lived through it, little remains to remind us of the Magazine Hollow neighborhood. But thanks to one weird old story in an old newspaper article, which prompted me to do a little research, I have had the opportunity to reach a new audience and bring awareness to the tragic history of a West Virginia community. 

The awesome website, My WV Home, has a great article, complete with photos and newspaper clippings from the 1961 flood. Check it out HERE.