A new adventure called “Free Braxxie” has began in Braxton County.
Free Braxxie encourages guests to visit all five of the Flatwoods Monster Chairs that can be found throughout Braxton County. The mission is to document your visit at each chair, submit them to Monster HQ, then collect a free sticker that proves you’ve done your part to help “Free Braxxie.”
For those that don’t know, the Flatwoods Monster Chairs are 10-feet tall chairs made in the likeness of the Flatwoods Monster. The Monster was first spotted in Flatwoods in 1952. These chairs can be found all over Braxton County and each one has a distinct and unique paint job. Locations include: downtown Flatwoods, Days Inn and Suites in Flatwoods, Holly Gray Park in Sutton, Cafe Cimino in Sutton, and Dairy Queen in Gassaway.
In this new adventure, visitors aren’t just seeing and sitting on every monster chair, they are helping in the fight to preserve the memory of “Braxxie” before the Men In Black (MIB) can wipe his existence from the minds of all who know his story.
By documenting your visit you are proving to the world that “Braxxie” does exist. Simply take a picture of you or your group at each of the chairs and submit them online here: www.braxtonwv.org/braxxie. Earned stickers can be picked up at the Braxton County CVB office located at the Flatwoods Factory Outlet Stores, Cafe Cimino in Sutton, Dairy Queen in Gassaway, and Days Inn and Suites in Flatwoods. Show them your submission confirmation email as well as all five of your pictures.
Matthew Smith, a table-top game developer, coined the nick-name “Braxxie.” Noticing the Flatwoods Monster didn’t have a short and cute nick-name, like Nessie for the Loch Ness Monster, Smith took it upon himself to dub the monster, affectionately, “Braxxie.”
Braxxie is derived from the county where he was first discovered — Braxton County. He used the nick-name for a character in his game called Confluence RPG in which he utilized the lore of the Flatwoods Monster and incorporated the sighting into game play. Smith unveiled the game at the 2016 Bonus Round Weekend, a gaming conference that takes place in Flatwoods every May at the Flatwoods Conference Center. For more information on Smith’s game, visit www.confluencerpg.com.
For more information on the Flatwoods Monster or the Flatwoods Monster Chairs visit braxtonwv.org/monster.