How America Makes Its Monsters: Folklore, Place and the Creatures We Call Our Own

This year's William Hammond Lecture on the American Tradition will feature David J. Puglia, folklorist and author of North American Monsters: A Contemporary Legend Casebook.

From the Jersey Devil to West Virginia’s Mothman to Ohio's own Grassman, legendary creatures haunt the American landscape. But how does a monster come to belong to a particular place and eventually become our monster? This lecture traces how extraordinary encounters become stories, how those stories spread through newspapers, legend tripping, tourism, festivals, archives and digital media, and how, through that circulation, they become attached to roads, towns and landscapes where legendary monsters take on lives of their own. As they spread, frightening experiences, practical jokes, local history, regional pride and commercial spectacle shape what these monsters mean to the communities that host them. The central question, then, is not simply whether legendary creatures exist, but what happens when people begin telling stories about them, hunting for them, arguing over them and eventually claiming them as their own.

This event is free, open to the public and welcoming to all. Co-sponsored by the Center for Folklore Studies and the Humanities Institute.

Help us plan and tell us you're interested.

Parking and Directions

College Road is OPEN to the Faculty Club

Enter College Road from the north via 18th Avenue or Woodruff Avenue and travel south to Hagerty Drive. Access to the Faculty Club remains open despite posted road closure signs. Turn right onto Hagerty Drive and continue to the Faculty Club, passing metered parking along the way.

Parking

Limited complimentary parking is available near the Faculty Club on a first‑come, first‑served basis after 4 pm. There are also a small number of metered spaces in front of and behind Orton Hall. Metered spaces are managed with the ParkMobile app.

If you currently have an "A" Pass, there is no need to complete parking validation during your visit to The Faculty Club.

Green passes will no longer be valid.

When you arrive:

Scan the posted QR code with your phone and enter your license plate number, state, name, and the code provided. 

Your vehicle will then be registered for parking for the remainder of the day. 

Make sure your license plate is visible from the drive aisle.

If the free parking is full:

Use the nearby Ohio Union South Garage, located a short walk from the venue and offering hourly public parking. Bring your ticket with you: we will have a limited amount of stickers that will help you exit the garage for free. 

The Humanities Institute and its related centers host a wide range of events, from intense discussions of works in progress to cutting-edge presentations from world-renowned scholars, artists, activists and everything in between.

To submit an accommodation request, please send your request to Cody Childs, childs.97@osu.edu.