Chad Arment, Author of The Historical Bigfoot, reviews my book, Bigfoot in Georgia, on his blog

Chad Arment, who wrote the book "The Historical Bigfoot," reviewed my book," Bigfoot in Georgia," on his blog at www.strangeark.com. I have clipped and pasted his review below. A link to his blog can be accessed by clicking on the title to this post. Overall, it was a positive review.

This is taken from his blogsite, www.strangeark.com/blog, author and creator-Chad Arment.

"Monday, January 04, 2010
Bigfoot in Georgia

The publisher recently sent me a copy of Jeffery Wells' Bigfoot in Georgia, so I'll note a few things here for potential readers. First the basics:

Bigfoot in Georgia
Jeffery Wells
Pine Winds Press (Idyll Arbor); 2010
ISBN 978-0-937663-17-2
165 pp., retails for $18.00

Let me start off pointing out that Amazon currently has the book discounted (on pre-order) to a bit over $12, so don't be afraid of the $18 price tag.

The book covers Bigfoot sightings in Georgia, including regional Native American tales, some early newspaper accounts, and other stories up to the present day. There is discussion in the first chapter on the overall history of Bigfoot sightings, another chapter discusses the Elkins Creek cast, and he devotes a fair bit of text to specific organizations or researchers (for example, a chapter on journalist Wayne Ford).

The author is a professor at Georgia Military College (Atlanta campus), and his ability to write is certainly above par for the subject. This is a decent state guide on the topic, and the author handles it objectively. It looks like most of the reports come from other researchers and organizations, so the scope of sightings may be familiar to the more well-versed Bigfoot enthusiasts. That's not a bad thing -- if anything, more regional Bigfoot organizations need to seek out individuals like Wells to organize and write up their files in a professional manner. Too many guides (or websites) are haphazard or don't convey an objective approach to the subject. I would have liked to have seen a more thorough survey of sightings in this book, but I suspect it would be too difficult to manage that while dealing with the various personalities in Bigfoot research. That's one reason I don't bother with this topic much myself."

Upcoming Book Signing for In Atlanta or in Hell: The Camp Creek Train Crash of 1900 and other media items

I will be in Cobb County signing copies of In Atlanta or in Hell: The Camp Creek Train Crash of 1900 on Saturday, February 6th from 9:00-10:30 a.m. for Eagle Eye Book Shop at their set up at the Southeastern Flower Show in the Cobb Galleria. Eagle Eye Book Shop is located in Decatur, and I did a book signing at their bookstore back in October on the night before Halloween. If you are in the area, drop in.

In addition, I have been contacted by James Wojonowski and Jeff Cooper of J2 Productions, a local production company in Henry County, about appearing in their documentary on the train crash. Others will be interviewed as well, but James wanted me to appear and discuss my research on the crash and the book. I really appreciate them asking, and I am a fan of their work. Check out their videos on Youtube. Go to www.youtube.com and search for Henry County Georgia or McDonough, Georgia and several of their videos should come up.

Caprice Walker of Bell, Book and Candle is working with me on organizing a book signing for my new book Bigfoot in Georgia very soon. I will update you on when that will be.

I will also be a guest speaker at Paranormal Expo 2010 in downtown Atlanta on January 30th. I will be discussing Bigfoot in Georgia. This is being sponsored by our good friend, Dr. William Lester, on whose show I have appeared several times. I am excited about being asked to be there, and it looks like he has some pretty interesting people lined up to speak. I can't wait. Click on the title to the post to see his website and information on the event.

The Atlanta Ripper-Who was the serial killer stalking the African American Community in Atlanta in the early 1900s?

For four years in Atlanta, beginning in 1911, someone terrorized the African American community and became known as the Atlanta Ripper, a play off the name of the famous London killer in the Whitechapel district in the late 1800s known as "Jack the Ripper." For those four years, an unknown killer, or as some put it, killers, roamed the dark streets of Atlanta, preying upon young African American women, as well as some of mixed race. The list of victims swelled to over 20 people, as the city was in the grips of fear over where and against whom the fiend would strike next.

The Atlanta Ripper claimed his first victim in January 1911 with the murder of Rosa Trice. Trice's body was found near Gardner Street, and it was in a severe state. Her head was crushed and her throat was cut, some saying it was slashed from ear to ear. Other victims were found in the Grant Park area, and by the spring of 1911, the killing spree had grown. Other victims included Belle Walker, Addie Watts, Lena Sharpe, Sadie Holley, as well as others. Perhaps the most frightening encounter came with Emma Lou Sharpe, a young woman that many think came face to face with the Atlanta Ripper AFTER he had killed her mother.

On July 1, 1911, Emma Lou Sharpe, at home on Hanover Street, was awaiting the return of her mother, Lena Sharpe, who had gone shopping for groceries. Realizing that it was dangerous out on the streets because of all the murders, Emma Lou became worried about her mother after she had been gone for over an hour. Knowing it was not the better part of wisdom to go looking for her, Emma Lou decided against her best judgement and went out on the streets. She left home and went to the market in search of her mother. She was terrified to find that her mother had never gotten there. While she was returning home, she came upon a stranger, a tall black man with broad shoulders and donning a broad-brimmed black hat, according to Corrina Underwood in her book Murder and Mystery in Atlanta. The man spoke to Emma Lou, asking her how she was feeling. She replied that she was fine, after which she began to walk away. The man stood in her way and told her not to be afraid. He further commented that he never hurt "girls like you." He was definitely lying, as seconds after he spoke those words, he pulled a knife out and stabbed Emma Lou in the back. Luckily, Emma made it to safety, as she ran screaming from the scene. A crowd of neighbors heard her cries and came running. The stranger was nowhere to be found, but at least Emma was okay. The same could not be said for her poor mother. Her body was found later, and it was deduced she was dead by the time Emma Lou was out on the streets in the midst of her encounter with what most definitely must have been the Atlanta Ripper.

Another young woman had an encounter with the Atlanta Ripper and lived to tell about it. Her name was Mary Yedell, and she was a 22 year old cook in the employ of W.M. Selcer. When leaving for home on Saturday, July 8, 1911, she encountered a stranger who she described as tall and black. She was so frightened that she ran screaming back to the Selcer home and alerted her boss. He ran in to the alley where he found the stranger and confronted him. The man disappeared in to the darkness and was not seen afterwards by anyone involved in the incident. Young Mary Yedell had fortunately escaped with her life. That was not the case with over two dozen other young African American women on the streets of Atlanta.

There were several arrests made including Todd Henderson, Henry Huff, John Daniel, Henry Brown, and Charlie Owens. However, Todd Henderson and Henry Huff were brought to trial and found not guilty; after the arrest and incarceration of John Daniel, murders continued casting the shadow of doubt on Daniel as the murderer or at least making it appear that he did not work alone; Henry Brown was acquitted after it was revealed that the Atlanta police had beaten a confession out of him, and Charlie Owens was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison for one of the murders. Many doubt that Owens was guilty, and others point to the fact that after Owens was put in jail, the murders continued.

So was Owens the only Atlanta Ripper? Was he one at all? Was there more than one, or was there only one, and the police never knabbed the right person? The killings did not stop until 1914 with the death of Laura Smith. Henry Harper was arrested as a suspect. However, there was never a definitive answer as to whether or not the men who were arrested and convicted worked alone, or if they were just copycat killers and the real Atlanta Ripper was still at large and was not responsible for ALL the murders. It was quite possible that there was more than one, and that they worked together, but most criminologists say that serial killers work alone. Was this the case with the Atlanta Ripper? In an interesting turn of events, according to Underwood in her book, during the trial of Leo Frank who was accused of the murder of Mary Phagan, it was said that Jim Conley, also a tall African American man, was involved in Phagan's murder. Detective W.J. Burns even went so far as to say that not only was Conley guilty of killing Phagan, but that Conley was also the Atlanta Ripper. As Underwood points out, nothing ever came of this and Conley has never been blamed for those crimes other than by Burns. The fact remains that the Atlanta Ripper murders are a mystery. Was it the work of one serial killer? If so, was he inspired (terrible choice of words I know, but need to make a point) by what he read of Jack the Ripper some decades earlier in London? Or were some of these killings the work of a copycat killer(s)???? This is a very interesting true crime story from right here in Georgia.

Bigfoot in Georgia. The BOOK IS FINALLY HERE!!!

After almost two years in the making, my book, Bigfoot in Georgia, arrived today on my front porch. Well, I mean my 20 free author copies. However, what this means is that the book has now been released. Amazon.com has been selling them in advance, but I am not sure if they will reach buyers before Christmas. However, in the south Atlanta metro area, Bell, Book and Candle in downtown McDonough has a few copies. You will have to call and request a copy, however, Give them a call at 1-770-957-1880. If it is after store hours, leave them a message and they will get back to you. They will set up an over the phone payment and arrange for the book to be sent directly to you, and if you call in time, it will be delivered before Christmas if you like. If you would like to come in and get your copy, you still need to call ahead to reserve your copy to make sure it is there when you come by to pick it up. After the first of the year, however, they will have plenty on the shelves for walk-in business. It will take a few weeks before Barnes and Nobles, Borders and Books A Million has it on their sites, but they are going to pick it up as well. There will be other bookstores around the state carrying them in January, but the marketing process has just begun to take place since the books came off the press and were delivered today for the first time ever.

I hope you enjoy it. I sat and read my own book today in four hours straight. I must say that although I wrote it, reading it this afternoon was like seeing it for the first time. Bigfoot stories and material is VERY INTERESTING!!!

Bigfoot in Fulton County? Well, at least in 1961!

Fulton County, Georgia's most populous county, and the home of Atlanta. With almost 1 million people in Fulton County, it would be the last place that anyone would search for a bigfoot, and for the most part, it is more than plausible to think that there would not be much sasquatch activity in the county today. However, in 1961, one of the most interesting reports of bigfoot activity came from Fulton County, which, at that time, still had a great deal of rural areas, especially in the southern portion of the county.

Matt Pruitt, a bigfoot researcher, investigator for the BFRO, and a good friend of mine, handled this report. The events in question happened in 1961, but the report was not made to the BFRO until 2003. The delay can certainly be explained by the fact that the internet had a great deal to do with the ease of reporting bigfoot sightings anonymously. Most people shy away from talking about their experiences via newspaper, radio and television for fear of ridicule. While the internet has also done its fair share of making hoaxes easier, it has also made people who have seen and heard things more inclined to use it as a venue for discussion. Such may be the case with the person who reported this event to Matt.

It appears that in 1961, a family lived in a house with a basement in south Fulton County near the Campbellton Road. That year during the fall, the children of the family were playing in the yard of the house where they lived with their mother and grandparents. They had moved in with them after the death of their father. This is when they came in to contact with what they thought was a gorilla. The animal was underneath the house inside the unfinished basement. The children were frightened of it, and they decided to throw rocks at it. This illicited no real response from the animal, only a smile. The children retreated from the area and sought the safety of their mother. They returned to the spot later only to find the animal gone.

The report goes on to say that the family, through the coming years, would find very large footprints nearby, and more frightening, they would experience something looking in the windows of the home. Whatever it was had red glowing eyes. (There are a number of bigfoot reports where the animal was reported to be looking through the windows and doors of homes and other buildings. This is not uncommon behavior for these animals at all. Red eyes are also common in these reports. Researchers tell us that some of these animals do have red glowing eyes in the darkness.) In addition, family members would find apple cores near the tracks. It was apparent that the animal ate apples and would leave the core behind. It more than likely got them from the apple tree growing behind the family home. (Gees, it could have at least taken off its trash if it was going to steal apples from the family tree.)

As Matt investigated this report further by talking to the man who experienced this as a child, he found more details. Apparently, the children got close enough to the animal to notice how human-like its face was. Also, it did not seem threatening, for when the children drew near, it appeared to smile at them. The fur covered the creature making it appear gorilla-like.

Upon further inspection, Matt found that family members indeed saw these animals numerous times through the years. One incident involved one of these animals stealing eggs from the family's chicken coop. Others included them stealing and eating apples directly from the family's apple tree, and loud shrieks and screams coming from the woods nearby. These animals were seen peering in to the family's windows from time to time. The neighbors were well aware of their presence, and it was thought that a family of them lived in the area.

Fulton County, even in the southern portion, is very much different today than it was in 1961. There are still some rural parts, especially around Palmetto, Union City, and Fairburn. However, those small towns are growing and the urban sprawl is cropping up everywhere there too. I doubt this family group of sasquatches is still there. Naturally, they would have died out after 48 years, but their offsprings would perpetuate the group. However, I am willing to bet that as human encroachment on their living and hunting grounds has happened, what remained of them moved on. This could explain so many sightings in Fayette, Paulding, Coweta, and Douglas Counties. Perhaps there has been movement. The urban sprawl of Atlanta would have moved southward in to the lower portion of Fulton County, so perhaps this family group spread out and moved on, thus moving in to other nearby wooded areas, which could be in some of those other counties. Maybe, just maybe, this might account for the increased sightings over the last 30 years in those areas. This is just a hunch. Noone knows for sure. However, in my book Bigfoot in Georgia, I deal with the possible displacement of these animals in the last chapter. I discuss movement, how human and urban sprawl might be affecting these animals, and what possible ramifactions may come about as a result of this.

A family of Fulton County Sasquatches!!! Who would have thought. Better be careful out there my hairy friends. Some of those fast-talking Fulton politicians might come round trying to register you to vote!!!!

Book Signing at Barnes and Nobles Was Great!!

The book signing at Barnes and Nobles in Morrow, Georgia this past Friday night was great. Although we only sold about six books, that was great for a big chain book signing with a regional book. Bell, Book and Candle still holds the record for my train crash book. The book signing there sold 24 copies, and so far they have sold almost 50 copies of the book. They are really great promoters. I appreciate all that they do.

We are working on a date for the first book signing for Bigfoot in Georgia. I plan on holding it at Bell, Book and Candle as well. That will more than likely be some time in the early part of 2010. Also, I have been contacted by a lady in Dublin, Georgia who wants me to come and do a book signing there. I think we may try to set something up for the early spring on that one.

Post on the Fayette County Bigfoot Sighting Is Picked Up by the Fayette County Newspaper

It appears that the article I posted on December 5th about a bigfoot sighting in Fayette County is getting a lot of attention. The Citizen reporter Ben Nelms posted an article about it at the paper's website. You can access the site by clicking on the title of this post above.

The paper mentions that the story was picked up off this very blog. I am glad that word is getting around about this blog. If you are interested in more sightings and legends concerning the Georgia Bigfoot, or stories from Creek and Indian lore about this alleged creature, you won't want to miss my book "Bigfoot in Georgia" which is already available by pre-order at Amazon.com, and will be released on December 16th. Locally, in the South Metro Atlanta area, the book will be carried at Bell, Book and Candle in downtown McDonough. You can order your copy there by calling 770-957-1880. They will ship one to you from the store.

Check out The Citizen Online and see the story about the Fayette sighting. Meanwhile, I have other reports and strange sightings to talk about from the Fayette, Coweta, Paulding, South Fulton, and Douglas County area. Keep reading!!!