Indian Death Tiki of Awesomeness

Maggie Valley, North Carolina

Officially named "Maniac," standing 16 feet tall, this saber-toothed, club-clutching, goggle-eye-socketed skeletal chief stands as a demonic photo-op along US 19.

"It was just an idea I had in my head," said Dustin Davis, owner of Soco Cycles, who commissioned the piece. The totem was carved by Dustin's friend, who he knows only as "Jammie the Woodcarver" (legal name: Jeremy Buckner) over a period of ten weeks in the summer and autumn of 2013.

Despite its ground-length headdress, the hoodoo totem seems more spiritually aligned with Dias de los Muertos than with earthy Native American art. Dustin thought about giving it glowing red eyes, but decided that Maniac was already maniacal enough.

The sculpture is carved from oak, so it should last a while. Jammie/Jeremy sets up shop in the Soco Cycles parking lot during the summer, so if you want your own giant fanged Indian you can talk to the master carver.