Mysterious Universe - Twice

 
There are two new articles from me at Mysterious Universe.

One is Halloween-themed, while the other is a review of George Romero's movie, The Crazies...

A Cemetery Monster

There's a new Creature of the Month article from me at the New Page Books blog, and which starts like this...

"A cemetery in Guadalajara, Mexico that is noted for its highly decorative architecture, pillared buildings, elegant tombs and spacious, tree-enveloped grounds, Panteon de Belen was built in 1848 and closed its doors four years before the dawning of the twentieth century. But, that hasn’t stopped its residents from being highly active – which is somewhat notable since each and every one of them is, of course, quite dead!

"Not only that: Panteon de Belen can boast of being home to more ghosts, ghouls and fiends of the night than pretty much any other cemetery in Mexico – and quite possibly even the world, too. That same body of supernatural entities includes just about everything from pirates to bloodthirsty, undead vampires, and spectral hounds to a ghostly, shrieking nun. And such is the interest and fascination in the specters of Panteon de Belen, that guided tours of the cemetery have become incredibly popular, and particularly so – and certainly most appropriately - during the course of the Mexican holiday of November 1-2: Day of the Dead. And, now, you shall see exactly why."

The Jessup Dimension

Does anyone know the answer to this? Just recently, Andy Colvin republished the book, The Jessup Dimension by Anna Genzlinger, about Morris Jessup and the Philadelphia Experiment.

The original was published in 1981 by Gray Barker's Saucerian Press.

However, I have a different copy, which is basically a photocopy of Barker's original (minus the original cover; see the photos).

Was this third version I have also published by Barker or by someone else?

There's no other publisher name etc on this copy. I've had this for around 25 years, but can't remember where I got it from.

The Boggy Creek Festival

A few photos from yesterday's Boggy Creek Festival in Arkansas, with various friends and colleagues, including Ken Gerhard, Tom Shirley, Christy Newhouse, Lyle Blackburn, Sandy Blackburn, Craig Woolheater, and Larry Parks. There were lots of cool lectures (all on various aspects of the Bigfoot mystery), plenty to eat and drink, and a good time was had by all!

My Top 5 Movies For Halloween

My latest Mysterious Universe article is a bit different - it's my favorite, top 5 movies for Halloween...

Werewolves: Not Transformed Humans

My latest Mysterious Universe article deals with the controversial matter of werewolves, and specifically the claim that people have the ability to physically morph into wolves - which, of course, is absolute bollocks.

Texas Bigfoot Gig - Reviewed

Over at Mysterious Universe, there's a mini-review from me of this past weekend's Original Texas Bigfoot Conference (see yesterday's post at this blog for photos from the event).

You can find it here, and it begins like this:


"On Friday, September 17, I drove from my Arlington, Texas home to Jefferson, Texas, where I was due to speak the following morning at the Original Texas Bigfoot Conference. It was an event organized by Craig Woolheater (of Cryptomundo), and which saw a number of good, intriguing presentations, and a crowd of almost 200 people. And a great time was had by one and all.

"Most of the speakers rolled into town late on the Friday afternoon. As well as me, they included Lyle Blackburn (author of Lizard Man and The Beast of Boggy Creek) and Ken Gerhard (who penned Big Bird! and Encounters with Flying Humanoids). Also there were John Kirk (who wrote the excellent In the Domain of the Lake Monsters) and Rob Riggs (of In the Big Thicket)."

The Original Texas Bigfoot Conference

A few photos from the Original Texas Bigfoot Conference, which was held on Saturday and which was an excellent gig!

I'm reviewing it for Mysterious Universe and will post the link when it goes live.

A great time was had by all, and there was a good turn-out of close to 200 people.

I gave a lecture that mainly focused on ancient "wild man" reports from the UK.

And thanks to Jason McLean, for the picture he drew of me!

Here's a few pictures from the event.
 

The Abominable Snowman (1957)

My new Mysterious Universe article is a review of one of my favorite movies: Hammer's The Abominable Snowman.

The review begins...

"From the mid 1950s to the early 1970s, the U.K.’s Hammer Film Productions ruled the roost in the field of cinematic horror. Hammer’s movies were in sharp contrast to the black and white monster productions of the 1930s and 1940s, which starred the likes of Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and Lon Cheney, Jr. Hammer went for full-on gore, bright red blood splashed here, there, and everywhere, and lots of hot, buxom babes. And the audiences (unsurprisingly!) loved it!

"The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Dracula (1958), The Plague of the Zombies (1966) and Quatermass and the Pit (1967) are just four of dozens of productions from Hammer that became firm favorites with horror fans."

The Glamis Ghoul

My latest Mysterious Universe article is on one of Scotland's most famous monsters. No, not Nessie...

Britain's Bigfoot: The Names

My new Mysterious Universe article is on the subject of Bigfoot in Britain - and specifically the many and varied names that have been applied to the beast...

Goatman: Flesh or Folklore?

Goatman: Flesh or Folklore? is the title of the new book from J. Nathan Couch. Since I've written quite extensively about the Texas Goatman over the years, I'll definitely be getting a copy and reviewing it.

You can purchase the book at the link above, and below is the publisher's info on the book:

"Legend says that all across America, a monster lives in the darkness. It lurks on the boundaries of suburbia mere miles from our homes. Huge, foul-smelling, and murderous, it has many regional names but most people refer to the creature by a simple, straightforward name—Goatman. Some stories say Goatman is a hairy humanoid with a goat-like head that walks about on either two or four legs depending on the circumstances. Others say he’s a horned man with a furry, hooved lower-half much like creatures from Greek mythology. Of course, just about everyone says it’s all just an urban legend. Except for those who’ve came face-to-muzzle with the Goatman himself, or the families of those who’ve died while trying to encounter the monster. Join author and paranormal investigator J. Nathan Couch as he collects sightings of Goatman and all his caprine kin including the Pope Lick Monster, the Beast of Billiwhack, Sheepsquatch, the Lake Worth Monster, and a hoard of minor hooved horrors as he tries to separate fact from folklore on a journey that takes you from Wisconsin, to California, to Maryland and back again. Beware the Goatman!"

A Griffin at the Symposium

Well, as you'll have noticed, there haven't been any posts from me for the last week or so - been on the road. Part of which involved attending, and speaking at, the annual Paradigm Symposium in Minneapolis, which was excellent as usual!

Highlights of the event for me included hanging out with (and meeting for the first time) Andy Collins, the author of such titles as The Black Alchemist and The Brentford Griffin - the latter being a small booklet from Andy on a very strange, Fortean/cryptozoological affair from 1985.

The two pictures here are of Andy.