Big Muddy Monster Festival

06/02/2026

😉

06/02/2026

Ask me how to get your very own

Southern Illinois Trilogy of Terror
For free!!!!

06/02/2026

Headline: MARK YOUR CALENDARS: June 20, 2026! 🗓️

The countdown is officially ON for the Big Muddy Monster Festival! We are bringing you a day packed with local vendors, guest speakers, a movie premier, shopping, giveaways, and plenty of monster-sized fun for the whole family.
We need your help to make sure nobody misses out!
1️⃣ SHARE this post to your feed.
2️⃣ TAG the friends you want to bring with you in the comments below.
Let’s fill the town and celebrate our favorite local legend together! 🫈👣🌲

06/02/2026

Just 100 miles across the southern border of IL is Cadiz, KY in the LBL. If you’re looking for an appetizer to the Big Muddy Monster Festival they have
CRYPTID Townhall 2.0
You can share your encounters at the Golden Pond Distillery!
The Mike Weatherford Show
Wet your whistle then join us on June 20th for the Big Muddy Monster Festival

06/01/2026

Zoologist. Educator. Naturalist. Sasquatch researcher.

Harold Benny brings decades of scientific curiosity and field experience to the Big Muddy Monster conversation.

Catch him live
June 20th | 10:30 am
The Liberty Theater

05/30/2026

Submit to Devil's Backbone Fiction (a project of Southern Illinois University Press). Powered by Duosuma: Duotrope's Submission Manager.

05/30/2026

So many local tales to be told 👣👣

DEADLINE EXTENSION! 🕘🐰

The Devil's Backbone Fiction Series Contest has extended the deadline from May 31st, 2026 at midnight, to June 30th, 2026 at midnight!

Devil’s Backbone Fiction, named for the eerie, jagged ridge in the Shawnee National Forest, publishes edgy, unsettling fiction that vividly captures Illinois and its neighboring states. We are particularly interested in manuscripts depicting peoples and settings that have been previously overlooked, as well as manuscripts focusing on the sordid histories and unique setting of Southern Illinois—rural grit, university chaos, small-town tensions, race dynamics, and more. All genres are welcome, including but not limited to science fiction, crime, romance, and historical fiction. We prioritize fresh, diverse voices and works that entertain and reveal our shared regional identity.

Special attention will be given to any manuscript set in Southern Illinois.

The contest winner receives a publication contract with SIU Press and thirty copies of their book upon publication.

Duosuma link can be found here: https://duotrope.com/duosuma/submit/devils-backbone-fiction-0gM3u

Duotrope link can be found here: https://duotrope.com/contest/devils-backbone-fiction-series-40343

05/28/2026

05/28/2026

While you’re out for the Festival on June 20th stop in to the local small businesses for your chance to sign up to win a huge basket of goods.

11/16/2025

Grab some merch!!!