Local residents are preparing to film an alternative history depicting a dark part of Mattoon’s past.

Jason Shook, of Mattoon, and several friends are in the pre-production stage of recreating the history of the Mattoon Mad Gasser.

The Mad Gasser was the name of an unidentified suspect who allegedly terrorized Mattoon between Sept. 1 and Sept. 11, 1944.

Shook explained that the Mad Gasser supposedly lurked around Mattoon at night and sprayed a chemical anesthetic into houses while residents slept.

Victims who suspected they were exposed to the chemical reported symptoms that included headaches, nausea, facial swelling and constriction of the mouth and throat, according to reports in the Charleston Daily Courier and Daily Journal-Gazette.

Reports also said there was mass hysteria as residents feared the attacker would continue his attacks and possibly escalate attacks with deadly chemicals.

More than 30 Mattoon residentswere reported to have been victims of the Mad Gasser.

Although no individual was charged with the attacks, the main suspect was Farley Llewellyn, a chemical engineering student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, who also had a chemical laboratory in his backyard.

Shook said he grew up hearing stories of the Mad Gasser from his grandfather.

“My grandfather was off in the second World War, but he always got news of it whenever he came back from leave,” he said. “He remembered the town being in constant hysteria.”

Shook said the hysteria of the little town of Mattoon intrigued him and that he is impressed the Mad Gasser was never caught.

“They never really found the man who did it,” he said. “It’s almost like the perfect crime.”

Shook began to create comics about the Mad Gasser in 2006 retelling the history, but a car accident damaged his hand and prevented him from completing the comic.

He then wrote an alternative history of the Mad Gasser that he is using as the premise of the film.

In the film, Llewellyn is the Mad Gasser. Through a series of events, Llewellyn’s grandson discovers his grandfather’s sordid past and becomes the new Mattoon Mad Gasser.

“He took it upon himself to be the new Mattoon Mad Gasser to seek revenge on all those who opposed him,” Shook said.

The film incorporates flashbacks to Llewellyn’s past, as well as a video diary of his grandson throughout his developments as the new Mad Gasser.

Despite reshaping Llewellyn’s past, Shook said the movie will be historically accurate.

“We do not want to screw with history because history is something that needs to be learned,” he said.

Although it was a challenge, Shook found locations in Mattoon for filming that he said have the dark look and feel of Mattoon during the hysterical period of the Mad Gasser.

“It was a bit of a challenge, I’ll admit,” he said. “I was trying to find the look of a broken city.”

Shook chose several old factories and alleys in Mattoon for filming and said he has been given legal permission to use the properties.

“We want this to be 100 percent legit and 100 percent legal,” he said.

Shook and his crew have also created props that actually work as depicted to ensure the reality of the film.

“We have literally built every single one of the props that are going to be used in the movie to work in real life as they would in the movie,” he said. “Whatever I introduce into the movie, I want it to be able to exist in real life.”

Shook said the main issues that are holding up production are funding and casting.

Shook and his crew are funding the film from their own pockets and need to cast about 15 extras before filming can begin.

Tim Deters can be reached at 581-2812 or tadeters@eiu.edu.