Imagine: It’s September 1903, and you live in a town that’s been terrorized—for five days—by a nine-foot-tall creature that looks like a bat but has a horn which emits light.
Trapping it won’t work, shooting at it doesn’t work, and it erases people’s memories.
After five days, it descends into an abandoned coal mine never to be seen again.
Wouldn’t you want everyone to know about it?
Years later, people travel to Van Meter every September for the Van Meter Visitor Festival, where attendees can walk the path terrified townspeople did and celebrate a unique story and creature that’s all Iowa’s.
@iowastartingline WATCH the first installment in our new video series “Unearthly Chronicles” where we explore extraordinary tales that have etched themselves into Iowa’s history. From the unsolved Villisca Axe Murders to the cryptid encounter in Van Meter, these events remind us that reality can be stranger than fiction. #iowa #iowanews #iowahistory #iloveuiowa
A decade of festival mystery
This year’s festival is on Sept. 30 from noon-6 p.m., and it includes two walking tours, one at 3 p.m.—for the faint of heart—and one at 6:45 p.m.—for those who want some atmosphere.
Ahead of time, there will be speakers talking about monster and cryptid stories in our modern era and about the search for other oddities.
Tickets for the festival are $3 each, and admission is free for children 12 and under. Snappy’s Stick Fire BB! Truck will be there for food, as well as 403 Lounge Bar.
This year marks the festival’s tenth anniversary.
The book that inspired the festival
Chad Lewis wrote the 2013 book about the Van Meter Visitor, which led to the interest in doing a festival, and has written almost 30 more books about paranormal creatures and guides to haunted locations.
“It’s fascinating, because I think a lot of people in town don’t believe the story,” Lewis said. “They think it was a hoax or made up, but yet they’re still interested in it as a piece of their own history. That, true or not, they love the legend of it. And I think that’s what makes it so much fun.”
Lewis is interested by paranormal legends and the history they tend to be wrapped around. He has a background in psychology and has traveled around the country and the world in search of these strange stories.
“I don’t know if the town was really attacked in 1903, but I absolutely loved the story of it. And I love, you know, walking and seeing the bank,” he said. “The vault is still there. And you can see where the manager shot out the front window because he thought this Visitor was coming after him.”
What’s most notable to him is how the paranormal has become a tourist draw, and he chalks it up to a simple human curiosity and an impulse for adventure.
“I see it that they want an adventure and they’re having fun with it,” he said. “A lot of people who are out searching for this stuff don’t necessarily believe in it, but especially this time of year, they’re really interested and they see it more of an adventure than something spooky.”
Connecting the strange to local history
“People are interested in the unique and strange, but also that curiosity of becoming afraid,” Lewis said.
He noted a famous cemetery in Wisconsin—Mineral Point—that’s thought to be inhabited by a vampire. Lewis doesn’t believe a vampire will come out to get him, but when he goes there alone in the middle of the night, he can’t help feeling spooked.
“Your mind starts playing tricks on you. And for a lot of people, that’s half the fun of being scared—in a controlled manner,” he said.
And this time of year is perfect for those mind games to start up and pull people in, he said.
“This is the time when the season gets dark and a lot of people may even tell me, ‘I don’t know if I believe in ghosts or not, but I’m curious this time of year,’” Lewis said.
The popularity of these legends also leads to people getting interested in their local history.
Lewis said people are always reaching out to him about haunted places they should visit and, when they do, they end up learning more about the area.
Iowa, he said, is chock full of haunted places and spots where people believe something bad could happen to those who linger too long or come at the wrong time.
Take the Black Angel in Iowa City, or Lewis’s personal favorite, the Devil’s Chair (or Death Chair) at Riverside Cemetery in Marshalltown.
“These legends show that there there’s a lot around you,” Lewis said. “Sometimes you just have to dig a little bit for it.”
Nikoel Hytrek
9/29/23
If you enjoy stories like these, make sure to sign up for Iowa Starting Line’s weekly newsletter.
Have a story idea or something I should know? Email me at nikoel@iowastartingline.dream.press. You can also DM me on Twitter at @n_hytrek.
Iowa Starting Line is part of an independent news network and focuses on how state and national decisions impact Iowans’ daily lives. We rely on your financial support to keep our stories free for all to read. You can contribute to us here. Find ISL on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
1 Comment on "Iowa’s creepiest festival welcomes monster seekers to Van Meter"
I am happy to report that I did not lose 1 single person to the Visitor on last night’s walking tour. No promises about today’s tours through. See you in Van Meter!