‘Speaking of things that should have been retired years ago, the removal of ‘The Deep Face’ in Lake Michigan must represent a real cost/reward conundrum for the state, given that it makes headlines for swallowing someone at least once a year and survives the uproar of concerned citizens that follows each death. Seeing it down there, lying heavy against the dark silt floor, one must admit that dredging it up, even piece by piece, would be an expensive undertaking.
An art installation gone awry, ‘The Deep Face’ is only a danger when it’s on the move and, yes, it does move about. Made of rebar and cement, it’s flat and wide enough that certain tides and currents can carry it along the floor. Regarding the drownings, the leading hypothesis is that water pulls through ‘The Deep Face’s’ gaping mouth as it shifts, creating a strong, localized, downward current. Once inside, the mass of an average adult body is enough to disrupt the current, causing ‘The Deep Face’ to settle on its unlucky victim. The body’s waterlogging, its decomposition, eventually allows ‘The Deep Face’ to move again. This is why a new body on the shore seems to coincide with the taking of a new victim. A body means the lake will be safe for a while.
The mobility of ‘The Deep Face’ has rendered nearly all warning signs about it obsolete. Its victims are spaced too far apart to instill any sort of lasting fear in deep lake swimmers. Its movement has proven too erratic to track. In 2018, it was revealed that state officials had successfully seeded an urban legend into the surrounding communities, one that suggested ‘The Deep Face’ killed only those who had somehow avoided justice for crimes they ought to pay for. Unfortunately, the man who orchestrated this rumor was taken by ‘The Deep Face’ in 2011, just three years after planting the story. His death only lends credibility to the lie.
-an excerpt, Autumn by the Wayside
