Monsters, Myths, and Memories: How A Mess of Monsters Ties to the Art of Storytelling

My book A Mess of Monsters is a middle grade short story collection centered around cryptids. It felt appropriate, then, to celebrate its upcoming publication by traveling to the mecca of cryptid-based destinations: the famous Mothman statue and museum in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

Amid photo ops and scoring creepy yet cute souvenirs, I couldn’t help but admire the way the Mothman was woven into so many facets of Point Pleasant. Outside of the statue itself, the Mothman’s red eyes glared back at me from a Mothman themed pie at a Point Pleasant pizzeria. I had dessert at a Mothman themed sweet shop. I even spotted a barbershop named Legends and Lore as we made our way home.

It was a great reminder of the power of stories–how they can tie communities and generations together. This idea is one that inspired the entire collection, and one that I hope to impart to my young readers: listen to the stories of others and tell stories of your own.

This storytelling tendency is somewhat hardwired in me. As an Appalachian who grew up in a small town, it was a daily occurrence to hear my relatives or neighbors animatedly tell a story. A Mess of Monsters is dedicated to my grandparents who were each captivating storytellers in drastically different ways. When I sit down to craft a story of my own or when I read a story aloud to my middle school students and try to find the right cadence to build suspense, I can feel their influence. I think of my grandmother gossiping on the phone with her sisters. I think of my grandfather who told scary bedtime stories to my little sister and me. I later used one of his stories as inspiration for the Fiddler Fiend, the only cryptid in the entire collection who sprung from my own imagination.

So much of storytelling is observing the world around us and crafting stories to make sense of our reality. When we tell these stories to others, we continue the legacy of the people, places, and cultures that raised us. I hope readers conclude A Mess of Monsters and feel inspired to hunt for stories of their own, whether it is a fun bit of family lore or a story about a humanoid moth creature who lurks in the darkness.

Carissa Turpin was born and raised in Appalachia where she listened to her relatives weave fanciful (and sometimes scary) tales. She currently lives in Louisville, Kentucky where she teaches fifth and seventh grade language arts. Her first book, Doomsday Dani, won gold in the Moonbeam Children's Book Awards in 2023. Her second book, A Mess of Monsters, comes out in September of 2026. More information about Carissa and A Mess of Monsters can be found at carissaturpinbooks.com.

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