The very best horror stories are about everyday life. Yet for all of the characters’ ordinariness, Gibbs has placed us in the middle of a world unfamiliar to many – a family home in the Bible Belt. Leaving preconceptions at the door, Gibbs provided small town people whose tiny desires loom large to them. What struck me most was how Dellie and Rich Vitt’s challenge and accept impossible circumstances. Add a preternatural sorrow and the terror of seemingly unstoppable fate, and there’s homespun magic amidst exquisite horror.

A terrifying and gripping play with masterly use of suspense. History and particularly colonial history is bathed in blood. Communities, families and individuals can also be colonised by ideas. For me the Moth Man is a visceral cry for vengeance, a fable and a warning. The mysterious, multitextured nature of this subject was handled beautifully. I saw a reading of this at the Valdez Theatre Conference 2026 and was on the edge of my seat.

"The Moth Man Cries" by Marshall Logan Gibbs represents the best in storytelling from an American vantage point: an incredible mixture of myth, horror, parable, and heartaching drama told without a single false note. The characters are so well rendered and human that they breathe from the page as they carry this gripping tale from beginning to a satisfying end. I long for the time when I can see this work staged. Marvelously done, sir!