What Happens If We Find Bigfoot?

Maybe something like this? (My latest Lair of the Beasts column at Mania.com).

Ghosts, Spirits, & Hauntings

Ghosts, Spirits, & Hauntings is the second volume in an on-going, new series of titles from New Page Books that all fall under the overall banner of Exposed, Uncovered, and Declassified.

Volume II includes an article from me titled Monsters of the Spectral Kind that details reports of ghostly Bigfoot-type creatures, phantom black dogs with blazing red eyes, the paranormal aspects of the Loch Ness Monster controversy, life-after-death in the animal kingdom and much, much more.

For more data on the book, click on this link. If ghosts are your thing, you won't be disappointed!

Cryptid Fest Update

There's a new website established for the Cryptid Fest gig I'll be speaking at in September (see my recent post at this blog). Here's the link.

Weird Weekend 2011 - Details

This just in from Jon Downes at the Center for Fortean Zoology:

For one weekend a year the tiny North Devon village of Woolsery becomes the weirdest village in the land. The largest gathering of scholars of esoteric natural history in the English-speaking world, is set to take place in rural north Devon. The Centre for Fortean Zoology’s annual conference, the Weird Weekend, will see speakers from all over the country gathering Woolsery to discuss their work and discoveries.

The Weird Weekend,held over the weekend of the 19-21st August, now in its 12 year is the largest convention of its kind. This year’s speakers include one of the world’s leading geneticists Professor Bryan Sykes. Professor Sykes will be speaking on the yeti and samples of hair he has tested. Continuing the theme, cryptozoologist Richard Freeman will be talking about the Centre for Fortean Zoology’s latest expedition that took them into the Garo Hills of northern India on the track of the yeti.

Last year at the convention scientists announced that hairs found in local woodland were those of a leopard. These findings were later confirmed by DNA analysis. A world exclusive this year comes from Dr Darren Naish from Portsmouth University and Max Blake from Bristol University who will produce conclusive proof that over 100 years ago there were still mystery cats in Devon.

Other speakers include Fortean researcher Matt Salusbury who has been on the track of pigmy elephants in India, entomologist Nick Wadham on giant spiders, cryptozoologist Adam Davies on the orang-pendek, the mystery ape of Sumatra, and Glen Vaudrey on the waterhorse, a sea serpent from Scottish legend.

As well as monstrous creatures, other esoteric subjects are covered. Former police officer John Hanson describes UFO cases reaching back to the 1940s.

Other subjects include Ronan Coghlan on the labours of Hercules, and Henry Hartley on Fortean aspects of the modern Mayans.

As well as a series of talks there will be stalls, workshops and events.

The Weird Weekend raises funds for village charities dealing with children and for the Centre for Fortean Zoology, the only full time organization in the world dedicated to the investigation of mystery animals.

The Weird Weekend takes place from 19th-21st of August.
For further details visit http://www.weirdweekend.org/
Or ring 01237 431413

NOTES TO EDITORS

* The Centre for Fortean Zoology [CFZ] is the world’s largest mystery animal research organisation. It was founded in 1992 by British author Jonathan Downes (52) and is a company limited by guarantee registered with HM Government.

* Life-president of the CFZ is Colonel John Blashford-Snell OBE, best known for his groundbreaking youth work organising the ‘Operation Drake’ and ‘Operation Raleigh’ expeditions in the 1970s and 1980s.

* CFZ Director Jonathan Downes is the author and/or editor of over 20 books. His latest book is Island of Paradise, his first hand account of two expeditions to the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico in search of the grotesque vampiric chupacabra.

* The CFZ have carried out expeditions across the world including India, Russia, Sumatra, Mongolia, Guyana, Gambia, Texas, Mexico, Thailand, Puerto Rico, Illinois, Loch Ness, and Loch Morar.

* CFZ Press are the world’s largest publishers of books on mystery animals. They also publish Animals & Men, the world’s only cryptozoology magazine, and The Amateur Naturalist, Britain’s only dedicated magazine on the subject.

* The CFZ produce their own full-length documentaries through their media division called CFZtv. One of their films `Lair of the Red Worm` which was released in early 2007 and documents their 2005 Mongolia expedition has now been seen by nearly 90,000 people.

* The CFZ is based in Jon Downes’ old family home in rural North Devon which he shares with his wife Corinna (55). It is also home to various members of the CFZ’s permanent directorate and a collection of exotic animals.

* Jonathan Downes presents a monthly web TV show called On the Track which covers cryptozoology and work of the CFZ.

* Following their successful partnership with Capcom www.capcom.com on the 2007 Guyana expedition, the CFZ are looking for more commercial sponsors.

Cryptid Fest

On the weekend of September 10-11, I'll be speaking at a gig in Oklahoma: The Cryptid Fest, where I'll be discussing the controversies surrounding the weirder - and paranormal-driven - aspects of Cryptozoology. Here's the info on the event from the organizer, with a link below that to where you can find out more about the Cryptid Fest:

Cryptid Fest - McGee Creek State Park, Oklahoma - Sept 10th 2011 BIGFOOT UFO Cryptozoology Paranormal Conference, Saturday, September 10, 2011 at 1:00 PM - Sunday, September 11, 2011 at 10:00 AM.

Deep in the heart of Native American country Atoka, OK, lies 10,000 acres of forest in McGee Creek State Park. With numerous Bigfoot sightings in the area, this is a prime location for Crytpo Hunting.

Join professionals from the cast of History Channel's MonsterQuest along with other experts for a full day of crypto, UFO, and paranormal.

Confirmed guests:

MonsterQuest Alumnus

Ken Gerhard

Joedy Cooke

Raven Meindel

Lee Hales

UFO Specialist Nick Redfern

Paranormal Speakers - Larry Flaxman and Pete Haviland

For more information on the Cryptid Fest, see: http://cryptidfestkg.eventbrite.com/

Hilary Evans RIP

This is exceptionally tragic news: Hilary Evans has died.

A White Bigfoot Caught on Film?

Real, hoax, who knows? But, over at Cryptomundo, it's provoking a lot of commentary...

Naomi's Nessie - The Continuing Saga

Yep, the terrifying tale is not all told yet!

Here's part-2, part-3, and part-4.

Will the West family survive this horrific and monstrous onslaught? We can only hope and pray!

Naomi's Nessie...

Good friend Naomi West (of the All This Pudding blog and fellow Center for Fortean Zoology colleague) has a strange and ominous beast from the outer-edge lurking in the darkened depths of a mysterious body of water on her Texan property.

As Naomi notes, the terrifying creature has surfaced just once so far, resulting in Naomi letting forth a rip-roaring scream that no doubt instilled cold and utter fear in the locals.

What might the Lovecraftian monster be? So far, there is no firm answer, and due to the very real possibility of being dragged into those same dark waters by the mighty jaws of the immense leviathan, Naomi is currently keeping her distance.

Well, the above might all be somewhat of a slight exaggeration! But something is swimming around! And here's the real story (not my idiotic rendition!) from Naomi herself...

Note: The photo above shows (left) Naomi, (center) my wife, Dana, and to the right with gun in-hand, my dad, Frank "Do you feel lucky, punk?" Redfern. We were visiting Naomi and her husband Richie recently, and engaged in the fine Texan sport of "shooting up shit."

Jennae on Multi-Dimensional Monsters

Over at her blog Jennae's Thoughts on the Paranormal...and More, Jennae has a thought-provoking post titled Beyond the Curtain, which in part addresses the issue of whether or not some cryptids might originate in other realms of existence - extra-dimensions, in other words. She suspects not, but it's a good, solid article on an issue that most definitely polarizes people into different camps.

Jennae begins as follows:

"They say that monsters don’t really come from our earth. They say that some monsters and ghosts come from other dimensions. They say that even some UFOs are not from outer space at all, but simply from another dimension. Who are they? A select few monster, ghost, and UFO hunters and theorists. It is a theory that seems to tie things up quite tidily. It makes a good explanation as to why no one can get any concrete evidence; the strange being or whatever simply slipped back into their dimension. I can certainly see the possibility of parallel realities. I bet these alternate existences can account for a lot of crazy things that happen out there. So let’s go over the whys and why nots regarding the possibility of parallel universes and the phenomena connected to them."

And here's the link to the complete article.

Creature of the Month at New Page Books

New Page Books (who have published my books The Real Men in Black, The NASA Conspiracies, Contactees and Memoirs of a Monster Hunter) have established a new section at their blog titled Creature of the Month, for which I (along with authors Dr. Bob Curran and Oberon Zell-Ravenheart) will be posting regular articles.

The first one from me is on that pesky Puerto Rican vampire, the Chupacabra. Here's the link.

Creature-Features in Fate

Fans of strange creatures should check out the new issue of Fate magazine, which includes an excellent 6-page article from Ken Gerhard on the "Texas Chupacabra" controversy, as well as a lengthy article from Chris O'Brien on the "Skinwalker" issue. For more details, go to www.fatemag.com

The Werewolf Book - Sept 1

This is excellent news: the updated version of Brad Steiger's The Werewolf Book: The Encyclopedia of Shape-Shifting Beings will be published (by Visible Ink Press) on September 1.

For fans of all-things of the werewolf variety, this is one definitely not to be missed! Here's the Amazon link to The Werewolf Book.

Coast to Coast AM Summary

If you weren't able to listen in to Ken Gerhard's appearance on Coast to Coast AM last night, then you missed an excellent show! However, all is not lost, and if you click on this link you'll find a summary of the show and the issues Ken discussed, as well as a link to the archived episode.

Ken Gerhard on Coast to Coast AM Tonight

Good friend (and the author of Big Bird! and co-author with me of Monsters of Texas) Ken Gerhard will be interviewed about his cryptozoological adventures on tonight's episode of Coast to Coast AM with George Noory. Here's the link to what will undoubtedly be a great show!

Weird Waters Reviewed

Lars Thomas' Weird Waters: The Lake and Sea Monsters of Scandinavia and the Baltic States is an excellent new book published by CFZ Press, and which I have reviewed for my most recent Lair of the Beasts column at Mania.com. Without doubt, this is a superb, regional study that deserves your attention!

Sky-Beasts

It's not every day we can say that the monsters of our world have atmospheric characters. But, maybe, some of them are literally atmospheric, as this new post Rob Morphy at Mysterious Universe from demonstrates!

Spook House Media

Lili Brackett - of Lili's Lair, which is linked at this site - has contacted me with details of an excellent new venture. Here's Lili to tell you more:

Hi! I just wanted to let everyone in my contact list know that I have finally launched my marketing and web development agency Spook House Media. We cater to the entertainment and writing industries, as well as services and shops, specializing in the horror, sci-fi, paranormal, goth, and similar subculture genres.

I hope you will take a moment to visit my site www.spookhousemedia.com and like our Facebook page www.facebook.com/spookhousemedia You can also follow us on twitter www.twitter.com. If I can be of any service to you or anyone you know please feel free to contact me. Thank you again for your support.

Cheers
~Lili

207-205-3176

Lili.Brackett@Spookhousemedia.com

Monstrous Eels

Might some legendary lake-monsters actually be huge and monstrous eels? Yes, they may very well be, as Dale Drinnon notes!

Beach beast

While me and my wife, Dana, were on holiday recently, I found this cool beasty on a stretch of Florida beach. Much to Dana's annoyance and horror, it now sits on a shelf in my office! Spare a thought for poor Dana and her husband's eccentricities!

Riddle of the Hills

At the end of 2010, a five-man team from the Center for Fortean Zoology travelled to the Garo Hills, in Meghalaya, Northern India to look for the Mande Burung - an Indian version of the Yeti. The following near-2-hour-long film tells the story of the expedition, and an excellent film it is, too!

Wisconsin Monsters

This past weekend, I reviewed Linda Godfrey's latest book - Monsters of Wisconsin - for my weekly Lair of the Beasts column at Mania.com. Here's the link to the review, which, if you want to find all the latest news on Bigfoot, werewolves, lake-monsters, flying nightmares, and even out-of-place wallabies and kangaroos, you'll definitely want to read!

Car-Trouble & Cryptids

Failing engines, flickering headlights, troublesome transmission and...Cryptids. So, what's the link? Read on - my latest post for Mysterious Universe.

Owlman - In Print

I haven't seen this book yet - Owlman: Terror from the Skies by Jonathan Nolan - but it's surely one that fans of Owlman, Mothman and other mysterious, winged entities will want to read! Here's the link to purchase a copy.