Author, Max Brooks, had been writing op-ed after op-ed on the Mount Rainier eruption, spending hours every day on online research, when he received a strange article written by and sent to him by a man named Frank McCray. The article was titled, “Bigfoot Destroys Town.” Having had a fascination with and terror of all-things Bigfoot as someone who grew up “at the height of the Bigfoot frenzy” (the era of the Patterson-Gimlin film) and decades ago having written an article for Fangoria magazine, Brooks was immediately intrigued by the article.
After reaching out to McCray, Brooks learns that McCray’s sister was a resident of Greenloop, a remote, experimental, high-tech, eco-obsessed community not far from the path of Rainier’s destruction. Although it hasn’t been publicized, Greenloop has been destroyed and NOT by the volcano. Strange things have been discovered amongst the remains of the town. McCray’s sister, Kate Holland, a resident of Greenloop’s tiny community (total population: 11), has been missing for 13 months. But her journal has been recovered and McCray wants it published.
What follows, is Brooks’ collection of news items, background interviews (for the purposes of sasquatch lore, Greenloop info, and effects of volcano eruptions), interviews with McCray and Senior Ranger Josephine Schell (the finder and photocopier of Holland’s journal), literary references to Steve Morgan’s, The Sasquatch Companion, and, most importantly, the entire collection of Holland’s journal entries. Sounds real, right? Well, obviously, it isn’t. But you’ll have a hard time convincing yourself of that while you’re reading it. Don’t judge yourself too harshly when you find yourself Googling the Mount Rainier eruption or Teddy Roosevelt’s encounters with sasquatch. Katie Holland’s “journal entries” make for a spine-tingling survival story as well as a deep dive into human nature and a look at how quickly civilization can devolve under the threat of imminent death.
Listening to this story is SO MUCH FUN. The full cast emphasizes, even more, the feeling that the events and interviews are real and urgent and horrifying. Highly recommended!