The Legend of the Pricker Man
The Legend of the Prickerman originated in 2006 or 2007. It started with a tree stump John Rossi made to be burned in the firepit as a “ritual.” The log had two human-like legs, into which John stuck many toothpicks or barbecue skewers. The name “Prickerman” is a riff on the 1973 British horror film The Wicker Man. The Prickerman has been part of Ox-Bow ever since.
In 2009, John had a bulletin board that said, “Beware of the Prickerman!” From then on, Carmen Price would pretend to be a little kid saying, “Mommy, Mommy, there’s a Prickerman under my bed! Mom, he won’t stop pricking me!” Eventually, John decided to do a performance/movie trailer based on the Prickerman-under-the-bed motif.
At one point, John Rossi and Mikey Henderberg were getting ready for the Winter Session, and they decided to tease Carmen by making a proper Prickerman and putting it under his bed. This solidified the inside joke among staff, and they started putting the Prickerman under different people’s beds. John even found it in his bed once. He started getting anonymous emails with pictures of the Prickerman in various locations: in a cornfield, under a bed, hanging out with garden gnomes, etc. It turned out to be Head Chef Erin Chapla sending him the photos. Inspired, John started taking pictures of the Prickerman around campus, and went on to make a book of these photos.
John kept making the dolls and donating them to the Friday Night Auctions, and they started selling like hot cakes for as much as $300.
There has been talk of a future Prickerman artist’s book published by John. Stay tuned for Prickerman merch in the Ox-Shop!
