Learn about Cass County cryptid crossings at conference

Every October for the past 19 years the Texas Bigfoot Research Center hosts the Texas Bigfoot Conference in Jefferson. People travel from all over the world to attend the conference, which will be held October 16-17.

This year, as with everything, COVID-19 guidelines call for fifty percent capacity, and a lot of people may not be able to travel to Texas. However, the threat of the virus isn’t stopping the featured speakers from showing up to give knowledgeable presentations based on their profound experiences.

One of the featured speakers, Lyle Blackburn – a noted author and cryptid investigator from Fort Worth, Texas - is making his fifth appearance at the conference. His presentation will be on local Bigfoot sightings.

“As I always do, I’ll be speaking on Saturday,” he said. “We’ll be looking at the area around Caddo Lake to Fouke, over to Louisiana. That triangular region has had a lot of activity – the slews and bogs, bayous and woodlands of the Caddo region.”

Saturday evening Blackburn will be giving updates on the latest Fouke Monster sightings and news. And he says there have been “quite a few credible sightings” in Cass County.

“Whether it’s the Legend of Boggy Creek, Bigfoot, Sasquatch – whatever you choose to call it – they don’t recognize state lines or county boundaries. Like most creatures, they have a broad territory range,” he said. “If they are spotted in Marion County and Fouke, Arkansas, they are traveling through Cass County, too.”

The first local recorded sightings of the tall, hairy manlike creature were in the 1920s, and there are reports each year from this area. The most notable sightings have been in the Southwest Arkansas town of Fouke – made famous in the Legend of Boggy Creek movie produced in 1972 by Charles B. Pierce of Texarkana. The movie was based on actual reports of sightings, which occurred often in the early 1970s.

Last summer Blackburn attended the premiere showing of the remastered 4k version of that movie. In 2016 he co-produced and starred in the movie Boggy Creek Monster. He has authored one book about the legendary monster, and a second, titled “The Boggy Creek Case Book” will be coming out this November.

“This is the first year I’ve had two books coming out,” said Blackburn. “Sinister Swamps comes out in May, and I’ll have it with me at the conference.”

Blackburn also writes for Rue Morgue magazine and has narrated four documentary films: The Mothman Legacy (October 2020),Terror in the Skies (2019), The Bray Road Beast (2018), and The Mothman of Point Pleasant (2017) for which he was also executive producer and co-writer. Currently, he has a feature role in the Small Town Monsters film, MOMO the Missouri Monster.

As a musician, Lyle started with the group Solitude Aeturnus (1988–1995), first as the drummer and then as the bassist. He left to found The Killcreeps (1996) and then later Ghoultown(1999). He is still the lead singer/guitarist for the western-horror-punk band Ghoultown, well known in the U.S. and Europe

For more information on Blackburn and his books, you can go to his website, lyleblackburn.com, or find his profile on Amazon.

For more information about the Texas Bigfoot Convention, find the Texas Bigfoot Research Center Facebook page, or buy tickets at: 2020texasbigfootcon.eventbrite.com.