(Left) Mothman masks and other cryptid-related items are on sale at vendors' kiosks along Main Street at the Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant, W.Va. (Right) Selah Miller, of Charleston, W.Va., poses ...

You would never expect the small, unsassuming town of Gallipolis, Ohio, to be haunted by a folkloric monster, but that's just what you'll find in this enclave that sits on the West Virginia border.

POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. — Every September, the streets in this tiny town along West Virginia's border with Ohio are taken over by Mothman, a mysterious creature that, like Bigfoot, has inspired books, ...